Category Archives: Human Nature

Human nature and Newburyport, MA, the psychological and social interactions and the character of human conduct.

Moulton Castle is on the Newburyport Interactive History-Story Map

Here is the link to the map: Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive, Mapping historic stories of Newburyport, MA houses and places, with photos, paintings, videos, old maps, history and anecdotes. Created by The Newburyport Blog, Mary Baker Eaton, editor. (This is one of the many stories that is on the map.)

map.historynewburyport.com

Moulton Castle
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Henry William Moulton (1833 -1896)

Captain Henry William Moulton returned to Newburyport after the the Civil War in 1865. He came into possession of Moulton Hill, overlooking the Merrimac River, which had been in different branches of Moulton family for six generations. The top of Moulton Hill was said to have the most beautiful landscape in all of New England. In 1868 he built a Gothic-style, 22-room wooden mansion, described as a “noble and picturesque home” on top of the hill, which became known as Moulton Castle.

View from Moulton Castle
Moulton Castle
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Captain Moulton had six children, his only son died when he was less than a year and there was no son to assume his name and the estate.

View of Moulton Castle
Boston Athenaeum, Digital Collection:
George H. Walker & Co.’s Atlas of Essex County, Massachusetts. Boston, 1884, p. 143.

Following Captain Moulton’s death in 1896, the property was bought by financier Charles W. Moseley who tore down Moulton Castle in December 1900. The site of the mansion is now known as Castle Hill and is part of Maudslay State Park.

Moulton Castle
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Part of the Poem called “Moulton Castle,” by Charles Clinton Jones

“It stood on a pine fringed hill-top
O’er looking the ancient town,
And the winding course of the river;
That turreted castle brown.
For more than a generation
It guarded the country-side,
The city and bay and islands,
And the marshes low and wide.”

Henry William Moulton (1833 -1896)

History from The Moulton Family Search and the Boston Athenaeum and History of Maudslay State Park in Newburyport by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks

Photographs:
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection
Boston Athenaeum, Digital Collection:
George H. Walker & Co.’s Atlas of Essex County, Massachusetts. Boston, 1884, p. 143.

This story is also now on the new website that coordinates with the interactive history map, History ~ Newburyport at HistoryNewburyport.com.

History ~ Newburyport, a new Website about Newburyport’s stories

The story on Moulton Castle can be found here at the new website History ~ Newburyport HistoryNewburyport.com.

Story on Moulton Castle on the new website, History ~ Newburyport

Newburyport Map – The Corner of Harris and State Streets – the Dodge House, the YMCA, the Library

map.historynewburyport.com

The Dodge House, State Street

William and Dana Dodge, who were brothers, built a beautiful double house around 1846 on the corner of Harris and State Streets. William and his wife Ruth had no children, Dana was married to Abby and they had a large family. Dana manufactured and sold carriages on Liberty Street, tragically died at age 56 of a compound fracture of the leg and pneumonia leaving debts and his wife and children.

Detail of State Street
Courtesy of the New York Public Library

The Dodge House, State Street
Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Ruth, Abby’s sister-in-law, bought Dana’s side of the house with all the belongings. Abby and her children were forced to move out to 2 Harris Street, a smaller house behind the large Dodge House on State Street. Ruth and William rented out Dana and Abby’s side of the house in 1874, with Dana and Abby’s furnishings, the ad says “The house is in first rate order, containing eleven furnished rooms. Gas throughout, a good furnace and every way fitted for a genteel family.” It seems that over her life time Abby went to live with different sons and outlived them all except one. Abby Dodge died in Haverhill, living with her youngest son John.

Advertisement for Dana Dodge Carriages

It was decided that the YMCA would be built on the site of the Dodge House. In 1889 the Dodge house was moved, with its chimneys, to1-3 Garden Street where it exists in its altered form today as apartments. The large “Old Liberty Tree Elm” was cut down to move the house and to build the new structure.

Description of moving the Dodge House in the local Newspaper, August 23, 1889

“The moving of the Dodge house from State to Garden street was a lesson for building movers in this city. Nobody ever saw a large building so easily and quietly moved. It was not necessary to take down the chimneys, and had a family been living in it ethyl would have found no need of moving out. We don’t think a loud word was spoken, but every man had a place and knew what and when to do, and even the horses ere like trained animals that knew the master’s voice and delighted to obey.” – August 23, 1889

YMCA building, State and Harris Streets
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

The YMCA was completed in 1891, it was destroyed by a fire July 1987. On May 6, 2001 the newly expanded library opened and exists today at the corner of Harris and State Street. ~ History and research by Mary Baker Eaton

1888 Map of where the Dodge House was located on Garden Street

YMCA building, State and Harris Streets
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

State Street
Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Detail of State Street
Courtesy of the New York Public Library

Many thanks to the Newburyport Archival Center for all their help in researching this story.

History Map of Newburyport – Inn Street

map.historynewburyport.com

Inn Street looking toward Market Square ca. 1840–1987
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

What is now Inn Street is roughly the area where the fire started in l811destroying much of Market Square. Inn Street was laid out in l8l8 as part of the reconstruction on the area after the fire.

nn Street from Pleasant St. to Market Square ca. 1890–1899
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

Most of the buildings on Inn Street were demolished as part of Urban Renewal in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The demolition of the area was stopped and restoration and renewal was adopted. Today Inn Street is a thriving pedestrian mall, it was completed in 1974 and downtown Newburyport is a national example of historic preservation. ~ History courtesy of the City of Newburyport, Historic Property Surveys

Looking up Inn St. before Urban Renewal
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

Urban renewal, Inn St. demolition, May 1968
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

Inn Street today, courtesy of Mary Baker Eaton

Photographs courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection, and Mary Baker Eaton

Where to find Walking Maps about Newburyport’s History

map.historynewburyport.com

The editor of The Newburyport Blog, me, Mary Baker Eaton, has decided to map all the research that I’ve done over the years for The Newburyport Blog and for “If This House Could Talk – Newburyport,” and then some more researching and mapping after that. The stories are from all walks of life and from different periods during Newburyport’s history. The stories are about houses, people, places and events told and illustrated with photographs, paintings, videos, old maps, history and anecdotes (and even a poem). They are about are men and women, eccentric and proper, rich and poor, successful and those who have fallen on hard times. And the history of Newburyport mirrors the themes and places of the people who have lived here.

Ghlee Woodworth created the most amazing project in 2012 – the Clipper Heritage Trail. You can download different maps from different areas of the city and learn all about Newburyport’s fascinating history.

The Clipper Heritage Trail

“Welcome to the Clipper Heritage Trail, a series of self-guided history tours of Newburyport. Step back in time and walk in the footsteps of shipbuilders and sea captains; bakers, clam diggers and comb makers; silversmiths and soldiers; abolitionists and African Americans; and authors and artists. Explore the hidden corners of a destination where the first settlers of Newbury landed in 1635 on the northern shores of the Parker River.” ~ Ghlee Woodworth, The Clipper City Heritage Trail

The link to the Clipper Heritage Trail can be found here: http://www.clipperheritagetrail.com

Newburyport History Map – Keeping the Story Alive

map.historynewburyport.com

There are so many Newburyport stories that are being lost or have been lost. People are forgetting Newburyport’s history, from Urban Renewal in the late 1960s early 1970s, to Bossy Gillis, Truman Nelson, Alice Hooper Fowle Cutler, painter Laura Coombs Hills, poet Hannah Flagg Gould, Rebecca Rawson, Mt. Rural, writer John P. Marquand, Curzon Mill, artist Ethel Reed, The Old Pillsbury House.

Go to the map to find out all about these stories and where the people lived or where the stories took place in Newburyport.

The historic/story map is an outgrowth of Newburyport’s “If This House Could Talk” and all the research that has been done on stories and history for the Newburyport Blog since 2006. The concept of This House Could Talk is to collect and present local history, and historical anecdotes, through a collaborative activity in which residents and businesses post hand made signs and graphics in front of their homes and businesses, telling stories and offering information from the recent or not-so-recent past. It does not matter if the house and/or story is old or new, ordinary or rare and important. The signs have a range of information from the architectural history, to personal experiences and stories of the current or historic residents of a particular house. If This House Could Talk offers neighborhood residents a way to present historical information with a personal voice. This type of free and accessible presentation of information in public places encourages walking and exploration of a neighborhood in order to discover and learn from the signs and artworks. The hope is that the sharing of local history might bring the community together through the engagement with the stories, and contribute to building a sense of place. An increased appreciation for historical preservation can also be a byproduct. The hope is that the interactive history/story map is an ongoing continuation of this objective.

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive

map.historynewburyport.com

There are so many Newburyport stories that are being lost or have been lost. People are forgetting the story of Urban Renewal in the late 1960s early 1970s. And there are so many stories that over this next year will be added to the map.

Newburyport Stories

Go to the map to find out all about these stories and where the people lived or where the stories took place in Newburyport.

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive – 267 High Street, Rebecca Rawson

267 High Street – The tragic story of Rebecca Rawson (1656–1692)

Portrait of Rebecca Rawson c.1670, oil on canvas, courtesy of The New England Historic Genealogical Society

The story of Rebecca Rawson is one of great love, betrayal and cruelty by a con artist and a hustler, and then even more tragedy.

The Old Pillsbury House, 267 High Street, Newburyport, MA Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Edward Rawson, Rebecca’s father, sold his house and forty acres of land in Newbury in 1651 to William Pillsbury of Dorchester, and that is why it is known as the Pillsbury House.

The story can be read on the History ~ Newburyport website here.

Pillsbury home, on High Street, built in 1710
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

City and harbor of Newburyport, Mass. as seen from Pillsbury’s hill
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

map.historynewburyport.com

Rebecca Rawson (1656–1692)

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive – John P. Marquand, 82 Curzon Mill Rd

82 Curzon Mill Rd – John P. Marquand (1893-1960)

Marquand-Hale House near Curzon Mill
Courtesy of The Historical Society of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

“When financial reverses broke up the family’s comfortable household, John P. Marquand was sent to Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he was raised by his eccentric aunts, who lived in a crumbling Federal Period mansion surrounded by remnants of the family’s vanished glory. Marquand’s ancestors had been successful merchants in the Revolutionary period; Margaret Fuller and other aunts had been actively involved with the Transcendentalist and abolitionist movements.

Curzon Mill, Marquand house in the background
Courtesy of The Historical Society of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Marquand attended Newburyport High School, where he won a scholarship that enabled him to attend Harvard College.

82 Curzon Mill Road, Newburyport, MA today

82 Curzon Mill Road today

In the late 1930s, Marquand began producing a series of novels on the dilemmas of class, most centered on New England. The first of these, The Late George Apley (1937), a satire of Boston’s upper class, won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1938. Other Marquand novels exploring New England and class themes include Wickford Point (1939), H.M. Pulham, Esquire (1941), and Point of No Return (1949).” ~ Wikipedia

John P. Marquand

map.historynewburyport.com

Curzon Mill, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Mapping 32 Green Street home of Alice Hooper Fowle Cutler

Portrait of Alice Hooper by John Singleton Copley

Alice Hooper Fowle Cutler (1746–1826) was the daughter of Robert “King” Hooper, one of the wealthiest men in New England prior to the American Revolution as well as the sister of Stephen Hooper, who lived in Newburyport.

According an historian at St. Paul’s Church of Alice’s husbands when they died left her with children, no fortune, and no means of support, also reported by historian John J. Currier. Apparently Alice ran a rooming house in the beautiful house at 32 Green Street as a way to make ends meet. According to the Newburyport’s historic survey on the house, as well as the deed, in 1810, the house was divided in two, and Alice must have lived in one half and the wife and heirs of Joseph Bartlett lived in the other half.

Alice is buried at St. Paul’s church between her two husbands,

Alice died in 1826 at the age of 81. Alice is buried at St. Paul’s church between her two husbands, Joseph Cutler on the left and Jacob Fowle Jr on the right. ( Joseph Cutler died in 1801 and her first husband Jacob Fowle Jr died in 1778.)

Mapping of 32 Green Street

map.historynewburyport.com

Mapping of 32 Green Street

Mapping Newburyport’s Historic Places, Keeping the Story Alive – Starting with Stephen Hooper

In thinking about how to keep Newburyport’s history alive, I thought I might try mapping historic places in Newburyport. I started with Stephen Hooper’s house on Frog Pong.

Mapping History of Newburyport, starting with Stephen Hooper’s house

“Merchant and shipbuilder, son of Robert “King” Hooper of Marblehead, settled in Newburyport and became one of the town’s most prominent residents. Active in the West Indies trade, he was a partner in numerous privateering ventures during the Revolution. Although in 1786 he was the second richest man in Newburyport, by 1790 his net worth was only a fraction of what it once had been.” ~ The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, Volume 6,” Columbia University Press, By Maeva Marcus

Buildings by Frog Pond – Stephen Hooper’s house

“Its (the Free Mason Lodge, now located on Green Street) first Master was Stephen Hooper and its second Nathaniel Tracy two eminent and wealthy merchants who will always be remembered in our history.” ~ The Newburyport Daily Herald 1856

Stephen Hooper’s House, Pond Street

The portrait of Stephen Hooper is painted by Henry Pelham (the stepbrother of John Singleton Copley), a miniature, set in gold, 1773, a watercolor on ivory in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Portrait of Stephen Hooper,painted by Henry Pelham (the stepbrother of John Singleton Copley), a miniature, set in gold, 1773, a watercolor on ivory in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1851 Map showing building by Frog Pond

map.historynewburyport.com

Survey of Frog Pond 1771, City of Newburyport

An Unlikely Friendship between two Bloggers from Georgia and Newburyport

Sam Burnham and I formed an unlikely friendship in these divisive times. Sam is from Georgia, he is a Southern conservative and I am from Newburyport, Massachusetts, a Northern moderate liberal. We got to know each other when a pretty vicious website attacked where we lived in October 2015 for “click bate.” Sam and I were both pretty angry (so were a lot of other folks) and spoke up online against the two click bate young men who were behind it. Sam and I stayed in touch. He writes a blog, very much like mine, loves historic preservation, loves where he lives, his blog is called All the Biscuits in Georgia. Sam is a gentleman.

And since our country is so at odds with each other, Sam and I have mulled over the idea of how to transcend the cultural divide.

Sam started by including Newburyport in a blog post, he used two gorgeous photos and talked about the heroic achievement of Urban Renewal. It was very nice of him.

Here are two photos of Rome, Georgia, and one of rural Georgia, both are very important to Sam.

Rome, Georgia

Rome, Georgia, historic Broad Street

Near Adairsville, Ga, Courtesy and © All the Biscuits in Georgia

Sam and I disagree about a lot of stuff, but we also agree about a lot of stuff. We shared a common “adversary,” we also share a passion for historic preservation and a passion about the “sense of place” where we live.

Here are the photos of Newburyport that Sam put up on his blog post.

Unitarian Church on Pleasant Street, Newburyport, MA

Newburyport, Market Square

Newburyport If This House Could Talk-2018, So Many Great Posters

All the posters that folks made for “If This House Could Talk – 2018” are terrific, it is very hard to pick ones to share on The Newburyport Blog. But here are a few more.

45 Purchase Street, Hicks Bakery, Newburyport

45 Purchase Street, If This House Could Talk – 2018

Drawing of what 45 Purchase Street in Newburyport, then known as Hicks Bakery, looked like around 1920.

What 45 Purchase Street, then Hicks Bakery, looked like around 1920.

What 45 Purchase Street looks like today

What 45 Purchase looks like today

10 Beck Street, Newburyport

10 Beck Street, If This House Could Talk – 2018

10 Beck Street, Newburyport, today.

10 Beck Street, Newburyport, today

93 State Street, the Institution for Savings

93 State Street, the Institution for Savings, If This House Could Talk – 2018

93 State Street, the Institution for Savings, is as beautiful today as when it was built.

93 State Street, Newburyport, today

115 Merrimac Street

115 Merrimac Street, If This House Could Talk – 2018

The poster for 115 Merrimac Street in Newburyport tells the story, its history and what it looks like today.

To see the complete album for “If This House Could Talk – 2018” go here.

This link also works to see the album.

And please visit the “If This House Could Talk” Facebook page.

Newburyport — Resiliency

Market Square, 1972 from the alley next to the Fire House.

Market Square, Newburyport, around 1972, before Urban Renewal, from the alley next to the Fire House. Courtesy of Sharon Bauer, via the Newburyport History Buffs.

It always takes my breath away when I see photos of Newburyport before Urban Renewal. This is a photo, courtesy of Sharon Bauer via the Newburyport History Buffs on Facebook, of Market Square before the restoration of downtown. It was a slum. It’s very fancy now, in fact the whole town is very fancy now, but it was a slum. Sharon has the date as 1972, but it may be even earlier than that.

I moved here in 1981, downtown Newburyport had been restored, but the rest of Newburyport surrounding the downtown had not been. I was in the late part of the first wave that “discovered” Newburyport, an historic small city, surrounded by farmland, that seemed to be preserved in amber. We were painters, writers, musicians, teachers who thought we had discovered an unfinished masterpiece.

I bought my first house, a gorgeous Greek Revival on Federal Street, for $74,000 and was upset because the folks who sold it had it for one year and had doubled their money.

By the time I had driven down High Street and had parked on Green Street in front of the real estate agency, I knew this was home. I didn’t even know about Plum Island until after I bought the house (now that was an amazing surprise/plus). The Tannery was still a tannery (David Hall had not yet transformed it) and Maudslay State Park did not exist. The natives looked at those of us who came in early with a whole lot of suspicion (the subject of many, many blog posts over the years on The Newburyport Blog).

One of the things I sensed about Newburyport, I knew absolutely nothing about the city, was its resiliency. And Urban Renewal was not the first time that Newburyport had risen like a phoenix from the ashes. As a young woman that sense of resiliency resinated with me, it still does.

And now, 36 years later, Newburyport is in a “boom” phase. A friend of mine said to me, many, many years ago, that Newburyport was headed up, but it’s history was one of ups and downs, and it would decline again.

As I said, we are fancy now, so fancy I can hardly remember the resilient aura. I loved the city back in 1981 and I’ve loved it as it has blossomed in unimaginable ways. Yes there feels as if part of it is lost (so many blog posts on The Newburyport Blog) but I love where I live 36 years later.

Inn Street, Newburyport MA

Newburyport, There Once was a Railroad Station on Pond Street where CVS is Now

Back in September when I did a story on 7 Pond Street I discovered all sorts of things about Pond Street and the Bartlet Mall that I never knew before. And one of those things is that there was once a railroad station where CVS is now located.

The 1851 Map of Frog Pond

1851 Map, Frog Pond, Newburyport, MA

In the 1851 Map of Frog Pond there are a bunch of houses between Frog Pond and Pond Street.

The 1872 map showing the Railroad depot.

1872 Map showing Frog Pond and the Rail Road

In the 1872 map most of those houses still exist, but low and behold there is a train depot across the street where CVS is now located.

Detail of the 1872 map

1872 Map, detail, Rail Road, Pond and Greenleaf Street

The 1924 map of Pond Street

1924 Map of Pond Street

And in the 1924 map the houses between Frog Pond and Pond Street are now gone, but the building where CVS is now is still there.

A map of the rail road routes into and out of Newburyport, from Scott’s Railroad Archaeology Page

A map of the rail road routes into and out of Newburyport, from Scott’s Railroad Archaeology Page

Fortunately Joe Callahan wrote an article in the Newburyport Daily News in 2009 with lots of information about the railroad station. Joe wrote that around 1853 the Boston and Maine Railroad took over the operation of the Newburyport Railroad Company and both passenger and freight service existed. The passenger depot building faced Pond Street and the Bartlet Mall. Around 1884 passenger service stopped on Pond Street and the depot was used only for freight.

This is a photograph of the Pond Street Depot from the New York Public Library.

Pond Street Depot from the New York Public Library

Pond Street from the New York Public Library, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. “Pond St.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Detail of the passenger station depot with houses across the street courtesy of the New York Public Library

Detail of the passenger station depot with houses across the street, New York Public Library

Second detail with the houses across the street (that are on the map) from the New York Public Library

Detail of the passenger station depot with houses across the street, New York Public Library

The New York Public Library also has this photograph of the Pond Street houses.

Pond Street houses, courtesy of the New York Public Library

Pond Street houses, courtesy of the New York Public Library

And yes indeed they match exactly the photograph that we have in the Newburyport Public Library of the houses that once belonged to Stephen Hooper (see earlier post).

Pond Street houses courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Pond Street houses courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

All of which is pretty cool.

And the Newburyport Public Library also has a photograph of the B&M Passenger Station in the Archival Center.

Passenger station courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Passenger station courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center.

A second photograph of the train station across from Frog Pond courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center.

Passenger station, Pond Street, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

By 1921 the train station looks like it had fallen on harder times. This photograph is from a book published in 1921, “The Boston and Maine Railroad; a history of the main road, with its tributary lines,” by Francis Boardman Crowninshield Bradlee.

The Newburyport train station in 1921

The Newburyport train station in 1921

Joe Callahan writes that, “The original passenger depot building that faced on Pond Street was purchased in 1928 by “Bossy” Gillis and moved to Dalton Street. It was demolished several years later.”

On February 21, 1935, according to Joe, “The new B&M “Flying Yankee” streamliner arrived at the Pond Street yard and opened for public inspection. The Daily News reported 6,000 people boarded and viewed its lavish interior.”

The Flying Yankee was a very big deal.

Photograph of the Flying Yankee

Photograph of the Flying Yankee

A ticket for the Flying Yankee between Boston and Newburyport

A ticket for the Flying Yankee between Boston and Newburyport

A menu for the Flying Yankee

A menu for the Flying Yankee

There was no kitchen or dining car for food preparation on the train, passengers ate at their seats with trays similar to airline service. The food for the train was provided by the Armstrong Company.

The Boston and Maine Timetable 1943

The Boston and Maine Timetable 1943

According to Joe, “There was an old wooden roundhouse at the Pond Street yard, and upon the elimination of the passenger service, it was moved to face Greenleaf Street. In March 1908, Glen Mills Cereal Company of Rowley leased the structure and operated for many years making flour. The mill, under different owners, ceased operations in the early 1940s. Both Hytron and C. Leary Bottling Company leased the building for storage for many years following the mill operations.”

Joe writes that, “Back in the 1940s, there were always 10 or 12 freight cars at the depot. New cars arrived almost daily and were immediately unloaded.” And “With the decline of the railroads in the 1950s, the Pond Street site was closed and sold to the First National Supermarket chain. The last freight train out of Pond Street was in late 1954.

The freight house and the mill were demolished in the summer of 1955 and the tracks removed then as well. The First National opened in October 1956, expanded with an addition in April 1968 and closed in July 1980. A couple other food stores operated for short periods of time, but were unsuccessful before giving way to the busy CVS.”

Wedding Dress Worn by Nathaniel Carter’s Bride, Mary Beck, Newburyport 1742

Wedding dress worn by Nathaniel Carter’s Bride, Mary Beck, Newburyport 1742

Wedding dress worn by Mary Beck at her marriage to Nathaniel Carter, Newburyport, Massachusetts, September 1, 1742, the Museum of Fine Arts, MFA, Boston

Detail of the wedding dress

Detail of the wedding dress

Detail of the shoes and wedding dress.

Detail of the shoes and wedding dress

The formal wedding announcement of the marriage of Nathaniel Carter to Mary Beck

The formal wedding announcement of the marriage of Nathaniel Carter to Mary Beck

I found this wedding dress by chance, and I recognized the name. Nathaniel Carter was Rev. Thomas Cary’s father-in-law (see earlier post). Thomas Cary married Nathaniel Carter’s daughter Esther Carter in 1775.

After I wrote the post I discovered a deed from 1775 to Thomas Cary and his wife from Mr. Carter.

Here is a transcript of part of the 1775 deed (Page: 134 & Book: 148) from Nathaniel Carter “in consideration of the love and affection I bear to my son-in-law Thomas Cary and to Esther his wife my daughter land lying in Newbury-Port containing about two and a quarter acres with the dwelling house barn thereon on a highway called High Street” dated August 12, 1775.

Deed to Thomas and Esther Cary from Nathaniel Carter 1775

Deed to Thomas and Esther Cary from Nathaniel Carter

Nathaniel Carter was born in 1715 and died in 1798. He was a wealthy Newburyport merchant* and a large landowner. He married Mary Beck in 1742 and had 9 children, Esther was one of his daughters.

Nathaniel was one of the people who urged Newburyport to become a separate town from Newbury in 1764. He was Newburyport’s first treasurer. Carter was interested in education — two writing schools and one Latin grammar school for boys. One schoolhouse was on the upper side of Winter Street (near where the Kelly School building is), and the other was on School Street (land where the Jackman School once stood). He was was one of nine people who petitioned for a bridge crossing the Merrimac River at Deer Island. He owned land in what was then referred to as the “old part of town” as well as large tracts of land in Newburyport near the Deer Island. He owned land on High Street between Broad and Carter Street which extended slightly past what is now Munroe Street (I would imagine that Carter Street is named after him) and between Carter and Buck Streets.**

The Diary of John Quincy Adams

In the Diary of John Quincy Adams (September 13, 1787) I found his account of dining with Nathaniel Carter:

“Dined with Dr. Kilham at Mr. Carter’s. This is a very friendly, obliging old gentleman, about 73 years of age, as I collected from his conversation: he is very sociable, and is a great genealogist. He gave me a much more circumstantial account of my ancestry, for four or five generations back, than I had ever known before, and I am told he can give the same kind of information to almost any body else. He has two sons with him, both I believe between 25 and 30 years old and one daughter: one of his daughters was married in the beginning of the summer, to Mr. W. Smith of Boston and his eldest son, proposes to be married in the spring to Miss Eppes Cutts, who has made her appearance heretofore in this journal. Her sister, Miss Nancy Cutts is now upon a visit at Mr. Carter’s, and dined with us. I think she is handsomer, and that her manners are easier than those of her Sister. How the comparison might be, in mental qualifications I am not able to decide.” *

Signature of John Quincy Adams

Signature of John Quincy Adams

The actual page from John Quincy Adams Diary describing his account of dining with Nathaniel Carter ***

Unfortunately I could not find any portraits of either Nathaniel or his wife, and was not able to figure out where they lived in Newburyport. He was a contemporary of Patrick Tracy who built Tracy Mansion (the Newburyport Public Library).

This wonderful wedding dress was, by happy circumstance, what I discovered.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

* Diary of John Quincy Adams, Volume 2, September 13, 1787, Founding Families: Digital Editions of the Papers of the Winthrops and the Adamses, ed.C. James Taylor. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 2016. http://www.masshist.org/apde2/

** “North End Papers 1618-1880, Newburyport, Massachusetts: Development of the North End of the City” by Oliver B. Merrill, Originally published in the Newburyport Daily News 1906 &1908, transcribed by Margaret Peckham Motes 2007

*** John Quincy Adams diary 11, 1 July 1786 – 31 October 1787, page 337 [electronic edition]. The Diaries of John Quincy Adams: A Digital Collection. Boston, Mass. : Massachusetts Historical Society, 2004. http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries

Original manuscript: Adams, John Quincy. John Quincy Adams diary 11, 1 July 1786 – 31 October 1787. 2 + 377 pages (2 unnumbered pages, including handwritten title page, preceed numbered pages; pages 1-134, and 137-376 are numbered, pages 135-136 are blank and unnumbered, page 377 is unnumbered). Page dimensions: 17.2 cm x 12.1 cm (6-3/4 x in. 4-3/4 in.). Original manuscript from the Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

A 2003 grant from Save America’s Treasures, “Conservation of the Diary of President John Quincy Adams,” enabled the Massachusetts Historical Society to clean and deacidify soiled and brittle pages of the original manuscript volumes and to repair pages with paper loss, tears, or holes. Loose sheets of paper were hinged and tipped-in, and loose signatures were resewn. A conservation bookbinder repaired broken and damaged spines and covers on twenty-five of the fifty-one volumes. Because all of the bindings are original to John Quincy Adams, the conservation treatment was minimally invasive, because the diaries are artifacts worthy of study in their own right. The diary volumes now are stored in microchamber cases.

Tamsen Donner, 50 Milk Street, a Pioneer Woman, and the Wheelwrights were Actually Carpetbaggers

A couple of people asked me to look into Tamsen Donner, I had never ever heard of her. And along the way I found out a few things about “the Wheelwrights” of Newburyport.

Tamsen was related to the Wheelwrights. Please bear with me.

Jeremiah Wheelwright (born 1732) married Mary Davis (born 1737) (of Gloucester) .

They had a bunch of children including:

Abraham (born 1757) (who is a very big deal in Newburyport, he built 77 High Street.)
Ebenezer (born 1763) (father of William Wheelwright , who is a very big deal in Newburyport, he owned 75 High Street.)
Tamsen (born 1801)

75 and 77 High Street, Courtesy of Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey, Frank O. Branzetti, Photographer, Nov. 19, 1940

75 and 77 High Street, Courtesy of Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey, Frank O. Branzetti, Photographer, Nov. 19, 1940

Jeremiah is first a school teacher and then an explorer, he died in 1778 in Gloucester or died of exposure in a campaign in Canada (there are conflicting accounts).* His widow, Mary, “removed, with her family” from Gloucester to Newburyport. **3* “The Wheelwrights” who have enhanced our city in so many ways, moved from Gloucester — and they, in today’s Newburyport terms, were carpetbaggers. Mary died in 1822 at the age of 85.

The daughter, Tamsen, married William Eustis in 1785 and they lived in Newburyport. They had a daughter also named Tamsen born in 1801, who eventually married George Donner in 1839. So Tamsen Eustis Donner is the niece of Abraham Wheelwright and the cousin of William Wheelwright.

There has been some question as to where Tamsen Donner was born. I was told by a friend that she was born on Milk Street. And yup, my friend was right. I was able to trace the deed of 50 Milk Street back to Tamsen’s father, Willimam Eustis. And in the book, “Searching for Tamsen Donner,”** the author Gabrielle Burton mentions that Betsy Woodman had also told her that Tamsen was born at 50 Milk Street. So 50 Milk Street is a pretty significant place.

50 Milk Street, Newburyport

50 Milk Street, Newburyport

Tamsen Donner

Who is Tamsen Donner? Tamsen Donner is a heroine in the infamous “Donner Party,” a group of 87 pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train in 1846 and became trapped in the winter of 1846-1847 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, what is now known as the Donner Pass, and 39 people died. Some of the pioneers resorted to cannibalism to survive in what has been described as “one of the most bizarre and spectacular tragedies in Californian history and western-US migration.” ***

“In 1836 she (Tamsen) journeyed to the home of her brother in Illinois (after she had lost her first husband and and child in North Carolina to influenza in 1831) to teach his motherless children, remaining with his family for one winter before obtaining a teaching position in a school in Auburn, Ill. The following year she moved to the school at Sugar Creek where she met George Donner, whose home was near Springfield. Donner, a native of Rowan County, N.C., was a wealthy and respected man, twice widowed with young children still in the home. They were married on 24 May 1839, and in the following years Tamsen Donner bore three daughters, Frances (4 July 1840), Georgia (3 Dec. 1841), and Eliza (8 Mar. 1843).

Tamsen Donner was an intelligent woman, proficient in mathematics, geometry, and philosophy; she was fluent in French, an avid botanist, a competent painter, and a writer of prose and poetry. She is described as a small woman, five feet in height with a usual weight of ninety-six pounds, richly but quietly dressed, gracious, and charming. She and her husband were members of the German Prairie Christian Church near Springfield

It is somewhat surprising that the Donner family chose to leave their wealth in Sangamon County, Ill., to undertake a hazardous journey by wagon to California in 1846. George was sixty-two years old; Tamsen was forty-four with three small children and two stepdaughters. In early May George, his brother, Jacob, and their families left Independence, Mo., with a sizable train and traveled west during the summer with little difficulty. Nearing the end of their journey, they were beset by bad judgment and weather and were snowed in near what is now called the Donner Pass. Nearly half of the travelers died from exposure and starvation during the winter of 1846–47. Those who survived resorted to cannibalism.

Although small in stature, Mrs. Donner remained in good health and able to care for her family. Her daughters were rescued by search parties, but she refused to leave her husband who was dying from an infected wound. She was last seen by members of the third rescue party. The fourth and last group found only one person alive in the camps. There was no trace of Tamsen Donner’s body. She is presumed to have died between 26 March and 17 April 1847, approximately one year after leaving her home in Illinois.” ****

Tamsen Donner is the heroine of this story because she chose to send her children on with the last rescue party, and stayed with her husband while he was dying, a choice that meant certain death for Tamsen. **2*

A portrait of Georgia A. Donner, one of the surviving children from “History of the Donner Party: a Tragedy of the Sierra” by Charles Fayette McGlashan, 1880

A portrait of Georgia A. Donner, one of the surviving children from “History of the Donner Party: a Tragedy of the Sierra” by Charles Fayette McGlashan, 1880

The Donner Memorial State Park, the site of the Donner Camp where the Donner Party was trapped has been designated as a National Historic Landmark, commemorating the greatest mass migration in American history in the 1840s and 1850s, enticed by the California Gold Rush, where over 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers traveled overland for the gold fields and rich farmlands of California — the Emigrant Trail. The park contains the Emigrant Trail Museum.

The plaque for Tamsen and Elizabeth Donner

The plaque for Tamsen and Elizabeth Donner

The plaque for Tamsen and Elizabeth Donner in part reads, “Near this site, in the winter of 1846, two pioneer woman gave up their lives for their families. however most of their children survived to carry their mother’s dreams of a new life and new beginning to the valleys of California.

An inspiration to all who followed their footsteps across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, we herein honor the memory and the sacrifices of these two women in opening California to its destiny.“

Wagon Train on the Emigrant Trail

Wagon Train on the Emigrant Trail

* “The Wheelwright Family Story, by Steve J. Plummer” 2010

** “Searching for Tamsen Donner” by Gabrielle Burton, 2009

*** “History of the Donner Party: a Tragedy of the Sierra” by Charles Fayette McGlashan, 1880

**** “Dictionary of North Carolina Biography” by Martha Nel Hardy, University of North Carolina Press

**2* Tamsen Donner Letters: From dream to Legacy
http://www.thestormking.com/Donner_Party/Tamsen_Donner_Letters/tamsen_donner_letters.html

**3* “Ould Newbury: Historical and Biographical Sketches” by John James Currier

Ethel Reed, 53 Kent Street, A Rediscovered Artist of the 1890s and a Great Beauty

This has got to be another one of my favorite stories. Ethel Reed, born in Newburyport, I had never heard of her, and what an intriguing story.

Ethel was born in Newburyport in 1874, her father was Edgar Eugene Reed who married Mary Elizabeth Mahoney. Edgar is listed in the Newburyport City Directory as living at 41 Kent Street which today is 53 Kent Street (a big thank you to the Newburyport Assessors Office for helping me figure out the exact location of where Ethel lived).

53 Kent Street, Newburyport, Google Maps

53 Kent Street, Newburyport, Google Maps

Her father’s obituary describes him as a “Well Known and Popular Photographer.” Ethel and her family either lived with her father’s family on Kent Street or rented the house.

Very recently Ethel Reed has been “rediscovered.” There is a biography of her now by William Peterson.* I would disagree with Mr. Peterson’s description of the bleakness of Ethel’s early life in Newburyport and the desolation that he describes of Newburyport in general. I ended up with the opinion that Mr. Peterson understands very little about Newburyport, not much about artists (I am one) and very little about women (I am one of those too).

(One of the things that I have discovered looking into all these Newburyport stories is that people often rented houses. In another hunt, in 1836 I found two advertisements for fancy houses on High Street “To be Let,” i.e. rented, with a mention of the people who were currently renting them. One of the other things that I’ve found in all this research is that multi-generations of families, with their children’s spouses and their children lived in the same house. Lots of people lived in one house, unlike today. “Boarders” who are often listed in the Newburyport City Directories were often family members — Abbie Foster, her husband Daniel, and her sister Helen all lived with her mother at 14 Spring Street, and there are just tons of examples.)

Ethel’s life on Kent Street might not have been quite as horrible as Mr. Peterson speculates. There is a glorious sketch of Ethel by none other than Laura Coombs Hill in 1880 when Ethel was 6 years old. The drawing is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston — the MFA, really!

Ethel Reed, by Laura Coombs Hill, 1880, 10 x 7 3/4 inches
Wash and chalk on paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ethel Reed, by Laura Coombs Hill, 1880, 10 x 7 3/4 inches
Wash and chalk on paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

In 1890 Ethel and her mother apparently went to Boston (her father died in 1892). The Smithsonian Art Museum has this description of Ethel Reed (yup, the Smithsonian–the Smithsonian, I’m not kidding!).

Ethel Reed, Photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 1897

Ethel Reed, Photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 1897

“(Ethel) Reed briefly attended art school in Boston but was largely self-trained. Her circle included artists and writers in both Boston and London. She posed for photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston and F. Holland Day, and she provided illustrations forThe Yellow Book, an avant-garde British periodical. One of the most talented and prolific artists of the 1890s, she made her name during the poster craze of the period. She produced book illustrations, cover designs, and more than 25 posters, mostly in just two years, 1895 and 1896. Her creative burst earned her international recognition and she traveled to Europe and completed a few commissions for British publications through about 1898. Then she disappeared from the historical record.” **

A poster by Ethel Reed, The house of the trees and other poems by Ethelwyn Wetherald
Boston : Lamson, Wolffe, 1895, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

A poster by Ethel Reed, The house of the trees and other poems by Ethelwyn Wetherald
Boston : Lamson, Wolffe, 1895, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

There was an art show in Washington DC in 1896 mostly containing Ethel’s art work. The Washington Post describes Ethel Reed as “the foremost woman poster maker in America” and “one of the most beautiful women Washington has seen in ages.” *

“The Gainsborough hat” Photograph showing a woman (Ethel Reed), head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front, wearing a plumed hat, by F. Holland Day, 1895, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

“The Gainsborough hat”
Photograph showing a woman (Ethel Reed), head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front, wearing a plumed hat, by F. Holland Day, 1895, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

Helena Wright, the curator of the Graphic Arts Division at the Smithsonian Art Museum says that the Smithsonian Art Museum has a significant collection of Ethel Reed’s art work, including some of her earliest posters and a few unpublished designs. They were donated by Commander Charlotte Hume, U.S. Navy. The collection descended through Hume’s great-aunts, the Smith sisters of Newburyport, who knew Reed in the 1890s, but they lost touch when she moved to London. Reed presented the Smiths with her first posters soon after they were issued. Many are signed and dated in Reed’s distinctive, bold hand, “Compliments of Ethel Reed.” **

A poster by Ethel Reed, The Boston Sunday Herald, Ladies Want It, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

A poster by Ethel Reed, The Boston Sunday Herald, Ladies Want It, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
(This was Ethel Reed’s first poster.**)

Ethel ended up getting engaged to Philip Leslie Hale who was from a prominent, very stuffy Boston family. It appears that the family did not approve of the engagement which was broken off. Philip and Ethel apparently had been planning to go to Paris for their honeymoon and Ethel took off to Paris without him. She ended up living in London, and nothing much is known about her from that time. Apparently she died in 1912 at the age of 36. Her biographer speculates that opium, alcohol and sleeping medication contributed to her death.*

A photograph of Ethel Reed by Frances Benjamin Johnston, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 1896

A photograph of Ethel Reed by Frances Benjamin Johnston, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 1896

* “The Beautiful Poster Lady, A Life of Ethel Reed” by William S. Peterson, Oak Knoll Press, 2013

** Biography on the Smithsonian website by Helena E. Wright, the Curator of Graphic Arts in the Division of Culture and the Arts at the Smithsonian Art Museum

Clarence Fogg, Mayor of Newburyport 1915-1916

The portrait of Clarence Fogg, hanging in Newburyport City Hall

The portrait of Clarence Fogg, hanging in Newburyport City Hall

In my hunt for forgotten folks in Newburyport and where they lived, I came across Clarence Fogg. Mr. Fogg was born in 1853 (that would make him slightly younger, 7 years, than Abbie Foster, see earlier post, who was born in 1846) and died in 1936 at the age of 83. As a young man he was a sailor “at which time he visited most of the principal seaports of the world.” * When he came back home he worked as a shoe cutter in the Dodge shoe factory.

And in 1896 there is this lovely account of in the Newburyport Daily News about a birthday party given for Clarence’s son.

“Raiised A Flag. Clarence Fogg Celebrated Birthday Anniversary in Patriotic Manner

There was a flag raising on Milk street Saturday afternoon when the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Fogg celebrated his 10th birthday. There were about 50 people present and Capt. William Reed was master of ceremonies.

Miss Tula, daughter of Prentiss Reed, spoke several appropriate selections. Mr. Fogg had erected a large flag pole in his yard while the party sang the “Star Spangled Banner,” a beautiful American flag was unfurled from the top mast. After the flag raising a lunch was served and a merry time was enjoyed.” **

A Clipping from the Newburyport Daily News June 22, 1896

Clipping from the Newburyport Daily News June 22, 1896

The Newburyport City Directory shows that Clarence Fogg lived in what was then numbered as 33 Milk Street, it is numbered 43 Milk Street today (a big thank you to our Newburyport Assessors Office for helping me figure that out).

43 Milk Street, Newburyport

43 Milk Street, Newburyport

Clarence became involved in Newburyport city and Massachusetts state government. He was elected to the old common council in 1900 and served the next year on the board of alderman.* He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (then called the Massachusetts General Court) from 1902 to 1908. And in 1915 and 1916 he was elected as the Mayor of Newburyport.

The Newburyport City Directory has Clarence Fogg living at 110 State Street during the time that he was mayor.

110 State Street, Newburyport, Google Maps

110 State Street, Newburyport

Clarence Fogg, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Clarence Fogg, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

* The Newburyport Daily News, September 28, 1936
** The Newburyport Daily News, June 22, 1896

And a big “thank you” to Ghlee Woodworth for helping me locate Clarence Fogg’s portrait at Newburyport City Hall

Rev. Thomas Cary and 182 High Street, Newburyport, MA

One of the things that I liked the best about “If This House Could Talk,” which happened this summer, were the posters about the houses with portraits of people who lived or worked in them. I was so excited to find Stephen Hooper’s (see earlier post) portrait, that I thought I would start with a portrait and see if I could find a house to go with it. I Googled “Portrait, Newburyport” and came up with the name “Rev. Thomas Cary.” Rev. Cary was quite a guy, but I couldn’t find a house that he might have lived in — and that was the whole point, so I just dropped it. And then, working on another “mystery” I stumbled, out of the blue stumbled, on a deed with his name on it. It was a 1871 deed. Go figure.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has a portrait by the Rev. Thomas Cary — the MFA, really. The portrait was done in 1770, probably when he received his part of the inheritance from his father. **

Reverend Thomas Cary of Newburyport, 1770–1773 by John Singleton Copley, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Reverend Thomas Cary of Newburyport, 1770–1773 by John Singleton Copley, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Thomas Cary was born October 7, 1745 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He went to Harvard with Stephen Hooper (really!!)**, and has been described as a “man of wealth.”* Thomas became the minister of the First Church of Newburyport (now the Unitarian Church on Pleasant Street) on May 11, 1768 in the original meeting house (not the church that exists today), which was 45 by 60 feet and stood in the “market place with the steeple fronting the river and faced Fish Street” which is now State Street.* His parish was described as “the best in the port” with a membership that reached 2,000.** In 1775 he married Esther Carter of Newburyport who died in 1779. His second wife was Deborah Prince of Exeter, New Hampshire. He had a total of 11 children, two who survived, one from each wife.**

The top of the handwritten address that was delivered by Rev. Thomas Cary

The top of the handwritten address that was delivered by Rev. Thomas Cary for the ordination of Samuel Spring as the minister of the Second Congregational Church of Newburyport on August 6, 1777, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School

The complete handwritten 1777 address by Rev. Thomas Cary

The complete handwritten 1777 address by Rev. Thomas Cary, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School

In 1788 Cary had a stroke from which he partially recovered, and was assisted at the church by the Rev. John Andrews as a “colleague-pastor.” He died on November 24, 1808. In a memorial Thomas was described as, “A good and respected citizen, a kind husband, a most affectionate father and a most ardent friend. He was just, candid and sincere, charitable without ostentation, affable without pride, proving his faith by his works, and looking to Jesus for his reward.” ***

I found several references that he lived on High Street, and that his funeral started at his home on High Street and proceeded to the church where he had been the minister for so many years.

An excerpt from the 1871 deed

An excerpt from the 1871 deed

And quite by chance I came across a 1871 deed with Rev. Thomas Cary’s name in it. **** I was so excited. It was for a house on High Street and I matched the names Ebenezer Moseley and Edward Moseley on the deed with names on Newburyport Historic Survey for 182 High Street. It could be a match and I’m going with that.

Exterior of 182 High Street, 2007

The exterior of 182 High Street taken in 2007

Interior of 182 High Street, 2007

The interior of 182 High Street taken in 2007

182 High Street was built in 1792 and Cary died in in 1808, so obviously he lived somewhere else (I have no idea where) before that. And 182 High Street is a gorgeous house, the photos are from 2007 when it was last bought. And from everything I hear, the house has been magnificently restored. I think Rev. Thomas Cary would be very pleased.

The 1775 Deed given to Thomas and Esther

And as a PS: With some extra searching I found the 1775 deed that was given to Thomas and Esther by Esther’s father, Nathaniel Carter for what must have been a wedding present (obviously it is not the 1790 house at 182 High which was built later – a mystery on that one).

Excerpt of the 1775 Deed given to Thomas and Esther Cary from Esther’s father, Nathaniel Carter

Excerpt of the 1775 Deed to Thomas and Esther Cary from Esther’s father, Nathaniel Carter

________________________________________________________________________

At the end of Rev. Thomas Cary’s life his house was described as:

“The mansion house of said deceased with the buildings belonging to and land adjoining the same: $10,000” ($10,000 was a lot of money back then).

With a “North room, East Room, Study, East Chamber, Entry, West Chamber, South West Chamber , South Chamber, Upper chambers, South Kitchen, North Kitchen, Cellar”

(Probate Record of 1808)

Description of Rev. Thomas Cary’s house 1808

_________________________________________________________________________

*A history of the First Religious Society in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Minnie Atkinson , 1933

** John Singleton Copley in America, Metropolitan Museum of Art , 1995

*** ‪A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, from 1635 to 1845‬, Joshua Coffin, 1845

**** Salem Deeds: Book: 824 Pages: 124 & 125, and Book: 823 Pages 182 & 183

Riches to Rags, Alice Hooper (Fowle Cutler), Newburyport, MA

After I put up the post on Stephen Hooper (see earlier post) I got an email about his sister, a clue, which, with some research, gave me a huge glimpse/understanding of what his life must have been like back then in the second part of the 1700s.

Portrait of Alice Hooper, 1763, by John Singleton Copley

Portrait of Alice Hooper (Stephen Hooper’s sister), 1763, by John Singleton Copley, The Milwaukee Art Museum

Stephen Hooper had a number of brothers and sisters, including two sisters who came to Newburyport. Ruth, who married Tristram Dalton (The Dalton Club, that Dalton) and Alice, who first married Jacob Fowle Jr, and then as a widow married Joseph Cutler. Stephen, Alice and Ruth were the children of Robert “King” Hooper (see earlier post) the wealthiest merchant in Marblehead.

Alice Hooper Fowle Cutler is not one of those Newburyport folks who has been forgotten. A brief biography is on the website of St. Paul’s Church and she is mentioned on the website of the Clipper Heritage Trail. John Singleton Copley did a portrait of her that now hangs in the Milwaukee Art Museum, which was painted around 1763, depicting the young lady who was at that time seventeen years old, and whose portrait was painted in honor of her engagement to Jacob Fowle, Jr.

Alice moved in the same social circles as her brother Stephen Hooper, her sister Ruth (Mrs. Tristram Dalton) and their friends such as Nathaniel Tracy (Tracy mansion, the Newburyport Library, that Tracy).

I found this incredible and fascinating description of what life was like for these then “rare and important” people in Newburyport in the second half of the 1700s in Newburyport.

“Tristram Dalton, on his marriage with Miss Hooper, of Marblehead (Ruth), reached home (Newburyport) in this style: “His splendid new carriage was drawn by six white horses, decorated with white feathers; they hold four outriders, and footman and coachman dressed in new liveries.” So they rode down State Street, with the carriage-top thrown back.” *

And this extraordinary and really interesting description of Nathaniel Tracy:

“Nathaniel Tracy’s education was the best the country could afford. He was graduated at Harvard in 1769, and was in the vigor of his early manhood during the Revolution. His residence was the building on State Street now used for the Public Library, and, with his means and cultivated taste, it was one of the most attractive places in the Commonwealth. It abounded in all that heart could wish. His slaves — for that was the era of negro slavery in Massachusetts — served the guests at his tables, and they were not unfrequently the most distinguished men of this and foreign lands. His carriages, with liveried drivers, six in hand, and outriders, were such as have never been seen in the town since his day. He owned several country seats, summer retreats, hunting-grounds, and fine fish-ponds, with other conveniences and attachments such as would have become a British lord.” *

What is amazing is that Stephen Hooper’s father, Robert “King” Hooper, was bankrupt when he died. Stephen Hooper’s fortune was only a fraction of what it was when he died in 1802. Both Tristram Dalton and Nathaniel Tracy lost everything by the time that they died. Yikes.

32 Green Street, Newburyport, MA, Google Maps

32 Green Street, Newburyport, MA

Alice and her second husband, Joseph Cutler, settled at 32 Green Street in 1787, a gorgeous Georgian three story brick building that still exists today.

According to the gentleman who emailed me, both of Alice’s husbands when they died left her with children, no fortune, and no means of support. Apparently she ran a rooming house in that beautiful building on the corner of Washington Street and Green Street as a way to make ends meet. According to the Newburyport’s historic survey on the house, as well as the deed, in 1810, the house was divided in two, and Alice must have lived in one half and the wife and heirs of Joseph Bartlett lived in the other half. Alice died in 1826 at the age of 81. Alice is buried at St. Paul’s church between her two husbands, Joseph Cutler on the left and Jacob Fowle Jr on the right. ( Joseph Cutler died in 1801 and her first husband Jacob Fowle Jr died in 1778.)

Alice’s grave at St Paul’s Church in Newburyport, between the graves of her two husbands, Joseph Cutler on the left and Jacob Fowle Jr. on the right.

Alice’s grave at St Paul’s Church in Newburyport, between the graves of her two husbands, Joseph Cutler on the left and Jacob Fowle Jr. on the right.

* “‪Standard History of Essex County, Massachusetts‬: ‪Embracing a History of the County from Its First Settlement to the Present Time, with a History and Description of Its Towns and Cities. The Most Historic County of America‬” by ‪Cyrus Mason Tracy‬, ‪Henry Wheatland‬, ‪C. F. Jewett & Company‬, 1878