The period of migration from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony between 1620 to 1641 has become known as "The Great Migration." It is thought that within that 11 years, some 80,000 men, women, and children left England.
Many of the early arrivals landed at the Boston and Charlestown ports. Within months of arrival, groups of people ventured to areas north and south of Boston. In the case of Methuen, our founder's ancestors were eventually settlers on the north shore of Massachusetts – Rowley, Ipswich, Newbury, and Colchester, now called Salisbury. Many of these settlers made their way to Haverhill, then called Pentucket. The eventual name Haverhill was named after the birthplace of Rev. Ward, who brought the original settlers from Haverhill, England. The area was settled, prior to the European settlement, by the native tribes of Pentuckets, Pawtuckets and Agawams.
The early settlers of Haverhill included names familiar in the history of Methuen – Davis, Whitier, Eaton, Swan, Bodwell, Barker, Carleton, Griffin, and many others. Haverhill was sold November 15, 1642, to the early settlers by two Native American Chiefs, Passaquot and Saggahew.
The original deed exists in the archives of the Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds. The marks of the two chiefs were bow and arrow. The deed states that the tribe "which inhabited it was under their jurisdiction but were subject to the authority of Passacconnamy who was the great power."
Our area witnessed many skirmishes with the Native Americans well into the 18th century, but there was only one provocation that we know of, around Worlds End Pond, in present day Methuen. Many of the towns along the Merrimack River sought the protection of Major General Daniel Denison of Ipswich, deputy Governor of the Commonwealth, and founder of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, which is still in existence today. This important colonial gentleman is a part of Methuen History. The Great and General Court granted him six hundred acres, and, according to Joseph Howe, a chronicler of Methuen History in the 19th century, as much as one thousand acres near the Merrimack River.
The Denison land, farm and book today exist on the west corner of Tyler Street. The Denison House dates from the early 18th century and was not built by Daniel Denison but by his descendants. In addition to this house, the two oldest standing houses in Methuen are the old Clark home at the end of Pelham Street and the Thomas Eaton home, across from Raymond's Turkey Farm on Hampstead Street. Both are considered first period homes. Historic Methuen has identified twenty-five homes which predate or date to the time of the Revolution and feel there could be more hidden in later renovations.
The horrific events of 1692 which seized towns in Essex County - the Salem Witch Hysteria - did not escape Methuen. Timothy Swan was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Swan, and his family were early leaders in Methuen's government. In an 1896 address before the Methuen Historical Society, Robert Tewksbury wrote, "The only Methuen victim of witchcraft...was Timothy Swan and he was sinned against rather than a sinner. Mary Parker, Mercy Wardwell and William Barker confessed to having afflicted him during his sickness, and poor old widow Ann Foster testified that she had been guilty of hurting Timothy Swan." Timothy died in 1693.
In Puritan Massachusetts, to be a property owner, you had to be a freeman in the community, which meant among other things that you and your family attended the weekly Church service. The early records contain many instances where people were visited by an appointed person whose role was to make sure you and your family were regular attendees at services. If you neglected regular attendance, there were fines and public humiliation.
Travelling to and from Sunday services could be an arduous journey. People had to walk or ride long distances to and from the Meetinghouse. Some had a small cart or carriage, and the family would take turns on who would ride and who would walk. It is almost impossible to imagine people travelling from what is now Methuen to a meetinghouse in what today would be downtown Haverhill to attend Sunday services. This difficulty was surely the major reason for West Haverhill settlers to seek the creation of a new community with their own Meetinghouse and ministry.
The first step in the quest to create a new community began as early as 1712. Nine residents of west Haverhill petitioned the town to apply for a tax abatement for their contributions for the ministry and the school. Their petition addressed the distance they lived from the town and the difficulty to travel there for Sunday services. The town meeting voted to abate one-half of the taxes for the support of the ministry. Those nine citizens were unaware at the time, but their petition laid the groundwork for the establishment of their new community. Subsequently, a petition was presented by Joshua Swan and others regarding "a tract of land containing about 50 to 60 acres, lying on a hill called Meetinghouse Hill." According to the petition, this land was set aside for the future use of the ministry. The citizens argued that as the population in that part of Haverhill (now Methuen) continued to grow, they might be able to maintain a ministry. In the spring of 1719, Stephen Barker, Henry Bodwell, and others petitioned the town "to grant a certain tract of land in Haverhill so that they might be a township or parish." The Haverhill Town Meeting denied their petition.
In the Spring of 1724, Stephen Barker and others petitioned the Great and General Court for a new town, to be formed from the portion of Haverhill above Hawke's Meadow Brook. Haverhill opposed the petition, but on December 8, 1725, the Great and General Court allowed the petitioners to incorporate the new town. The inhabitants were instructed to put aside two hundred acres of land for the use of the ministry and a lot of fifty acres for a school.
It is accepted that William Dummer, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay named the town, Methuen, after his friend, Sir Paul Methuen. Lord Methuen was a member of the King's Privy Council, a diplomat and ambassador to Portugal. The original act of incorporation of Methuen shows that the name of Methuen was inserted by a hand different from the one which engrossed the bill. The ink used, according to Joseph Howe, was commonly used by Governor Dummer. Our community's namesake is buried in Westminster Abbey in London, England.
The first town meeting took place on March 9, 1726. The General Court instructed Stephen Barker to gather the residents who were qualified to vote in the month of March and to choose town officers. Stephen Barker was chosen as Moderator, and William Whittier, was chosen town clerk. The five selectmen were John Bailey, Ebenezer Barker, Asie Swan, Daniel Bodwell and Thomas Whittier. Robert Swan was chosen as town Treasurer. The other boards established at this time were Surveyors of Highways and Fence viewers. Upon the request of any citizen the fence viewer viewed fences to see that they were in good repair and in case of disputes between neighbors, worked to resolve their differences. Tithingmen were charged with preserving order in church during the service. They had long sticks with a hard knob on one end and an animal's tail on the other which were used to wake people or correct any rowdiness or disturbances. They also oversaw the financial contributions to the Church. Field drivers were charged to inform the pound keeper of any animal doing damage and Hogreeves who were charged with the prevention or appraising damages by stray swine.
There were nine town meetings that first year and the most important discussion resolved around building the Meetinghouse, making plans to hire a Minister, and setting aside land for a burial ground.
There was, at this early date, no meetinghouse or other public structure for the inhabitants to meet and worship in. It was decided that the meeting place would be at the home of Asie Swan, a Selectman and later town clerk. To give you a sense of the vastness of Methuen, it is believed that Asie Swan's house was located somewhere in the vicinity of East Haverhill and Ferry Streets in what is now Lawrence but then Methuen. The house was moved to Prospect Street in the early 1800's.
The first real battle among the town meeting members was where the Meeting House should be put. When the debate was taking place about separating from Haverhill, the land set aside for the Meetinghouse was on Meetinghouse Hill. At the May 28, 1726, town meeting, a motion was put forth for the meeting house to be located at a place between James Davis's house and Samuel Smith's house on present day Prospect Street on what was known as Powder Hill. At a town meeting, twenty-eight, or a majority of those in attendance voted for the Powder Hill site. But a minority of twenty-two members including Stephen Barker and Joshua Swan the moderator, voted for the land previously set aside on Meetinghouse Hill.
As plans progressed for the building of the meeting house, it was determined at the August 23, 1726 meeting that the size of the meeting house would be 40 feet long, 35 feet in width and 20 feet stud and a committee was appointed to choose a carpenter to frame the meetinghouse on the powder Hill site.
But the minority were tenacious and crafty. Their plan was to approach the Great and General Court to plead their case and reverse the decision of the majority. The Court appointed committee concluded that the original lot set aside years before for the parsonage was the best place, and the Court ordered that the Meetinghouse be torn down and re-built on the original site. It was a tumultuous first year for the new community.
At this time, the town meeting appointed Joshua Swan and William Whittier to set aside one acre of land for a cemetery. This original cemetery exists today and many of Methuen's founders are buried there. I hope you will join Historic Methuen on July 4th for the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence and take a tour of the resting place of founders, 47 Revolutionary war minutemen and the Rev. Christopher Sargent, first Pastor of the First Church. A few years ago, Historic Methuen asked permission of the City to repair and restore the deteriorating gravestones. Two monetary grants from the Festival of Trees were given to restore the stones and now the cemetery is in excellent condition.
When finally constructed there was only one pew in the Meetinghouse which was designated for the Minister's family with the congregation generally being seated on benches. The building was not heated in winter. There was a tavern in those days owned by Jeremiah Frye where the worshippers went around noon to take the chill off. The tavern was located across the road from the Meetinghouse where the entrance to the Hospital is today. Most long-term inhabitants of the community refer to this hill as Daddy Frye's Hill.
No Picture exists of the original Meetinghouse. It was replaced in 1796 with a new and larger building. A picture of this 2nd Church can be seen at the Methuen Museum of History.
We know that it had a balcony and the Methuen Museum has a record of the people who purchased their pews in this Church as was the practice in colonial Massachusetts. It is believed that the barn once attached to 70 Arlington Street could have been the Church or part of it. Discussions with former owners of the property confirmed that the barn, which was demolished in the 1970's, had an upper level.
As the town grew, the Village moved to the area where the present First Church Congregational is today. Growth brought new centers of religious activity. In 1815, the First Baptist Church was established on land donated by Bailey Davis, son of the hero John Davis of Bunker Hill fame.
There were two other early churches in Methuen. In 1766, First Parish parishioners in West Methuen started the 2nd Congregational Church. It had a short life and later merged back with the First Church. In 1738 a separate North Parish Meeting house was constructed. In 1741 the state line was contested between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and a new state line was drawn. This area of Methuen was created as the Methuen district in the province of New Hampshire. It was later incorporated as Salem, NH in 1750 and was called New Salem or Salem New for many years. Today it is known as Salem's old town hall and museum. It has recently undergone a $300,000 historic restoration.
The early town meeting records contain references to schools to educate the town's citizens. The Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony believed the inhabitants had to be educated to understand the written codes the colonists were living under, both religious and secular. As a result, public education was begun in the 17th century in New England. The value of literacy, the ability to read the Bible and participation in town meetings were the building blocks of our educational system. For most of the 18th century, school was primarily kept in people's homes. Children attended school for 2-2 1/2 months out of the year, usually in the winter, so that the young people were available for planting and harvesting on their family's farm. Historic Methuen has compiled a very comprehensive history of Methuen's schools.
There have been many challenging times as written in early records, newspapers and books of our town and the Merrimack Valley, including severe earthquakes and caterpillar infestations. In the spring of 1734, people in Methuen and Haverhill noticed the presence of large caterpillars in the wooded areas which resulted in widespread devastation of the foliage and trees. According to eyewitness accounts, every tree was covered with them, and they swarmed in ponds and lakes. The wheels of farmer's carts were green from the crushing of caterpillars in the roads. When there was nothing left for them to eat, the caterpillars died from starvation.
The worst pestilence was the throat distemper disease which spread rapidly in 1725-1738. Many families lost several or most of their children to this disease. In the research done on the Meetinghouse Hill cemetery, we discovered a few gravestones of Methuen children who succumbed to this disease.
In 1775, Methuen began planning for the conflict ahead - the American Revolution. They began training the so-called minutemen and on March 9, 1775, they provided bayonets for their use. Training began for the militia, and the people were warned that strangers were among them spying on the preparations they were making. All told, 157 Methuen minutemen marched towards the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Although the distance kept them from the fight, Methuen's militia, under the command of Capt. John Davis, were very engaged in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
As the 18th century ended, the 19th century produced three remarkable families - Searles, Nevins and Tenney's. The gifts each family endowed our community with, including the beautiful Nevins Memorial Library, Greycourt State Park and the Tenney Gatehouse which houses our city's museum, and the incredible contributions of Edward and Mary Searles, make our community unique and blessed in so many ways.
So much of our history has been lost, neglected and unappreciated. The homestead of the Nevins family was built by their ancestors, the Swan Family and historian Ernie Mack suggested that parts of it could have dated to the late 1600's. This significant home was demolished to make way for the Quinn Municipal Building.
The magnificent French Chateau style mansion of the Tenney family, Greycourt, was remarkable in so many ways. It was destroyed by a fire in 1978.
And now, as a community, we have the ability, as supported by so many Methuenites, to save and restore the spectacular Searles Estate. As we move into our city's fourth century, let's resolve to save Methuen's history for the present and future generations.