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IN
THE
HEART OF CAPE ANN OR THE
STORY OF DOQTOWN BY
CHARLES
With
Illustrations
E.
MANN
by Catherine M. Follansbee
GLOUCESTER, MASS.
:
PROCTER BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS 1
08 MAIN STREET
h
To ^'''^"T^iu
rB^ ^''^'^
\
PREFATORY NOTE. These Dogtown Sketches wholly as the result of an
were written
ahiiost
effort to satisfy the curiosity
biography and
tra-
ditions of the deserted village, their continuation
and
of the author
as to the history,
publication being encouraged by the general tion they
commanded.
are complete, l^ut
it is
It
is
atten-
not claimed that they
believed they contain far
more
information than has yet been published concerning their subject.
The
writer desires to express his deep
sense of obligation to those who, before the publication of
the
matter originally prepared,
and
since,
have assisted by furnishing facts and reminiscences.
4
PREFATORY NOTE.
Thev have made
it
possible to get together a mass of
authentic history, where at
first it
seemed
that at best,
only a few traditions were to be rescued from ion.
Of course nearly
memories
of
a source
of
those of
material
the
Cape Ann's aged people, and unalloyed pleasure to
listen to their discourses
Among
all
an
upon the days
the
has been
by them and of long ago.
memories
of
this
hour spent
in
ancient kitchens,
the precious
many
sit
in
is it
ol)liv-
year will be
while sweet-faced old ladies, often with sweeter voices, or
men
with whitened locks and time-furrowed
cheeks, recalled the stories told them by the fireside
by other dear old women and noble old men of century.
No wonder
Gloucester has developed into
such an admirable and lovable a community, there
still
lingers
among
honored progenitors.
a past
her people so
many
when
of their
CHAPTER WHERE
IS
I.
DOGTOWN
Ever since Goldsmith wrote
?
"Deserted Vil-
his
lage" there has been a weird, poetic and sentimental
charm about abandoned erted itself over
pleasure to
make
settlements, that has so ex-
some minds
that
has become a
it
the investigations incident to a cor-
men found
it
convenient or necessary to build habitations which
it
rect understanding: of
what manner
afterwards became advisable to desert.
have given lifetimes, almost, the
modes
to the
of
Archaeologists
imestigation of
of life of the cliff dwellers of
Arizona and
The Story of Dogtozvn.
6
New
Mexico.
cities in
few ruined
Tliere are comparatively
America
and even more rare are
;
tlie
in-
stances of deserted villages which were once inhabited
bv white men, the progenitors ing to-dav.
It
with their ancestors,
in
was once inhabited by
affairs of
to
acquaint
are liv-
writer
tlie
many people
figin\ative sense, for in the
a
Cape Ann mav be found
tant progenitors of
who
been the pleasure of
lias
during the past few months
heart of
of people
the grandparents or
manv who
which
a village
more
dis-
are to-dav acti\e in the
Gloucester and Rockport.
To-dav the onlv
inliabitants
" Dog^town
of
"
are
lowing kine, an occasional decrepit horse turned out to
pasture as a pensioner, or woodchucks, crows and
migrating birds. its
Its
grass-grown
foot-worn door-stones
place by the occasional
mav be summer
streets are there,
used for toinist
a restinof-
on
a
tramp
across the cape, a curiosity seeking Appalachian, or bv the
more numerous berry
in the
midst of such
a
\n
pickers.
aste of rocks, as
Dogtown Commons, always e\'en
manv
more suggesti\e cellars,
leads
to
cleared land is
the rule in
speculation
are the walled yards and the
both of houses and farm building's.
Concerning these old their
The
cellars novelists
romances, and poets have sung.
century ago they
excited
the
have woven
Nearly
interest
of
a half-
Richard
The Story of Dogtown.
Henry Dana and of rare
Long
King and
Tlionias Starr
minds they drew
afterwards,
Col.
7
the circle
Cape Ann with them.
to
Thomas Wentworth Hig-
ginson, in one of those delightfnl bits of reminiscence scattered throngh to
"Oldport Days," described
Dogtown Commons from Pigeon Cove
"What
can
a
walk
:
Hawthorne mean by saying
in
his
English diary that 'an American would never understand
the
passage in Bunyan about Christian and
Hopeful going astray along by
a by-path into the
grounds of Giant Despair, from there being no
and by-paths of
in
our country'
American pedestrianism
instance, the
Gloucester,
whole
is
So much
?
lies in
of
interior
a continuous
of the
the by-paths
stiles
charm :
For
Cape Ann, beyond
woodland, with granite
ledges everywhere cropping out, around which the
high-road winds, following the curving and indented line of the sea,
and dotted here and there with fishing
hamlets.
This whole interior
work
foot-paths,
and
of
traversed by a net-
rarely passable
not always for a horse,
destrian to go from
is
any one
other, in a line almost direct,
By
the
for
a
wagon,
but enabling the peof the villages to
any
and always under an
longest of these hidden
agreeable
shade.
ways, one
may go from Pigeon Cove
to Gloucester,
ten miles, without seeing a public road.
In the
little
TJic Story
8
inn at
Dog-fozv?/.
former village there used
tlie
map
of this
some
of these paths,
the
of
whole
forest region,^ giving a chart of
which were
said to date
One
settlement of the countrv.
first
was
instance,
Sandy Bay
back
to
of them, for
map 'Old
on the
called
road from
'vSquam Meeting-House through the
to
Woods'; but
hang an old
to
the road
is
now
scarcely even a bridle-
path, and the most faithful worshipper could not seek
'Squam meeting-house woods have been
knew
some gap
more than wayfarer
"A
a
it
we
Often
forest.
into
lately devastated
the region,
was
;
good
as
I first
any German
as
stepped from the edge of the sea
in
woods; there seemed hardlv
tlie
who had dell
when
but
we met some
rabbit-track, vet presently
pinev
These
the family chaise.
in
crossed
tlie
gave some
;
it.
vista of the
were leaving, and an opening another blue sea-line before
Cape bv
in the
broad sea
we
woods displayed
the encountering breezes
interchanged odors of berry bushes and scent of brine penetrating further
upon some
Spenser drew its
path.
Then
1
This
is
it
was not
built
vine-clad gable
turned
hangs
;
among oaks and walnuts we came
cottage, quaint
little
the
and sheltered as any on the high-road, and
awav from even
the foot-
ground rose and other breezes came
a reference to the "
at the present
;
time in the
Mason" map
office
of Cajie Ann.
of the city clerk.
A
copy of
;
it
The Story of Dogtoivn.
we climbed
perhaps
trees to look for
landmarks, and
Three miles inland,
found only an unseen quarry. I
9
as
remember, we found the hearthstones of a vanished
we passed
settlement; then
flowers
a
swamp
with cardinal
then a cathedral of noble pines, topped with
;
crows' nests.
If
we would have
we had
not gone astray, by this time
presently emerged on
Dogtown Com-
mon, an elevated tableland, overspread with great boulders as with houses, and encircled with a girdle of
green woods and another girdle of blue
know is
a
sea.
of nothing like that gray waste of boulders
natural Salisbury Plain, of
I ;
it
which icebergs and
ocean currents were the Druidic builders
;
in
that
multitude of couchant monsters there seems a sense of
suspended
answer
life
;
you
feel as
if
they must speak and
each other in the silent nights, but by day
to
only the wandering sea-birds seek them, on their
way
across the Cape, and the sweet-bay and green fern
imbed them go by.
in a softer
This
foot-path
;
is
and deeper setting as the years
the 'height of ground' of that wild
but as you recede farther from the outer
ocean and approach Gloucester, you come
among
still
wilder ledges, unsafe without a guide, and you find in
one place a cluster of deserted houses, too of access to
remove even
difficult
their materials, so that they
are left to moulder alone.
I
used to wander in those
The Sto?y of Dogtowit.
lo
woods, summer
summer,
after
had made
till I
now when
chart of their devious tracks, and
mv
midsummer,
eyes in this Oldport
on something of
air takes
hammer and
the soft Italian
I
the veerv's song
and
;
and the
salt sea lias a regal
I
is
Heart
of
and geographical features
Cape Ann.
The
nec-
blue."
many
Col. Higginson hints in the above passage at of the topographical
long
for those
promontories of granite where the fresh water tar
for
;
hear the tinkle of the
perfumed and breezv pastures, and
for those
close
I
Scandina\ ian vigor
a
the incessant roll of carriages
quarrvman's
own
mv-
old road
of the
from Sandy Bay
now known as Revere street. He draws the line between Dogtown village and Dogtown Commons with as much care as the most to
'Squam
or
what
is
Raccoon
Dogtown
is
ledge,
life of
liness
difhcult to say which.
Whv
did
families exile themselves from
in povert\
,
in this
The name ''Dogtown,"
came from
barren and secluded
it is
well understood,
the canines kept by the so-called
of the place,
natural
is
mentions
the villages so near them, and dwell in lone-
and often
spot?
it
also
a pathetic, fascinating place.
more than one hundred the
He
old-timer could wish.
particular
Lamb
is
when
protectors
beneath the ocean.
the evil davs either in
came
their
"widows "
that
saw
their
graves or buried
The Story of Dogtown. There are many approaches
to
1
Dogtown.
have
I
quoted Col. Higghison's description of the route from
Pigeon Cove, by way of the old road from Sandy Bay
'Squam church, which
to the
a mile
Com-
passable.
leave the church, walk
may
ing from 'Squam, one
is still
Ann
through the same road, past the Cape
Granite Co.'s quarries, the road passing through the
upper end of one,
house of David Dennison,
to the
an ancient gambrel-roofed lean-to, built by Mr. Dennison's of
first
ancestor on
the better
class of
a fine
sample
Dogtown homes.
From
Cape Ann, and the
here he can liranch off to the right, by the Whale's
Jaw, and thence go
by Goose Cove, near Riverdale, leads point, the
ning, or
more probably by
jaws of
a
in
main
same
by
light-
resemble the open street,
of Judith
R3'on
Abraham Wharf, and
thence
(or Rhines), to that of to the
frost, to
the
Gee avenue and Stanwood
lead past
Riverdale,
to
a great boulder split
Whale's Jaw,
whale.
The road
to the deserted village.
the cellar
street of the village.
Persons coming from East Gloucester may, are strong on
their feet,
go up Webster
enter the pastures by crossing task, for
raines in
it is
they
street
and
Lamb Ledge â&#x20AC;&#x201D; no
small
one of the most wonderful terminal mo-
New
upon another
if
England, the boulders being piled one
in the
most orderly confusion
until they
The Story of Dogtozvu, reach the level of the into
a
Commons from
13
the deep valley
which some glacier swept them ages ago.
good hour's
It is
the ledge, and then one
stint to cross
passes by Railcut Hill, the highest point on the outer
Cape,
Rockport road, another picturesque
to the old
and grass-grown highway of olden times, and enters the Pigeon
Jaw
Cove path which continues by the Whale's
at the clearing
son of
once occupied by James VVitham,
Thomas and grandson
of
Henrv, the
first
of the
line in this countrv.
Witham was born in 1693, and built this house at what is known as Stacy's Pines, the location bearing the suggestive
gaged
in
tending flocks for the
annuallv, his son
Only the
Thomas
cellar of the
& Maine
of the tides
succeedino-
The path
railroad runs,
on
to the
its
sentinel ledges,
'Squam
river,
"Peter's Pulpit," which a pitch-roofed
Dogtown
in his
It
road,
in later
for mirth
and
continues across of the Bos-
showing
that once
Good Harbor
and thence
in
was
work.
which bears the marks
they flowed through here from
Beach
him
young people
demolition.
en-
family, for $300
which the Gloucester Branch
the valley in
ton
Low
house remains.
years a great resort for jollity until its
He
the "parting path."
of
title
the
or
Long
to the big rock,
distance
looks like
house, which stands directly on
marking the end
of the
main
the
settle-
H
of Dogto-vu.
TJic Story
The following diagram may
inent.
give a clearer
idea of the foregoing p,
A
The
f
straight lines in the triangle
represent the
A
general direction of three very crooked roads. the point on of
B
Dogtown
road,
Reynard and Cherry meets
what
From
it.
A
beyond the intersection
streets,
the
where the road from
Dogtown road
Riverdale
old residents of
is
call
continues up
"gravel
hill,''
past the Vivian barn, and on to the rock variously called "Peter's Pulpit," -Pulpit
Andrew's Rock," Whale's Jaw.
Day
house.
Stanwood
B
to
C
is
B
is
is
is
the
It
A
is
the point
meet.
The
then
Common
"Dogtown
to
winds on
to
where Gee avenue and orass-sfrown road from
road," that
Dog-town.
is,
road," and that from
nearer civilization than either of the others.
$50
to
it is
That from
A
paradoxically called the " back road," though
a prize of
the
the site of the Nathaniel
"Dogtown Common
the road o\er the
A to C
C.
Opposite
street
the
at
Rock," and "Uncle
to
B
it is
Were
be offered a person wdio would
start
The Story of Dogtown. from A, go
to
C
B, thence to
and back
getting off the road, he probably never I
it.
to get spirit
of
a witch, has
A
Practically
roads by the is
also
of
Judy Rhines,
would receive
me
all
if
Judy
really
for the contemplated
them up.
the old people agree in calling the
names
I
The Commons
have given.
sometimes called the " walled-in " road, as
the walls occasionally cross
it.
the cellars on the latter road
Old people do not call
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; of
Morgan Stanwood,
Judy Rhines, Moll Jacobs and others they are on the
"Commons."
ably be incapable
of
drawing
The
in
"Dogtown,"
reader will prob-
so fine a distinction.
There were obvious reasons why people who the
without
it
bewitched
sacrilege of writing
road
to
many times, and never failed lost for a, few moments at least. Perhaps the of Peg Wesson, who did not live in Dogtown,
have been over
Luce George, or
was
15
Commons
road should have chosen to do
^^<v/-#
lived so.
on
CHAPTER
II.
THE "QL'EEX of the WITCHES." The most approach
natural, because
by
to the village, is
the
most interesting
outpost, the cellar
its
of
"Tammy"
Younger, the "queen of the witches."
at
Fox
She was more often seen bv the pred-
Hill.
Cape Ann. was
ecessors of this generation on
known, and
far
more respected and feared than any
of her confreres.
Perhaps the reader will be better
able to judge whether the ations bestowed on
title
Tammv
it
he
may
for
two or three gener-
was deserved,
ful perusal of this chapter.
reading
better
It
is
after a care-
possible that after
be disposed to transfer the
her aunt, the redoubtable
"Luce George."
title to
TJic Story
Coming from
the
of Dogtoivn,
Harbor
village
17
Gloucester,
of
through Maplcwoocl avenue, one reaches Poplar
and at
after turning to the left, soon reaches the bridge
Beneath
Alewife brook.
tle rise
An
street,
of ground,
is
a solitary poplar,
Tammy
the cellar of
The
apple orchard stands near.
was the daughter
Lucy
sojourner, and
March
6,
Foster,
1750, by Rev.
of
lit-
been
which nearly
Thomazine Younger was born July
it.
1753, and
a
Younger.
cellar has
cleared recently of a growth of sumacs ol^scured
on
28,
William Younger,
who were
married on
John White, pastor
of the
First Church.
A
was
recent writer claims that this house
in later
years the resort of buccaneers and lawless men.
tune telling,
card
whiled away their time.
Tammy's denied by members of
cellar
after
other amusements
and
playing
For-
Money was found
in
the
These assertions are
death.
her family
who
still
remain,
and apparently with good reason.
A
friend
chasino- a
In
the
of
writer was, a few years since,
woodchuck, which went
di2"2rino- for
into
the cellar.
the animal he unearthed a
handsomely
ornamented snuff box, the cover bearing tation of a full rigged ship.
mv's, as she
is
as smoker, but
said to have it
It
a represen-
was probably Tam-
been a snuff taker as well
has been credited to a possible myth-
of Dogtown.
T'he Story
ical British
captain
sea
19
who was wont
to visit the
lioiise.
Mr. John
Low
Babson, one of Gloucester's oldest
residents, recalls that in the early twilight of an
nal evening he
home,
his in
town"
was going from Fresh Water Cove and had
village,
to pass
A
ing ground near the bridge.
"Who
through the bury-
man was digging
that for?" he asked.
is
Younger," the sexton
replied.
"We a
good
of the prevalent impressions concerning a
don't very
was
folks that aint dead,"
Mr. Babson gives
testy response.
"Tammy
"Is she dead?" was
young Babson's surprised query. often dig graves for
reminiscence of his boyhood.
the cows, past her dwelling,
to
"up
standing, near the Green in the
still
a grave.
autum-
He was when
the
illustration
Tammy,
in
driving
home
came
to the
she
door and accosted him, begging him, with strong expletives,
water.
of
if
he
He
hned her got
behind the cabin.
it,
No
life,
to
get
course, from
of
one ever refused
her
a
pail
the brook
Tammy.
Mrs. Elizabeth Day, of Wheeler's Point, says that
Tammy
years old. a cabinet
She was therefore 76 Mrs. Day's father, John Hodgkins, was
died Feb. 4, 1839.
maker,
who
the railroad track, on
was
a
child of
lived in the house just
Washington
ten years.
street.
above
Elizabeth
For two or three years
of Dogtoivn.
TJic Story
20
Tammy, who
saw
often
and would often ask her
Fox
was
Hill, as she
butter and carr\-
ever she passed
would to lier
to
live
with her
Tamniv used
Harbor
other
aloui^^
a fancy to her,
come and
lonelv.
to the
it
had taken
her,
to
sell,
members
"Here comes Aunt Tarn house with her." The little
to
of the family
you up
girl's heart
thus constantly terrorized with the thought that
my would some
kins must
that
when on
Tammvwas
make her
Old Mrs.
Tam-
stormy winter dav
that
dead and that Mr. Hod"--
a cofiin.
whose daughter recently died
Pulcifer,
at a great age,
was
time capture her, and her feelings ma}'
well be imagined
word came
make
and when-
to take
say,
at
had attended her
in her last sickness,
and Oliyer, Tammy's nephew, who was brought up by her, had deferred
to
Mrs. Pulcifer's advice as
the funeral arrangements.
He
wanted
said he
to
to
do
everything that could be done to have things nice, so
when advised made, with It
was
a
to
have as good
pure
silver plate,
a
he
coffin
once ordered
at
of course thought the thing in
it.
those davs to
have "spirit" on funeral occasions, and to
as could be
in
deference
Mrs. Pulcifer's opinion, he ordered no rum, or
other cheap liquors, but cordials, wines, and other of
the better
remembered
class to
of
beverag'es.
Mrs. Pulcifer
have said afterward
tliat
is
her only
of Dogtown.
TJie Story
was
regret
that she liad not ordered the cluireh bells
Tammy,
tolled for
21
she
as
was
sure
\vould have
it
been done.
But
-'
to return to
All that rainy day he toiled upon
fin.
night
it
was ready
kitchen, and
it
was
and toward
it,
He
for polishing.
had
a large
custom when polishing
his
cof-
coffins
bring them into that room, where he had a better
to
chance
was
The
work.
to
But on
such sights.
children were therefore used to particular night the storm
this
so severe that he did not care to risk spoiling his
work by taking it
Mr. Hodgkins and Tammy's
down
blew out
back
it
to the shop, so after
with beeswax he stood his candle
warned by
their
up
in the corner,
and said nothing.
Soon bedtime came. comfortable open
it
fire
The
children, sitting by the
the
adjoining room, were
in
mother
to
retire:
"Come
and
started.
It
the kitchen in order to
As
was necessary
John,
go through
to
reach the chambers above.
he opened the door, the light of his candle
was
Tammy
sure she
gatt to
was
was both
a
a
witch
coffin in the
on
;
on that night John
He beAunt Tam
witch and a ghost.
whimper, "I won't go
Younger's
fell
Other people might
the shiny coffin in the corner.
not believe
it's
John took
time for you and Elizabeth to go to bed." a candle,
rubbing
to
bed with
house," said he.
As he drew
TJic Story
22
of Dogtoivii.
back, Elizabeth bravely stepped into the breach, but
one sight of the
was enough, and she
coffin
came panicky, and declared her
if
was
that coffin
to
that there
remain.
was no
too, lie-
sleep for
Mother impatiently
got up, and boldlv threw the door wide open.
was never known unnerved her
be afraid of anything, but a look
to
also,
and she joined with the children
and said she would never go
to l)ed
with that thing
In vain the father said the rain would spoil
there.
was three against one.
"Spoil
it;
it
the
good housewife, "I won't
it."
She
So "pa" gave
and bore
through the storm
it
Tammy
had
house, with a
a square
wooden
Tammy
could open
crossing the bridge signal for
Tammy
it
window
in
would
up.
This was kept shut,
at will.
by which
it,
The sound
of a
team
brook was usually
a
swing open the shutter and
boldly communicate with the driver. the bridge
it
the rear of her
attached to
over the to
wrapped
to the shop.
door.
there being a long string
or not," said
stay in the house with
got a quilt,
in,
it
also serve to
A
footstep on
open the window.
If
The Story of Dogtown.
23
Tammy
asked for a mackerel or any other thing she
saw
the
in
usually got
hand or the team
or the unlucky traveller got a piece of
it,
On
her mind.
one autumn day a luckless youth
Crossing the
the rear of the house.
lot to
avoid the
many do to-day, he thoughtlessly pulled low down in the pile. The effect was unex-
liill,
out one,
as
pected, for at once the whole collection coasted
Tammy's window
the hill into the brook.
A
jDass-
pumpkins sunning against
ing noticed a big pile of
steep
of a passer-by, she
torrent
pyrotechnics
vocal
of
down
fiew open.
accompanied the
hours of labor that followed, as that unhappy boy fished out the
pumpkins, and
the hill until they
As
is
well
family.
up by
I
back and forth up
were piled up again.
known,
town Commons
toiled
is
good deal of the land on Dog-
a
the
in
hands of
the
Younger
have said that Oliver Young^er was brougfht
his aunt,
and
it
seems that he was unaware of
the fact that the land belonged to his father and not to her.
Many
remarking
to
years after his father's death, he was
one of the Aliens, a neighbor, what a
care his aunt's land
"Well,
it's all
to you, for I
was
to
him, and Allen responded,
yours, anyway.
Your
father willed
it
signed the will as one of the witnesses."
This was news
to Oliver,
but acting on the hint given
he waited an opportunity
when Tammy was away,
The Story of
24
and
ransacked
tlien
of a small table, he
circumstances
was
this
ence,
it
the
tlie
knowledge anyone had
first
min
as
ordinar\
Tammv woman
of
its
exist-
r
Younger won
for herself a reputa-
with a very choice vocabular\ she evidently
P. Kidder of
remembers her
Rockport
savs,
well,
as
well
Riggs, but recently deceased.
Tammv
es-
was
and
his testimony
lived in the
is
who
by Mrs. Almira
as
The
truth
seems
to
be
had an aunt, known by the name of
"Luce (Lucy) George." at the
,
bad as she has been painted," as Mr. Benja-
confirmed bv a^jed Betsev Elwell of Maiden,
that
as
to probate.
pecially in the line of invective,
"not
Under
will.
would have been outlawed, but
it
.
tion as a
In the secret ch'awer
house.
found the
was admitted
While
Dogtown.
Fox
vShe
it
Hill House, and
was who
who
originally
used to stand
door of her cabin and bewitch the oxen so that
The Story of Dogtown. they would
with their tongues run out, but
stand
come up
could not
the hill until
drew was contributed is
said to
wood
it
some
of the corn they
Peg Wesson,
vShe, like
to her.
have had the
that
25
art of so
bewitching
stay on the ox
would not
team
portion had been unloaded at her door.
when
she would go to the wharves,
came
in,
and exact her tribute
these are traditions, but
worth
to susceptible
was not
alleged, but short
At one time
her
said
Of course
lived
confusion of the two.
the
life,
Younger
to
as
some have
plumpness.
she decided to part with
teeth that decorated each side of her
two rather long upper jaw.
fish.
Tammy
and inclined
in
is
the fishing vessels
and raw-boned,
tall
It
until a
give them for what they are
minds.
Hence
with her aunt.
Tammy
I
of
a load of
They were
not as long as Black Nell's,
an inch
which one old lady
insists
were
length, nor as long as
"Judy
Rhines'," but they were
fully
in
troublesome, so she sent for "Granther Stannard" to act in the capacity of
dentist.
This must have
been before the old gentleman became convinced that his lees were made of sflass, and refused to use them, for he
way."
went over from
Tammv
vStanwood took a tooth
his
house on the "walled-in
seated herself in a chair, and Capt.
a firm
gave way.
hold with his nippers and soon
Being
a
joker, he only
drew
it
26
partly
llic Story
down, where
He
it
of Dogtoivn.
rested in plain sight, against
drew down
her under
lip.
exactly the
same length, and immediately afterwards
then
announced, that owing
to the
he could do no more for her. record the torrent of history alleges
obstinacy of the teeth,
The pen
refuses to
picturesque language
which
was poured upon "Johnny Morgan's"
luckless head.
were taken
the other to
After worrying her awhile, the teeth
out.
AN ANCIENT MANTLEPIECE.
m^M^^^
CHAPTER FROM FOX
IIILL
III.
OVER THE BACK ROAD.
Notwithstandino: the various theories which have
been brought forward of
Dogtown, and
believes is
in
it
may
all
its
to exphiin the original
mvsterious
be traced
to a
the writer
circumstance which
no sense mysterious, but on the contrary,
what might have been expected.
was
decline,,
peopling
This circumstance
the Iniilding of the bridge at Riverdale
Goose Cove Dam, each making struct the road
it
The of affairs
and the
possible to con-
on the easterly side of the mill pond,
and making what had been the road the harbor a
just
to
Annisquam
to
"back road."
reader
when
can
easily
imagine
the road from the
the
condition
Green northerly
led
l^hc Story of Dogtozvn.
28
Then he must
only to Wheeler's Point. the Green through
over
Fox
thence
moor
make
now
is
Poplar
and wind down
Hill,
across the
what
his
to the
wav over
the
street, turn
the
of
hv the
hill
up
Gravel Hill and
to
vicinitv
from
start
and
Castle,
house
Rigrgrs
and around Goose Cove. It will
thus be seen that the central villa2:e of Dosf-
town was but road, while a distance
a
what
from
"going up
main
very short distance from the is
it.
now Riverdale village is quite As old people tell us, it was then go
into the city" to
was nothing singular
that
at all
Dogtown.
to
There
under those condi-
Dogtowni should ha\e thri\en, and that \vhen
tions
the building of the bridge and
dam
whole
road and went around
tide of travel
the other
It
when
was
home
of
this
way, Dogtown languished and died.
was something perishes
left
occurred, and the
like a
boom
citv
in
the West,
the facts that have been stated that ^ave the
Luce George and
Just beyond the cellar of the turn in the road is
Tamnn Younger
the cellar
which
Tammv
brinirs
of the
first
one
Here stood
the shop of
such
it.
Younger,
after
in si^fht of
Riv-
blacksmith
lying beside the travelled road, but
way.
which
the railroad goes elsewhere.
importance, for almost evervbodv had to pass
erdale,
It
still
in
town,
in the road-
Joseph Allen, who
The Story of Dogtown.
came
to
Gloucester in 1674, being encouraged to
set-
He
liad
by grants of land and
tle
29
connnon
a
One
two wives and seventeen children. dren, also
right.
of the chil-
named Joseph, became very wealthy,
home being on Poplar
his
near the liouse occupied
street,
by Mr. Joseph A. Procter. I
think the blacksmith shop must have stood bv
the cellar, and the cellar have been that of the house, built
known within the memorv the "Noble" house, the No-
perhaps by Allen, but
of persons
now
living as
bles being ancestors of
The white beyond
is
numerous Riverdale people. up the road immediately
cottage facing
on the
another old mansion which
site of
was standing before
the back road
Aunt Pamelia Allen being
its
Tracy greenhouses are now
home
tlie
of
disused,
Where
occupant.
located, opposite,
When
John Wharf.
became
he died
it
Her son
down.
sold
it
to the elder
Mrs. Boynton
later
She was thus the ancestor
Tracv,
was
became
the property of his daughter "Poll," or Polly ton.
the
who
Boyntore
it
married Oliver Younger.
of
many
of the
Boyntons
and Youngers of to-day. Immediately adjoining the Wharf house was the Tristram Coffin house, people.
Becky Rich
foot of gravel
hill,
is
remembered by many
lived
now
old
where the piggery,
at the
She, like
many
located.
of Dogtoivn.
TJic Story
30
others, of the fraternity of Dogtowii, told fortunes
means
Day was mar-
After Mrs.
of coffee ofrounds.
Aunt Rich's and having
ried, she recalls
going over
her
tell
beau "clear across the water."
says
Aunt Beckv was
of her
reliance
was placed
to
a nice old
in
by
woman,
but that
She little
her forecasts.
Opposite Beckv Rich was the house of Nathaniel
He was
Day.
Mary Isaac
among them
was
up
laid
He became
Davis.
childr.en,
was born
the barn,
been
in
in their
which
filled
is
frigate Constitution,
street, as w^ell as his brother,
and
all
boyhood.
now
there.
played about the streets It
stood just beyond
The
cellar has
Plain, half
way over
the
toward the Castle, lived Molly Miller. lived at the
Harbor on Back
recalls seeing her after she
tened in her
was
room with
the house of a
At one time ter
of
now
long
up.
At Brown's
left
His son
man named Liscomb at one side of this old Day house.
in this house,
Dogtown
of
seventeen
of
A
Revnard
of
father
three pairs of twins.
Portsmouth.
one time lived
Eben Dav.
the
gunner on the
a
at
Anthony Day, and married
the son of
Later she
where Mr. Day
had become insane,
a clothes-stick.
fas-
Next on the
man named Emmons.
in her life
Becky Rich,
street,
back road
Aunt Rachel Smith, daugh-
lived in the Castle.
Later she
The Story of Dogtown. lived in the house a
from Molly
It
was up on the
street,
and lived
After that she returned
and the
hill,
her mother she went to
Then with
cellar remains.
Dooftown
further on the back road
little
Miller's.
31
in the
to the
Easter Carter house.
house on the
Here
hill.
her son. Jack Bishop Smith, killed himself, and Rachel's sorrow over her loss
"Aunt Smith"
used to
brewed from foxberry
is still
make
the
saving: as she
villag-e,
ducky, I've come I
know you
vividly recalled. a
"dire drink,"
leaves, spruce tops,
botanical specimens, which she
down
was wont
to
the
peddle in
"Now,
bring a dire drink, for
feel springish."
There were never many houses along back road.
of the
and other
entered a house,
to
Aunt
this portion
Between the point wdiere
Dogtown Commons road and
met
it
the Castle stood the
house of old Uncle Daniel Tucker, whose daughter
Dorcas
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; " Dark Tucker," as
Judith
Ryon
It
more
was
has always seemed to
me
that this
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; nursed
back road
closely resembles the Scottish moors, as
way
across to the
opjTOsite side.
now
we
any portion of the Commons.
read
About
Dogtown road formerly
three houses in a row, while another
boys
called
in her last sickness.
of them, than
half
she
stood
stood on
the
These houses were located where the
play ball, "Brown's Plain," as
it is
called.
CHAPTER IX It is
Ricli,
quite a
DOGTOWX VILLAGE.
little
walk from the house
on the back road, up gravel
This barn
barn.
this point
that
IV.
he
is
is
A few
ledge,
itself.
since, a
nuity
one reaches
almost winds back
Just at this turn, on the right,
making
the road.
the Vivian
rods beyond the barn the
road makes an abrupt turn and
upon
When
landmark.
Becky
quite ready to enjoy the historic spots
before him.
lie
a
hill, to
of
is
a split
a break in the stone wall that outlines
Into this crack in the ledge, a few vears
misguided cow wandered.
was capable
No human
of getting her out alive.
inge-
Directly
TJie Story
opposite
is
the site of the
The ceUar on the so much like a of Henry Da\'is.
left,
home
3;5
man named
of a
beyond the
liarn,
Chirk.
which looks
rocks in a hollow,
pile of It
of Dogtown.
is
that
directly in the road, the yard
is
not being walled.
The
road,
which has descended from the Vivian
to this place, here
barn
begins to
rise,
and when
it
reaches a point a few rods further, wliere a fine view of
Ipswich Bav, the Newburyport shore, and the West
Gloucester cellar of
hills
obtainable, the most
is
Dogtown
is
This
seen.
is
celebrated
the reputed
home
John Morgan Stanwood, who was many years ago made inimortal by the muse of Hiram Rich in the
of
pages of the Atlantic.
It
may be
well for one to seat
himself on the moss-covered door-stone and recall the lines
:
"
Morgan Stanwood, patriot Little more is known Nothing of his home is left ;
But the door-step stone. "
Morgan Stanwood,
You
to
our tliought
more meadows lift
return once
Once again
the
;
Daisies to your door.
" Once again the morn is sweet, Half the hay is down Hark what means that sudden clang :
!
From
the distant
town
?
^/^^ Storv
34 '•
of Dog-tozvn.
bell and rolling drum Answer sea-borne guns Laruni bell and rolling drum
Larinn
:
Summon
Freedom's sons
I
'•And the mower thinks to him Crv both bell and drum, Morgan Stanwood. where art thou? Here th" invaders come.' '
"
Morgan Stanwood needs no more Bell and drum beat call; He is one who, hearing once, Answers once
for
all.
• Ne'er the
mower murmured then. grass is mown. Homespun isn't soldier wear. Each may save his own.' Halt"
'•
mv
Fallen scythe and aftermath
Lie forgotten now Winter needs may come and :
I'ut a
"
Down
barren
find
mow.
the musket comes.
'
Good
Wife, a quicker flint And the face that questions face I
Hath no color " 'Wife,
if I
am
in
't.
late to-night,
Milk the heifer first Ruth, if I'm not home at
Worst has come "
to
all.
worst
I
Morgan Stanwood sped along. Not the common road Over wall and hill-top straight. :
Straight for death, he strode:
wife
The Story of Dogtown.
35
Leaving- her to hear at night
Tread of burdened men,
Bv
the gate and through the gate.
At the door, and then Ever
after that to hear.
When Through
the grass is sweet, the gate and through the night,
Slowly coming
Morgan Stanwood's Here the
One may
feet.
roof
gone
;
stand and think and think,
For the thouglit "
is
door-ste[) lies:
will rise,
the meadow was. Mowing grass alone. Would we go the way he went, From this very stone.'
Were we where
"Were we on
the door-step here.
Parting for a day,
Would we
utter
words
as
though
Parting were for aye?
"Would
we.?
Heart, the hearth
Meadow-math
is
sweet
Parting be as parting may, After all, we meet.
is
dear.
The Story of Dogtoivn.
'
36
John Morgan Stanwood was the son of Nehemiah
The
and Rutli (Morgan) Stanwood.
show
poem
he
that
was baptized August
parish records 7,
The
1774.
evidently (hd not refer to a Revohitionary expe-
rience.
He
These
died October 30, 1S53, aged 78.
dates so perplexed nie, notwithstanding the tradition that
Stanwood came back from
the
war
a cripple,
and
the further fact that the children of Mrs. Dade, once a resident of the village, of the exploits of
Mr. Rich
had handed down her
"Morgan
Stannard," that
He
poem.
his authorit}- for the
stories
asked
I
candidly
confessed that altliough he wrote the lines with the full
belief that
Morgan Stanwood was
the
hero of con-
Rowe's Bank, Mr. Babson, the
historian,
vinced him that Peter Lurvey, of
Dogtown Commons,
later
and not Stanwood, was the man who should have been immortalized. It is
live in the is
house with the "door-step stone," for
who
the cellar of John Clark,
the
memorv
of
men now
most of those remaining century,
Stanwood did not
quite evident, also, that
was
resided there within
living. in
the
a small structure,
this
This house, like early part of
the
perhaps 15x35, stand-
ing side to the road, with a door in the middle, and
with an ordinary pitched roof. are generally 15 feet square,
The
cellars,
which
were under only one end
The Story of Dogtozvn.
The Clark house became
of the houses. that
it
was
torn
down
The
to the
so decrepit
Clark must have died
in 1820.
His wife and children
a short time before this date.
removed
37
Harbor.
next cellar
on the
of Philip Priestly, wdio
the road
of
left
remembered
is
man
of 70, climbing a locust tree to
ities
of
Nathaniel Babson,
who
as a hearty old
view the
campaign
the Harrison hard cider
helped tear
that
is
down
festiv-
1S40.
in
the Clark
house, was formerly engaged in the freighting busi-
was one
ness from Gloucester to Boston, and Priestly
Several persons
of his crew.
house,
I
am
37, 1845, of
toltl,
are
One
of children.
remembered
was
at the
in Gloucester,
Curtis; Eliza,
quite a family
was Philip
and Jane.
;
Priestly, well
Hannah
another w^as Mrs.
who married Joseph
who married a Smith Naomi Clark.
Nov.
age of 75.
the father of
of these
in this
Priestly died
living.
still
consumption,
Philip Priestly
who were born
Greenleaf Philip's
;
Ann,
vs^ife
was
Opposite John Clark's house, already mentioned,
was
the
home
and Philip
of
William Pulcifer.
Priestly's
are
two
Between Clark's
cellars,
wdiich
some
have incorrectly assumed were of farm buildings. If
the house with the doorstone
deny of
it
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one
of
these
is
his.
is
not Clark's
The
Arthur Wharf, son of Abraham, the
other
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; some is
suicide.
that
The Story of Dogtown.
38
A
by
large yard, enclosed
site of
Here
the next house.
marks the
a stone wall,
lived
Joseph Stevens,
one of the most enterprising of the farmers of the village.
judge him
I
from the record of is
to
be the son of another Joseph,
Aug.
his baptism,
There
17, 1763.
a large collection of foundation stones at this point,
showing the location leading to
it
from the house, the big shed
He
and the sheep pen. other
man
barn, with a passage
the
of
kept more
He
in the settlement.
wagons,
for
stock than any
laid
claim
more
to
land than any of his neighbors, and kept a good team,
which was often
in
highly spoken
however, by those
I
well
am
told
of,
demand.
His character
who
not
is
recall
him.
by old residents of Riverdale that they
remember when
the children of Joseph Stevens
used to go to school
in the
old schoolhouse by the
mill.
Directly opposite Stevens' house, on a knoll, stood the house of perhaps the
most celebrated character
was commonlv
the village, Esther (or as she
"Easter") Carter. there
No
was none under
house standing
any person
now
in
cellar It
it.
helped pull
was
li\'ing.
It
down
called.
spot, for
the only tvvo-storv
Dogtown, within
boards were fastened on w
who
marks the
the
memory
was clapboarded, and ith
in
wooden
pegs.
the structure tells
me
A
of
the
man
he kept
The Story of Dogtown. a
number
of the pegs as souvenirs for quite a while.
Easter Carter poor, and
was
was
it
a
living
to
in
institutions
make
to
picnic style, of
is
Cape Ann.
the fortunes of the
The " cabbage dinner" one of the popular
still
Easter Carter would
tell
young people, doubtless linking
way
accept-
in the
moon-
their lives together in their forecasts in a
able to the romantic.
The walk home
would be something
light
excur-
house, taking their lunches, and getting
her
in
young
the
for
Annisquam
her to boil cabbage for them.
partaken
She was very
1833.
common custom
people of Riverdale and sions
39
remember,
to
as
those
Appalachians who have crossed the weird Dogtown pastures by moonlight in later years can testify. staid old citizen recently
been up there with
informed
me
One
he had "often
a parcel of girls."
Easter Carter was poor, but quite respectable, and
undeserving of the distinction which classes her with other
was
Dogtown dames
a single
of doubtful reputation.
woman, and though pinched by
very aristocratic.
vShe
She
poverty,
did not like to have people
think she, like some of her neighbors, subsisted on berries in the
remarked
to
summer
a suggestion at
Sunday afternoon
"I
time.
one time.
the parents
with their small boy, went on
eats
of a
no trash," she
One
bright
David Dennison,
walk
to the pastures.
The Story of
40
Dogtoivit.
turning in bv Easter Carter's house.
He remembers
that as they passed, she, divining that they
were
to
pluck berries as refreshment, remarked, ''The berries
seem
to
hide this year."
Easter Carter was noted as a nurse.
by the venerable Eli Morgan
It is
thought
of Lanesville that Easter
and her brother William came here from England,
which accounts records of
for the silence of the
William and Annie, I
He
concerning them.
says Joseph, a son
lived a long time in Lanesville.
have said that Easter Carter was perfectly respect-
able, as well as aristocratic, to
town and parish
and
this character
some have seemed incompatible with other
ments. myself.
I
may state-
have been somewhat mystified about
The
truth
seems
to
it
when Easter
be that
Carter was dead, and the house of Becky Rich on the
back road had become too dilapidated for occupancy, she
was taken up, bag and baggage, and
Easter's house.
Becky had
a
installed in
daughter, Rachel,
widow
Thomas Smith, who went with her. It appears that the woman who told fortunes, boiled cabbage, baked Johnny cake, and made life merry for all the youth who visited her, was not Easter Carter, nor of
Becky Rich, but Rachel Smith. that there are old to
go up
to
men
Granny
living
I
am
now who
very positive
as youths used
Rich's, but wdio have confused
The Story of Dogtozvn. her
that of Easter Carter because of the
name with While
house.
it is
admitted that
of festivity connected with
Rich lived
there,
know because wont
it
is
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;each
it
insisted
many
of the scenes
when Becky by people who must occurred
they were there, that Easter, too, was
to entertain the
a party of
41
young people
young people
in
it.
At one time
collected a lot of wall paper
bringing any pieces they had on hand
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and
went up and papered Easter's premises, the harlequin effect
being quite pleasing
Dogtown people one story of
a
to her,
apparently.
had, as a rule,
little
use for but
dwelling, and perhaps that
was
the
reason that the upper floor of Easter's house was occupied by one of the most singular characters of the village.
This was "Old Ruth."
She was
a mulatto,
and doubtless was one of the manumitted slaves that
abounded
in
Gloucester early in the century.
\.
A
WISHBONE" BONNET.
CHAPTER
V.
"old kuth and granny day." The
old
EUerv House,
parsonage of the behind of
it
first
at the
parish
Green, fornierlv the
church, which
on the Green, and one of the
finest
stood
samples
provincial or colonial arcliitectiu'e in existence in
New
England,
to-dav, a sla\e
at
one time had.
pen under
its
if
it
roof.
does not have In the fine old
gambrel-roofed mansion owned by Gustavus Babson, across the hio-hwav from the Ellerv house, there
another.
To whom "Old Ruth"
belonged
I
is
cannot
The Story of Dogtoxvn. out.
iiiul
went by the name
vShe
of
43
"Tie," and
also
"John Woodman." Tlie masculine cognomen fitted her better than the gentle name of Ruth, for until the closing days of her life she was never known to dress in feminine apparel. Perhaps she was the original "new woman." She \vas
known
as
was accustomed in
to
toil
man's work, and dressed
worked out
because she had
do
it,
when
she
to
was young
and that she wore men's
same reason,
clothing for the
When
to
of doors
such
She used
were her chief emplovnients.
say that she
it.
a
Building stone walls and
men's clothing.
heavy
doing
until she
came
to prefer
she was taken to the poor-house, she
was
obliged to conform to the customs of civilization and
A
put on skirts.
ledge beyond Easter Carter's
still
bears the name, "Ruth's Ledge," in her honor. In a small hut in the same enclosure with Easter Carter's house lived Molly Stevens, old sister.
No
have made
one keeps her life
unless historv
green.
is
and
a big
site, a
pair of bars opening
bowlder standing
Annie
as a sentinel
Carter, wife of Wil-
liam, Easter Carter's brother, a record of I find in
She must
at fault.
in front, is the cellar of
tism
"
very unhappv for the gentle Easter,
Directly bevond this into the yard,
memory
"Joe Stevens'
the Fourth Parish, April
i,
whose bap1776.
This
The Story of Dogtozvn.
44
was
the last house taken
some reason
the phice
down
the
in
For
\'illap:e.
was always known
as Annie's.
After her death, William, with the children, moved
Annie was known
away.
said to have been a
is
One
two other
or
''
little
Annie that
Carter's,
may
Granny Carter," and
woman."
small
which
cellars
with former occupants,
fied
'â&#x20AC;˘
as
lie
I
have not identi-
across the road from
and two, together with
deceive the uninitiated,
lie
a
potato hole
between
it
and
the cellar, on a rise of ground, formerly under the
house,
it is
alleged, of
Moll Jacobs.
disposed to think that this cellar
good Deacon Winslow, who
of
very near
which we
either here or
lived
shall
up her abode speak
later.
bowlders, marked, " First Attack," to mystify the
\
isitor.
died, Sept. lo, 1892." a bull, his
Lurvev house,
in the
In an enclosure at this point are a
by
that of the house
Nobody can remember where Molly
it.
lived before taking
of
is
am somewhat
I
One
is
number
of small
etc., that are likely
marked, "James Merrv
Mr. Merry was gored
dead body being found
bearing the second inscription.
b\-
to
death
the rock
William A. Hodg-
kins of Riverdale once gave the writer and a party of friends a very graphic description of this tragedy, as they stood at the spot.
Raymond
The marks were placed by
P. Tarr and D. K.
after the death of
Mr. Merrv.
Goodwin, about
a
week
The Story of Dogtown.
The
Fifth Parish records say that
45
"Moley Jakups,
was baptized Jan. 31, Molly and Judy Rhines, with others, seem
(laughter of Isack and Molly,
1763." to
have done
tation
great deal to give to
a
which
also
was
Dogtown
a repu-
undeservedly conferred on
Gloucester as a whole, so that the favored residents
down
led for a generation to look
of
Rockport were
on
a native of the larger place.
No
traditions, except
those of a rather unsavory reputation, remain of Molly.
Almost opposite the Jacobs the road,
is
a well
marked
cellar,
on the
cellar, said to
be
remains of the home of Dorcas Foster. eight years old at the
conmiencement
tionary war, having been born at the
Her
left of
all
She
that w^as
Revolu-
of the
Harbor
village.
father left his family in this house for safety from
the British,
whom
town, and went lived with his
he feared might come and sack the
to the
war.
George Wonson, who
grandmother when
a boy, recalls
many
of her stories of life in those troublous times.
Abram Wharf
she always referred to as
bor Wharf," and called his wife
The
"Aunt Wharf."
children used to be sent to the harbor village for
supplies,
a
"Neigh-
pound
portion.
and
w^ere
of tea, Little
accustomed
to
pay one dollar for
and for other necessary things
in pro-
Dorcas naturally feared the British,
sharing the terror which led to the growth of Dog-
The Story of Dogtown.
4^
when
town, and one day
saw seven
she
started to run, without considering
British or Continentals.
Slie
soldiers, slie
whether they were
was reassured by one
of them, wlio told lier not to be frightened, as they
would not hurt
her.
Her experience
the hardships of those
and even
well illustrates
later davs, suffered
by the brave residents of Cape Ann. Ezekiel
times the
W. Chard tells me that in the embargo women of 'Squam would walk as far as
Ipswich, going across the beach, to get a half bushel of meal, the
days
it
distance being twelve miles.
was very
In those
rare to get either ])read or cake, he
says.
Dorcas Foster was three times married, her
first
husband being an Oakes, the second a Stevens, and
who commanded a piivateer in the war of 1812. George Wonson is a son of Louisa Smith, their daughter. She has many the last Capt. Joseph Smith,
descendants in
Gloucester.
Most
of
her
life
was
spent in the ancient house which until latelv stood on the rock at the corner of Prospect
where the home
Xot
beyond
far
of the road,
rocks. cellar
It is
of
is
M. H. Perkins tlie
is
now
located.
one which has been recentlv
tomb
streets,
Foster cellar, on the same side
would be unwise
the
and Warner
to disturb
of several horses,
filled
with
them, for the
which have been
The Story of Dogto^vn.
47
shot as a matter of mercy, after having been turned
This
out in the pastures to die. of
the
home
Capt.
of
is
Dade.
Isaac
that
all
He,
remains has
too,
descendants, both in Gloucester and Rockport.
Mrs. H. G. Wetherbee, nishes
Dade
me
granddaughter, fur-
his
the following particulars of the
life
of Isaac
:
"Isaac Dade, while
a school
boy
in or near
Lon-
don, England, was impressed on board an English
Durins" the Revolution his vessel was
man-of-war.
ancliored off Gloucester, and
row one
became
it
noticed a fishing vessel ready to
the vessel.
was landed he
She was bound
When
of fish.
lost
duty to
While doing
of the officers ashore.
the officer
his
sail.
so he
As soon
as
no time getting aboard Virginia with a cargo
to
he reached there he joined the Conti-
nental army, and
was
later in three
memorable engage-
He was at Yorktown when Lord Cornwallis surrendered. He was wounded in battle, receiving ments.
a sabre cut across the
pled him for
back of
of
which
crip-
life.
"After the war he married
name
his neck,
Fanny Brundle.
a
Southern lady by
Her
plantation
father's
adjoined that of the mother of Washington.
on intimate terms with the Washingtons. dren were born
to
them
in
Viro^inia.
tlie
She was
Two
chil-
His health
The Story of Dogtowii.
48
began
to
fail,
and he remembered Gloucester, and
went there hoping beneficial
that the
He
did not, however, but spent the rest
He
of his life there.
from the boats
to get the fish
it
fish
market
was paid
mentioned the
to his
Dur-
in.
to the visit of
the probable
his
when
home.
fact that in i775
vessels
Dade decided
to
have alreadv indicated
Falcon
The
domicile.
the-
is
strengthened bv the
same year
of Capt. Lindsay's
in the '^'^^
I
Isaac
Dogtown
site of his
came
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;two
the Falcon, later
connection with Peter Lurvey's bravery,
in
make America
attack
came
preferred
widow."
probable time
ory that he
women
as they
Glouces-
in
he received no pension, but after his death
life
This story points
as
kept a
under great disadvantages, as the
ing his
would be
life
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; intending to return to Virginia the follow-
ing autumn.
ter
change of
were dispatched from Gloucester
to Virginia for supplies,
owing
povertv of the
to the
people on Cape Ann. It
must have been
high-spirited
maiden
a great deal of a to
begin her
a region so barren, so lonely, as
change
married
Dogtown
for her
husband must have sweetened the
for she
was never heard
to
for
life
in
but love
bitterness,
complain.
Directly beyond this cellar on the
which has
;
to this
many decades been
left is a
swamp,
a slough of
despond
The Story of Dogtown. for cattle of one or
and horses.
cellar
She was
is
always the repository
more unfortunates, which have got
could never get out.
Her
It
49
is
This
is
in but
"Granny Day's swamp."
covered by water at the corner of
a school teacher,
and one of her pupils was
Near here
Nathaniel Day, the patriarch.
is
Whet-
stone Rock, a natural curiosity, so hollowed out that
Some
served the purpose indicated. split
it
off
and carried
it
it.
away
a
it
curiosity seeker
few years
since.
COUNCIL OF THE CROWS.
CHAPTER PETER
I,UR\'EY
VI.
AND "BLACK
NEIL."
Tlie only resident of Dosftown mentioned in Babson's History of Gloucester,
who
lived in a larofe grambrel-roofed house near the
junction of the two a mile to
the
historian, lonely
and weary, crawled under
by and committed
that time there
town occupied. a
over
roads of the village, not
from the "Whale's Jaw," and who according
a rock near
was
was Abraham Wharf,
were
suicide, in 1S14.
at least six other
The
last
inhabitant
At
houses in Dogof
the
village
man called "Neil" â&#x20AC;&#x201D; his name was Finson who lived on the road leading
colored
Cornelius
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
from Gee avenue
in
Riverdale to Dogtown,
house of Judith Ryon, called by Rhines."
He was
a
man
all
old-timers,
in
tlie
"Judy
of intelligence, evidently,
The Story of Dogtow7Z.
51
Chard remembers him
as a clerk for
for Ezekicl \V.
Others recall him as
boat fishers of 'Squam.
the
more prosaic
calling of an
closely acquainted both with
Judy Rhines
principally engaged in the
executioner of hosfs.
He was
He was
and Molly Jacobs.
when Molly Jacobs her cellar, and
away from
it
died she
was with
walls
its
cellar.
buried treasure in
left
difiiculty
he could be kept
Long
the quite uninhabitable hole.
Judy Rhines was dead he until
firmly persuaded that
From
in,
fell
lingeretl
after
around her house,
when he sought
refuge in the
this, cold, dirty, half-starv^ed,
and shak-
ing with the combined infirmity of old age and fright,
he w^as taken on a bitter day
in
winter, 1830, by
Constable William Tucker of Riverdale of that village
As
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and
on Washington
and Neil was taken
in for a half
street,
hour
Mr. Babson gave him some tobacco.
Mark
to the
carried off to the alms-
they passed the store of John
son, near the Poles
gone,
people
having complained of the case
Overseers of the Poor house.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the
Low
Bab-
they stopped
to get
warm.
After Neil had
Allen, sitting in the store, said, "There,
ril bet he'll be so comfortable at the poor-house that
he won't
live a
week."
He was
right.
Within seven
days Neil w^as dead. If the
reader will
now
start at either
Gee avenue
of Dogtown.
TJic Story
52
Stanwood
or tlie
Langsford house and
street past the old
" Castle," over the
Commons
road to the Mors^an
brook, just beyond the " Castle," and thence follow the road along until, to
if
is
it
the wet season, he
another brook crossing the road on higher ground,
he will soon notice
the top of which
is
is
On
a cellar.
as in the case of
This
is
famous
is
known
is
in the pasture,
Near
many
it is
of the houses. I
a lilac
cellars, all
a
from
from
bush and
also,
gooseberry bush.
together,
First of
as
Annisquam
this hill, quite a distance
the site of what, taken
of Peter Lurvey.
what
left
obtained a fine view of
and Ipswich Bay. the road,
the
at
A high hill
" Beech Pasture."
all it
the most
is
was
the
home
have already said that he was the
hero of the episode commemorated by in
comes
"Morgan Stanwood."
Hiram Rich
Babson says
father,
his
Peter Lurvey, removed from Ipswich to Gloucester In
in 1707.
1
7 10
he married Rachel Elwell, and our
Peter was one of eight sons, the elder Peter ancestor of
all
being
the Lurveys in Gloucester.
Peter Lurv^ey, the Revolutionary patriot, married a sister of
Abraham Wharf, who
house beyond. of-vvar of
On August
S, 1775,
lived
Hill, chased a
ester harbor,
the next
the British sloop-
Falcon, which had assisted
Bunker
in
Salem schooner
where she grounded on the
capture
the
in
into
flats
Glouc-
between
The Sto?y of Dogtown.
Pound
Pearce's wharf and Five
53 Capt. Lind-
Island.
say of the Falcon attempted to board her with several
The people
barge loads of marines.
of Gloucester,
an alarm having been given, hauled two swivel guns to a point opposite \^incent's
Church, where
First Parish
the vestry) village.
and landed men
The
firing party
the boarding party
were
instantly killed
The above
now suspended
Fort Point to
at
w ill now
in
the
fire
were made prisoners, and
also captured
by the intrepid
was
and Peter Lurvey mortally wounded. is
the story substantially as told
Babson and Pringle.
It
is
by
one side of the picture.
give the other, as handed downi by his wife
and daughter, and related that fatal
Mary
is
it
hitting the
In the engagement Benjamin Row^e
villagers.
On
Lindsa}-, full
cannonaded the town (one shot
of wrath,
I
Then
muskets prevented a capture.
of
and with the aid
Co\'e,
Millett
to
me by
morning Lurvey,
his
his descendants.
wife and
little
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;afterwards Mary Riggs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; were over on
Pearce's Island huckleberry ing.
Hearing the alarm,
Peter Lurvey bade his wife good-by, hurriedly rowed across to the other shore, ran up to the house, and got his
gun, thence across the
fields
Harbor Village, where he met
and pastures
his death.
quite unexplainable reason his face ag-ain
by
his wife
and children.
It
to the
For some
was never seen
was never known
54
became
wliat
of
tell
My
things.
were returninsf from
as the British
Lexington on April
His body was imme-
19, 1775.
diately buried, in a grave with
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;now
others
Jason Russell and ten
the Arlington cemetery
in
saw again was
children ever
great-grandmother
her grandfather, killed at the battle
of
Menotomv,
of
Our progenitors were
body.
his
peculiar about such
used to
of Dogtoivn.
Stoi'y
'^^i<^
his
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and
all
his
farmer's hat,
old
reserved for identification.
Mrs. Lurvey lived
remembered by people her as a sister to
was
mitted
suicide
1S14.
Wharf
yet living.
with him
no person can sat
I
have referred
Abraham Wharf.
who was
the sister
104 years old, and
be
to
by the
fire
you
heaven?" do such
will never
answer.
"God
forbid,"
Soon he slipped and went
out.
"I
It
was
in
sharpening his razor.
don't
a thing,
was
time he com-
tell.
" Sister," said he, do you think people suicide go to
to
Whether she
at the
now
is
his
who commit
know;
Init I
brother,"
hope
was her
solemn response.
the razor into his shos, unobserved,
A
little later
he was found with his
throat cut, dead.
The explanation of Mr. Rich's confusing Lurvey and Morgan Stanwood is that John Morgan Stanwood married Lurvey's daughter.
Lurvey died they seemed
to
Lentil the
have lived
time that Mrs. w^ith her in this
The Story of Dogtozvn. Later they moved
house.
brook, where
55
house by the Morgan
to the
think Ruth Morgan, his mother, and
I
But
probably Morgan Stanvvood himself, were born.
more
of this later.
After the
Stanwoods
the
left
house, which was by this time getting old and weatherbeaten, Molly Jacobs, with her friends Sarah Phipps
— more often than not called Stanley
left
—and Mrs. living — per-
Sally Jacobs
the house they had been
in
haps that already indicated on the Dogtown road
and came here, by the nard."
invitation of ''Grandther Stan-
The latter women's grandson, "Sammy
ley," lived with
Almira Riggs
them and took care
of Riverdale, a
gan Stanwood,
told
as a child used to
me
Stan-
Mrs.
of tliem.
granddaughter of Mor-
before her death that she of ten
go up
to this
Lurvey house
in
winter
with food for the old people, and would find them in bed, the coverlet white with
had
sifted
through
snow where
the
wind
After a time the
in the night.
trio
poor house, where
of old ladies
were taken
they died.
Molly Jacobs was smarter than Sarah
Phipps.
Sarah would get
"I shan't
tell
you where
behind the old chest, but
"Sammy He was
to the
off
mad
at
Molly, and say
hid thekeerds.
I I
shan't
vStanley's" real
tell
I
hid them
you."
name was Sam Maskey.
always brought up by his grandmother
housework.
He went
:
about with
a
to
do
handkerchief tied
The Story of Dogtown,
56
work
over his head and did woman's
In fact, though he wore men's clothes he
any other.
had been brought up
was taken
in preference to
off his
After his aged relative
a girl.
hands, he moved to Rockport, where
he went out washing for a livelihood, and laid up
monev,
so that
when he
was
died he
quite a stock-
holder in the cotton mills.
The
history of the
Lurvey house
went
Just before Mollie Jacobs
nearly tinished.
is
to
the
almshouse,
"Black Neil" Finson, coming from some other house
moved
he had inhabited,
The
here.
only place he
made
could well stay in was the cellar, which he
water tight
l)y
boarding over the
first
floor.
I
have
already said he thought there was nioney there.
In
Judy Rhines living in Castle on the same side the
the course of time, his friend the next house toward the
Common
road, took pity on him, and invited
occupy the empty part
To or
return for a
rides
through
him
to
of her dwelling.
moment
to
Lurvey.
Washington
street
As one walks Riverdale,
in
coming: from the harbor, iust after he
crosses the
bridge, he notices on the right, the second house from
Reynard
street,
roof,
in
still
a two-story
excellent repair,
thinof but a historic
mansion.
structed to be sure,
was
structure
with pitched
and looking
Yet
like any-
this house, recon-
successively the
home
of Peter
of Dogtoxvn.
TJie Story
Lurvey and
Morgan Stanwood, Molly
family.
his
SI
Jacobs and her two unfortunate companions, who lived in it in company with Black Neil, and Sammy In some
Stanley, as already related.
became
the property of a
in the vicinity,
it
sold
was found
or other
man named Whipple it
when
it
was but
They had
and Reuben Day.
to Isaac
and
who
way
that the oak
it
it
livin<2:
a skeleton,
taken down,
frame was perfectly
in-
tact.
brothers therefore had the material taken
The Day
to the present site,
and the house was
rebuilt,
There
the old
stands,
frame being used
in its entirety.
monument
hero and martyr of the Falcon
and there least, for
to the
seems
it
it is
it
fight,
remain another century
likely to
perfectly sound.
a
at
have these facts on
I
the authority of several of Isaac Day's descendants, as
well as of take built
it
James Thurston
down, and was one
of the
Mr. Eben Day
it.
of
several davs cleaning l)ricks it
was demolished, he It
Reynard
from
its
street
it
me.
when Molly and Sarah and Mrs.
were taken
to the
who
Stanley
almshouse, was not taken too, for
that time the roof
wretched condition.
spent
chimneys when
seems rather mysterious that Black Neil,
lived in
at
tells
who helped mechanics who re-
of Ri\erdale,
had caved
in
and was
Old people
in
Riverdale have
in
a
The Story of Dogtown.
5^
had
it
pointed out to them for nearly two generations
as the house
those
who
identity
house.
where Black Neil once
furnished
me
were surprised
to
the
lived,
information
know
that
it
but even as
to
its
wasthe Lurvev
CHAPTER
VII.
"JUDY RHINES" AND " JOHNNY MORGAN."
its
The Judy Rhines house, too, was caved in as to roof, it seems, when Black Neil removed thither
from
his
former dwelling.
probablv explains
former occupant,
And
this
why "Liz" Tucker, left
circumstance its
owner and
the society of her niece Judy,
and sousfht a home near the harbor where she died.
The house where she died stood exactly where the entrance to Oak Grove cemetery is now located. Judy's house
was
a
double one.
It w^ill
be noticed by
the visitor to the spot that there are two cellars.
It
seems that Lizzie (or " Liz") Tucker, was Judith
Ryon's aunt, and therefore must have been a
sister to
The Story of Dogtoivn.
6o eitlier
her father Patrick Ryon, an
mother, lived in at the
a dauofhter of
William
Iri.shn-ian,
Rio-ors.
or to her
Liz Tucker
one part of the house, but was dead, doubtless,
time Judy extended the hospitalities of the place
to Neil
Fin son.
How
long the two were tenants of the place
The house was one
unal^le to say.
of the fa\orite
haunts of young people on holida\s, and was so
time
l^otli
lived
woman, who had nearer,
to stand
a
tall.
rawl)oned
she told a person
still,
thev would not
had many friends.
v'^he
at the
If
great courage.
approaching her house
move any
Judy was
there.
am
I
One
of
Benjamin Rowe
the places she visited, according to
Kidder of Rockport, was " Uncle Miah" Knowdton's, for
whom
lier
up with
day refuse
Aunt Kno\vlton used
he worked. fish
to
and
tea.
The voung people
admit that she was
or so considered.
in
anv sense
to
load
of that a witch,
After Judv died, as l)efore related,
Neil lived in the house until the only place he could
was
He was
a big
powerful negro,
with \ery prominent protruding teeth.
At the time he
stay
in the cellar.
was taken from full of ice,
and
the cellar to the poor house,
his toes
''Judy Rhines," as
Dec. 30,
was
1
771
5
'it
the
were some slie
is
of
it
was
them frozen.
called,
was baptized
Sandy Bay parish church,
v^he
living in 1S30, nine years before the death of her
6i
The Story of Dogtoivn, colored friend
rious living, like her
Carter and
Tammy
telling fortunes,
into
some
groceries.
MoUie Jacobs, Easter
friends
other ways.
in
States bank.
"
this,"
she replied;
Whipple."
"It
he said.
"I took
He
it
is
for
finally took
at the
Gloucester
was on
a
just
as
pasture it,
Bank found
in
the
a
It
$5
bill,
was
I don't
the
think
good as any," rent
from Mr.
and on presentation she
branch of the bank for the
Years ago,
she
and bought
payment
in
She tendered
note on the old United
want
One day
store at the Poles,
only one Mr. Babson had ever seen. I
berries,
Younger, by picking
Mr. Babson's
went
a
and
a preca-
She gained
"Neil" Finson.
was
state of
right.
It
Georgia.
Gloucester Telegraph, some
have been his antiquarian told a story of what might own experience. He said two boys who considered public propthe poultry and chattels of a "witch" from Judith Ryon a couple of geese. They erty, stole
were
Judy
away, as they thought, when they heard coming brandishing a hoe, and screeching.
safely
The Story of Dogtown.
62
"Now, was
ye hell
a goose,
"No
you
Judy
lay
lairds,
plump
in
haint."
I've got ye I"
her face, and the asseveration,
Prostrated
while
senseless,
The response
the
by the foul
assault,
boys again securing
their prey, vanished.
As we seem to ha\e turned back toward the Castle, we may as well continue, and more particularly
examine the
or the
"Slough,"
as
territory it
is
around Morgan's brook,
more often some
early days of this century,
called.
In the
sixteen or
twenty
men
used to go over this road to general training,
their
homes being between
the Castle
Over these pastures, on were wont in his
palmy
site side of
brook, I
to
days, kept lots of them.
can find
little
couraging place
about him. to cross.
the stepping stones on the
on the
right,
is
the oppo-
"Jim"
Morgan's brook If
bv the
just
White. is
a dis-
one confines himself
left,
to
going toward Rixer-
proceeding the other wav,
can be crossed without stranger
On
Judy Rhines',
the cellar of the dwelling of
is
dale, or
many sheep Abraham Wharf,
either side,
graze a century ago.
the road from
and Dogtown.
wetting one's
it
The and come
feet.
likely to attempt the other side,
to grief.
After crossing the brook, on the same side as
Judy Rhines'
cellar,
one sees a big bowlder, beside
The Story of Dogtoivn. Right against
the road.
on one
it,
63 are the
side,
foundations of a small building, while in the yard
with
enclosed by a wall, are the remains of a
this,
larger structure.
the
hut in
The building by the rock was which John Morgan Stanwood spent his
last
days.
Mr. Rich,
poem, dropped the John,
in his
while the custom of his contemporaries was to drop
Stanwood.
the
fact, that
painful but well-authenticated
It is a
he was
known
some, as long as he lived,
to
"Johnny Morgan." Of course he was not that Johnny who played the organ, nor the estimable as
gentleman who caters
to the finer taste of the
present
generation of Gloucester people.
find
many precious hours John Morgan Stanwood was
misspent
I
if
hunting the
after,
and second, seeking
Morgan was who
lived
trying,
the
man
still
living told
school, and his
by the brook.
that for years she
was
who
That I
to
this
say that
went
to
was intimate with "Nabby Morgan,"
daughter, before
name was
me
I
to find out
was not strange may be understood, when a lady
first
the
really Abigail
person told her that her
Morgan Stanwood.
Morgan Stanwood never went to the wars, so those who knew him as Capt. Morgan Stanwood made a mistake ing the
if
they thought the
Revolutionary
title
war,
a military one.
or
a
little
Dur-
later,
he
The Story of
64
Dogtov.'n,
went on foreign voyages.
He
and had many children.
"Granther Stannard," or
"Johnny Morgan," ha\e enjoyed
you
as
married Mary Lm^eN-,
a
He
on Dogtown Common.
life
addition to his house, which
little
to
spent
This work he did
his later years cobbling shoes. first in
seems thoroughly
will,
at
was then
"The Boo."
and has ever since borne the name of
After his wife died, and his children grew up, the
many in the house, and the fact that many callers among their voung acquaint-
confusion of so they had so
ances, so disturbed his mind, that he sought relief by
remainder of
On
his days.
corner he kept a book in which he the intcrestin"" matters
came
that
a
chased after such I finally
found ne\er existed
the existence since
gone
children
Lest
a journal of life
of
this,
to decay.
;
Init
though
For
I
a vear I
Dogtown,
that
have no doubt of probably has long
Stanwood has
several grand-
living-. I
forget
it,
let
me
sav here that
wood's old "boo"
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
covered with
Mrs. Rachel
ing
it
a record of
his notice.
to
in I
shelf in the
made
should like to get hold of that l)ook. .
living recall
where he peacefully cobbled shoes
this COS}- corner,
for the
Many
under the rock.
l)uilding the hut
when
turf,
the
war
it
of
was
Morgan Stan-
a booth, built of slabs
Day
savs
and
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; was stand-
the Rebellion begun, but old
v'*^
.y-;,
^-w.,-
The Story of Dogtoivn.
66
who
soldiers
left
it
when
they marched, found
gone
it
on their return.
The
''Castle"
Riggs, a sprightly
main road seem
to
came
to
now owned by Mrs. Mary A. old lady of So, who lives on the
is
vSome of the Lufkin family
in Riverdale.
have lived
in
durinij
it
earlv historv.
its
It
Mrs. Riggs through her lather, Capt. Sam.
Riggs, of
whom
it
used to be said that he could walk
from the old Riggs house
Riverdale
in
own
to
Rockport
The Riggs
without getting
off
house
near the Castle, though on another
is
quite
from
road near Goose Cove. of
it
which
is
school master and town clerk,
first
His grandson, George Riggs,
1661.
Riggs family
mentioned above, used
The "old seems
castle"
likelv to
to is
go a
the progenitor of
Mrs. Riggs,
to school to
Jndy Millett. restored gambrel roof, and
class of
Dogtown
dwellings.
seems probable that Hetty Balch lived
vicinity, but of this I
would
It is
but
five
"Johnny Morgan's Boo," and
to the electrics in Riverdale,
in this
like further proof.
sibly she lived in the village.
walk. from
the
undoubtedlv the oldest
is
Gloucester.
of
built
remain for another centurv as a 2;ood
sample of the better It
It
Thomas was
house on the Cape. the
supposed that that part
It is
gambrel roof portion.
all
land.
constructed of square logs was built by
Thos. Riggs. the in
his
Pos-
minutes
the Castle
X pjf^Bfiip( |J$)/K;'
I
CHAPTER
VIII.
CONCLUSION. If
happens that one has not turned
It
main Dogtown will
keep on over
of the
at
roatl,
off
from the
Granny Day's swamp, he
a slioht elesation, past the crossing
Pigeon Cove path, which
distance in the road,
until
really
is
for
some
he reaches the Whale's
Jaw.
Soon
obliterated by time pastures, reaches
and changes
Revere
road already referred a
little
Whale's Jaw, the road, almost
after passing
distance
to.
ownership
in the
the old
Sandv Bay
the Pigeon
Cove path,
street,
On
of
beyond the Whale's Jaw, are the
graves of old Mr. Blance and wife, marked by rude
head and foot stones picked out from the rocks which bestrew the Hill,
Jaw.
Commons.
Their cellar
on the path from Pigeon Cove It
was known
as
"Blance's"
is
near Pigeon
to the to
Whale's
two genera-
The Story of Dogtoivn.
68 tions.
The
cleared land
boys of
fifty
years since to go from Lanesville and
Pigeon Cove on Fast Day
made
fine place for the
to play ball.
Dogtown, almost or rather near
In
ridge toward Ale\yife brook, in
a
is
of the wealthiest
of old Gloucester, sought refuge
ing expeditions in war times. bers of
He
from maraud-
kept great num-
Mr. Chard, almost
sheep.
over the
the cellar of the house
which Col. William Pearce, one
men
it,
centenarian,
a
picturesquely describes a scene of his boyhood, dur-
ing the war of 1S12.
summoned
into the
of Lobster Cove,
Secured
liyes.
to
still
one morning and was
garden of the house on the l)anks in
to
He woke
a
which he was born, and rock
directly
still
across the co\e,
be seen, were several British barges, belong-
ing to a war vessel anchored by the bar in the harbor of
Annisquam.
boats
was
Coming down
a negro,
the
hill
towards the
bearing on his back his booty
in
the shape of one of Col. Pearce's black sheep. I
have speculated somewhat concerning the reason
for Babson's reticence in his history concerninsr Do":-
town and
its
people.
His history was published forty
The village degenerated as it grew old, and Dogtown familiar to him in his younger days was
years ago. the
not a place to inspire great enthusiasm.
wrote
less
At the time he
than twenty years had passed since "Black
The Story of Dogtown. Nell," Molly Jacobs,
Many
died.
and
69
Annie Carter and others had were
of their connections
still
living,
speak as freely as one can to-day of the village
to
wonld have caused more
or
Had my
strife.
less
had more time, he might have
friend Pringle
in-
cluded the story of Dogtow^n in his interesting centennial
when
the
was
but the omission
historv,
magnitude of the task he
quite excusable
himself
set
con-
is
sidered. I
have omitted the story of Peg Wesson
find that I
from
though her name has been men-
this narrative,
tioned.
She
Prospect
street,
lived
"Garrison House" on
the
in
opposite Dale avenue.
She
on Maplewood avenue.
whom
is
It
now
stands
the only reputed witch
of
Cape Ann
to
endorse the allegation, that she rode on a broom-
of
can be alleged, with history
it
for the
departing
Shortly before
stick.
siege
of
Louisburg, Babson says, several of Capt. Byles' com-
pany
visited Peg,
threatened
to visit
and
so exasperated her that
them
in
wrath
at
While camping before Louisburg, the
Gloucester
men was
attracted
performances of a crow which them.
Several unsuccessful
shoot the bird of that
it
ill
omen.
Cape Breton.
the attention of
by the peculiar
circled just
efforts
she
above
were made
to
Finally a soldier suggested
must be Peg supernaturally transformed
into a
The Story of Dogtown.
JO
crow.
from
If
it
was
gold would be sufficiently potent to
silver or
A
puncture her. into a gun,
On
the witch, nothing but a bullet cast
and
was rammed
silver sleeve button
with a hurt
fired, the bird falling
were
their return to Gloucester, the soldiers
fell
(of course
inter-
crow was
ested to learn that at the precise time the
wounded. Peg
leg.
from her broomstick),
with a fracture of her leg, and the doctor, on dressing tiie
wound, extracted the
from.
Many
identical silver button there-
of the inhabitants of Gloucester of those
days believed this
Much more
tale.
of a descriptive nature
might be writ-
ten concerninor the old, deserted villagfe.
more extant
of
an historical nature, the writer has
been unable, by persistent searching,
The
to find
which can h^ found
the writer has identified
in
Dogtown.
many more
gratified than he can express at
that has been
these notes.
the
if
a person
tubs, they called
much foundation
witches of Dogtown.
sawed
him
these
He
is
more
the general interest first
As aged Mr. Thurston
''In old times
made two
awakened by
Of
than he believed
was possible when he began the work.
be as
it.
best autliorities claim that there are at present
41 cellars
to
If there is
publication of
quaintly remarks,
a barrel in
a witch."
as there
is
in
two and
This seems
manv
of the
Gloucester should cherish this
The Story of Dog town. ancient spot for what
it
has been.
the only ruined city in America.
sketches better
than
It
I
71
is
practically
cannot close these
by following the example
Babson, and quoting Goldsmith
:
"Here, as I take my solitary rounds. Amidst thy tangled walks and ruined grounds, And, many a year elapsed, return to view Where once the cottage stood, the hawthorne grew. Remembrance wakes, with all her busy train. Swells at my breast, and turns the past to pain,
********
But now the sounds of population
fail,
No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale, No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread, Foi- all the
blooming
[Copyright 1S96 by
flush of life
is
Procter Brothers,
fled."
Gloucester, Mass.]
of
H
88 78
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