Hayward’s New England Gazetteer (1839) page 382
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NEW ENGLAND GAZETTEER.

In 1698, a great fire broke out,
and destroyed several dwelling
houses. In 1718, the second or
east church was built and is still
standing. The celebrated Dr. Bent-
ley was pastor of this church. He
wrote a “ Description of Salem,”
which is published in the “ Collec-
tions of the Mass. Hist. Society.”

In 1774, General Gage ordered
the removal of the general court to
Salem. At that time, Boston was a
closed port.' The merchants and
citizens of Salem called a town
meeting, at which, resolutions de-
nouncing, in very strong terms, the
Boston port bill, were passed unani-
mously. The meeting was very
full, and a copy of their doings was
communicated to their neighbors of
Boston. On the 11th of June, when
Gov.- Gage was at Salem, an address,
numerously signed, was presented
to him, which reflects high honor
on the sense of justice and patriot-
ism of this ancient town. Among
other things it said, “ By shutting
up the port of Boston, some imag-
ine that the course of trade might
be turned hither and to our benefit;
but nature in the tormation of our
harbor forbids our becoming rivals
in cdmmerce to that convenient
mart. And were it otherwise,
we
must be dead to every idea of jus-
tice—lost to all feelings of humani-
ty—could we indulge one thought
to seize on wealth and raise our for-
tunes on the ruin of our suffering
neighbor s.3 3

In 1776, Feb. 26, Col. Leslie,
with a British regiment from Bos-
ton Castle, landed privately at .Sa-
lem and proceeded to the. North
bridge, with a view to seize on some
military stores beyond it. The cit-
izens were, at the time, in meeting ;
but Col. Timothy Pickering; with
30 or 40 men, got there in season to
raise the draw, and thus prevent
Leslie and his regiment from pass-
ing further. The British attempted
to cross the river in a gondola,
but the Americans scuttled the
boat. Finally, Col. Leslie proposed
that if he should be permitted to
pass 30 rods beyond the bridge, he
would return. Having been per-
mitted, the gallant colonel returned
peaceably to Boston.

During- the revolution, there
were about 60 armed vessels fitted
out from Salem, manned by 4,000
men; and many unrecorded deeds
of high daring and chivalrous adven-
ture were performed on the sea by
citizens of Salem, during that event-
ful period. Indeed, in her naval
achievements consists principally
the part which Salem bore in the
revolutionary struggle.

This seaport has been more known
for its East India trade than any
other in the United States. The
first ship from Salem engaged in
this trade was the Grand Turk,
owned by E. H. Derby. She was
at the Cape of Good Hope in 1784,
commanded by Capt. Jonathan In-
gersoll, and at Canton in 1786, com-
manded hy Ebenezer West. A
model of her, completely rigged, is
in the Museum. In 1818, there
were 53 vessels employed in this
trade belonging to Salem, the ton-
nage of which was 14,272 tons.

Salem became a city in 1836. Its
government consists of a mayor and
six aldermen, and twenty-four com-
mon council men. It
s public schools
are nineteen. The number of schol-
ars in 1837, was 1,534, and the
amount paid for instruction $8,877.

The Jlthenceum was incorporated
in 1810. Edward A. Holyoke,
William Orne, Nathaniel Silsbee
and Samuel Putnam were authoris-
ed to call the first meeting of the
proprietors. The stock is divided
into 90 or 100 shares. Its library
contains about 9,000 volumes. The
institution, though at present rather
private, may ultimately become
more public.

The Museum is remarkable for the
extent and variety of its natural and
artificial curiosities, collected from
almost every part of the world.



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