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Ten Chestnut Street
Salem, Mass.
Built 1808 for Nathan Robinson, merchant, and wife Eunice Beckford
Etching of Salem waterfront
by Philip Little, long-time owner of this house
24
�Ten Chestnut Street
Salem
According to available evidence, this house was built in 1808 for Nathan
Robinson, merchant, and wife Eunice Beckford as their family residence.
In 1802 Nathan Robinson, 32, married Eunice Beckford, 23, of Salem.
She was a daughter of the wealthy shipping merchant Ebenezer Beckford
and his wife Hannah Hunt, of 14 Lynde Street. Eunice, whose parents
were from old Salem families, had two sisters and brother. Nathan came
from Boxford, and was the son of a Revolutionary War veteran, Major
John Robinson (1739-1810), who endured the long winter at Valley
Forge. John had married Rebecca Wood in 1763; and she would have
eleven children, of whom Nathan, the fifth, was the only one to move to
Salem. Perhaps his father had apprenticed him as a merchant's clerk.
He must have been impressive to have passed muster in Salem, a highly
ambitious and discerning place, and to marry into the Beckford family.
Possibly he had clerked for Mr. Beckford and lived in the Beckford
house, as apprentices usually resided with their masters in those days.
Mr. Robinson acquired this property after it had already changed hands a
few times. On Aug. 19, 1803, two heirs of David Neal, deceased mariner,
sold their rights in some real estate formerly of their father to a third heir,
Jonathan Neal, merchant (ED 172:250). Among the parcels was a lot
described as containing 25.8 poles ofland, bounded east on Cambridge
Street 118', south 55' 2" by "Chesnut" Street, west 130' on land of
Jonathan Hodges, north 58' 8" on land of Joshua Goodale's heirs. Mr.
Neal immediately sold this lot for $516 to his sister, Hannah, wife of Asa
Killam, Salem housewright (ED 172:250). Mr. Killam built a house on
the lot, and in August, 1804, the Killams sold the house and land for
$2450 to Nathan Robinson, Salem merchant (ED 175:43). Nathan and
Eunice Robinson probably occupied that house for the next few years.
�Perhaps inspired by the construction of the house next door by Jonathan
Hodges c.1805, the Robinsons decided to remove their Killam-built
house and have a new one built of brick. This they proceeded to do,
evidently in 1808.1
The Salem to which Nathan Robinson had moved, probably by the early
1790s if not before, was a boom-town. In some places, the post-war loss
of the former colonial connections and trade routes was devastating, for
Americans were prohibited from trading with most British possessions;
but in Salem, the merchants and mariners were ready to push their ships
and cargoes into all parts of the known world. They did so with
astonishing success. For a period of about 25 years, Salem would be
famous as a center of commercial enterprise: competing fiercely,
pioneering new routes, and opening and dominating markets, Salem won
a high place in the world. Hasket Derby, William Gray, Ebenezer
Beckford, and Joseph Peabody were the town's commercial leaders into
the 1790s. In 1784, Derby began trade with Russia; and in 1784 and 1785
he dispatched trading vessels to Africa and China, respectively. Voyages
to India soon followed, and to the Spice Islands and Pepper Islands
(Sumatra, Java, Malaya, etc.).
The new foreign-trade markets-and the coffee trade, which would be
opened in 1798 with Mocha, Arabia-brought great riches to the Salem
merchants, and raised the level of wealth throughout the town: new ships
were bought and built, more crews were formed with more shipmasters,
new shops and stores opened, new partnerships were formed, and new
people moved to town. In the 1790s, Federal Street, known as New
Street, had more empty lots than fine houses. Chestnut Street did not
exist: its site was a meadow. The Common, not yet Washington Square,
was covered with hillocks, small ponds and swamps, utility buildings,
and the alms-house. From a population of7921 in 1790, the town would
grow by 1500 persons in a decade. At the same time, thanks to the
economic policies of Alexander Hamilton, Salem vessels were
1
See Richard H. Wiswall, Notes on The Building of Chestnut Street, EIHC 75. He claims that one
James Nichols was the master mason for the job----noevidence cited.
2
�transporting foreign cargos tax-free while serving as the neutral carrying
fleet for both Britain and France, which were at war with each other.
In the late 1790s, there was agitation in Congress to go to war with
France, which was at war with England. After President Adams'
negotiators were rebuffed by the French leaders, a quasi-war with France
began in summer, 1798, much to the horror of Salem's George
Crowninshield family (father and five shipmaster sons), which had an
extensive trade with the French, and whose ships and cargos in French
ports were susceptible to seizure. The quasi-war brought about a political
split within the Salem population. Those who favored war with France
(and detente with England) aligned themselves with the national
Federalist party, led by Hamilton and Salem's Timothy Pickering (the U.
S. Secretary of State). These included most of the merchants, led locally
by the Derby and Beckford families. Those who favored peace with
republican France were the Anti-Federalists, who later became aligned
with Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican party; they were led
locally by the Crowninshields. For the first few years of this rivalry, the
Federalists prevailed; but after the death ofHasket "King" Derby in 1799
his family's power weakened.
In 1800, Adams negotiated peace with France and fired Pickering.
Salem's Federalist merchants responded in anger, expressed through their
newspaper, the Salem Gazette. At the same time, British vessels began to
harass American shipping. Salem owners bought more cannon and shot,
and kept pushing their trade to the farthest ports of the rich East, while
also maintaining trade with the Caribbean and Europe. Salem cargos
were exceedingly valuable, and Salem was a major center for distribution
of merchandise throughout New England: "the streets about the wharves
were alive with teams loaded with goods for all parts of the country. It
was a busy scene with the coming and going of vehicles, some from long
distances, for railroads were then unknown and all transportation must be
carried on in wagons and drays. In the taverns could be seen teamsters
from all quarters sitting around the open fire in the chilly evenings,
3
�discussing the news of the day or making merry over potations of New
England rum, which Salem manufactured in abundance." 2
The Crowninshields, led by brother Jacob, were very successful, as their
holdings rose from three vessels in 1800 to several in 1803. Their
bailiwick in Derby Street seemed almost to be a foreign country: in the
stores, parrots chattered and monkeys played, and from the warehouses
wafted the exotic aromas of Sumatran spices and Arabian coffee beans.
From the wharves were carted all manner of strange fruits and blue and
red patterned china and piles of gorgeous silks and figured cloths. The
greatest of the Salem merchants at this time was "Billy" Gray, who by
1808 owned 36 large vessels-15 ships, 7 barks, 13 brigs, 1 schooner.
Salem was then still a town, and a small one by our standards, with a
total population of about 9,500 in 1800. Its politics were fierce and
polarizing. The two factions attended separate churches, held separate
parades, and supported separate schools, military companies, and
newspapers. Salem's merchants resided mainly on two streets:
Washington (which ended in a wharf on the Inner Harbor, and, above
Essex, had the Town House in the middle) and Essex (particularly
between what are now Hawthorne Boulevard and North Street). The East
Parish (Derby Street area) was for the seafaring families, shipmasters,
sailors, and fishermen.
The town's merchants were among the wealthiest in the country, and in
Samuel McIntire they had a local architect who could help them realize
their desires for large and beautiful homes in the latest style. While a few
of the many new houses went up in the old Essex-Washington Street
axis, most were erected on or near Washington Square or in the
Federalist "west end" (Chestnut, Federal, and upper Essex Streets). The
architectural style (called "Federal" today) had been developed by the
Adam brothers in England and featured fanlight doorways, palladian
windows, elongated pilasters and columns, and large windows. It was
introduced to New England by Charles Bulfinch in 1790. The State
2
See Hurd's History of Essex County, 1888, p. 65.
4
�House in Boston was his first institutional composition; the residences of
Beacon Hill followed in the Bulfinch manner.
Samuel McIntire (1757-1811), who was self-educated and who made his
living primarily as a wood-carver and carpenter, was quick to adapt the
Bulfinch style to Salem's larger lots. Mclntire's first local composition,
the Jerathmeel Peirce house (on Federal Street), contrasts with his later
Adamesque designs. In place of walls of wood paneling, there now
appeared plastered expanses painted in bright colors or covered in bold
wallpapers. The Adam style put a premium on handsome casings and
carvings of central interior features such door-caps and chimney-pieces
(Mcintire's specialty). On the exterior, the Adam style included elegant
fences; and the houses were often built of brick, with attenuated porticoes
and, in the high style, string courses, swagged panels, and even two-story
pilasters.
A new bank, the Salem Bank, was formed in 1803, and there were two
insurance companies and several societies and associations. The fierce
politics and commercial rivalries continued, as captured in the diary of
Rev. William Bentley, bachelor minister of Salem's East Church and
editor of the Register newspaper. His diary is full of references to the
civic and commercial doings of the town, and to the lives and behaviors
of all classes of society. On Union Street, not far from Bentley's church,
on the fourth of July, 1804, was born a boy who would grow up to
eclipse all sons of Salem: Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose father would die
of yellow fever while on a voyage to the Caribbean in 1808. This sort of
horrible and untimely death was all too typical of Salem's young
seafarers, who fell prey to the diseases of the Caribbean and Pacific
tropics.
In December, 1803, we see Nathan Robinson first engaging in trade: he is
an owner, with his father-in-law Eben Beckford and a few others, of the
217-ton ship George Washington, commanded by Capt. Timothy Bryant. 3
3
Much shipping info taken from Ship Registers of the District of Salem & Beverly, ed. A. Frank
Hitchings, EIHC 39-42.
5
�Nathan Robinson (1770-1835), b.13 Oct. 1770, son of John Robinson
& Rebecca Wood of Boxford, died 28 Feb.1835. He m.19 Dec.1802
Eunice Beckford (1779-1827), dtr. of Ebenezer Beckford & Hannah
Hunt, died 20 April 1827. Known issue:
1. Horatio, 1803, Salem physician
2. Hannah Hunt Beckford, 1805, m. 1834 Stephen P. Webb (mayor
of Salem and of San Francisco)
3. Caroline Elizabeth, 1809, died young.
4. William F., 1815
5. Martha Eunice,1818-1871, m. Edward Clarke Cabot (18181901), Boston architect & artist; had issue.
In March, 1804, Nathan Robinson and his Chestnut Street neighbor
Pickering Dodge bought into the 227 ton ship Bonetta, along with Nat
Appleton and the master, Thomas B. Osgood. Robinson and Dodge
would be partners in several other vessels over the years. In May, 1806,
they were co-owners of the bark Georgetown, 136 tons, commanded by
Joshua Safford.
In 1806 the Derbys extended their wharf far out into the harbor, tripling
its previous length. Other important wharves were the Crowninshields'
new India Wharf, Forrester's (now Central, just west of Derby Wharf),
and Union Wharf at the foot of Union Street; and then, father to the west,
a number of wharves extending into the South River (filled in during the
late 1800s), all the way to the foot of Washington Street. Each had a
warehouse or two, and shops for artisans (coopers, blockmakers, joiners,
etc.), with several lumber yards and ship chandleries and distilleries, and
with a Market House at the foot of Central Street, below the Custom
House. The wharves and streets were crowded with shoppers, gawkers,
hawkers, sailors, artisans ("mechanics"), storekeepers, and teamsters; and
just across the way, on Stage Point along the south bank of the South
River, wooden barks and brigs and ships were being built in the
shipyards.
6
�In August, 1806, the ship George Washington was re-registered with N.
Robinson, E. Beckford, and two others as owners, and Benjamin Daniels
as master with Timothy Bryant as supercargo (in charge of trading) on a
voyage to "Tonningen" (Tanning, Germany). Messrs Dodge & Robinson
took John Cabot Jr. as their partner in the 198-ton brig Republican, Capt.
Noah Emery, registered for foreign trade in April, 1807. The two friends,
Robinson & Dodge, co-owned the 304-ton ship William, registered for
trade in December, 1807, under Capt. Noah Emery, bound for Calcutta
with Augustine Heard (later an eminent merchant of Boston and Ipswich)
as the supercargo and a crew of two mates, ten seamen, and the cook. 4
Salem's boom came to an end with a crash in January, 1808, when
Jefferson and the Congress imposed an embargo on all shipping in hopes
of forestalling war with Britain. The Embargo, which was widely
opposed in New England, proved futile and nearly ruinous in Salem,
where commerce ceased. As a hotbed of Democratic-Republicanism,
Salem's East Parish and its seafarers, led by the Crowninshields, loyally
supported the Embargo until it was lifted in spring, 1809. Shunned by
the other Salem merchants for his support of the Embargo, the eminent
Billy Gray took his large fleet of ships-fully one-third of Salem's
tonnage-and moved to Boston. Gray took with him much wealth,
shipping, import-export cargos, and local employment. Gray soon
switched from the Federalist party, and was elected Lt. Governor under
Gov. Elbridge Gerry, a native of Marblehead.
Salem resumed its seafaring commerce for three years. Nathan refrained
from engaging in shipping for a while.
In January, 1812, the Beckford sisters (Mary Osgood, widow, and Eunice
Robinson) bought a pew at the Tabernacle Church, which indicates that
they followed a brand of Christianity that was conservative and trinitarian
(ED 195:161).
4
Per Salem Crew Lists, Mystic Seaport records.
7
�In June, 1812, war was declared against Britain. As Federalists, the
Robinson-Beckfords stayed away from privateering (they had wanted
America to go to war against France); however, in December, 1812, we
see Nathan with his father-in-law Beckford registering their 219-ton brig
Pilgrim, Capt. John W. Baker, for (highly risky) foreign trade.
When war came, Salem's Republican merchants swiftly fitted out 40
privateers manned by Marblehead and Salem crews, who also served on
U. S. Navy vessels, including the frigate Constitution. Many more local
vessels could have been sent against the British, but some of the
Federalist merchants held them back. In addition, Salem fielded
companies of infantry and artillery. Salem and Marblehead privateers
were largely successful in making prizes of British supply vessels. While
many of the town's men were wounded in engagements, and some were
killed, the possible riches of privateering kept men returning to sea as
often as possible. The first prizes were captured by a 30-ton converted
fishing schooner, the Fame, and by a 14-ton luxury yacht fitted with one
gun, the Jefferson. Of all Salem privateers, the Crowninshields' 350-ton
ship America was most successful: she captured 30-plus prizes worth
more than $1,100,000.
Salem erected forts and batteries on its Neck, to discourage the British
warships that cruised these waters. On land, the war went poorly for the
United States, as the British captured Washington, DC, and burned the
Capitol and the White House. Along the western frontier, U. S. forces
were sometimes successful against the weak English forces; and the
western expansionists had their day. At sea, over time, Salem vessels
were captured, and their men imprisoned or killed. After almost three
years, the war was bleeding the town dry. Hundreds of Salem men and
boys were in British prison-ships and at Dartmoor Prison in England. At
the Hartford Convention in 1814, New England Federalist delegates met
to consider what they could do to bring the war to a close and to restore
the region's commerce. Sen. Timothy Pickering of Salem led the extreme
Federalists in proposing a series of demands which, if not met by the
federal government, could lead to New England's seceding from the
United States; but the Pickering faction was countered by Harrison G.
8
�Otis of Boston and the moderate Federalists, who prevailed in sending a
moderate message to Congress.
At last, in February, 1815, peace was restored. In November, 1815,
Nathan Robinson, Pickering Dodge, Henry Pickering (also of Chestnut
Street), and five more registered the 186-ton brig Mary, Capt. Nicholas
Thorndike Jr., for foreign trade.
In 1816, Ebenezer Beckford died, and the Robinsons came into a large
inheritance. Post-war, the Salem merchants rebuilt their fleets and
resumed their worldwide trade, slowly at first, and then to great effect.
Many new partnerships were formed. The pre-war partisan politics of the
town were not resumed, as the middle-class "mechanics" (artisans)
brought about civic harmony, largely through the Salem Charitable
Mechanic Association (founded 1817).
In April, 1817, Nathan Robinson found new partners-Messrs. Orne,
Felt, Seccomb--to join him as owners of the 288-ton ship Sophia, Capt.
Jonathan P. Felt.
In October, 1817, for $112 Nathan Robinson bought four shares in the
"New Assembly house" on Chestnut Street, now known as Hamilton Hall
(ED 214:173). He bought two more shares for $28 in November, 1819
(ED 220:276).
Rev. William Bentley, keen observer and active citizen during Salem's
time of greatest prosperity and fiercest political divisions, died in 1819,
the year in which a new U.S. Custom House was built on the site of the
George Crowninshield mansion, at the head of Derby Wharf. Into the
1820s foreign trade continued prosperous; and new markets were opened
with Madagascar (1820), which supplied tallow and ivory, and Zanzibar
(1825), whence came coffee, ivory, and gum copal, used to make varnish.
This opened a huge and lucrative trade in which Salem dominated, and
its vessels thus gained access to all of the east African ports.
9
�In July, 1823, Nathan Robinson for $792 bought a house and land, north
of his homestead, containing 14 poles bounded east on Cambridge Street,
west on Holman land, and north on Hathorne land (ED 232: 179).
Salem's general maritime foreign commerce fell off sharply in the late
1820s. Imports in Salem ships were supplanted by the goods that were
now being produced in great quantities in America. The interior of the
country was being opened for settlement, and some Salemites moved
away. To the north, the falls of the Merrimack River powered large new
textile mills (Lowell was founded in 1823), which created great wealth
for their investors; and it seemed that the tide of opportunity was ebbing
away from Salem. In an ingenious attempt to stem the flow of talent from
the town and to harness its potential water power for manufacturing,
Salem's merchants and capitalists banded together to raise the money to
dam the North River for industrial power. The project, which began with
much promise, was suspended in 1827, which demoralized the town even
more, and caused several leading citizens to move to Boston, the hub of
investment in the new economy.
In 1825 Nathan Robinson re-entered the shipping business as co-owner
with Robert Brookhouse & William Procter of the 175-ton brig Siren,
Capt. Joshua Kinsman. In Sept. 1826 Mr. Robinson and Robert
Brookhouse and Jonathan Lovett were recorded as owners of the 256-ton
brig Laurel, Capt. Zachariah Morgan. In that same month, Messrs.
Robinson & Brookhouse, with Josiah Lovett 2nd , were the owners
registering for trade the 138-ton brig Susan, Capt. Stephen Burchmore.
And in December 1826, the 242-ton brig Forrester, Capt. Richard G.
Wheatland, was registered by owners Nathan Robinson, the captain, and
four Barstows.
In February, 1827, the 175-ton brig Siren, Capt. James Vent, was
registered by owners N. Robinson & R. Brookhouse; and they sold her on
a voyage to Africa in 1828.
On April 20, 1827, Eunice (Beckford) Robinson, 48, died of consumption
(tuberculosis), leaving four children, two of them quite young.
10
�In December, 1828, the 256-ton brig Laurel was registered for trade by
her owners, N. Robinson, R. Brookhouse, and the master, Capt. Charles
Mansfield. In January, 1829, the 150-ton brig Shawmut, Capt. James
Emerton was registered by her owners, Mesrs. Robinson & Brookhouse
and the master. Later, in September, the brig Susan was registered by
Robinson & Brookhouse and the master, Capt. Zebulon Woodbury.
In 1830 occurred a horrifying crime that brought disgrace to Salem. Old
Capt. Joseph White, a wealthy merchant, resided in the house now called
the Gardner-Pingree house, on Essex Street. One night, intruders broke
into his mansion and stabbed him to death. All of Salem buzzed with the
news of murderous thugs; but the killer was a Crowninshield (a fallen son
of one of the five brothers; after he was put in jail he killed himself). He
had been hired by his friends, Capt. White's own relatives, Capt. Joseph
Knapp and his brother Frank (they would be executed). The results of
the investigation and trial having uncovered much that was lurid, more of
the respectable families quit the now-notorious town.
In May, 1830, the owners, N. Robinson & R. Brookhouse, registered
their 229-ton brig Reaper, Capt. Zebulon Woodbury; and the same two
partners in July, 1830, registered the doughty 76-ton schooner Felicity,
Capt. Robert Hussey.
In March 1832, Nathan Robinson was among the owners, with Pickering
Dodge, Joseph Peabody, and 12 more, of the 314-ton ship Bengal, Capt.
George G. Russell. That same month, the same three men and 12 more
registered their 315-ton ship Catharine, Capt. Henry Paddock, as a
whaler; away they went to the Pacific, and, off Hawaii in November
1832, she would catch fire and sink to the bottom. That June the 275-ton
brig lzette, Capt. Elijah Kingston, was registered by Nathan Robinson,
Pickering Dodge, and 8 others.
In May 1834, the lzette, Capt. Burr Sistane, 24 (of New London), was
registered for a whaling voyage by owners Nathan Robinson and 7 more;
and in May 1835 she would make another voyage under the same master.
11
�Nathan Robinson had an ownership share in that voyage too; but he was
already deceased: on February 28, 1835, Nathan Robinson died of
"debility'' at the age of 64. He left four children, of whom William and
Martha were still minors.
The inventory ofNathan Robinson's assets is appended, as is the account
of administration. The real estate (worth $7730) included the homestead
here ("house in Chesnut Street, with land etc. $6,000") and also one-third
of the Concert Hall on central Street (where the Salem laundry parking
lot is now, near Charter Street). His personal estate came to $28,413.18,
including 1/16 ownership of both the ships Bengal and Izette, a debt of
$1150 owed him in Africa, ten shares in the Franconia Iron Factory, a
loan to the Salem Lead Manufacturing company, shares in insurance
companies, a share in the Salem Athenaeum, and some personal loans.
The furnishings of the house, or his rooms of the house, are lasted in
specific. We see that he had prints of Hamilton and of Raphael, much
silverware, 8 flag-bottomed chairs, the usual furniture, a nice Brussels
carpet and 12 mahogany chairs, a painted carpet and a cloth carpet, a stair
carpet and rods, mantel ornaments, two thermometers, desk and
bookcase, a fire bucket, a Liverpool dining set, 18 yellow chairs, a
cooking stove, etc.
On May 2, 1835, Dr. Horatio Robinson, and Mrs. Hannah Webb for
$2625 sold a half-interest in the homestead here to Amos Choate (ED
282:230). The other half share was sold by the guardians of the minors,
Martha E. and William Robinson, at the same time (ED 282:231, 232).
This gave Mr. Choate ownership of the place.
Amos Choate Esq. was the husband ofMehitable Neal (his second wife),
whose father Jonathan Neal had briefly owned the lot here in 1803.5 Mr.
5 Jonathan
Neal (1759-1837), a prosperous merchant, resided at 13 Washington Street and
married twice. He briefly owned the lot here on Chestnut Street before the house was built.
By his first, wife, Mehitable Eden, he had a daughter, Mehitable (1783-1856), m. Amos
Choate. By his second wife Hannah Ward he had sons David Augustus (1793-1861), Nathan
Ward (1797-1850), William H. (1799-1851) m. Sarah Ropes, and Theodore F. (1802-1821)
who died at Havana.
12
�Choate, formerly a merchant, was chiefly known as the county's longtime Register of Deeds. He was a member of the North Society
(Unitarian) and was a native of Ipswich, married to Lucy Smith of that
town; and she had died in 1833, aged 52 years, whereupon he had
married Miss Neal. The Choates resided here, perhaps with family
members.
As the decade of the 1830s wore on, Salem's remaining merchants had to
take their equity out of wharves and warehouses and ships and put it into
manufacturing and transportation, as the advent of railroads and canals
diverted both capital and trade away from the coast. Some merchants did
not make the transition, and were ruined. Old-line areas of work, like
rope-making, sail-making, and ship chandleries, gradually declined and
disappeared. Salem slumped badly, but, despite all, the voters decided to
charter their town as a city in 1836-the third city to be formed in the
state, behind Boston and Lowell. City Hall was built 1837-8 and the city
seal was adopted with an already-anachronistic Latin motto of"to the
farthest port of the rich East"-a far cry from "Go West, young man!"
The Panic of 1837, a brief, sharp, nationwide economic depression,
caused even more Salem families to head west in search of fortune and a
better future.
Salem had not prepared for the industrial age, and had few natural
advantages. The North River served not to power factories but mainly to
flush the waste from the 25 tanneries that had set up along its banks.
Throughout the 1830s, the leaders of Salem scrambled to re-invent an
economy for their fellow citizens, many of whom were mariners without
much sea-faring to do. Ingenuity, ambition, and hard work would have to
carry the day.
One inspiration was the Salem Laboratory, Salem's first science-based
manufacturing enterprise, founded in 1813 to produce chemicals. At the
plant built in 1818 in North Salem on the North River, the production of
alum and blue vitriol was a specialty; and it proved a very successful
business. Salem's whale-fishery, active for many years in the early
1800s, led, in the 1830s, to the manufacturing of high-quality candles at
13
�Stage Point, along with machine oils. The candles proved very popular.
Lead-manufacturing began in the 1820s, and grew large after 1830, when
Wyman's gristmills on the Forest River were retooled for making highquality white lead and sheet lead (the approach to Marblehead is still
called Lead Mills Hill, although the empty mill buildings burned down in
1960s).
These enterprises were a start toward taking Salem in a new direction. In
1838 the Eastern Rail Road, headquartered in Salem, began operating
between Boston and Salem, which gave the local people a direct route to
the region's largest market. The new railroad tracks ran right over the
middle of the Mill Pond; the tunnel under Washington Street was built in
1839; and the line was extended to Newburyport in 1840. Salem still had
some very wealthy residents. Three were the brothers of Mrs. Choate,
David A., Nathan, and William Neal, who were merchants with a
counting house at then-150 Essex Street. David resided at then-13
Washington Street, William at then-249 Essex, and Nathan at then-8
Liberty Street (per directory).
Amos Choate (1775-1844), son of Stephen Choate & Mary Low of
Ipswich, died 7 Aug. 1844. He mil Lucy Smith of Ipswich (D. 12 Jan.
1833, age 52 years-their son Augustus had died young). He m/2. 26
May 1833 Mehitable Neal (1783-1856), b. 1785, dtr. of Jonathan Neal
& Mehitable Eden, died 20 Oct. 1856.
In February, 1842, Amos Choate made his last will, which he amended
by codicil dated on Feb. 12, 1844. He died on August 7, 1844, in his 70th
year. By his will he devised $5,000 to the insane poor of Salem,
benefactions to his church, gifts to relatives, and all the rest, including
this homestead, to his "kind, faithful, and affectionate" wife Mehitable,
who thus became sole owner.
In the 1840s, as more industrial methods and machines were introduced,
new companies in new lines of business arose in Salem. The tanning and
14
�curing of leather was very important by the mid- l 800s. On and near
Boston Street, along the upper North River, there were 41 tanneries in
1844, and 85 in 1850, employing 550 hands. The leather business would
continue to grow in importance throughout the 1800s. In 1846 the
Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company completed the construction at Stage
Point of the largest factory building in the United States, 60' wide by
400' long. It was an immediate success, and hundreds of people found
employment there, many of them living in tenements built nearby. Also
in the 1840s, a new method was introduced to make possible highvolume industrial shoe production. In Lynn, the factory system was
perfected, and that city became the nation's leading shoe producer.
Salem had shoe factories too, and attracted shoe workers from outlying
towns and the countryside. Even the population changed, as hundreds of
Irish families, fleeing the Famine in Ireland, settled in Salem and gave
the industrialists a big pool of cheap labor.
The Gothic symbol of Salem's new industrial economy was the large
twin-towered granite train station-the "stone depot"-smoking and
growling with idling locomotives, standing on filled-in land at the foot of
Washington Street, where before had been the merchants' wharves. In the
face of all this change, some members of Salem's waning merchant class
continued to pursue their sea-borne businesses; but even the conditions of
shipping changed, and Salem was left on the ebb tide. In the late 1840s,
giant clipper ships replaced the smaller vessels that Salem men had sailed
around the world; and the clippers, with their deep drafts and large holds,
were usually too large for Salem and its harbor. The town's shipping
soon consisted of little more than Zanzibar-trade vessels and visits from
Down East coasters with cargoes of fuel wood and building timber. By
1850 Salem was about finished as a working port. A picture of Salem's
sleepy waterfront is given by Hawthorne in his mean-spirited
"introductory section" to The Scarlet Letter, which he began while
working in the Custom House.
In 1850, the census-taker found here (house 428) Mehitable Choate, 66,
her brother Nathan W. Neal, 53, merchant, Irish servant Mary Kenner,
18, and Catherine Kelley, 20. In late 1850, probably at this house the
15
�very wealthy bachelor Nathan Ward Neal died. He was agraduate of
Harvard, class of 1816, and never married. From the probate records, it
appears that he had bought an extensive wharf (Bartlett's) in Boston, and
that he loaned money. His assets, a fabulous $156,442, outweighed his
equally impressive debts by about $13, 500 (see appendix).
In 1855 (census, family 748), the household consisted ofMehitable
Choate, 71, Mary E. Smith, 50, and Irish domestic servants Margaret
Kennedy, 20, and Mary Keating, 22. Mrs. Mehitable (Neal) Choate,
widow, died on Oct. 20, 1856. By her will she devised this homestead to
her brother, David Augustus Neal, a rich railroad executive. To nieces,
nephews, and friends she devised money and goods, including her
wardrobe, her pianoforte, her silver tea service, and her set of Walter
Scott's Waverly novels.
The D. A. Neal family moved in here. Mr. Neal had begun as a merchant
and then had become a railroad executive (see sketch appended). In 1860,
per census (house 2941) this was the residence of David A. Neal, 65,
merchant, wife Harriet, 65, Margaret/Maria M. 24, servant William
Maloney, 24, Hannah Maloney, 25, and Peter O'Donnell, 25.
David Augustus Neal (1793-1861) b. June 7, 1793 son of Jonathan
Neal & Hannah Ward, died Aug. 5, 1861. He married Harriet C. Price
of Boston. Known issue:
1. Theodore Augustus
2. Margaret Maria, 1832
3. Harriet C., 1837, m. 1858 Robert S. Rantoul (mayor).
Salem's growth continued through the 1850s, as business and industries
expanded, the population swelled, new churches (e.g. Immaculate
Conception, 1857) were started, new working-class neighborhoods were
developed (especially in North Salem and South Salem, off Boston
Street, and along the Mill Pond behind the Broad Street graveyard), and
new schools, factories, and stores were built. A second, larger, factory
building for the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company was added in 1859,
16
�down at Stage Point, where a new Methodist Church went up, and many
neat homes, boarding-houses, and stores were erected along the streets
between Lafayette and Congress. The tanning business continued to
boom, as better and larger tanneries were built along Boston Street and
Mason Street; and subsidiary industries sprang up as well, most notably
the J.M.Anderson glue-works on the Turnpike (Highland Avenue).
As it re-established itself as an economic powerhouse, Salem took a
strong interest in national politics. It was primarily Republican, and
strongly anti-slavery, with its share of outspoken abolitionists, led by
Charles Remond, a passionate speaker who came from one of the city's
notable black families (the family home was in Hamilton Hall). At the
Lyceum (on Church Street) and in other venues, plays and shows were
put on, but cultural lectures and political speeches were given too.
By 1860, with the election of Abraham Lincoln, it was clear that the
Southern states would secede from the union; and Salem, which had done
so much to win the independence of the nation, was ready to go to war to
force others to remain a part of it
David A. Neal died in August, 1861, aged 68 years. By his will of 1858,
he devised to his wife, Harriet Charlotte, "my estate in Chesnut Street,
Salem, being the same devised to me by my sister, Mrs. Mehitable
Choate, and also my estate at West Beach in Beverly."
The Civil War began in April, 1861, and went on for four years, during
which hundreds of Salem men served in the army and navy, and many
were killed or died of disease or abusive treatment while imprisoned.
Hundreds more suffered wounds, or broken health. The people of Salem
contributed greatly to efforts to alleviate the suffering of the soldiers,
sailors, and their families; and there was great celebration when the war
finally ended in the spring of 1865.
Through the 1860s, Salem pursued manufacturing, especially ofleather
and shoes and textiles. The managers and capitalists tended to build their
new, grand houses along Lafayette Street (these houses may still be seen,
17
�south of Roslyn Street; many are in the French Second Empire style, with
mansard roofs). A third factory building for the Naurnkeag Steam Cotton
Company was built in 1865.
On Feb. 1, 1866, the heirs of Harriet C. Neal for $19,000 sold to Charles
H. Fabens, Salem merchant, the land and buildings here, bounded 176'
8" on Cambridge Street, and south on Chestnut Street 54' 9" (ED
696:287).
Charles Henry Fabens (1817-1869), b. 15 April 1817, son of Benjamin
Fabens & Hannah Stone; died 22 May 1869. Hem. 26 Oct. 1843
(Marie) Euphrasie Fabens (b. 13 May 1826, dtr. of Samuel Fabens &
Euphrasie Mathey). Known issue:
1. Charles Eugene, 1845
2. Benjamin Henry, 1848, m. 1875 Rebecca L. Chamberlain of
Baltimore.
3. Augustus J., 1852
4. Leonide E., 1861
The Fabens familf had risen from obscurity to great wealth in the 19th
century. Benjamin Fabens (1785-1850) began as a shipmaster in trade
with the Caribbean, and then became a merchant in the Cayenne trade
principally. He and his wife Hannah Stone had seven children, of whom
Charles Henry, born 1817, was the fourth. His wife Hannah died in 1848;
and he married, second, Mary Tay (d. 1879).
Charles H. Fabens (1817-1869) went to sea at sixteen, and was a
shipmaster at nineteen, master of the ship William & Henry, bound for
Surinam in December, 1836, and again in September, 1837. Later he was
captain of the ship Caroline on a voyage to India (departing May, 1842),
the brig Nereus on voyages to Cayenne (November 1843 and November
1844 departures), and the brig Esther, departing August 1845 for
6
See The Fabens Family for genealogical and economic information.
18
�Cayenne. In 1843 he married his cousin, Mary E., whose mother was a
native of French Guiana. In the 1840s they moved to Cayenne and
eventually returned to Salem. In 1865 he was chosen president of the
Naumkeag National Bank. He died in May, 1869.
In 1870 the census-taker found here (house 82) the Fabens family: Mary
E., widow, 44 (with real estate worth $32,000 and personal estate worth
$200,000), Charles E., 25, unemployed, Benjamin H., 22, bank clerk,
Augustus J., 17, a student, Leonide, 9, and Bessie H., 21 (b. Maine); also
Euphrasia Jerome, 63, born Santo Domingo, also Mary Welsh, 27, and
Bridget Colbert, 27, Irish domestic servants. The first three were born in
French Guiana, reflecting the fact that Charles H. Fabens had moved to
that Caribbean to conduct a successful merchant house. The Fabenses
continued to reside here into the 1880s.
In 1870 Salem received its last cargo from Zanzibar, thus ending a onceimportant trade. By then, a new Salem & New York freight steamboat
line was in operation. Seven years later, with the arrival of a vessel from
Cayenne, Salem's foreign trade came to an end. After that, "the
merchandise warehouses on the wharves no longer contained silks from
India, tea from China, pepper from Sumatra, coffee from Arabia, spices
from Batavia, gum-copal from Zanzibar, hides from Africa, and the
various other products of far-away countries. The boys have ceased to
watch on the Neck for the incoming vessels, hoping to earn a reward by
being the first to announce to the expectant merchant the safe return of
his looked-for vessel. The foreign commerce of Salem, once her pride
and glory, has spread its white wings and sailed away forever" (Rev.
George Bachelder in History of Essex County, II: 65).
Salem was now so densely built-up that a general conflagration was
always a possibility, as in Boston, when, on Nov. 9, 1872, the financial
and manufacturing district of the city burned up. Salem continued to
prosper in the 1870s, carried forward by the leather-making business. In
1874 the city was visited by a tornado and shaken by a minor earthquake.
In the following year, the large Pennsylvania Pier (site of the present
coal-fired harborside electrical generating plant) was completed to begin
19
�receiving large shipments of coal. Beyond it, at Juniper Point, a new
owner began subdividing the old Allen farmlands into a new
development called Salem Willows and Juniper Point. In the U.S.
centennial year, 1876, A.G. Bell of Salem announced that he had
discovered a way to transmit voices over telegraph wires.
In this decade, French-Canadian families began coming to work in
Salem's mills and factories, and more houses and tenements were built.
The better-off workers bought portions of older houses or built small
homes for their families in the outlying sections of the city; and by 1879
the Naumkeag Steam Cotton mills would employ 1200 people and
produce annually nearly 15 million yards of cloth. Shoe-manufacturing
businesses expanded in the 1870s, and 40 shoe factories were employing
600-plus operatives. Tanning, in both Salem and Peabody, remained a
very important industry, and employed hundreds of breadwinners. On
Boston Street in 1879, the Arnold tannery caught fire and burned down.
In July, 1886, the Fabens estate for $11,000 sold to Lucretia Shepard
(Jackson) Little, wife of Philip Little, the homestead here (ED 1177:272).
The Littles would reside here for more than 50 years. Philip Little was a
painter and etcher, and a great friend of Prank W. Benson, also a painter
and etcher of Chestnut Street and with whom, for some time, he shared a
studio at 2-4 Chestnut Street. Philip Little's life and career are traced in
the appendix. The Littles made some architectural changes to the house,
traced in the MACRIS form, also appended.
In the 1880s and 1890s, Salem kept building infrastructure; and new
businesses arose, and established businesses expanded. Retail stores
prospered; horse-drawn trolleys ran every which-way; and machinists,
carpenters, millwrights, and other specialists all thrived. In 1880,
Salem's manufactured goods were valued at about $8.4 million, of which
leather accounted for nearly half. In the summer of 1886, the Knights of
Labor brought a strike against the manufacturers for a ten-hour day and
other concessions; but the manufacturers imported labor from Maine and
Canada, and kept going. The strikers held out, and there was violence in
the streets, and even rioting; but the owners prevailed, and many of the
20
�defeated workers lost their jobs and suffered, with their families, through
a bitter winter.
By the mid-1880s, Salem's cotton-cloth mills at the Point employed 1400
people who produced about 19 million yards annually, worth about $1.5
million. The city's large shoe factories stood downtown behind the stone
depot and on Dodge and Lafayette Streets. A jute bagging company
prospered with plants on Skerry Street and English Street; its products
were sent south to be used in cotton-baling. Salem factories also
produced lead, paint, and oil. At the Eastern Railroad yard on Bridge
Street, cars were repaired and even built new. In 1887 the streets were
first lit with electricity, replacing gas-light. The gas works, which had
stood on Northey Street since 1850, was moved to a larger site on Bridge
Street in 1888, opposite the Beverly Shore.
More factories and more people required more space for buildings, more
roads, and more storage areas. This space was created by filling in rivers,
harbors, and ponds. The once-broad North River was filled from both
shores, and became a canal along Bridge Street above the North Bridge.
The large and beautiful Mill Pond, which occupied the whole area
between the present Jefferson Avenue, Canal Street, and Loring Avenue,
finally vanished beneath streets, storage areas, junk-yards, rail-yards, and
parking lots. The South River, too, with its epicenter at Central Street
(that's why there was a Custom House built there in 1805) disappeared
under the pavement of Riley Plaza and New Derby Street, and some of its
old wharves were joined together with much in-fill and turned into coalyards and lumber-yards. Only a canal was left, running in from Derby
and Central Wharves to Lafayette Street.
Salem kept growing. The Canadians were followed in the early 20 th
century by large numbers of Polish and Ukrainian families, who settled
primarily in the Derby Street neighborhood. By the eve of World War
One, Salem was a bustling, polyglot city that supported large department
stores and large factories of every description. People from the
surrounding towns, and Marblehead in particular, came to Salem to do
their shopping; and its handsome government buildings, as befit the
21
�county seat, were busy with conveyances ofland, lawsuits, and probate
proceedings. The city's politics were lively, and its economy was strong.
On June 25, 1914, in the morning, in Blubber Hollow (Boston Street
opposite Federal), a fire started in one of Salem's fire-prone wooden
tanneries. This fire soon consumed the building and raced out of control,
for the west wind was high and the season had been dry. The next
building caught fire, and the next, and out of Blubber Hollow the fire
roared easterly, a monstrous front of flame and smoke, wiping out the
houses of Boston Street, Essex Street, and upper Broad Street, and then
sweeping through Hathorne, Winthrop, Endicott, and other residential
streets. Men and machines could not stop it: the enormous fire crossed
over into South Salem and destroyed the neighborhoods west of
Lafayette Street, then devoured the mansions of Lafayette Street itself,
and raged onward into the tenement district. Despite the combined
efforts of heroic fire crews from many towns and cities, the fire
overwhelmed everything in its path: it smashed into the large factory
buildings of the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company (Congress Street),
which exploded in an inferno; and it rolled down Lafayette Street and
across the water to Derby Street. There, just beyond Union Street, after a
13-hour rampage, the monster died, having consumed 250 acres, 1600
houses, and 41 factories, and leaving three dead and thousands homeless.
Some people had insurance, some did not; all received much support and
generous donations from all over the country and the world. It was one
of the greatest urban disasters in the history of the United States, and the
people of Salem would take years to recover from it. Eventually, they
did, and many of the former houses and businesses were rebuilt; and
several urban-renewal projects (including Hawthorne Boulevard, which
involved removing old houses and widening old streets) were put into
effect.
By the 1920s, Salem was once again a thriving city; and its tercentenary
in 1926 was a time of great celebration. The Depression hit in 1929, and
continued through the 1930s. Salem, the county seat and regional retail
center, gradually rebounded, and prospered after World War II through
the 1950s and into the 1960s. Sylvania, Parker Brothers, Pequot Mills
22
�(formerly Naumkeag Steam Cotton Co.), Almy's department store,
various other large-scale retailers, and Beverly's United Shoe Machinery
Company were all major local employers.
In July, 1941, Philip Little conveyed the homestead to his son, Philip
Little Jr., of Wayzata, Minn., and PL Jr's wife Ella Sage Little (ED
3265:17). In August, 1942, the Little Jr.'s sold the property to Mary A. &
husband William V. McDermott of Salem (ED 3309:477).
In May, 1971, after the deaths of the McDermotts, their son William sold
the property to John V. Emerson (ED 5770:64). In November, 1977, Mr.
Emerson sold the same to Alan T. Howe (head of the controversial Salem
Parking Authority) and Joseph P. Feroce (ED 6414:387). In June, 2003,
Mr. Feroce sold the homestead to the present owners, Marshall B. Strauss
and Elaine D. Gerdine of Salem (ED 21046:376).
-Robert
Booth, October, 2017
23
�Glossary & Sources
A figure like (ED 123:45) refers to book 123, page 45, Essex South registry of
Deeds, Federal Street, Salem.
A figure like (#12345) refers to Essex Probate case 12345, on file at the Essex
Probate Court, Federal Street, Salem, or on microfilm at Mass. Archives,
Boston, or at the Peabody Essex Museum's Phillips Library, Salem.
MSSRW refers to the multi-volume compendium, Mass. Soldiers & Sailors in
the Revolutionary War, available at the Salem Public Library among other
places.
MSSCRW refers to the multi-volume compendium, Mass. Soldiers, Sailors, &
Marines in the Civil War, available at the Salem Public Library among other
places.
EIHC refers to the Essex Institute Historical Collections (discontinued), a
multi-volume set (first volume published in 1859) of data and articles about
Essex County. The indices of the EIHC have been consulted regarding many
of the people associated with this house.
The six-volume published Salem Vital records (marriages, births, and deaths
through 1849) have been consulted, as have the Salem Directory and later
Naumkeag Directory, which have information about residents and their
addresses, etc.
Sidney Perley's three-volume History of Salem, 1626-1716 has been
consulted, as has the four-volume William Bentley's Diary, J. Duncan
Phillips' books, some newspaper obituaries, and other sources.
Salem real estate valuations, and, where applicable, Salem Street Books, have
also been consulted, as have genealogies.
There is much more material available about Salem and its history; and the
reader is encouraged to make his or her own discoveries.
--Robert Booth
19
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Chestnut Street
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
10 Chestnut Street, Salem, MA 01970
Subject
The topic of the resource
House History
Description
An account of the resource
Built 1808 for Nathan Robinson, merchant, and wife Eunice Beckford
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Robert Booth; Historic Salem
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Historic Salem
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1808, 2017
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Robert Booth
10
1808
Beckford
Chestnut
Eunice
Little
merchant
Nathan
Phillip
Robinson
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/28828/archive/files/8111f7850a201121e3f7e469c9fe0af6.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=HVMN5mrBQbJ9V3S9b5XaTgEq3cleyweL2DNE9xcb6R2Agy8tJsQ3c%7E%7EO0TUQRTeMSATBeX6Bf5KsFg0BP-Y3UQ85%7EsTD8GRehi5bXRCjEzCsqF5xOIOgSsmezn2bTsHwXidL5WyoN3tziU3lhWcfUDox87BlDQ8UP65dN82viwuPwicUu%7E5hmtMZi%7Enm7pAJB7xhr%7ECA2IY1FUV8xw0H%7E9m38CEfe5zZwOpP2S6nR5JCOXZI0KR8iuA9f978ybsbKxuRfl3PawioQCBa7ExS0bjCGqXpnB5sR-QpldbqI1F89TNDRDZbXA48eUFLE8UYTNTNv3TaB2Vb46D6LcwJRQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
584b1b0c0adea82be3b8312de943e44d
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Chestnut Street
Historic Salem, Inc. House History
A resource made available by Historic Salem, Inc. detailing the history of Salem's houses.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
4 Chestnut Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970
Subject
The topic of the resource
House history
Description
An account of the resource
Built for
Deacon
John Stone
c. 1826
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Historic Salem, Inc.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Historic Salem, Inc. house history
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Historic Salem, Inc., Salem Historical Society
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1826, 2015
Language
A language of the resource
English
1826
2015
4
4 Chestnut
Brick
Chestnut
Deacon
Federal
John
John Stone
Lucy
Lucy Robinson
Robinson
Stone