Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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Court so decreed. Ipswich derives its name from Ipswich in “Old Eng- land,” in acknowledgement of the great honor and kindness done to our people who took shipping there. The first English to visit Agawam came in 1611, but it remained for Captain John Smith, the celebrated explorer and colonist, to leave us a detailed account of Ipswich and vicinity. Smith in 1614 describes Agawam’s many hills planted to corn and Plum Island to the East with its groves of Mulberry trees. William Wood in his “New Eng- land Prospect” describes Agawam as “one of the most spacious places for a plantation.” Thus the perma- nent settlement by John Winthrop and others can easily be understood. Even the historian of the Pilgrim colony at Plymouth relates that in the very first winter of 1620, some of the Pilgrims urged removal to Agawam because of its excellent harbor, better ground, and better fishing. The settlers of Ipswich were men of intelligence and sterling char- acter. John Winthrop. at twenty- eight years of age the leader in the settlement of 1633, was a graduate of Trinity College, a member of the bar, and a veteran of the English navy. A man of culture, he gath- ered about him in the first settle- ment others of eminent parts, which made Ipswich from the beginning a town of rare quality. The Rev. Nathaniel Ward, author of the “Simple Cobbler of Aga- wam,” was the first pastor of the church organized in 1634. The life of Ward is the history of an irrecon- cilable Puritan, summoned before Archbishop Laud for non-conform- ity and roughly excommunicated. Ward, with hundreds of others, found a field for usefulness in New England, and when he was sixty- four years of age, we find him here in Ipswich. The Rev. Nathaniel Ward is the author of the code of laws known as the “Body of Liber- ties,” the first code of laws estab- lished in New England. A very witty mfin, Mr. Ward remarked to Cotton Mather that he had only two comforts to live upon, the one in the perfections of Christ, the other, in the imperfections of Chris- tians. Richard Saltonstall was another who came early to Ipswich and par- ticipated in a prominent manner in the affairs of Ipswich. Governor Thomas Dudley made Ipswich his early home, and his daughter Anne married Simon Bradstreet, after- wards Governor of the colony, and was the first woman to write poetry in the new world. One of the original developments in the Massachusetts colony was the senaration of the colonv into towns. There was nothing in the land the Puritan left that contained such an institution, and as Jefferson re- marked of the New England towns, “thev are the vital principle of their government.” The towns ordered their local affairs, disposed of land, and elected officers, and the town meeting supplied a definite neces- sity in the exercises of government. In the development of town govern- ment and the town meeting, Ips- wich, because of its members and wealth, played a notable part. 22

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personal feelings to over-rule the necessity of getting the story before the public. There are many sections and de- partments to a paper. Each has its own staff. Today women are edit- ing pages of interest to women, while years ago a woman was not allowed near a newspaper. The book reviews are written by the most eminent critics in the coun- try. The theatrical news is covered by a man whose sole work it is to see the cinemas and plays and write them up. Of great interest to young and old alike are the comic strips. Most of these are syndicated ; that is, they are owned by a large firm who has the right to sell them all over the country. That is the rea- son that Maggie can be found beating poor Jiggs with the rolling pin not only from coast to coast, but even in foreign countries, and “Moon” Mullens is as well known in San Ber- nardino, California, as in Skow- hegan, Maine. To illustrate the value of the comics, Sydney Smith, the owner of the Gump family, was offered $150 000 for the rights to it, but refused to sell. The photo-engravers play a prom- inent part in the production of a newspaper, for it is through their work that the pictures are repro- duced in a newspaper. All this and even more labor goes into the production of the news- paper for which you protest paying two cents a day. The newspaper is but one of the wonderful inventions which the years have brought us. And as the years roll by, who knows or can guess what the world of Progress will bring us. Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony By Curtis Haley T HE Puritan migration to New England marks the dawn of a new era in the course of the world ' s history. The voyage of the “May- flower was one of the events in this era and was followed in a few years by the extensive settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The moral and political issues in- volved in the struggles of the Eng- lish Parliament with Charles the First were to become of world-wide importance, and the influence of the men associated with Oliver Cromwell has left a lasting influence on the welfare of mankind. This year commemorates the three hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Ips- wich, and it is the oldest town in Essex County which has remained three hundred years a town. Originally Ipswich embraced the present towns of Essex and Hamil- ton. When first discovered by the English, the land was owned and occupied by Masconomo and known as Agawam. Masconomo sold his title to John Winthrop for twenty pounds. The original deed of this transaction is preserved among the Winthrop papers at the Essex Ir ) stitute. John Winthrop, son of the Gov- ernor, was the leader in the expedi- tion of twelve men who came to Agawam in March of 1633, or August 4. 1634 (old stvle). The settlement attained sufficient im- portance and dignity to be incorp- orated as a town and the General 21

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The early records of Ipswich dis- close the active interest of the founders in the public schools. In the founding of a Puritan common- wealth sometimes called a “Bible Commonwealth,” the settlers were determined that their posterity should secure all the benefits of ed- ucation and from the beginning learning and religion were united. Intelligence and virtue were the re- sults. The grammar school, early es- tablished, had for its teacher the renowned Ezekiel Cheever, after- wards called to the Boston Latin School. The funds of the grammar school since appropriated to the Manning School were greatly bene- fited by the bequest of Little Neck. The colonial records of seven- teenth century Ipswich revealed many of the hardships of the found- ers of our Commonwealth. The first houses were probablv made of logs, the roofs were thatched, and many a pitiful story is learned of their destruction in the early years by fire. Tn a self-supporting community such as colonial Ipswich, the many necessities of life were oroduced within the town itself. The virgin soil, redeemed by extreme toil, yielded the staple crops of which corn was the most important. The sawmill came into early use as did the hemp-mill and the malt-kiln, and upon the banks of the Ipswich river were found many pioneer in- dustries. From the beginning an ex- tensive fishing industry gave many a livelihood. Fishing stages were maintained at Jeffries Neck and as far as the Isle of Shoals. We have many records of the so- cial life of Colonial Ipswich, and while the Puritans are often pic- tured as cold and austere, the story of a young man, found guilty of making love to his neighbor’: daughter without her parent’s con- sent and fined five pounds, is suffi- cient proof of the human weakness of the times. The visitor to Ipswich in 1685 also tells of the lively circu- lation of news and his trip to Row- ley to witness a football game in which the players were barefooted. In a brief sketch of colonial Ips- wich it is possible to mention only a few events which are of great im- portance, and a few of those men whose lives have left a profound in- fluence and impression. The early military records tell of the part played by the men of Ips- wich in disarming the Sagamore of the Merrimac and the beginning of the long military record of Denison, son-in-law of Governor Dudley and later a Major-General of the colony. William Hubbard, minister of the church at Ipswich, has left valuable narratives of King Phillin’s War. Hubbard was a member of the first class to graduate from Harvard, and is described — “for many years the most eminent minister in Essex County and superior to all his con- temporaries as a writer.” The terrible destruction to life and property during King Phillip’s War has been recorded by Mr. Hub- bard, and the part plaved bv the town of Ipsv ich is worthy of note. There were several men from Ips- wich killed at Bloodv Brook in the ambuscade laid by the Indians. Major Samuel Appleton of Ips- wich early took the field and be- 23