to march, on the shortest notice, their respective proportions of one hundred thousand militia. Massachusetts was called on to furnish men for the forts on the maritime frontier. The executive declined compliance on the ground of constitutional objections,* and the militia of the State was not called to the forts and tented field under United States officers; but the defence of the whole sea-coast of Massachusetts and Maine was almost entirely left to Massachusetts (then including Maine) alone to defend, which she did as well as she was able, at great expense.†

On the 15th of February, 1815, the town voted, That each detached soldier belonging to this town, who had served himself, or by his substitute, in the then present war with England, be made up eighteen dollars per month while in service, including government pay.

The videttes were to be made up the same monthly pay as infantry soldiers.

The following named persons received of the treasurer of the town, in the month of April, for services in the war, the sums set against their respective names, viz.

* Governor Strong held, that he had not a constitutional right to place the militia of this State under officers of the United States, to be marched and required to perform duty he knew not where.

↑ Massachusetts claimed against the United States $ 843,349-60 Payment has been made of 430,748.26

The last three served as videttes.

The aforenamed men performed most of their service at Gloucester; some at Marblehead and Beverly.

FIRST PARISH.

The First Parish is that part of ancient Rowley where Rogers and his company of sixty families first settled. The place, selected for their permanent home, was unusually pleasant. Having come from a place in England where water, it is said, was obtained with difficulty, they laid out their streets in such a manner, as that every person's house lot should either join, or be of easy access to, that never-failing brook which runs through the parish, and their streets were, at first, (as has been shown,) laid out wide and commodious. They were undoubtedly men of wise forecast; in proof of which we can assert, that not one of the streets, at first laid out, has ever been materially altered, not one has ever been discontinued, nor has there been a single additional street or road laid out within the compass of those at first laid out, from that day to this; and the site then selected for their meeting-house, has ever remained the site of the parish meeting-house. The present house is the third built in the parish, and probably occupies the same ground as the first; the second stood very near to the northerly end of the present one. The first set

tlers displayed a most excellent taste in the selection and laying out of their public common, or training field. It is not exceeded, for beauty and convenience, by any in the country. They were public-spirited men, and they took special care to preserve fire-wood, timber, and ornamental trees, for the benefit of succeeding generations, as may be seen by their various by-laws, published in this work. Coming, as they did, from the land of John Evelyn, they brought with them a share of that love he had for trees, which has descended to their posterity. Some of those ornamental and useful trees, protected by said by-laws, continued standing until within a few years; nor were they ever intentionally injured, but were preserved with care. But at length, however, "they began to lose that beauty they had, and by force of mighty winds their great boughs and branches were beat one against another, their leaves fell off, and their limbs withered," and the last

"Old oake, whose pith and sap were seare,

At puffe of euery storme did stagger here and there."

The setting of new ornamental trees, to supply the places of those so long preserved and protected by our forefathers, having been in a great measure neglected until the spring of 1839, when the town determined they would suitably notice the return of the two hundredth year from the settlement of their Pilgrim fathers; the citizens, in view of the many and great obligations they were under to their ancestors for the rich inheritance left them, found they had been deficient in many things, and, with a laudable zeal, set themselves to work to make some amends, by ornamenting their common and other public squares in the parish with rows of trees. This was done by planting nearly one hundred young

elms, which, it is hoped, will be found "fair and flourishing, with nothing to keep them from the eyes and admiration" of the generations who shall assemble to celebrate the third and fourth centennial anniversaries of the settlement of the ancient town of Rowley.

Up to the time of the setting off the Second Parish, in 1731, the parochial concerns of the old First Society had been managed by the town. From that time they have acted independently of the town, taking the name and style of the First Parish in Rowley. The schoolhouse in this parish has ever stood near the meetinghouse, and, for many years, the young men of the place held a prayer-meeting therein, on Sabbath evenings. This prayer-meeting was established, it is believed, soon after the great earthquake in 1727, and continued to be held in the school-house until after Thomas Mighill was appointed a deacon in the church, when, for some reason, it was removed to his house; after which it became more general in its character, people of all classes attending if they chose; and during the Rev. Mr. Bradford's ministry, he usually attended and took the lead, expounding some portion of Scripture, &c. Those meetings were continued at Deacon Mighill's house until near the close of his life, in 1807, a period of about eighty years from their first establishment in the schoolhouse; and so well approved were they by the people, that the parish, as such, usually defrayed the expense of lighting the school-house. For several years this parish made a grant of £ 13 6s. 8d. each year, for the support of schools, which they expended in addition to their proportion of money raised by the town. This parish hold real estate given for the support of the gospel ministry in the parish, the annual income of which,

for the last eighty years, has varied from about two hundred to four hundred dollars per year.

The first settlers, having furnished themselves with a meeting-house bell, caused it to be rung, not only on the Sabbath and other public occasions, but at nine o'clock in the evening on each day in the week, and this practice has been continued, it is believed, with very little variation, ever since the days of the venerable Rogers. A portion of the time, however, it was rung on Saturday evenings at eight o'clock, as a signal to the people to discontinue their worldly business, and prepare for the approaching Sabbath.

This old parish, described by its territorial limits, bounds northerly on Newbury, easterly on the Atlantic Ocean, (including the central fifth part of Plum Island,) southerly by Ipswich, and westerly by Byfield and Linebrook parishes.

In the easterly part of this parish is a tract of salt marsh, containing from fifteen hundred to two thousand acres. Much of the hay is brought on boats to Rowley landing. The river from the landing empties into Plum Island Sound, and thence out at Ipswich bar.

Ship-building was formerly carried on at said landing, or ship-yard, to considerable extent, first by one Duncan Stewart and his sons, who came from Newbury to Rowley as early as 1680, and perhaps sooner. This Duncan Stewart died in 1717, at the age of one hundred years. Previous to his death, he and his sons sold out all their interest in the ship-yard, stock, tools, &c. to one Edward Saunders, a young man from Scituate. He carried on the business many years, married in Rowley, had six sons, most of whom were brought up to the business of ship-building. Of late years, but few vessels