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| The McIntire Arch dedicated July 4, 1976. Photo by Erik Smith. |
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| Copyright 2008, Erik K. Smith, Salem, Massachusetts |
| The inspiration for this website is Tom Sito, who has been emailing me Daily Histories for over 10 years now |
The majority of the research done to create this website was possible thanks to
the Salem Public Library. If you would like to learn more about any of these
topics, please visit the Sources page where you can find links to books
available there.
the Salem Public Library. If you would like to learn more about any of these
topics, please visit the Sources page where you can find links to books
available there.
It happened on this day in
Salem, Massachusetts:
Salem, Massachusetts:
| Salem Common Bandstand dedicated July 4, 1976. Photo by Erik Smith. |
| Captain William Driver, who coined the term "Old Glory" for the U.S. Flag. Produced by Erik Smith for Salem Access Television. |
June 30, 1847 Clarissa Bertram, the second wife of Captain John
Bertram, died during childbirth, as had his first wife.
1871 The locomotive “Ossipee” was travelling from Marblehead to
Salem on the Eastern Railroad. It jumped the tracks about a mile
east of the Forest River Station. The locomotive plunged into
the swamp and pulled the baggage car to the bank. It then
flipped end over end and also landed in the swamp. There were
two attendants in the car. One survived but a boy named Bartlett
was killed. (Eastern Railroad, Bradlee)
1976 A new fountain was unveiled at Town House Square. It
featured bronzes meant to pay tribute to Hawthorne’s story “A
Rill From The Town Pump”, but it was not very well received by
citizens.
1994 A reproduction 17th century shallop arrived at Pioneer
Village on a journey up the coast from Plymouth.
July 1, 1774 Ezekial Russell began publishing the "Salem Gazette
and Newburyport Advertiser". It lasted several months.
1812 The 32 ton fishing schooner "Fame" received her privateer’s
commission and left Salem, the town’s first privateer of the War
of 1812.
1823 Joseph B. F. Osgood was born in Salem. He served as Mayor
in 1865 as well as both the Massachusetts House and Senate and as
a First District Judge.
1857 Nathaniel Hawthorne resigned his post as Consul from his
office in Liverpool, England.
1934 Augustus Neal Rantoul died in Santa Barbara, California. He
was one of the sons of Robert S. Rantoul, who was an early Salem
mayor and longtime President of the Essex Institute. Augustus
was an architect whose firm in Boston was Andrews, Jaques &
Rantoul. He was born and lived for many years at his father’s
home at 17 Winter Street in Salem.
1993 The first Salem Police Department Mountain Bike Patrol hit
the streets.
1997 Salem’s own Jeff Juden, pitching for the Montreal Expos,
beat Roger Clemens and the Blue Jays 2-1 at a game in Toronto.
July 2, 1630 Henry Winthrop, the son of Governor John Winthrop,
drowned crossing the North River in newly named Salem. This
event, and the generally poor condition of the pioneers, is said
to have influenced Winthrop’s decision to establish the capital
of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to Boston.
1792 Salem’s first bank, the Essex Bank, opened for business on
Central Street.
1835 Daniel King of Danvers sold a sheep pasture to The New Salem
Aqueduct Company for $350.
1855 Francis Peabody, George Peabody, and John L. Gardner sold
16,360 square feet of real estate at what is now Essex Street to
the Salem Athenaeum for $8000.
July 3, 1632 According to James Duncan Phillips’ "Salem in the
Seventeenth Century", The Massachusetts General Court paid
Richard Waterman a bounty of forty shillings for killing a wolf
in Salem.
1798 The "Friendship", of which there is a replica today at Derby
Wharf, returned from her first voyage. She had gone to Batavia
and returned with a cargo of sugar and coffee which she would end
up taking to Hamburg, Germany in September that year.
1812 Reverend Bentley wrote:
Several Privateers have sailed from Salem and four from
Marblehead. The spirit increases and a little success would
cover American seas with them. The best provided privateer
sailed from Salem this evening with 70 men.
1863 At the Battle of Gettysburg, Salem’s Arthur Forrester
Devereux watched a hole opening in the Federal Line during
Pickett’s Charge. The Federals on that section of the fence fell
back, without an order for retreat. Lieutenant Colonel Devereux
convinced General Hancock to let him reinforce the line with the
Tammany Regiment. They repulsed the charge, killing Confederate
General Armistead and capturing four Confederate banners.
1902 The "U.S.S. Hartford" visited Salem Harbor.
1910 President William Howard Taft attended the 40th Anniversary
celebration of Reverend J.P. Franks as Rector of the Grace Church.
1992 The Custom House Eagle was removed from the building to
determine whether or not it could be saved.
July 4, 1746 A dinner was held for Sir William Pepperrell to
celebrate his successful Siege of Louisburg.
1793 The Marine Society of Salem organized the first celebration
of Independence Day in the town.
1804 Nathaniel Hawthorne was born. His parents, Nathaniel and
Betsy Hathorne, lived at 27 Union Street. The home where the
author was born was later moved to the House of Seven Gables
Settlement site on Derby Street. He added the “w” to his name
later in life, claiming he was replacing a letter in the original
spelling of his surname that didn't survive his ancestor's trip
from England.
1807 The Salem Mechanic Light Infantry gave its first parade.
1814 The Essex Guards gave their first parade.
1898 The steamer “Surf City” got caught in a squall as it tried
to make its way from the pier at the Willows to Beverly. It went
aground, and all the passengers on the upper deck were thrown
into the water as hail rained down on the ship. Eight people
died.
1918 The first "U.S.S. Haraden", named for Captain Jonathan
Haraden, commander of the Tyrannicide, was launched in Newport
News, Virginia. The ship, named for an American patriot who had
great success against the British Navy, would later be sent to
England as part of the 1940 Lend/Lease program.
1976 The Salem Cultural Arts Commission dedicated the Bandstand
in Salem Common to Mr. Jean M. Missud, Conductor of the Salem
Cadet Band. M. Missud lived from 1878 to 1941. The replica of
the McIntire Arch on the Common was also dedicated.
July 5, 1675 Mary Walcott was born in Salem. She would become
one of the witnesses in the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692.
1685 Selectmen decreed that all cotton coming to Salem from
Barbadoes, where an outbreak of smallpox was decimating the
population, be quarantined at Baker’s Island.
1847 President James K. Polk passed quickly through town, not
stopping to greet delegates or citizens. There was a torrential
rain that prompted the President to remain in his carriage.
July 6, 1813 Reverend Bentley recorded:
A notice from my good friend Morgan at Halifax discovers
that the enemy are preparing to make an entire end of our little
navy and he begs me to give proper notice to whom it may
concern. He believes that New London will be sacrificed, and
orders have been given to get the Hospitals ready for the wounded
which may be sent.
July 7, 1701 William Stoughton, judge and prosecutor in the Salem
Witch Trials, died.
1796 A schooner carrying limes wrecked off Winter Island.
1802 Poet Jonathan Huntington Bright was born in Salem.
(Perley/Poets)
1851 James Miller died in Peterboro, New Hampshire. He was
Collector of Customs in Salem from 1825 to 1849. He was also
famous as a member of the 4th U.S. Infantry in General Benjamin
Harrison’s Western campaigns in 1811. He was famous for uttering
the words “I’ll try sir!” when ordered to take a hill in a
battle. Colonel Miller was also governor of the Arkansas
Territory in 1819.
1858 John Bertram’s ship "Iosco", Captain Claussen, master, was
wrecked on a Zanzibar reef.
1908 Caroline Osgood Emmerton purchased the House of the Seven
Gables, or the Turner-Ingersoll House, from Henry O. and
Elizabeth Upton for a nominal fee of $1.00. She would pay for a
restoration of the building and acquire other property nearby to
create the House of Seven Gables Settlement.
1926 A dinner was held at the Salem Armory to celebrate the
town’s 300th Anniversary. Vice President Dawes was in attendance.
Last week's history is archived here.
Bertram, died during childbirth, as had his first wife.
1871 The locomotive “Ossipee” was travelling from Marblehead to
Salem on the Eastern Railroad. It jumped the tracks about a mile
east of the Forest River Station. The locomotive plunged into
the swamp and pulled the baggage car to the bank. It then
flipped end over end and also landed in the swamp. There were
two attendants in the car. One survived but a boy named Bartlett
was killed. (Eastern Railroad, Bradlee)
1976 A new fountain was unveiled at Town House Square. It
featured bronzes meant to pay tribute to Hawthorne’s story “A
Rill From The Town Pump”, but it was not very well received by
citizens.
1994 A reproduction 17th century shallop arrived at Pioneer
Village on a journey up the coast from Plymouth.
July 1, 1774 Ezekial Russell began publishing the "Salem Gazette
and Newburyport Advertiser". It lasted several months.
1812 The 32 ton fishing schooner "Fame" received her privateer’s
commission and left Salem, the town’s first privateer of the War
of 1812.
1823 Joseph B. F. Osgood was born in Salem. He served as Mayor
in 1865 as well as both the Massachusetts House and Senate and as
a First District Judge.
1857 Nathaniel Hawthorne resigned his post as Consul from his
office in Liverpool, England.
1934 Augustus Neal Rantoul died in Santa Barbara, California. He
was one of the sons of Robert S. Rantoul, who was an early Salem
mayor and longtime President of the Essex Institute. Augustus
was an architect whose firm in Boston was Andrews, Jaques &
Rantoul. He was born and lived for many years at his father’s
home at 17 Winter Street in Salem.
1993 The first Salem Police Department Mountain Bike Patrol hit
the streets.
1997 Salem’s own Jeff Juden, pitching for the Montreal Expos,
beat Roger Clemens and the Blue Jays 2-1 at a game in Toronto.
July 2, 1630 Henry Winthrop, the son of Governor John Winthrop,
drowned crossing the North River in newly named Salem. This
event, and the generally poor condition of the pioneers, is said
to have influenced Winthrop’s decision to establish the capital
of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to Boston.
1792 Salem’s first bank, the Essex Bank, opened for business on
Central Street.
1835 Daniel King of Danvers sold a sheep pasture to The New Salem
Aqueduct Company for $350.
1855 Francis Peabody, George Peabody, and John L. Gardner sold
16,360 square feet of real estate at what is now Essex Street to
the Salem Athenaeum for $8000.
July 3, 1632 According to James Duncan Phillips’ "Salem in the
Seventeenth Century", The Massachusetts General Court paid
Richard Waterman a bounty of forty shillings for killing a wolf
in Salem.
1798 The "Friendship", of which there is a replica today at Derby
Wharf, returned from her first voyage. She had gone to Batavia
and returned with a cargo of sugar and coffee which she would end
up taking to Hamburg, Germany in September that year.
1812 Reverend Bentley wrote:
Several Privateers have sailed from Salem and four from
Marblehead. The spirit increases and a little success would
cover American seas with them. The best provided privateer
sailed from Salem this evening with 70 men.
1863 At the Battle of Gettysburg, Salem’s Arthur Forrester
Devereux watched a hole opening in the Federal Line during
Pickett’s Charge. The Federals on that section of the fence fell
back, without an order for retreat. Lieutenant Colonel Devereux
convinced General Hancock to let him reinforce the line with the
Tammany Regiment. They repulsed the charge, killing Confederate
General Armistead and capturing four Confederate banners.
1902 The "U.S.S. Hartford" visited Salem Harbor.
1910 President William Howard Taft attended the 40th Anniversary
celebration of Reverend J.P. Franks as Rector of the Grace Church.
1992 The Custom House Eagle was removed from the building to
determine whether or not it could be saved.
July 4, 1746 A dinner was held for Sir William Pepperrell to
celebrate his successful Siege of Louisburg.
1793 The Marine Society of Salem organized the first celebration
of Independence Day in the town.
1804 Nathaniel Hawthorne was born. His parents, Nathaniel and
Betsy Hathorne, lived at 27 Union Street. The home where the
author was born was later moved to the House of Seven Gables
Settlement site on Derby Street. He added the “w” to his name
later in life, claiming he was replacing a letter in the original
spelling of his surname that didn't survive his ancestor's trip
from England.
1807 The Salem Mechanic Light Infantry gave its first parade.
1814 The Essex Guards gave their first parade.
1898 The steamer “Surf City” got caught in a squall as it tried
to make its way from the pier at the Willows to Beverly. It went
aground, and all the passengers on the upper deck were thrown
into the water as hail rained down on the ship. Eight people
died.
1918 The first "U.S.S. Haraden", named for Captain Jonathan
Haraden, commander of the Tyrannicide, was launched in Newport
News, Virginia. The ship, named for an American patriot who had
great success against the British Navy, would later be sent to
England as part of the 1940 Lend/Lease program.
1976 The Salem Cultural Arts Commission dedicated the Bandstand
in Salem Common to Mr. Jean M. Missud, Conductor of the Salem
Cadet Band. M. Missud lived from 1878 to 1941. The replica of
the McIntire Arch on the Common was also dedicated.
July 5, 1675 Mary Walcott was born in Salem. She would become
one of the witnesses in the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692.
1685 Selectmen decreed that all cotton coming to Salem from
Barbadoes, where an outbreak of smallpox was decimating the
population, be quarantined at Baker’s Island.
1847 President James K. Polk passed quickly through town, not
stopping to greet delegates or citizens. There was a torrential
rain that prompted the President to remain in his carriage.
July 6, 1813 Reverend Bentley recorded:
A notice from my good friend Morgan at Halifax discovers
that the enemy are preparing to make an entire end of our little
navy and he begs me to give proper notice to whom it may
concern. He believes that New London will be sacrificed, and
orders have been given to get the Hospitals ready for the wounded
which may be sent.
July 7, 1701 William Stoughton, judge and prosecutor in the Salem
Witch Trials, died.
1796 A schooner carrying limes wrecked off Winter Island.
1802 Poet Jonathan Huntington Bright was born in Salem.
(Perley/Poets)
1851 James Miller died in Peterboro, New Hampshire. He was
Collector of Customs in Salem from 1825 to 1849. He was also
famous as a member of the 4th U.S. Infantry in General Benjamin
Harrison’s Western campaigns in 1811. He was famous for uttering
the words “I’ll try sir!” when ordered to take a hill in a
battle. Colonel Miller was also governor of the Arkansas
Territory in 1819.
1858 John Bertram’s ship "Iosco", Captain Claussen, master, was
wrecked on a Zanzibar reef.
1908 Caroline Osgood Emmerton purchased the House of the Seven
Gables, or the Turner-Ingersoll House, from Henry O. and
Elizabeth Upton for a nominal fee of $1.00. She would pay for a
restoration of the building and acquire other property nearby to
create the House of Seven Gables Settlement.
1926 A dinner was held at the Salem Armory to celebrate the
town’s 300th Anniversary. Vice President Dawes was in attendance.
Last week's history is archived here.
| Nathaniel Hawthorne's Birthplace. Photo by Erik Smith |
