ELECTION DAY AND OTHER HOLIDAYS.

NOTES FROM AN INFORMAL MEETING OF THIS SOCIETY HELD ON APRIL 4, 1893.

"In my day," said Mr. Nathan Bushby of Peabody, "the name of the day is all I can remember. The facts which I relate were the customs of the generations before me. The day received its name from the fact that the Legislature used to assemble the last Wednesday in May. It was subsequently changed to January. Hence the day was kept as a holiday. Among the old farmers, it was a day of days. All their planting was supposed to be finished by this time, the one who was unfortunate enough to be behind-hand being considered, to say the least, not the most thrifty among them. There were 'election houses' all over town where people congregated on that day. Upton's taɣern on Danvers common was perhaps one of the best known places. The Berry Tavern was another favorite house. George Southwick kept one on Lowell street, South Danvers. John Upton had an old fashioned coach with 'E Pluribus Unum' printed on the side, in which he used to carry people from house to house through the towns about here, during 'Lection week; for the festivities lasted a whole week. There were houses called 'Sabbat-day' houses, where people from the back towns would locate for the time. They hired the house, and if they lived at a distance, would carry their wood to heat the place, and also their tea or coffee and the rest of their dinner. In some places a certain number of families hired the house in common. Upton's Tavern was used for this purpose.

"During 'lection week there were numerous dances held, with music furnished by negro fiddlers. At South Peabody, Mrs. Dickson, mother of Alderman Dickson of Salem, was one of the famous dancers of those times. It was said that several of the girls from that part of the town would dance all night every night that week and be just as fresh at the end as when they began. George Peabody used to dance here to the music of old Blind. Sam's fiddle, and upon the philanthropist's return to this country he presented the negro $100. He had

often played tricks upon the old man and he took this way of paying him. Stick licorice was a favorite purchase among the young people and they would often walk a mile out of their way to buy of Dea. Seccomb because he always gave more for the money. At George Southwick's, there was a keel-board (bowling alley) and here it was said that George and Richard Crowninshield in later years planned the famous murder.

"These 'lection houses were all done away with about 60 years ago. Outside the houses were signs with poetry painted on them setting forth the quality of the goods within, in glowing colors. Drinks were sold for 3 cents. The story is told of Blind Sam's wife that she used to measure the rum when she sold it, by her finger joints. Up to the first joint was 1 cents' worth, to the second joint was 2 cents' worth and to the third, 3 cents' worth. The dancers paid four-pence for a jig and nine-pence for a reel, the latter being something like our plain quadrilles. It was considered beneath any of the white people to play for dances and only negroes were to be hired for the purpose.

"There was a band of mulattoes that used to come from Dracut to Danvers, Beverly, Peabody and all the towns around here, called the Leo Brothers. They played the violin, clarionet and bass viol. This was 60 or 70 years ago. Ned Kendall was another popular player for dances. His price was $25 a night and he appeared once at a big ball in this vicinity. Hamilton Weston, a carpenter, was one of the famous local players. He was a pupil of Kendall's and afterwards was leader of the Boston Brigade Band. He is living today. Jack Robinson, from the country, was another player. This is where the expression, 'quicker than you can say Jack Robinson,' arose. He used to come to Duxbury's on Washington street. Duxbury was not as pious as his wife, for she used to attend meeting once a week at a neighbor's house. One night she coaxed her husband to go with her. That night Robinson arrived in town from New Salem and he was coaxed into Duxbury's for some music and a dance. Jack said he wouldn't play without the consent of Duxbury and the latter was immediately sent for. It was a good excuse to get away from the meeting and he embraced the opportunity. A grand dance was the result. Nigger 'lection occupied the latter part of the week. Brown's half-way house on the turnpike was another of these houses. The people dated everything before and after election. Every year a sermon was preached in

the Old South Church, Boston, till within the last ten years for this particular event, the minister receiving $100. It is now preached in the representatives' room at the State House."

Many other incidents were related by the members present. On this holiday the farmers had punch in abundance, cake, also, the genuine 'lection cake. Horse and foot races were the order of the day.

May training was another of the old time holidays; it came the first Tuesday in May. Fall training came about the last of September, the militia turned out and sham fights were had in the different towns in this vicinity. Election morning the boys chose sides, with twenty or thirty on a side, and went gunning. Each bird counted a certain number and the one who shot the most was the winner and was treated. They started at daylight and were supposed to be in at 12 M. Horse racing was held on Conant street, from Perley's corner, a quarter of a mile toward Beverly. Peter Putnam's horse was a noted trotter. There were no entertainments then but old Milan used to be around with his fiddle and everybody came down to the square. The old folks used to drink punch. Danvers was a leading place for a big time on election. In the evening there were dances in Berry Tavern hall. At the fall muster there were games, wheels of fortune, etc. The artillery and militia in uniform were out. The old gun house stood on Conant street, near the Trask estate, and was a narrow house just large enough for two cannon. It had two stories, the upper part being used for uniforms, meetings, etc. Rufus Tapley played the bass drum, Gustavus Putnam the snare drum and Nathan Webb and Mr. Verry, fifes. There is but one artillery man living now, Capt. Pratt. The plumes they wore were white, tipped with red. The officers' were a little different. Large leather hats were worn.

Lyceums began to be in vogue sixty years ago. They began directly after Thanksgiving and were held once a fornight in old Berry hall. They had good speakers, among them were Mr. Braman and Dr. Osgood who used to debate.

Christmas was not thought of then, that is, a celebration of the day. It became a custom to petition for the holiday in the schools about fifty years ago.

Mr. I. H. Putnam told of a horse race he could remember on High street when the horse did not stop until his nose touched the glass in the window of the Page house, there being no fence at that time to confine the house from the street.

There were no houses on the right of the main street sixty odd years ago between Perley's house on the corner of Conant street and Calvin Putnam's, except Deacon Howe's and Capt. Eben's (Putnam), and turning the bend, nothing until Sleeper's, [now Fox's]. The principal holidays were Fast Day, May training, Election, Fourth of July, Fall muster and Thanksgiving. The story is told of Mr. Pope's "Caesar" that he went to fall muster and noticed that everything was marked with the price, "fourpence," so he laid down the money, supposing he could take the whole stock in trade for one fourpence. Mrs. Louisa Weston said that all she could remember of the celebration of Christmas day was the children gathering in the school yard and, when the teacher arrived, all running to him, calling "Wish you merry Christmas.' Mrs. Dodge said that she remembered Jonas Warren giving away pennies to the children who wished him a merry Christ

mas.

"THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY" IN DANVERS.

RECOLLECTIONS BY MRS. SARAH ELIZABETH BRADSTREET.

The "Underground Railway" for runaway slaves was a friendly hand and home providing rest and shelter during the day, with assistance in passing the fugitives along in the night to a similar haven, until the Canadian line was reached. The first I realized about slaves was when my mother told me there was such a person up in the front chamber of our house* on Elm street, and that he had run away after seeing his wife and children sold to other masters. I was also told not to mention the fact of his being there. I may have been seven years old, if so, it was in 1857. As I stood by the bedside holding a little pewter lamp filled with fluid, my parents covered the bed with a thick layer of brown sugar and with a long-handled brass warming pan filled with coals, heated the sugar. Then an old brown-looking man, who had been bathed and had a sheet folded around him, was carried to the

This was the cottage house of D. Brooks Baker, now remodelled and occupied by Dr. Susan Gibbs and which stood corner Elm and Putnam streets, where the house owned by James Fossa has been erected recently.

bed by my father and placed very carefully on the warm sugar to heal his back which was a terrible sight, with long, raw ridges, swollen from neglect, and said to have been made by lashes when tied to a whipping post. He was nursed by my parents for two weeks and then went away.

The next one I saw-and there may have been many of them before---was a young man about thirty-five years of age, black as a coal, with a great lot of wool. While mother was feeding him broth with a spoon, I held the lamp and remember touching the wool with one finger, it being the first I had noticed. Another who came and was nursed until he could be passed on, father was afraid would not reach Canada, or would not have toll to pass the bridge. Accordingly my father went to the Canadian line and waited on the American side. The slave appeared upon the day and hour he was due. Father paid his toll and afterward said he never saw anything alive move so fast as that slave did when he made the dash across the bridge to freedom.

Sometime after the war, one man returned to our house. He was a large coal-black preacher, who said he took his wife to Canada before the war and had a family there. He had been able to obtain some education and looked prosperous, dressed in a fine suit of black broadcloth. He preached in Town hall on Sunday afternoon and had a friendly audience. When a young man father boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop Andrews, where a Rev. Mr. Foster also boarded. After father married, in 1848, this minister went to live with him on Elm street and preached in the "Quail Trap", 80 called. He preached one sermon so strongly in favor of the slave that Mr. and Mrs. Baker's house was surrounded by an angry mob. This happened between 1848 and 1854. There were others in Danvers who were friendly to the slaves and assisted them by means of the "Underground Railway."