Opinion

Essex County Chronicles: Lots to learn in pages of Salem city directory

By Jim McAllister
Published: June 20, 2008

While researching a stray fact recently, this columnist rediscovered in the 1890 city directory a veritable treasure trove of historical facts about Salem.

Many a tantalizing nugget is contained in these few pages, and many a nagging historical question answered. For example, the reader learns that Salem's new city government was organized on May 9, 1836, and that the City Hall on Washington Street was first used by the Salem City Council on May 31 of the following year.

Those interested in educational matters learn that Salem started naming its schools for important citizens in 1845, three years after Mayor Stephen Phillips donated his mayoral salary for their upkeep. It is also recorded that beginning in 1858 the School Committee was elected by citizens of Salem, and that in 1881 that same body voted to abolish the position of superintendent of schools. There are numerous references to the opening of new schools that have long passed from the Salem scene.

The reader will also learn that the city streets were illuminated with gas lights beginning in 1850, and that those lamps were replaced by "electrics" in the late 1880s. The first fire alarm was installed in Salem in 1887, and mailboxes began appearing on designated street corners in 1865.

Transportation also receives its share of attention within these pages. It is noted that train service between Salem and Boston commenced on Aug. 27, 1838, and the first horse-drawn trolley, which connected Salem and what is now Peabody, began operation on July 8, 1863.

Between 1835 and 1888, the reader discovers, Salem played host to many a famous visitor, including presidents Andrew Jackson (1833), James Polk (1847) and Chester Arthur (1882). The Prince of Wales came to Salem in 1860, the noted African explorer Henry Stanley in 1872 and Henry Clay in 1833. Daniel Webster was honored at a banquet on Salem Common on Aug. 7, 1834.

From the many entries relating to the Civil War years, one discovers that generals McLellan, Sheridan and Sherman all made stops in Salem. Also noted are the departures of local units for the front, and the return of the bodies of young Salem men killed in the war, for burial. Other entries from this period relate to military draft sessions held at the Lyceum Hall on Church Street and the appropriations by the city government of funds to be used for the relief of the families of Salem soldiers.

Salem residents, in fact, based on evidence found within these few pages, were very generous in times of tragedy. Entries record donations sent to the residents of Fall River after a fire devastated that city in 1843, and similar contributions made for fire relief to the communities of Marblehead and St. Johns, New Brunswick, in 1877 and Nantucket in 1846. Salem also sent monies to a number of southern states during an epidemic of yellow fever.

Other unrelated, but no less interesting tidbits, include the annexation of part of Salem by Swampscott in 1867, the 35th annual meeting of the Salem and Danvers Association for the Detection of Thieves and Robbers in 1858, and the departure of local ships for the gold fields of California in 1849. The reader will also learn that Salem Willows became a summer resort for people from Lowell beginning in 1873, that Salem harbor froze over all the way to the Haste in 1851 and the first Read Fund picnic for Salem children was held on Aug. 22, 1884.

Special events get special treatment. Alexander Graham Bell's first public demonstration of the telephone on Feb. 12, 1877, at the Lyceum Hall merits two sentences instead of one, as does the death of the beloved John Bertram. The merchant-philanthropist organized Salem Hospital, which, it is noted, received its first patient on Oct. 1, 1874, and his Essex Street mansion was donated to the city for a public library in 1887.

Most of the items included in these brief annals were culled from one of many newspapers published in Salem in the 19th century. The Salem Gazette, it is noted, was the oldest and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1886. The Salem Evening News, now The Salem News, commenced publication on Oct.16, 1880.

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Jim McAllister of Salem writes a weekly column on the region's history. Contact him at jim@nii.net.