Newburyport’s Golden age was roughly 1760/1772 – 1800, and certainly by 1807, when the calamities of the Embargo Act 1807-1809, the Great Fire of 1811 and the War of 1812 happened.
“At the close of the eighteenth century the social life of Newburyport was gay and attractive. John Quincy Adams, a student at law, from 1787 to 1789, in the office of Theophilus Parsons, frequently mentions in his diary the brilliant gatherings and impromptu dancing parties he attended.”**
Sarah Roberts and Robert Roberts
This is one of those stories that has come from tripping on a name in deed and then trying to find out who that person might be. The name is “Sarah Robert” (1751 – 1798).
Sarah Roberts father was Robert Roberts (1710 – 1771), I had never heard of him either, but he was an incredibly wealthy, well connected captain and merchant in Newburyport and was one of the people elected to shape the new town of Newburyport in 1764.**
On May 8, 1760, Thomas Woodbridge and Robert Roberts gave half an acre of land on what is now the corner of Federal and Prospect Streets, going west to what is now Horton Street and south to Lime Street, for a workhouse.*** In 1794 the old workhouse was torn down and a new Alms House was built in its place.*** And in 1796 Sarah Roberts sold a strip of land going from Federal Street to Lime Street for $60 to the Town of Newburyport to be made into a way from Federal Street to Lime Street*^ and sold house lots.^ In 1802 the town of Newburyport accepted the land and named it Roberts Street ** after Sarah. It is one of a handful of streets in Newburyport named after a woman. In 1874 Roberts Street was made part of Prospect Street** and the name Roberts Street has long been forgotten and so have Sarah and Robert Roberts.
It did not take long to find out that Stephen Hooper, one of the richest and most influential men in Newburyport, became Sarah’s guardian when her father died in 1771. Stephen Hooper also married her sister, Alice Roberts, as his second wife.^^ John Bromfield (Bromfield Street) married her sister Ann.^^ And the historian John J. Currier relates that Sarah Roberts is one of nine women in a poem by John Quincy Adams written called “A Vision.” And yes, I really, really wanted to know, “Who are these people?” and “What in the world is Newburyport like at this time?” So I went on a hunt.
The old Almshouse, built in 1794, courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
1872 Map, courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center, showing Roberts Street.
View of the town and harbor of Newburyport, 1774, by Ben Johnson *^^*
Newburyport's Golden Age
“With wealth came luxury and refinement, culture and style. It was the age of merchant-princes, of fine houses, of gay parties, of elegant and generous hospitality, and of beautiful and accomplished women. What a delightful society that must have been.”*
“Tristram Dalton, on his marriage with Miss Hooper, of Marblehead (Ruth), reached home (Newburyport) in this style: His splendid new carriage was drawn by six white horses, decorated with white feathers; they hold four outriders, and footman and coachman dressed in new liveries. So they rode down State Street, with the carriage-top thrown back.”^*^*
“His (Nathaniel Tracy) residence was the building on State Street now used for the Public Library, and with his means and cultivated taste, it was one of the most attractive places in the Commonwealth. It abounded in all that heart could wish. His slaves — for that was the era of negro slavery in Massachusetts — served the guests at his tables, and they were not unfrequently the most distinguished men of this and foreign lands. His carriages, with liveried drivers, six in hand, and outriders, were such as have never been seen in the town since his day. He owned several country seats, summer retreats, hunting-grounds, and fine fish-ponds, with other conveniences and attachments such as would have become a British lord.”^*^*
These nostalgic, evocative and almost cinematic quotes are from 1878 and 1885.
The first generation of merchants in this story that seemed to make the age of “merchant-princes” possible were people like Robert Robert (1710 – 1771) Patrick Tracy (1711-1789), Thomas Woodbridge (1709 – 1774) and Nathaniel Carter (1715 -1798).
The second generation of citizens and merchants, that had been educated at Harvard, men of “wealth and education, living in ease and elegance,”^*^ were men like Tristram Dalton (1738–1817), Stephen Hooper (1741 – 1802), Rev Thomas Cary (1745 – 1808), Nathaniel Tracy (1751-1796). Sarah Roberts, born in 1751, would have been part of this generation. And then there was the much younger, somewhat “cheeky” John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), who came to work and live (and party) in Newburyport from 1787-1788 and who wrote a diary in those years about his time here.
Portrait of Patric Tracy, National Gallery of Art, by John Trumbull, Oil on Canvas, 1784/1786
The first generation of merchants in this story that seemed to make the age of “merchant-princes” possible were people like Robert Robert (1710 – 1771) Patrick Tracy (1711-1789), Thomas Woodbridge (1709 – 1774) and Nathaniel Carter (1715 -1798).
“Patrick Tracy was born in Ireland, probably in County Wexford, in 1711. He came to Newbury as a young man and married three times- Hannah Carter of Hampton, New Hampshire in 1742; Hannah Gookin, mother of his 3 surviving children, in 1749; and Mary, widow of Michael Dalton, in 1773. An experienced shipmaster and later owner of a fleet of ships, in 1763 he was among the petitioners to the General Court for the incorporation of Newburyport, where he became a principal merchant and importer of foreign merchandise. Tracy was a member of the committee of safety in 1774 and he was a supporter of the provincial government during the Revolution. He died in Newburyport in 1789.” ~ Massachusetts Historical Society
The second generation of citizens and merchants, that had been educated at Harvard, men of “wealth and education, living in ease and elegance,”^*^ were men like Tristram Dalton (1738–1817), Stephen Hooper (1741 – 1802), Rev Thomas Cary (1745 – 1808), Nathaniel Tracy (1751-1796). Sarah Roberts, born in 1751, would have been part of this generation.
Dalton House, Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum
Tristram Dalton (1738–1817)
Tristram Dalton, John Trumbull, oil on wood, 1796, Yale University
The Dalton House, 95 State Street, was built c. 1746 by Michael Dalton, a mariner and merchant who settled in Newburyport in 1735, and it is one of the best preserved Georgian houses in the city. Dalton’s son Tristram Dalton (1738–1817) was a major local figure during the American Revolutionary War, and was one of the first United States senators from Massachusetts.
Portrait of Stephen Hooper, by Henry Pelham, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a miniature, set in gold, painted in 1773, watercolor on ivory, 1 7/8 x 1 1/2 inches
Tracing of the survey by John Vinal of “Plan of land and Buildings in the Vicinity of Frog Pond,” 1771 and “Old Newbury: Historical and Biographical Sketches,” by John J. Currier
Stephen Hooper (1741-1802) was the son of Robert “King” Hooper of Marblehead, graduated from Harvard college in 1761, and came to Newbury soon after that date. He was a merchant and shipbuilder, and became one of the town’s most eminent and wealthy residents. He was active in the West Indies trade and was a partner in numerous privateering ventures during the Revolution. During and after the Revolution he was an occasional business partner of Tristram Dalton. He was the first Master of the Free Mason Lodge in 1766, Nathaniel Tracy was the second.
Stephen Hooper’s first wife was Sarah Woodbridge (1738-1779) from the powerful family that owned Ferry Wharf and rented the Middle Ship Yard. His second wife was Alice Roberts (1747-1812), daughter of Robert Roberts and sister to Sarah Roberts. In 1771 he was made Sarah Robert’s guardian after her father’s death.
Meeting House in Market Square, a pen and ink drawing from, “The History of Newburyport, Mass., 1764-1905,” by John J. Currier
Reverend Thomas Cary of Newburyport, 1770–1773 by John Singleton Copley, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Thomas Cary was born October 7, 1745 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He went to Harvard with Stephen Hooper, and has been described as a “man of wealth.” Thomas became the minister of the First Church of Newburyport (now the Unitarian Church on Pleasant Street) on May 11, 1768 in the original meeting house (not the church that exists today), which was 45 by 60 feet and stood in the “market place with the steeple fronting the river and faced Fish Street” which is now State Street. His parish was described as “the best in the port” with a membership that reached 2,000. In 1775 he married Esther Carter of Newburyport who was the daughter of Nathaniel Carter (1715 -1798), a wealthy Newburyport merchant. The portrait of Thomas Carey done from 1770-1773 by John Singleton Copley shows a man of elegance, wealth, knowledge and refinement. He died in 1808.
Nathaniel Tracy, ca. 1785, the City of Newburyport, courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Tracy Mansion, courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Tracy Mansion now the Newburyport Public Library was built in 1771 by Patrick Tracy for his son Nathaniel Tracy (1751-1796), who equipped and sent out the first privateer which sailed from the United Colonies against England. During the revolution he was the principal owner of fifty cruisers which captured one hundred and twenty vessels from the enemy. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, the Marquis de Lafayette, Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr were some of the people who were entertained in this historic place.
Alice Hooper, 1763, by John Singleton Copley, The Milwaukee Art Museum
Wedding dress worn by Mary Beck at her marriage to Nathaniel Carter, Newburyport, Massachusetts, September 1, 1742, the Museum of Fine Arts, MFA, Boston
There are very few images that help to understand the elegance of the women during this period. We have the portrait of Alice Hooper, 1763, by John Singleton Copley. Alice Hooper was one of the daughters of Robert “King” Hooper of Marblehead. She was the sister of Stephen Hooper and Ruth Hooper Dalton, and also came to Newburyport. She was first married to Jacob Fowle Jr, and then as a widow married Joseph Cutler. Alice is buried in St. Paul’s church yard.
There is also the wedding dress worn by Mary Beck at her marriage to Nathaniel Carter, Newburyport, Massachusetts, September 1, 1742, the Museum of Fine Arts, MFA, Boston. Nathaniel Carter, a wealthy Newburyport merchant, was Thomas Cary’s father-in-law.
John Quincy Adams by John Singleton Copley, 1796, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
John Quincy Adams, Diary, Life in a New England Town, 1787-1788
As a young man John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) came to live and work in Newburyport from 1787 to 1788 and wrote a diary of his time here, describing the social life of Newburyport, the brilliant gatherings and dancing parties that he attended. John Quincy Adams was the son of John and Abigail Adams and served as the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829. He was a member of multiple political parties over the years, he also served as a diplomat, a Senator, and a member of the House of Representatives.
Slaves
And then two things — the quote, “for that was the era of negro slavery in Massachusetts,” and the probate of Robert Roberts 1771, that listed three slaves, Jack, Pine, and Fortune, in a column along with “Junk in the old barn,” and later in the probate in a summary of the “Amount of Stock in Trade, Negroes, Horse & Chaise, and Cow,” kind of took my breath away.
It does turn out that the “golden age” for those who had “wealth and education, living in ease and elegance,” included slaves. An account of slaves or “negroes” as they were referred to, owned by prominent inhabitants of Newbury and Newburyport, is in the History of Newbury by Joshua Coffin starts on page 336*^* and John J. Currier, the History of Newbury, “Slaves and Slaveholders.”*** Owning slaves, according to historian John J. Currier, was not considered “illegal or disreputable” before the end of the Revolutionary war.** Interestingly the inhabitants of Newburyport and Newbury passionately thought of themselves as “slaves” before the Revolutionary War of 1776, slaves to the British, even though they were slave owners themselves.^^*
Negro Girl to be Sold, Essex Journal and. Merrimack Packet, published in Newburyport, Massachusetts on Wednesday, Feb 16, 1774
Probate of Robert Roberts 1771, Jack, Pine, and Fortune, 3 slaves, listed in a column along with “Junk in the old barn.”
Reward for runaway slave, Essex Journal and. Merrimack Packet, published in Newburyport, Massachusetts on Wednesday October 26, 1774
The end of Slavery in Massachuesetts
It was in 1773 that a negro slave called Caesar Henrick brought a case against Richard Greenleaf, a prominent Newburyport citizen, for holding him in bondage. The jury found in Caesar’s favor and awarded him 18 pounds in damages and costs. It was the first and only case of its kind so far in the country. And in 1781 in Massachusetts, the supreme federal court decided that slavery was abolished by the constitution of the United States.*^* The history of slavery on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s website puts the end of slavery in the state as 1783.^^^
The Newburyport Black History Initiative, the City of Newburyport has an historic panel that discusses Caesar Henrick case against Richard Greenleaf.**^
“Grant Us Our Liberty” interpretive sign near the William Lloyd Garrison statue (photo by Geordie Vining, 11/17/2023), City of Newburyport, Newburyport Black History Initiative.
Historic Plaque, City of Newburyport, “Grant Us Our Liberty” (Detail), Newburyport Black History Initiative
Historic Plaque, City of Newburyport, “Grant Us Our Liberty,” Newburyport Black History Initiative
In 1878 and 1885, thirteen and twenty years after the Civil War, the Golden Age of Newburyport with its, “luxury and refinement, culture and style” was seen through a nostalgic and somewhat grandiose prism. In 2024 we look back at that time through a different perspective, one that is more complex, nuanced, painful and disquieting.
~History compiled 2024 by Mary Baker Eaton
Footnotes and References
^ Salem Deeds
*^ Salem Deeds Book 162, Page 32, November 16, 1796
* Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Settlement of Newbury, published by the Historical Society of Old Newbury, the Address of Hon. Eben F. Stone, 1885, starting on paps 95.
** History of Newburyport, Mass., 1764-1905, by John J. Currier
*** History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902, by John J. Currier
^^ Descendants of Edward Small of New England, by Lora Altine Woodbury Underhill, 1910
^*^* “Standard History of Essex County, Massachusetts: Embracing a History of the County from Its First Settlement to the Present Time, with a History and Description of Its Towns and Cities. The Most Historic County of America” by Cyrus Mason Tracy, Henry Wheatland, C. F. Jewett & Company, 1878
^*^ John Quincy Adams, Diary, Life in a New England Town, 1787-1788, a footnote quoting Eben F. Stone in 1885.
^**^ “Port and Market, Archaeology of the Central Waterfront, Newburyport Massachusetts,” Prepared for the National Park Service, 1978
*^* A sketch of the history of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, from 1635 to 1845, by Joshua Coffin, 1845
^^* Newburyport historic newspapers, courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
^^^ “Massachusetts Constitution and the Abolition of Slavery,” the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Mass.gov
**^ Newburyport Black History Initiative, the City of Newburyport
“Stephen Hooper,” History~Newburyport, HistoryNewburyport.com, history compiled by Mary Baker Eaton
“Tracy Mansion,” History~Newburyport, HistoryNewburyport.com, history compiled by Mary Baker Eaton
“Rev. Thomas Cary,” the Newburyport Blog, history compiled by Mary Baker Eaton
“Riches to Rags, Alice Hooper (Fowle Cutler),” the Newburyport Blog, history compiled by Mary Baker Eaton
“Wedding Dress Worn by Nathaniel Carter’s Bride, Mary Beck, Newburyport 1742,” the Newburyport Blog, history compiled by Mary Baker Eaton
John Quincy Adams, Diary, Life in a New England Town, 1787-1788
Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
The Museum of Old Newbury
Newburyport Black History Initiative, the City of Newburyport
Historians Ghlee Woodworth and Marge and Skip Motes
FamilySearch.org
Ancestry
American Ancestors
Probate of Robert Roberts, 1771
The White House, Whitehouse.gov, John Quincy Adams
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts website, Mass.gov, “Massachusetts Constitution and the Abolition of Slavery”
Wikipedia
