Marblehead Chronicles - Marblehead Current

16 Jul

HISTORY IN STONE: Peterson publishes field guide to Marblehead burial grounds

Will DowdLocal News, Marblehead Chronicles

A single museum presentation sparked historian Pam Peterson’s years-long journey through Marblehead’s 13 historic cemeteries. What began as a basic presentation on them evolved into the first comprehensive book on these burial grounds. Pam Peterson, center in black-and-white blouse and white cotton pants, stands with friends and fellow historians during her book launch party at the Marblehead Museum on June 30. CURRENT PHOTO / WILL DOWD Peterson’s new book — “A Guide to Historic Burial Grounds of Marblehead” — fills what Marblehead Museum Executive Director…

19 Feb

FROM THE VAULT: Hear ye, hear ye!

Jarrett ZemanLocal News, Marblehead Chronicles

Before the days of CNN or Fox News, Nathaniel P. Bliss announced the news with this bell as Marblehead's final town crier in the late 1800s. Bliss carried on a tradition that started in Marblehead in 1679, when the town paid John Ashton 40 shillings for crying the hours and ringing the 9 p.m. curfew bell. Nathaniel P. Bliss's pewter bell, used by Marblehead's final town crier to announce news and events in the 19th century, is now part of the Marblehead Museum's collection. COURTESY…

19 Jun

MARBLEHEAD CHRONICLES: When the town hit tough times

Pam Peterson0 CommentsColumns, Marblehead Chronicles, Pam Peterson

When the American Revolution ended, the Treaty of Paris was ratified by the new Congress in 1784. "America: To Those Who Wish to Sheath the Desolating Sword of War," a 1781 engraving by R.E. Pine, is kept by the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati. COURTESY PHOTO The entire new United States was struggling, suffering from post-war economic depression. There was a currency shortage, high taxes due, unpaid creditors, foreclosures and bankruptcies. Many of the financial backers of the Revolution lost their…

29 Feb

MARBLEHEAD CHRONICLES: More about Capt. James Mugford

Pam Peterson0 CommentsColumns, Marblehead Chronicles, Pam Peterson

When we left Capt. James Mugford, he was aboard his ship the Franklin following the successful capture of the British powder ship Hope. Mugford and his crew overtook the Hope, which was an amazing accomplishment. The Franklin was a schooner of 60 tons with only four small cannons, and the Hope was a transport ship of 300 tons with 10 large guns. Mugford forced the Hope into a tidal inlet where she was grounded in the low tide. Once the ship was immobile, the Hope…

13 Dec

MARBLEHEAD CHRONICLES: Holiday traditions in the town’s early days

Pam Peterson0 CommentsColumns, Local History, Marblehead Chronicles, Marblehead Public Schools

In most of Colonial New England, Christmas wasn’t a popular holiday. Boston Divine Cotton Mather wrote in 1712 that the “Feast of Christ’s Nativity is spent in Reveling, Dicing, Carding, Masking, and in all Licentious Liberty ...by Mad Mirth, by long eating, by hard Drinking, by lewd Gaming, and by rude Reveling...” In Marblehead, the Colonial candle tradition of welcome continues. COURTESY PHOTO Christmas celebrations were frowned on, and caroling was condemned. But the town of Marblehead carried on, known for particularly notorious celebrations, despite…

15 Nov

MARBLEHEAD CHRONICLES: Letters in the Select Board’s room

Pam Peterson0 CommentsColumns, Local History, Marblehead Chronicles

The fact that they still exist and can be seen by anyone who visits Abbot Hall is due to the care and diligence of the Marblehead Historical Commission, with many volunteers who work on cataloging and maintaining the archives. The general history of the American Revolution, and the colonists' commitment to founding a new nation is certainly well known. But how do we know it? Histories have been written and stories have been told. These accounts are based on and supported by primary documents. That…