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Essex
County, Massachusetts
Genealogy and History

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Essex County

Congregational church in
Marblehead
Discovered
by Europeans in 1692; the first who are known to
have set foot in the county were Edward Harlie and
Nicholas Hobson, who landed at Ipswich in 1611.
The earliest settlers were the Cape Ann colonists,
led by Roger Conant, in 1624. Endicott's colony
arrived September 6, 1628. On May10, 1643, eight
towns Salem, Lynn, Wenham, Ipswich, Rowley,
Newbury, Gloucester, and Andover were set apart
and incorporated as Essex County.
Indian
disturbances affected the inhabitants but little
until the breaking out of King Philip's War; in
which brave soldiers and good leaders from Essex
County distinguished themselves at various points.
Theirs were the troops so mercilessly slaughtered
at "Bloody Brook," in Deerfield, a body of ninety
picked, well-disciplined, courageous soldiers
known as "the Flower of Essex," under Captain
Lothrop, where they were surprised by a large body
of Philip's savage warriors.
The
history of this county is disfigured by the woeful
delusion of witchcraft which raged here in the
latter part of the 17th century; and which,
originating in that part of Salem which is now
included in Danvers, extended to neighboring
towns, until not less than 20 persons had actually
been executed, while 8 more had been condemned,
150 were in prison awaiting trial, and 200 others
had been accused. It is acknowledged that most of
those who suffered and many others of the accused
were persons of excellent character. In
consequence of the trials and the expenses, the
rapacious confiscations, and the universal alarm,
business was utterly prostrated, and hundreds
impoverished. Long years of toil and sorrow
elapsed before the county recovered fully from
this terrible blow. During the Revolution, Essex
County effectively sustained her part on the side
of freedom and nationality. A
Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts
1890

County Map
Cities
Amesbury
* Beverly * Gloucester * Haverhill *
Lawrence * Lynn * Methuen * Newburyport *
Peabody * Salem
Towns
Amesbury * Boxford * Danvers
* Essex * Georgetown * Groveland * Hamilton
* Ipswich * Lynnfield *
Manchester-by-the-Sea * Marblehead *
Merrimac * Middleton * Nahant * Newbury *
North Andover * Rockport * Rowley *
Salisbury * Saugus * Swampscott * Topsfield
* Wenham * West Newbury
Villages
Annisquam
* Ballardvale * Beverly Farms * Bradford *
Byfield * Centerville * Clifton * Cove
Harbor * Magnolia * Merrimacport * North
Beverly * Plum Island * Ryall's Side * West
Boxford
Census
Designated Places
Andover
* Boxford * Essex * Ipswich * Rockport *
Rowley * Salisbury * Topsfield
County
Seat: Salem and Lawrence
Founded: 1643
Square Miles: Total 828/Land 493/Water
336
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Essex County
Data
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Biographies |
Marriage Index |
Birth Index |
Marriage
Notices |
Birth
Notices |
Military |
Books |
Military
News |
Cemeteries |
News/Brevities |
Census Data |
Newspapers |
Churches |
Obituaries |
County
History |
Passenger
Lists |
Crime |
Photographs |
Death Index |
Pioneers |
Directories |
Probate/Wills |
Disasters |
Research Help |
Divorce Index |
Schools |
History |
State
Executions |
Historical
Landmarks |
Stories/Families |
Immigration |
Tax Lists |
Land Records |
Towns |
Website
Updates:
17Apr2018
Bios: John Shea at Scranton,
G. Von L. Meyer; FIRST SECRETARY OF
UNITED STATES NAVY- George Cabot;
Census: 1850 Mortality for
Gloucester, Topsfield, Middleton,
Newburyport,
Marriage News: SMITH-McKEEN
News: Terrible Explosion-Six
Firemen Killed; Noted Women Golfers
in Championship Meet; Slavery in
Massachusetts; Random Shots G.A.R.;
Lead, copper, silver, gold
discovered: Ingalls elected to
Senate; Veritable pins used by the
Salem witches on file in Clerks
Office; Earthquake in Massachusetts;
A CREDULOUS PLACE - WITCHCRAFT,
SPIRITUAL RAPPINGS AND MORMONISM;
Silver Mine yielding $1,000 daily; A
complaint in ejectment has been
filed by Mary A. Seaverus and George
Seaverus; LEGAL NOTICES -
MORTGAGEE'S SALE OF REAL ESTATE;
Immense Fire Destroys whole of
Haverhill; Why Miss Dodge, piquant
contributor to the "Atlantic
Monthly," calls herself "Gail
Hamilton,"; Administrator's Notice -
William I Burnham; MAPS AS POLITICAL
ARGUMENTS; Constitution figurehead
sawed off; Pauper elected to
Legislature; T.O. Wardwell ad;
Double Alarm for Main Street Fire;
Verdict of $400.53, The First Raid,
Obits: Thomas Thompson; John
James Ingalls; Patrick J. Fenton,
George A. Ainsworth, Everett
M. Swett, Ellen M. Towle,
Herbert F. Chase, Andrew J.
Leighton, Caroline C. Leighton,
Laforest Colburn,
Probate/Wills: Mrs. Searles'
Will; Will of George Peabody;
Probate - J.T. Bayley;
Towns: Sketches of Cities:
Lawrence
2018Feb
Obits: Thomas Thompson
2018Jan
Census: 1850 Mortality for
Andover, Boxford, Bradford, Danvers,
Essex, Georgetown, Groveland, Lynn,
Lynnfield, West Newbury
Directory: Rowley, City 1888
- submitted by Kim Torp
Essex County Firsts: First
Steamboat, First Baptist Church,
First Iron Foundery,
Newspapers: in Gloucester,
Haverhill, Lynn,
Obits: Thomas Bowden, Caled
Oakes, T. Clarke Oliver, Mrs. Mary
Shaw, John W. Trendwell, Jospeh Very
Stories: Duston Family
Towns: The Cities and
Villages - Grasshopper Plain,
Groveland, Guinea, Hallsville,
Hamilton, Haverhill, Hog Island, Hog
Island Harbor, Lawrence, Line Brook,
Linwood, Lynn, Lynnfield
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