151 



known as Hathorne or Prospect Hill, belonging to Fran- 

 cis Dodge and others, containing 197-28 acres. Before 

 grading the elevation was 257 feet above mean high tide, 

 being the highest land in the vicinity. The land was 

 purchased by the commonwealth and grading was com- 

 menced May 4, 1874. May 17, 1877, an act authorizing 

 the appointment of Trustees for the State Lunatic Hos- 

 pital, Dan vers, was approved, and on the 25th of the fol- 

 lowing October the property was transferred to them by 

 the commissioners. 



The noon collation was spread in the grove. The after- 

 noon session was held at 3, p. m., in Hathorne Hall, Asy- 

 lum Building. The President in the chair. Records 

 read, correspondence and donations announced. 



The President, in his opening remarks, referred to 

 this place as historic ground ; many distinguished names 

 being associated with the history of this vicinity. The 

 name of this hall is suggestive of the fact that a large 

 tract of land, including this elevation, was granted to 

 Major William Hathorne at the beginning of the Colonial 

 government, and was retained in his possession many 

 years. He came over in the Arabella with Winthrop and 

 settled in Salem in 1636 or the year following, having 

 had tendered to him grants of land if he would remove 

 hither. He was a very prominent man in the colony, 

 holding important positions, commissioner, speaker of 

 the House of Representatives, counsel in cases before the 

 courts, judge on the bench, soldier commanding important 

 and difficult expeditions, and in many other cases. He 

 died in 1681. This name appears to have been as promi- 

 nent in the civil history of that early period as it has been 

 in the elegant literature of the present, by the writings 



