44 THE HISTORY OF THE 



000. Methuen had become a busy town of nearly 12,000 

 people. In some of the smaller communities as well 

 manufactures had attained a predominant place, and all 

 along the North Shore and in Wenham, Hamilton, Tops- 

 field and Ipswich, many farms once tilled by working 

 farmers had passed into the hands of wealthy summer 

 residents, with whom agriculture was largely an amuse- 

 ment. So it was affirmed that Essex County had now 

 little concern for farming, and that the Agricultural 

 Society might now rest from its labors. 



But wiser counsels prevailed, and it was decided that 

 while the Peabody experiment had proved a failure, 

 there was still the promise of usefulness in a return to 

 the simpler ways of the fathers. 



1910. 

 The Home-Coming to Topsfield. 



A very practical reason led the Society back to Tops- 

 field, where the first Cattle Show was held in 1820. As 

 has been stated, Dr. John Goodhue Treadwell of Salem 

 had bequeathed his Topsfield farm to the Essex Agri- 

 cultural Society in 1858. The farm had served somes 

 practical purposes in the way of experiment, and in 

 some years had netted a profit. At times it had been 

 an asset of questionable value, but the Society still held 

 title. It was now utilized as the location for the Cattle 

 Show and Fair of September, 1910. 



New inspiration would have attended the return if 

 Cyrus Cummings's tavern were still standing. Unfor- 

 tunately, as a matter of sentiment, it had been taken down 

 in August, 1844, and removed to Clifton, where it was 

 rebuilt as a shore hotel, but was totally destroyed by 

 fire two years later. But the old farm house proved 

 attractive to many visitors. The story goes that it was 

 erected by Dr. Richard Dexter of Maiden in 1741. The 



