West were unknown ; the valleys and prairies were ly- 

 ing idle ; the coal fields were unexplored ; the mineral 

 wealth of the Pacific slope was unheard of; manufac- 

 tures were in their feeblest infancy ; and the most vig- 

 orous commerce under the American flag was carried on 

 by the citizens of Essex County, who poured the wealth 

 of the great fishing grounds and of Ormus and the Ind, 

 into the diminutive harbors of Salem and Marblehead 

 and Newburyport. The entire revenue of this country 

 was then less than $30,000,000 annually. Prosperous 

 as Essex County was in that early day, paying nearly 

 one seventh of the entire State tax, she had less than 

 70,000 inhabitants, had no manufacturing nor mechani- 

 cal interests, had not a steam engine within her limits, 

 had not a cotton mill, and but two woolen mills so far 

 as I can ascertain, and depended entirely upon agricul- 

 ture and commerce for her growth and prosperity. — 

 North of the Merrimac River, in the now thriving towns 

 of Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill, Amesbury and Salis- 

 bury, there were then less than three thousand inhabit- 

 ants ; Lynn was but a village ; Salem a small commer- 

 cial town ; a few baggage wagons transported all the 

 merchandize in the county; and a few stage coaches all 

 the travellers who depended upon public conveyance. 



It was in this condition of affairs in the country, and 

 in this county, that " a meeting of farmers and others, 

 inhabitants of the county of Essex," was held at Cyrus 

 Cumming's tavern in Topsfield, on Monday the sixteenth 

 of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight 

 hundred and eighteen, for the purpose of forming an 

 Agricultural Society for the county of Essex." Ichabod 

 Tucker, Esq., of Salem, was chosen " moderator" of the 

 meeting ; David Cummings, Esq., of Salem, secretary ; 



