100 



Messrs. Byron Groce of Peabody, and Charles A. Beckford of Salem, 

 were duly elected resident members.' 



Field Meeting at Middleton, Thursday, August 5, 1869. A Field 

 Meeting was held this day at the Middleton Paper Mills, on the 

 Salem and Lowell Railroad, a portion of these premises, by the 

 kindness of the proprietors, Messrs. Stephen O. and Charles Crane, 

 being placed at the disposal of the visitors. 



On reaching the station, the company immediately entered the 

 capacious drying room of the mill, which was the place of rendezvous. 

 Here were deposited the baskets and other articles that were not 

 immediately wanted, or that might prove cumbersome in the excur- 

 sions about the neighborhood. The weather in the early part of the 

 day was warm but cloudy, and this portion of the time was pleasantly 

 spent in scientific and social rambles among the many delightful groves 

 with which this secluded and eminently rural place abounds, or on 

 he banks of the river and pond and other inviting localities. Nu- 

 merous botanical and zoological specimens were obtained, but few of 

 any great rarity. 



At two o'clock P.M. the baskets were emptied and every one present 

 partook of a substantial luncheon which proved a welcome feature of 

 the day's proceedings. 



At three o'clock the meeting was called to order by the President. 

 The records of the preceding meeting were read. The correspon- 

 dence and donations to the Library and Museum were announced. 



The PRESIDENT, in introducing the literary exercises of the occa- 

 sion, remarked that this place presents much of interest to the nat- 

 uralist and to the lovers of the picturesque : its romantic dells, its 

 beautiful groves, its rich meadows redolent with flowers of every hue, 

 the river and the ponds with their peculiar flora and fauna, and the 

 old mill with the simple and rural bridge across the never failing 

 stream, are objects that always impart much beauty to the landscape. 



The student of history cannot fail also to find many historical asso- 

 ciations worthy of record; its history goes back to an early period. 

 A recital of a few incidents may not be inappropriate and perhaps may 

 not be devoid of inter;**;t. We are now assembled in the south-west- 

 ern corner of Middleton, about two miles from the village and about 

 one-quarter of a mile, more or less, from Peabody on the one side, and 

 Lynnfleld and North Reading on one of the others ; and within the 

 limits of Salem, as it once was, and near the ancient north-western 

 boundary, though at a considerable distance from the nearest bounds 

 as at present located. 



In 1636 it was determined that Salem bounds should extend from 

 the meeting house six miles into the country, and this "six miles 

 line " was afterwards ascertained to run from a point about one-fourth 



