67 



fishing company who were at first sent here for fishing only, after- 

 wards combined fishing and agriculture. Two ships were sent ; one 

 put back, the other arrived at Monhegan. From there they came here, 

 into our harbor undoubtedly ; boats were sent out to our present fish- 

 ing grounds, and secured a fare, when the ship went to Bilboa. She 

 left here seven men, on Stage Fort, and these men were increased the 

 next year by some ten or fifteen more. Cushman and Winslow, of 

 the Plymouth colony went to England, secured a charter for this prov- 

 ince, chartered a ship and came over to this locality. Whether the 

 two companies united or not we cannot tell, and it is not certain 

 how this charter was regarded by either of the colonies. 



The later history of the town is not important. There is every 

 reason to believe that Gloucester was first settled by farmers. Salem 

 was the first fishing town, a afterwards followed by Marblehead, and 

 subsequently Gloucester became a fishing mart, and now leads the 

 world. 



The people of the town suffered greatly during the revolutionary 

 war. They depended on what they could draw from the water, which 

 was entirely cut oft', and they could not raise enough from the land to 

 subsist the people, consequently many of the people were supported 

 by charity. 



Gen. H. K. Oliver, of Salem, inquired why the town was called 

 Gloucester, saying that "-cester" means camp, but he had not heard 

 what -'Glou" signified. 



Mr. Babson answered, that from the best information received the 

 the town was named after the city of Gloucester, in England, from 

 which place some of our early settlers came. Mr. Babson drew a par- 

 allel between the city of Gloucester, situated in the beautiful valley of 

 the Severn, and our rock-bound coast. In regard to the etymology of 

 the word he thought it was derived from the Welch word ' Gleaw,' the 

 name of a chieftain, and the Latin word 'costra,' camp or fortification. 



Mr. Goodell made some remarks concerning the origin of the 

 name of Salisbury. 



Mr. R. S-. Rantoul read an interesting paper on Codfish in Massa- 

 chusetts history, which was referred to the Publication Committee. 

 (Printed in the Historical Collections, Vol. viii.) 



Mr. F. W. Putnam spoke of the Codfish anatomically considered, 

 and explained how it differed from the Mackerel, dinner, and other 

 fishes which he exhibited. 



Capt. N. E. Atwood, of Provincetown, was introduced, and spoke 

 of the different names and habits of fish. Many fishes of no marketa- 

 ble value are known by different names at various places. 



We find the codfish extending over a larger geographical range 



