702 GEOGRAPHICAL KEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



In 1704 the people offered a petition to Congress for further encouragement to their fishery, which hud been seri- 

 ously diminished. Fish-stalls were ordered by the town authorities to be erected that the fish might not be exposed 

 to the sun in warm weather. 



THE FISHEIIU.S FI:OM 1X56 TO 1850. The Salem rod and mackerel fishery in 183G was prosecuted by 14 vessels, 

 aggregating 906 tons, and manned by 130 fishermen. These vessels caught 5,404 quintals of cod, worth $16,552: and 

 2,569 barrels of mackerel, worth $21,450. The salt used in both fisheries was 8,274 bushels. 



From April 1, 1844, to April 1, 1845, there were but 3 vessels, manned by 27 fishermen, engaged in cod-fishing. 

 Their aggregate tonnage was 239; their catch, 2,650 quintals, worth $7,400; they used 2,720 bushels of salt. 



The salmon, sturgeon, and herring fisheries of Salem, once so prosperous, had passed away long ago. 



The following table, copied from the Gloucester Telegraph of March 20, 1850, exhibits a summary view of the 

 extent of the cod-fishery of the district of Salem and Beverly for the season ending November 30, 1849: 



Tonnage employed 2,400 



Men and boys 246 



Amount of bounty paid $9, 416 



Fish cured, 17,323 quintals 860,815 



Oil, 11,098 gallons 5,583 



Tongues and sounds, 330 barrels 1,888 



Total value of product 68,286 



MARBLEHEAD. 



HISTORY OF MARBLEHEAD FROM 1629 TO 1647. In the town records the line of progress can be traced from the 

 time when a few Naumkeag Indians lived on the ground on which now stands the town of Marblehead, among rocks, 

 swamps, and forests, to the time when the annual expenses of the town, including the minister's salary, were 250; 

 at this time Marblehead was a part of Salem, or Salem a part of it, for it was Marblehead that gave the name to the 

 whole settlement. " Here is plentie of marblestone," wrote Francis Higginson in 1629, " in such store that we have 

 great rocks of it, and a harbour near by. Onr plantation is from thence called Marble-harbour." 



This name was soon changed to Salem, but the old name was retained for the portion since called Marblehead till 

 1633, when its present name was generally agreed upon. 



Marblehead, doubtless, had settlers as early as 1626 or 1627. The first mentioned inhabitant was Thomas Gray.' 



Felt, in his Annals of Salem, wrote in 1845: 



"This settlement was so denominated from its abundance of rocks, anciently called marble, and from its high 

 and bold projection into Salem harbor. Its bounds included Naugns Head, which, in 1629, became the site of the 

 noted Darby Fort. It was selected about this time as well adapted for carrying on the fishery. Mr. Cradock, the 

 first governor of the Massachusetts corporation, had one of his companies here in this business, not later than 1631. 

 Isaac Allerton and Moses Maverick, his son-in-law, the former among the first settlers of Plymouth, were here as soon 

 as 1634, with their servants similarly employed. Wood gives the ensuing description in 1633: 'Marvil Head is a 

 place which lyeth 4 miles full south from Salem and is a very convenient place for a plantation, especially for Mich 

 as will set updn the trade of fishing. There was made here a ship's loading offish the last year, where still stand the 

 stages and drying scaffolds.'" 



The following account of Isaac Allerton's settlement in Marblehead and the effect of his energetic example is here 

 given in greater detail : 



"In 1631 Isaac Allerton, having already made five voyages to England in the interest of the Marblehead colony, 

 came to Marblehead in the White Angel, and in the same vessel, loaded .with fish, he soon after went to England 

 again. Returning, he made Marblehead his home, building there a large fish-house and employing many vessels. 

 The impulse which Allerton had given was seconded by others, so mnch so that the third vessel built in 

 New England was bnilt here in 1636, the Desire of 120 tons burden. * * All foreign trade 2 was soon abandoned, 

 and early in the next century fishing was the only business of the place. * * * This was the period when nearly 

 all the tine old houses in the town were built." 



Josselyn in 1663 gave this brief description of the location of the town of Marblehead : 



"To the North- ward of Linn is Marvil or Marble-head, a small Harbour, the shore rookie, upon which the Town 

 is built, consisting of a few scattered houses; here they have stages for fishermen, Orchards and Gardens, &c." 4 



In 1629 there was a condition made in the New England charter having special reference to the fisheries. Felt, 

 having enumerated some of the other conditions, further says : 



"Another condition of the new charter was that the subjects of England should be allowed to fish on our shores; 

 to set up wharves, stages, and houses, and use needed wood without molestation." 



"This condition," he continues, " was in conformity to previous and repeated resolutions of the House of Com- 

 mons. It seems that such a condition was acted on so as to produce complaint. William Walton and other inhabit- 

 ants of Marblehead presented a petition to General Court, in 1646, as follows : ' Whereas there come yearly into our 



1 Harper's Magazine, July, I8T4, p. 197. Harper's Magazine, July, 1874, pp. 197, 198 



2 Refcrrins to the slave trade. 4 Jossi-lyn's Voyages, p. 129. 



