24 



pamphlet, purporting to be a (spiritual) history of the place and its 

 former occupants, as well as some of the photographs, can be pur- 

 chased for a suitable consideration. The visitor may believe as much 

 or as little of what he reads and hears as his credulity will allow, but 

 he cannot fail to be interested during the time spent there, and 

 charmed with the wild and romantic beauty of the scenery, and the 

 extensive panorama spread out before him. 



At the hour appointed for the addresses and discussions the hall 

 was well filled by an auditory consisting largely of the residents of 

 Saugus. 



The meeting was called to order at 2.45 p.m. by the President. 



Recoi'ds of the last meeting read ; donations and correspondence 

 announced. 



The President called upon Wilbur F. Newhall, Esq., to give 

 some information concerning places of interest in Saugus. 



Mr. Newhall accordingly entered upon an interesting narrative, m 

 the course of which he stated that the first foundry in this country 

 was established at Saugus by Joseph Jenks, in the years 1643-4. A 

 company was first chartered in London, and Joseph Jenks, who was a 

 skilled workman, and a man of inventive genius, conducted its busi- 

 ness successfully. There remains a bank of cinders extending from 

 the foundry to the mill-pond marking the extent of the business. The 

 ore was smelted from what is commonly called bog-ore, taken from 

 a neighboring meadow. The foundry produced from eight to ten tons 

 of iron per week. The first casting is said to be an iron pot, now or 

 recently in the possession of the family of the late Alonzo Lewis, the 

 historian of Lynn. Mr. Lewis, we believe, was a descendant of this 

 Joseph Jenks. The present dam is fifteen feet lower than the old 

 dam. At first a dam was built this side of the present, but finding an 

 insufficiency of water they built farther down the stream. Joseph 

 Jenks continued the foundrj^ business for over forty years. 



He made the first dies for coining money in the colony, which con- 

 sisted of the pine-tree shilling, and six and three penny pieces, bear- 

 ing the date of 1652. These are highly valued by the coin collectors 

 of the present day. Other inventions, which were highly esteemed 

 by the colonists of that earlj^ period, are attributed to him. 



[A son of Mr. Joseph Jenks, jr., who was born in England, came to 

 this country a few years after his father, worked for some time in 

 Lynn, then removed to Pawtucket, R. I., where he built a forge, the 

 first in that colony, which was destro.yed in King Philip's war. He 

 lived to a good old age and was highly esteemed. Some of his de- 

 scendants, in the second and third generation, were persons of note ; 

 one of them for five years occupied the Gubernatorial chair. The late 

 Elias Jenks, of Salem, a noted shipbuilder some thirty years since in 

 this city, was a descendant, and was born in Ehode Island. He came 

 to Salem when a young man, and possessed many of the traits of 

 character, especially the mechanical genius, of the emigrant ancestor.] 



