8 NX OS Ri Ts A 
S HORE 
CHOATE ISLAND 
Probably few Americans, outside 
of one little corner of New England, 
would be .able to locate offhand 
Choate Island, or ‘‘Hog Island,’’ as 
it was formerly called. And _ yet 
this little plot of ground — this 
sunny, wave washed isle of three 
hundred acres at the mouth of the 
Essex River—has probably given 
more men to the profession of the 
law and to the state and national 
Legislature than any other tract of 
land of the same size in our country. 
Three prominent men of today—Ex- 
Mayor Seth Low of New York city, 
Hon. Joseph H. Choate, former am- 
bassador to Great Britain, and 
United States Senator Henry F. 
Burnham, are members of the 
Choate family whose ancestral 
homestead still stands on the island. 
It was in 1690 that Thomas 
Choate, the first white settler to 
found a home there, moved over 
from the mainland with his young 
bride. Ever since then, with the ex- 
ception of a few years in the nine- 
teenth century, some of his descen- 
dants have lived in the old home, 
and those who went forth into the 
great world and won name and 
fame have gone back from time to 
time to look upon the tide and the 
river and the salt marshes that are 
the same today as when the first 
sturdy colonist felled the trees and 
cleared the ground for planting. 
The scene is one of great natural 
beauty. The blue of the ocean, the 
glimmer of the marshes, the river 
that flows gently to meet the sea, 
the mainland with its sunny farms 
and villages, its distant hills, all 
form the setting for the picture. In 
the foreground is Choate Island, ris 
ing to a gentle prominence in the 
centre, its eastern and southern 
sides, green with verdure, sloping 
gently to the water’s edge, its north- 
ern side, bold and rocky. At high 
tide the island is entirely cut off 
from the mainland, but at low tide 
it is possible to cross on a causeway. 
There is some question as _ to 
whether the name ‘‘Hog Island’’ 
was first given by the early settlers 
because of an apparent resemblance 
in outline as viewed from the neigh- 
boring hills to a hog lying on its 
side in the calm water, or because 
the land was used as a common pas- 
ture for swine. The prosaic name 
clung for two centuries, until finally 
replaced by the more euphonious 
name of Choate Island. 
Originally, of course, the island 
was owned by the Indians, and was 
sold by them to the town of Ipswich. 
Tradition says that the red men were 
loath to part with this beautiful spot 
all the more abundant because it 
held the burying-place of many of 
their ancestors. 
For a time the town held the land 
as common property, but in 1665, it 
was divided into lots of three and a 
half acres each and the lots por- 
tioned out to the citizens. One of 
the ‘‘solid men of Ipswich Town’’ 
was John Choate, the first of his 
name to come to America. He had 
migrated from England, as a young 
man of nineteen in 1643. From his 
farm in Ipswich he could look across 
to the little isle, and it seemed to 
him very desirable land. He pur- 
chased lots from his fellow towns- 
men, and year by year added to his 
acres, until finally he owned the 
greater part of the island. It was 
not for many years, however, that 
any of the family made a home 
there. In 1690 his son Thomas, built 
the first house on the site and moved 
into it with his beautiful bride and 
their simple household furnishings. 
A few months later the father made 
over to the son all right and title to 
the island property. Perhaps it was 
because Thomas Choate seemed prac- 
tically ruler of an independent ter- 
ritory ‘‘monarch of all he surveyed”’ 
that he came to be popularly called 
‘“‘The Governor.”’ 
There was stern work for the col- 
onists in wresting a home from the 
wilderness. The men built their 
homes from timber felled in the 
neighboring forest; they cleared the 
land and did the rough work of 
pioneer farming, ever on_ guard 
against Indian surprises. The wo- 
men worked also spinning and 
weaving, and caring for the house- 
hold, and rearing the many children 
that came. Households were large 
in those days, and families of twelve 
and fourteen children were not at 
all uncommon. 
In October, 1727, an earthquake 
disturbed the peace of the little com- 
munity, and caused much consterna- 
tion among the people. As an old 
record kept on the island has it: 
“(On the Sabbath Day at night, 
about ten of ye clock there was a 
creat earthquake throughout the 
Province which shook the houses 
and threw down the tops of chim- 
neys in many places.”’ 
Almost from the first the Choates 
were noted for their interest in pub- 
lic affairs, and they were ever ready 
to serve their country in council or 
on the field of battle. Thomas 
Choate ‘‘The Governor,’’ was a man 
distinguished by qualities of leader- 
ship and command. He served for 
four years as representative to the 
B Rt Ef Et Zo Ee - 
General Court. That he was a man 
of fearless and independent spirit is 
shown by his being one of the thirty- 
one signers to Rev. Mr. Wise’s letter 
on behalf of John Proctor, who had 
been condemned for witchcraft. The 
appeal was in vain, and the unfortu- 
nate man was executed. Proctor’s 
will, written in Salem jail three days 
before his death is still preserved, 
and shows the signature of Thomas 
Choate as one of the witnesses. 
‘“‘Governor’’? Choate was a sound 
thinker, and his views on the “‘cur- 
rency question’’ and the ‘‘business 
depression’’ that then, as now, oc- 
cupied public attention, would do 
credit to a statesman of today. He 
is quoted as saying in 1728, “‘The 
increase of currency in bills of credit 
as a remedy for depression in trade 
and depreciated bills already in cir- 
culation, is like seeking to restore 
a corrupt state of the blood of high 
living.’’ 
One of Thomas Choate’s sons, Col. 
John Choate, became even more 
prominent in public life than his 
father. He was elected many times 
to the General Court, and served fif- 
teen years in the House of Represen- 
tatives. He was for five years a 
member of the Council. He was a 
Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas and also for many years of the 
Probate Court. It was at his sug- 
gestion that the stone arched bridge 
at Ipswich was built. This was the 
first bridge with stone arches ever 
constructed in this country, and the 
townspeople were at first utterly in- 
eredulous that such a method of 
bridge-building could be practiced. 
They looked upon the proposal as 
utter folly, and it was only after 
considerable opposition that the 
project was carried. On the day the 
bridge was finished and the support- 
ing frame work of wood knocked 
away, large numbers of people came 
to see the sight, and many of them, 
still unconvineed of the stability of 
the bridge, hung around until night- 
fall watching for the stone arch to 
fall. The bridge is still standing. 
Francis, a brother of Colonel 
Choate remained on the farm, but 
engaged more or less in maritime af- 
fairs, becoming owner or part 
owner of many fishing-schooners or 
vessels engaged in the coasting 
trade. In his youth he had learned 
the blacksmith’s trade and at one 
time he and a brother, with the help 
of a negro slave, built three schoon- 
ers, sawing the planks by hand from 
the trees, and also making all the 
ironwork used in the construction of 
the vessels. It was he who, in 1725 
built the house now standing, the 
same within whose walls in 1799 the 
