THE DIARY AND LETTERS OF BENJAMIN PICKMAN ( I 7 40- I 8 I 9) BEXJ A:\11x ]>1ck,1Ax :(i740..:r_8i9), . ' . ,\ .· From llll oil p1Jrtra1/ oy Copliy 'painteti in. ···76i ll()ili in tbe puse.rsi1J11 !t" the ~iuu Wetp,fiti THE DIARY AND LETTERS OF BENJAMIN PICKMAN ( I 740- I 8 I 9) of Salem, Massa_chusetts with a B10GRAPHICAL SKETCH AND GENEALOGY OF THE PICKMAN FAMILY By GEORGE FRANCIS Dow ) ,;." . _--~ ·.· ~ . -· :# NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND 1928 PREFACE AMILY letters written during the period of the American Revolution, however personal they may be, must always possess an interest for those curious to learn of the life and opinions of the time. The principal value of the following col­ lection of letters lies in the pen picture they supply of the daily life, occupations and amusements of an American absentee of independant circumstances - a gentleman of education and social attainments who did not consider "the conduct of the British King and Parliament suffi~ient to justify a revolt." Writing a century or more ago, Doctor Bentley, the Salem diarist, mentions the existance of these letters, even then treasured by the family. In later years they were lost sight of and were found but recently in the keeping of a collateral branch. They are now in the possession of Mr. Dudley Leavitt Pickman of Boston. It is a matter of great regret that such letters from the Pickman family in Salem, as reached their des­ tination, were not preserved. Only two have been found. A score of letters of the type of the one that I.Jove Rawlins Pickman wrote to her son after the battle of Lexington would give character to any nar­ rative. A number of interleaved almanacs in which he kept his diary have also disappeared; but enough [vJ Preface remains to show the daily round, and here and there is recorded a fact of general interest. On learning of the discovery of the Pickman let­ ters and diaries· the late Senator George Peabody Wetmore proposed that they should be printed, but he died before much progress· had been made in t~e work of their preparation for the press. In the ful­ fillment of this intention they are now published by his daughters. Mr. William Crowninshield Endicott has assisted greatly iri collecting the original papers and also in obtaining genealogical data and illustrative material. Thanks are also due to Miss Martha Cathari'ne Cod­ man, Mr. T. E. · G. Lynch, Dr. Henry Pickering Walcott, Judge Robert .Walcott, Mr. Dudley Leavitt Pickman, Mr. Samuel F. Walcott, and to the Essex Institute. [vi J CONTENTS THE PICKMAN FAMILY OF SALEM • • • • • • I BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF BENJAMIN PICKMAN ( I 740- I 8 I 9) . ., . 5 I BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MRS. MARY (TOPPAN) PICKMAN ( I 744- I 8I 7) . ~ . • . • · 7 5 LETTERS WRITTEN BY BENJAMIN PICKMAN WHILE LIVING IN ENGLAND, 1775-1785 . 87 DIARY OF BENJAMIN PICKMAN, 1780-1818 • • . 147 INDEX . • • . • . • • • 2 I 5 Cvii J 11,LUSTRATIONS BENJAMIN PICK.MAN (1740-1819) . Frontispiece From an oil portrait by Copley painted in 1762 now in the possession of the Misses Wetmore. Hous~ BUILT IN SALEM BEFORE 1685 BY CAPT. BEN- JAMIN PICKMAN • • • • • • • • • • 6 This house is still standing and in it was born, in I 804, Nathaniel · Hawthorne, the ·romancer. An etching by George M. White made about 1895. .Courtesy of the Essex Institute. MRs. SARAH (PICKMAN) CuRWE~ (1718-1810). 10 From an oil portrait in the possession of the Essex Institute. BENJAMIN PICKMAN (1708-1773) . • . 12 From an oil portrait by Greenwood in the possession of the Essex Institute. · · THE BENJA¥IN P1cKMAN MANSION, EssEx STREET, SALEM • • • • • • • • • . • • • • 14 Built in I 749-17 50. From a lithograph by Pendleton. THE BENJAMIN PICKMAN- MANSION, WASHINGTON STREET, SALEM • • • • • • . • .. • . • 16 Built in I 763. Afterwards owned by Elias Hasket Derby and later by Robert Brookhouse. Taken down in I 9 I 5. From a lithograph by Pendleton· after a drawing by Miss Mary Jane Derby. MRs. LovE (RAWLINS) PICKMAN (1709-1786) . 18 From an oil portrait by Greenwood in the possession of the Essex Institute. WILLIAM PICKMAN (1748-1815) . • • • . 22 From a portrait in pastel in the possession of Dudley Leavitt Pickman. [ix] Illustrations BENJAMIN PICKMAN ( I 76 3- I 843) . • • From the oil portrait by Chester Harding in the possession of Miss Martha Catharine Codman. MRS. ANSTISS (DER·BY) PICKMAN (1769-1836) . 28 From a portrait in pastel in the possession of Dr. Henry P. Walcott. · DUDLEY LEAVITT PICKMAN (1779-1846) . ~ . 30 From an oil portrait by Chester Harding in the possession of Dudley Leavitt Pickman. GEORGE PEABODY WETMORE (1846-1921) . .. 40 From a photograph. MRS. EDITH MALVINA (KETELTAS) WETMORE • • 42 From a photograph. w ILLIAM DUDLEY PICKMAN ( I 8 I 9-1890) . 48 From a photograph. V1Ew OF THE HousE AND PART OF THE FARM OF THE HoN'BLE BENJAMIN PICKMAN • • • • • 64 From a water ·color painted before I 773, in the possession of Dudley Leavitt Pickman. BENJAMIN PICKMAN (1740-1819) ...... 70 From a wax bas-relief in the possession of the Essex In- stitute. · MRS. MARY (TOPPAN) PICKMAN (1744-1817) . 78 From an oil portrait by Copley painted in I 762 and now in the possession of the Misses Wetmore. [xJ THE PICKMAN FAMILY OF SALEM THE PICKMAN FAMILY OF SALEM ATHANIEL PICKMAN, the settler, came to Salem, Massachusetts, from Bristol, Eng­ land, and was granted land lying on the south side of Forest River, on July 2.5, 1639, "next vnto the Widow Diks land." He married the widow Tabitha Dike the same year, she being his second wife. He was born at Levens Mead, "the chief seat of the dissenting interest" in Bristol, and emigrated with his three sons - Nathaniel, Samuel and John. The name of his first wife is not known. He was a house carpenter and built many houses in and about Salem. In 1647 he built "a House for John Winth­ rope Esq at ye Poynton Royall Neck" (Royal Side, Beverly) - where Winthrop set up his salt works. He erected the town stocks and whipping post in I 6 57; was frequently employed to repair the meet- ing house; and for many years was "Gunner of ye Towne for the mainteigning & ordering of the Great Artillery to see that ye Guns are mayd Fitt for sarv­ ice." In I 664 and 1665 he served as constable and collected the rates. During the last years of his life he was frequently called upon to appraise estates. After his marriage to the widow Dike he became a partner in "the Salem Company" engaged in fur trading at the eastward. This Company had been organized in 16 30/ 1, by Roger Conant, Peter Pal­ frey, Francis Johnson and Anthony Dike. Pickman [3] The Pickman Family of Salem succeeded to the interest of Dike. Johnson was the manager and had charge of the trucking house on the Maine coast, probably at Pemaquid, and Anthony Dike was master of the vessel owned by the company. In 1 6 3 2 this vessel was taken and looted by Dixey Bull, a pirate. Captain Dike was cast away on Cape Cod, Dec. 1 5, I 6 3 8, and safely reached the shore where he perished of cold and hunger. His widow, Tabitha, married Nathaniel Pickman the next year and by him had seven children. She died Sept. 1 o, 1668. Nathaniel Pickman is supposed to have been born about 1615. He deposed in court, in June, 1662, concerning what had taken place in Salem, twenty­ three years before. At that time he stated that he was forty-seven years old. In March, 1677, he de­ posed that he was about sixty years old. His home in Salem was located very nearly where Charter Street now meets Central Street. In 1698 the heirs of his son Nathaniel sold the house and lot to Timothy Lindall, merchant. It was then a "small old decayed dwelling house" which was removed before the year closed. Charter Street, laid out in 1 767, now passes over the spot where the house formerly stood. During the first generation in New England the family name was variously spelled Pickman, Pitman and Pittman. The line descending through the son Benjamin retained the first form but other descend­ ants living in Salem and elsewhere spell the name Pitman. Mark and Thomas Pittman were living in Marblehead as early as 1660 and may have been con- The Pickman Family of Salem nections of the Pickman-Pittman family of Salem. They left numerous descendants. Nathaniel Pickman, senior, of Salem, made his will Sept. 23, 1684, which was probated Nov. 24, I 6 8 5. It mentions Bethiah Cole; his daughters, Mary Hodges, Hannah Sanders and Tabitha Fever­ yeare; the children of his son Nathaniel; and ap­ points his son-in-law, John Saunders, executor. He yvilled that his "bodye bee burieed in the buryinge place neere my wife." Children, by first marriage, probably born in Bris­ tol, England: i. NATHANIEL, m. Parina•--. Had: (1) Tabitha, d. Nov., 1670; Lived in Salem. A Tabitha Pickman and John Baker were m. Mar. 9, 1695/6, in Charlestown. ii. SAMUEL, m. before Apr. I 5, 1662, Lydia, dau. Peter Pal£ rey, the pioneer settler. Lived in Salem; mariner; died about 168 5. In 1674 he commanded the ketch John and Sarah, of Salem, 70 tons burthen, bound for Cape Sables and thence to France. Had: ( 1) Sarah, d. Dec. 4, I 659; ( 2) Samuel, d. May 24, I 660; (3) Peter, d. Sept., 1668. iii. JoHN, m. Aug. 27, 1667, Hannah Weeks. She d. Dec. 23, 1670. Lived in Salem; mariner.