Forever Marbleheaders: Memories of growing up in Marblehead, Massachusetts (1)

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Upham, William P. (1863). A Memoir of General John Glover of Marblehead. Salem, MA: Charles W. Swasey. On the stormy night of August 29th, 1776, the Continental Army faced capture or annihilation after losing the Battle of Brooklyn. The British had trapped George Washington’s forces against the East River, and the fate of the Revolution rested upon the shoulders of the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Serving side by side in one of the country’s first diverse units, they pulled off an “American Dunkirk” and saved the army by transporting it across the treacherous waters of the river to Manhattan. Daughan, George C. (2008). If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy - from the Revolution to the War of 1812. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-01607-5. Part of the reason may have to do with his personal friendship with the bold, burly John Glover, forged during the Siege of Boston. Glover, like Washington, exercised good taste and decorum. He dressed well, always with two silver pistols and a Scottish broadsword. The rest of the regimental leadership also came from some of Marblehead’s leading families — Ornes, Lees and Gerrys — tied together by blood and friendship. “The officers seem to have mixed with the world,” noted one observer. As a ship owner, he had felt British oppression. The British Navy impressed his sailors and searched his ships for smuggled goods without warrants. Plus he had to deal with corrupt British customs officials. So in 1759, he joined the Marblehead militia.

Sanborn, Natan P. (1903). Gen. John Glover and his Marblehead Regiment. Marblehead, MA: Marblehead Historical Society. The owners agreed to close the hospital. But on Jan. 25, 1774, about 20 heavily disguised Marbleheaders sneaked onto the island and burned it down. Town officials arrested two suspects February 25 on a fishing vessel in Marblehead Harbor, and took them to Salem jail. The townspeople were skeptical. They believed God, not man, should decide who lived and died. They also knew there wasn’t enough money to inoculate everyone, only the wealthiest citizens. At Town Meeting on Oct. 12, 1720, they voted to ban the practice unless everyone in town received a smallpox inoculation. Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Glover, John". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. Knox realized the wet weather would render the soldier’s powder nearly useless, making the artillery crucial to success. Glover’s Regiment therefore managed to ferry 18 cannons and frightened horses across the Delaware. Knox later wrote, ‘ . . . perseverance accomplished what at first seemed impossible.’A large number of Marbleheaders marched to Salem and surrounded the jail. At the signal they broke open the doors, overpowered the jailers, freed the prisoners and carried them home in triumph. Several days later the sheriff gathered 500 citizens to march to Marblehead and recapture his prisoners. The Marblheaders organized a mob equally as large. At that point, the hospital owners decided to abandon the prosecution and the sheriff disbanded his posse. Getting rid of the British did matter to them. During the war, the British Navy had closed down the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. The fishermen and sailors of Glover’s Regiment came from the fishing village of Marblehead, Mass., and some nearby towns. Rendered unemployed and angry by the strict trade measures imposed by British Parliament, virtually every able-bodied man in Marblehead, Massachusetts, rallied to fight against their common enemy. (Accounts vary significantly as to exactly how many men the group included at its inception.) The Origins of the Marbleheaders The tough, disciplined members of Glover’s Regiment had nautical skills that proved invaluable during the American Revolution.

Around 6:00 PM on Christmas night, the Marbleheaders began shuttling soldiers, artillery, and horses across the river. The process would continue into the early morning, much of it in the face of a relentless Nor’easter. The night was fearfully cold and dark, with rain turning to sleet, then snow, and the northeast wind beating on the men’s faces. Gen. Henry Knox thought it impossible to cross the river. It became the 14 th Continental Regiment, known by the generals as an amphibian regiment. Winter Soldiers John Glover served in local offices including six terms as a town selectman, delegate to the state convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution (1788), and two-term member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1788-1789). During his 1789 tour of the United States, President George Washington made a special detour to see his old reliable army friend John Glover and thank the town of Marblehead for their service during the war. [17] Death [ edit ] Years later, Edward Holyoke’s son, Edward Augustus Holyoke, became a physician and an advocate of smallpox inoculation. He, too, went to Boston for inoculation and took careful notes on the procedure.

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Red Litmus Test: As you walk down-town, you will know you are a true Marbleheader if ''Red" the Old Town foot patrolman ever said hello to you.

The disease continued its fearful ravages till late in the summer of 1731, and gathered its victims with an unsparing hand,” wrote Samuel Roads in 1881. “Rich and poor, old and young, the learned and the unlettered were alike afflicted by this impartial agent of death.” History Repeats Itself John Glover’s Regiment of Marbleheaders accomplished an amazing feat on the night of Dec. 25, 1776. They ferried 2,400 men, plus horses and artillery, across the Delaware River in a blinding snowstorm. The Marblehead, Massachusetts, unit was originally formed in January 1775 after a town meeting voted to reorganize the militia, stripping the existing Tory commanders of their military powers and assigning Jeremiah Lee as the regimental commander. John Glover was elected second lieutenant colonel. The regiment armed itself in part using captured weapons and powder seized during a night time raid of HMS Lively led by Samuel Trevett in early February. [1]

John Glover

John Glover and his family lived in Marblehead, MA where he built a house in 1762, now known as the John Glover House, a National Historic Landmark. The General Glover farmhouse, in Swampscott, MA, and also built in 1700s, is where Glover lived beginning in 1782 after retiring from the military. While living here, he served as a local selectman and Massachusetts State representative. The house still stands today in Swampscott, MA but threatened by demolition. [21] Memorials and legacy [ edit ] Olson, Kris (2022-08-10). "140 housing units proposed for former Gen. Glover House property". Marblehead Current. Harbor Walking: a true Marbleheader (see item #1) knows what years the harbor froze over - 1898, 1912, 1979 - a rare phenomenon which enables one to walk as-the-seagull-flies from Boston Yacht Club to Eastern Yacht Club. Marblehead especially depended on those fishing grounds, and their closure reduced its people to crushing poverty. Glover’s Regiment