Under the keen
gaze of the large carved wooden eagle, high on a pole in the center of the
southern village of Danvers, thirty-five year old Mary Upton walked toward her aunts’ confectionary
shop. The eagle - the spirit of the square, of the town, was planted to mark
the spot where townsmen gathered before racing to the Battle of Lexington in
1775. It had an eagle-eyed view of town
life as it unfolded until 1835 when it was replaced with the Lexington
Monument.
Near the corner of Old Boston Road, Mary rushed past David Daniels’ shoe shop and a row of cherry trees to greet her friend, Grasshopper, the old gray horse who powered Oliver Poland’s sawmill. She passed the Eagle engine house, the apothecary of Captain Sylvester Proctor, and Gunnison's village barber shop. There were boys spending pennies in Mrs. Blaney's candy store on the corner opposite the entrance to the Universalist Church. They took their treasures home to the tenement houses of Dustin's Court across the street.
Click here to view Mary's walk from Eagle Corner in 2020
Mary deposited her letters
at the ladies’ entrance to the Post Office and reviewed the public notices
posted there. She learned the town had
provided expenses and a carriage to General Gideon Foster so he could attend
the dedication services at Bunker Hill in the Spring. She passed the public pump in the Square and
the brook that used to be Dennison Wallis' mill pond.
As she approached the Misses Kings confectioners shop, she was met with the sweet, sassy smell of gingerbread – a welcoming aroma after the strong street smell of leather and animals. There was only one customer in the shop, Jesse Ferrin, the grocer at Southwick & Ferrin’s. She knew of him; his family lived half the year in Danvers and the other in Eaton, New Hampshire. He was a familiar face at the Kings’ home since his sister, Wealthy, married James Putnam King, and, now a second sister, Asenath, was being courted by Henry King.
It was an outing
to Salem with her cousin, Phebe, and her husband, James North ,
that eventually brought the couple together . Visiting from Maine, Phebe was intent on
attending a whistling exhibition at the Salem Lyceum. She invited Eben and Sally Upton
and insisted that Mary tag along. When
they arrived at the performance of “The Northern Whistler,” they discovered
their seats were next to Mary’s cousin, James King, his wife, Wealthy, and her
brother, Jesse Ferrin. “There was little
time to talk because the crowd soon showed their impatience by drumming their
feet on the floor. The noise overwhelmed
the music of the orchestra, which consisted of one fiddle played by a white
man.
“Edward Cuffy, the
Great Northern Whistler, took the stage to thundering applause. There could be
in his case no doubt of his African descent. He was a perfect specimen, except
that he had unfortunately lost one eye, which only made his face more interesting. On this occasion, it shone like a newly
blacked boot.
“Cuffy acknowledged the
compliment by a polite bow and prepared to exhibit his introductory
whistle. To do this, he pursed up his
ample lips until they presented the appearance of a projecting red tomato with
a hole in the center from whence came forth the richest melody. No wonder that the intelligent audience was
electrified. They shouted with delight,
they clapped, they stamped, they threw up their caps, they cried encore and the
laughed until they cried - such is the power of music.
“All this time Cuffy stood bolt upright, straight forward and continued his captivating whistle. He had but one eye and from that part of the audience on his blind side, Jesse called out lustily for the light of his countenance on their side of the hall. Obedient to his summons, Cuffy turned half round and whispered at one half of the audience, by which movement he was unfortunately obliged to turn his back to the other half . These now clamored for their rights and a general shout from all parts of the house of “this way”, “front.” Jesse yelled, “Open the other eye.” Disconcerted, the whistler stood like a waving politician trying to please all sides, but satisfying none.”
When the applause
died down, Mary, Jesse and other members of the crowd attempted to out whistle
the great whistler himself. It seemed as
if fifty steam whistles and as many tomcats had opened their throats at once.
When she stopped laughing enough to speak, she remarked to Jesse that she
guessed the audience had not paid “to dear for their whistle.” He agreed and called out for Cuffy to
reappear, which he did and proceeded to whistle all variety from “Old Hundred”
to “Yankee Doodle”. They laughed and
hummed and left the Lyceum together before making their way to separate carriages.
As their
relationship blossomed; Mary found herself visiting the Kingdom more often. When
her cousin, Daniel, was home from Congress, the Kings and Jesse would come to
Brookdale to visit. Daniel and his wife,
Sarah Flint, lived near Mary’s childhood home, the Upton tavern/farm, which was
now owned by Mary’s uncle, David Upton.
Masthead of the Danvers Courier
"H",
1849-1879, Thirty Years of Change,
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings, Manuscript of the Peabody Historical Society
Vital Records of Danvers, Massachusetts.
Danvers Courier, April 1845
Petitions
to the Board of Selectman of Danvers requesting expenses for Gideon Foster,
1843, Manuscript of the Danvers Archives.
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