1747 |
Timothy
Dexter was born January 22nd, son of Nathan and Esther (Brintnall)
Dexter |
1755 |
May
9th, young Dexter was sent to work on farm for 6-1/2 years |
1761-2 |
Went
to Charlestown, Massachusetts to learn the trade of leather dresser,
staying for 7 months |
1762
- 1768 |
Completed
his indenture in Boston; once freed, came to Newburyport in 14 days,
selling his freedom suit to a vendor for 5 shillings ($8.20) |
1769 |
(Approximate)
Settled in Newburyport |
1770 |
January 3rd, Purchased
a 33-square rod (1/5 acre) lot of land on Prospect Street from William Wyer |
1770 |
May
22nd, married Elizabeth (Lord) Frothingham, widow of glazier Benjamin
Frothingham left with four children and property on the easterly
corner of Merrimack and Green Streets --- a dwelling house which
the Dexters inhabited, setting up a glover's shop in the basement |
1771-2 |
Only
son Samuel Lord Dexter was born in September 1771; baptized at the
First Religious Society on October 6, 1772 |
March
1776 |
Dexter
first elected Informer of Deer at the Annual (March) Town Meeting,
a post Dexter held for 12 consecutive annual terms until March 1788. |
1776 |
April
5th through April 12th advertisements published in the Essex Journal and New Hampshire Packet as items for sale at the Dexters' shop at the sign of
the Glove, opposite Somerby's Landing:
"Good Deer, Sheep and Moose Skins. Likewise Deer, Sheep and Moose skin Breeches and a quantity of good blubber." |
1776 |
Only
daughter Nancy was born on August 16th |
1782 |
October 12th Dexter purchased 2/5 share of the Frothingham property, dwellinghouse and land from Benjamin Frothingham, the eldest son and heir (and namesake) of the late Benjamin Frothingham together with a share of a wall pew in the Presbyterian meetinghouse for the sum of 240 pounds sliver |
1787 |
October 29th Gilman Frothingham conveyed his inherited share (1/5) of the Frothingham property to Timothy Dexter; on the same day, Dexter and wife Elizabeth sold the house and land to the widow Meriam Tracy |
1790 |
Dexter's
speculation in depreciated continental currency was realized with
United States Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton's threefold
course of action; Dexter's first merchant ship, the 171-ton Brigantine
"Mehitabel" was built (also recorded as "Mehetable," first a brigatine, then as a snow or merchant ship) |
1791 |
April
8th Dexter purchased the Tracy House (now the annex to the Newburyport
Public Library) at a greatly depreciated value (1400 pounds) |
1792 |
Dexter
became the primary holder in the Essex County (Deer Island) Bridge
built by Timothy Palmer; Nancy married Abraham Bishop of New Haven,
Connecticut on March 11, Reverend Edward Bass, D.D., rector of St.
Paul's Church in Newburyport officiating; Dexter's second merchant
ship, the 153-ton vessel named "Congress" was afloat |
1793 |
Independence
Day, Dexter made his famous Deer
Island speech |
1794 |
Nancy
gave birth to a daughter, Mary Ann, the only surviving child of her union
with Bishop --- a marriage which dissolved in divorce two or three
years later |
1795 |
Dexter offered to construct a Market House (at the location
where the Firehouse Center now stands) at his own expense; a town committee reviewing the
proposal recommended the offer be declined, citing that the property
was a public way and landing encumbered by ongoing litigation; Nancy returns to Newburyport alone after the birth and death of her son, leaving daughter with Bishop |
1796 |
On April 9th, Dexter sold
the above-mentioned Tracy House to John Greenleaf for the sum of $8400; thereafter the Dexters
removed to Chester, New Hampshire |
1797 |
March
17th, the Impartial Herald published a Congratulatory
Ode penned by Dexter's
Poet Laureate Jonathan Plummer to remark Dexter's return to Newburyport; Abraham Bishop obtained a divorce from Nancy on the alleged grounds of willful dissertion, with marital situation exploited by Bishop's Federalist detractors |
1798 |
On August 15th, Dexter purchased the former
Jonathan Jackson estate from the heirs of Captain Thomas Thomas for the sum of $6,630; appraised during a November 1796 probate at $6,000, the High Street mansion
sat on nearly 9 acres of land (8 acres, 107 rods) |
1799 |
January 2nd, Dexter published an advertisement for the sale of his
newly acquired estate in the Columbian (Boston) Centinal; the advertisement
described the addition of a new cupola mounted with a carved eagle
and the "Temple of Reason" over the new tomb |
1799 |
Dexter
had a mahogany coffin made; his last will and testament signed, sealed and attested March 1 |
1800 |
June 10th, Samuel Dexter married Mehitable Hoyt of Hampstead, New
Hampshire |
1800 |
November
14th, published another advertisement for the sale of his estate
in the Newburyport Herald, mentioning his coffin, tomb and a mock
funeral |
1801 |
Began
construction of the "mouseum" early this year |
1802 |
In
late May, the first edition of "Pickle for the Knowing Ones"
was published |
1803 |
July 28th, published another notice of sale of his estate, mentioning
fear for his life |
1805 |
James Akin's engraving of Dexter, for sale at the Thomas and Whipple
bookstore at the sign of Johnson's Head in Market Square (one such
advertisement published in the Newburyport Herald on January 31,
1806) |
1806 |
October 22nd (per obituary), Dexter departed
this corporeal life; is buried in the Old Hill Burying Ground (stone
marker is engraved October 23rd) |
1806 |
November
3rd, Dexter's Last Will and Testament proved |
1807 |
January
11th, Samuel Dexter married his second wife, Esther Dexter |
1807 |
April 28th, household furniture belonging to the estate of Timothy Dexter "and the carved images with the pillars on which they stand" advertised to be sold at public auction on May 12th ~ September 21, Newburyport "accepts and acknowledges with gratitude and thankfulness" the late Timothy Dexter's "generous donation" to the poor |
1807 |
July 20th, Samuel Dexter died (his widow Esther remarried on November
16, 1809 to William Rose; however her remains were buried in the
Dexter family plot) |
1808 |
March 8th, notice published in the Newburyport Herald that "Samuel Richardson has removed from the Hotel on Plum Island to the elegant and spacious House owned by the late Timothy Dexter, High Street, where he has good accommodations ..." |
1809 |
July 3rd, Elizabeth Lord Dexter died; soon thereafter, the house was rented to Thomas Marshall then Stephen Marshall, innkeepers, with arrangements for Nancy Bishop's board and lodging; under their charge, Dexter House became a famous public resort, later leased and occupied as a residence by a Marshall family member until 1852 |
1851 |
September
30th, Nancy Dexter Bishop died, leaving one daughter, Mary Ann Bishop of New Haven, Connecticut; Nancy was buried in the family plot on Old Hill Burying Ground, no marker |
1852 |
February 2nd, Dexter's granddaughter and only
remaining heir and descendent sold the Dexter estate "with all the land thereunto belonging for the sum of seven thousand dollars" |
|
[Dates
gleaned from Dexter's own vita published in "Pickle,"
Currier's "History of Newburyport" Volume II, Chapters
XXV and XXVII citing Currier's earlier work, "Ould Newbury;
Historical and Biographical Sketches" and referencing dates
of publications in the Essex Journal and New Hampshire Packet, the
Impartial Herald, the Newburyport Herald and the Columbian (Boston)
Centinel, as well as deed and town records.]
|