...arly frost had blighted the crop of the previous year, and reduced the firstcomers almost to actual want. The settlement now embraced families, more or less connected with each other, from Rowley, Boxford , Byfield, Ipswich, Marblehead, and adjacent towns, among whom the Perleys, Stickneys, Palmers, Burpees, Barkers, Esteys, Hartts, and Peabodys were prominent in numbers or in influence. On Octob...