A Brief History of Haverhill MA

Haverhill was settled and houses built as early as 1640, however it was not until greater than two years afterwards that the land was purchased from the Indians who owned it.  At the time, the town was known as Pentucket.  Details of the purchase can be found below in Land & Property.

By 1643, the Massachusetts Bay Colony's administration had expanded northward to include settlements in what are now New Hampshire and Maine. The Massachusetts General Court, in 1643, established four counties, then called shires, for settling legal cases, and denominated those counties Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. 

The Norfolk County of 1643 (Old Norfolk County) was an entirely different geographic area from the present Norfolk County. Located north of the Merrimac River, Old Norfolk included Haverhill, Salisbury, and Amesbury, and what are now the New Hampshire communities of Dover, Exeter, Hampton, and Portsmouth (then called Strawberry Bank). [Information courtesy of the www.norfolkcounty.org website].

Haverhill was engaged in shoemaking as early as 1646, resulting in a long and fascinating history of shoemaking and other tanned leather goods.

In 1725, a petition was made to the General Court for land at "Pennycook", N.H. (now Concord).  The petition was granted and in 1726, 36 of the 100 men admitted as settlers to the new township were from Haverhill.  More information can be found under Early Inhabitants below.   

The throat distemper which prevailed throughout the County of Essex in 1735, 1736 and 1737 was particularly fatal in Haverhill. From Nov. 17, 1735, to Dec. 31, 1737, two hundred and fifty-six children, most of them under ten years of age, died from the disease, and in the whole county the deaths of about fourteen hundred children and a considerable number of adults are estimated resulted.

In 1741 a new state line was created between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. As a result, nearly one-third of the population, territory, and property of the town of Haverhill, fell to the north of the Massachusetts line. In addition, to the large portion was carved out for Methuen, in 1725, more than one-half of the land originally belonging to Haverhill had been taken within the short period of fifteen years. It was, indeed, a great change in its condition, and prospects, and must have been felt most seriously.  

There are some great publications going into more detail into the History of Haverhill MA, including "Red Sunday" by Francis Cronan, among many others.

Early Ayer Births in Haverhill MA

Early Ayer Deaths in Haverhill MA

Early Ayer Marriages in Haverhill MA

Census Information            Land & Property            Early Inhabitants

    *    1790 Census                        * Pentucket Purchase                *    Early Families 

    *    1850 Census                        * 1645 Land Holders                 *    Brief Biographies

    *    1798 Householders             * 1650 Land Holders                 *     Vital Records to 1850

Churches, Probate, City Directories

*1890 Directory (fee based)                * Pre-1850 Churches        * Bradford in Revolutionary War

Most data and links extracted from the Haverhill MA GenWeb Project page, with the Webmaster's (Shirley Hay) permission. Some links lead off of this website

Email me at [email protected] for further information, questions, or data requests