| 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 |
Purchased
a certain lot of land on Prospect Street |
| 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 Dexter advertised in the Essex Journal and New Hampshire Packet:
"Good Deer, Sheep and Moose Skins, for sale at the sign of
the Glove, opposite Somerby's Landing" |
| 1776 |
Only
daughter Nancy was born on August 16th |
| 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 |
| 1791 |
April
8th, Dexter acquired the Tracy House (now the annex to the Newburyport
Public Library) |
| 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 "The 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 |
At
his own expense, offered to construct a Market House (at the location
where the Firehouse Center now stands); a committee reviewing the
proposal recommends the offer be declined, citing that the property
was encumbered by litigation; Nancy returns to Newburyport alone after the birth and death of her son, leaving daughter with Bishop |
| 1796 |
Sold
the Tracy House at a handsome profit in April; thereafter the Dexters
removed to Chester, New Hampshire |
| 1797 |
March
17th, the Impartial Herald published a Congratulatory
Ode to remark Dexter's return to Newburyport, penned by Dexter's
Poet Laureate Jonathan Plummer; Bishop obtains a divorce from Nancy on the grounds of willful dissertion, an act exploited by his Federalist detractors |
| 1798 |
In
December, having returned to Newburyport, Dexter purchases the former
Jonathan Jackson estate from Thomas Thomas, a High Street mansion
on nearly 9 acres of property (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 drawn up |
| 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 of 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 |
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) |
| 1809 |
July 3rd, Elizabeth Lord Dexter died |
| 1852 |
September
30th, Nancy Dexter Bishop died; Dexter's granddaughter and only
remaining descendent Mary Ann Bishop Clark sold the Dexter estate |
| |
|
| |
[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.] |
