As has certainly been mentioned in previous articles, the town of Rochester, incorporated in 1789, included both Sippican (now Marion) and Mattapoisett until the mid 1800’s. Some newspaper clippings found in the Museum tell about the desire of certain sections of town to separate into two new towns.
Mattapoisett led the charge by pressing for separation as early as 1837. Because of their prosperous shipbuilding industry and the fact that their section had the largest population, they felt that the 8-10 miles to Rochester Center was too long a distance to travel to conduct town business or attend church.
According to historians, this created a period of “agitation” amongst the various sections of town. Sippican sided with Rochester which created jealously between Sippican and Mattapoisett with Mattapoisett boasting that it had the best harbor with some claiming that Sippican Harbor was so shallow you ” could almost wade across”. A piece of doggerel making the rounds at this time was started in Mattapoisett:
“Agawam and Sippican
Are neither fit for dog or man
In Agawam the cattle die
In Sippican the people lie.”
Mattapoisett’s first attempt to separate was reported in the Barnstable Gazette. A petition was put before the Massachusetts legislature to allow Mattapoisett to separate from Rochester and incorporate as the town of “Fenelon”. At about the same time the residents of North Rochester threatened to separate and create their own town called “Clarion”. Neither movement succeeded.
However, in the end, it was Sippican that first received legislative approval in 1852 to incorporate as Marion. Mattapoisett received its approval in 1857. By the 1860’s census, there were 1,483 residents in Mattapoisett, 1,232 in Rochester and 918 in Marion. With the advent of a railroad line from West Wareham to Fairhaven that served both Marion and Mattapoisett, but excluded Rochester, the two coastal towns experienced rapid growth. Eventually, Marion had the highest population of the three towns.
By Connie Eshbach