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The Merrimack River has its source in beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee, which lies in the eastern 'mid-section of the state of New Hampshire. From the town of Franklin the river flows almost due south through the Capital city of Concord and on to the northern part of Massachusetts. At the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, it makes a definite turn to the northeast and flows onward to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. In the bay formed by the mouth of the river, some of the early immigrants to America found a sheltered harbor and navigation good for some distance up the river.
As early as 1635 a settlement was established on the southern shore of the bay. It was registered as Newbury, Massachusetts. The inhabitants found a good supply of timber for their homes and plenty of fish for their table.
These early colonists were supplied by their English sponsors with all the needs for their existence for a year, except corn and fish, but during the Civil Wars in England, the transportation of supplies ceased, and they were left dependent on their own mercantile enterprises.
Governor Winthrop recorded that "the want of foreign commodities set us to work to provide shipping of our own. The work was hard for want of money, but the shipwrights were content to take such pay as the country could make." Salem, Boston, Marblehead and other seacoast towns, including Newbury, set about to construct their own vessels for trade.
New England developed her interest in shipping mainly through the fisheries which were at her door, but as the demand for cotton, sugar cane, molasses, rum, etc., increased, they extended their trade to the West Indies and other foreign ports.
Increase in shipping privileges created a demand for shipwrights. These artisans were invited and assisted to come to American ports. Each shipload of colonists added to the population of Newbury. Soon the port section became an established center of docks and shipbuilding. In 1764 the port was separated from the mother town and became known as Newburyport.
On January 15, 1736, Joshua Mitchell, shipwright, and Esther Swett of Newbury, Massachusetts, posted their intentions of marriage, No record has yet been located which reveals the birthplace and parentage of Joshua Mitchell. Perhaps he was one of the shipwrights brought from England to assist with the American ship building project. One of the original grantees of Newbury, Massachusetts, was John Swett, who arrived in June 1635 on the ship "James." He made his home on the first lot east of the old landing. Those were the days when Indians lurked in the brush by the pathways to waylay and kill the colonists. Esther Swett grew up on Indian war tales related by her grandfathers, Captain Benjamin Swett and Nathanial Weare, who took part in many Indian skirmishes. Captain Benjamin Swett lost his life in 1677 at the battle of Black Point, Maine, while fighting Indians.