“ At the commencement of the revolutionary war Marblehead was reckoned the second town in Massachusetts in population and wealth. It contributed a regiment of 1,000 men to the army, and at the end of the war there were 600 widows and 1,000 fatherless children in its population of less than 4,000. During the war of 1812 the frigate Constitution was chiefly manned by men from Marblehead, and the town also sent out a great number of privateers ”