OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY BY ROBERT MEANS LAWRENCE, M.D. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY fcfje &toersfoe $«** Camfirfos* 1922 C r 13. L7 ,fi3 COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY ROBERT MEANS LAWRENCE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NOV. 1 7 1991 tEfjc a&tbcrstlie $«** CAMBRIDGE • MASSACHUSETTS PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. BOSTON COLLtOh LIBRAKlf, CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. The total elision of the R, and the amazing, broad, flat A, as in "Park Street,'* give to Bostonian speech a magnificently indige- nous tang; hint at juniper and spruce forests, rocky fields, pump- kins, Thanksgiving and pie. Harrison Rhodes Boston is just like other places of its size; only perhaps, consid- ering its excellent fish-market, paid fire department, superior monthly publications, and correct habit of spelling the English language, it has some right to look down upon the mob of cities. O. W. Holmes Let every child that is born of her, and every child of her adop- tion see to it to keep the name of Boston as clean as the Sun; and in distant ages her motto shall be the prayer of millions on all the hills that gird the town: "As with our Fathers, so God be with us." R. W. Emerson There is a region, lovelier far than Eden's vales and vistas are; Serene and sheltered in repose from every stormy wind that blows; A place than all besides more sweet; at once you know it, Beacon Street! Boston. A Poem, by A. F. W. Boston is one of the grandest, sure-footedest, clear-headedest, comfortablest cities on the globe. Onlike every other large city I was ever in, the most of the hackmen dont seem to have bin speshully intended by natur for the Burglery perfession. And its about the only city 1 know of where you dont enjoy a bril- liant opportunity of bein' swindled in sum way, from the risin' of the Sun to the goin' down thereof. There4 I say, loud and con- tinnerd applaus for Boston! Artemus Ward PREFACE The development of Park Street, from the time of its origin in 1640 as a rude pathway leading across the easterly part of the Common, through the present State House grounds to the Beacon, may be con- veniently divided into four periods. In the early days the pressure of bovine hoofs was doubtless an important factor in its maintenance as a well-trodden trail up the incline to the summit of the hill. The building of the Almshouse in 1662 marked the be- ginning of the second period, which lasted about one hundred and forty years, when C entry Street was lined with public buildings devoted to the care of the worthy poor, vagrants, and criminals. Space was also reserved for the impounding of stray animals. The third or residential period included practically the whole of the nineteenth century, when Park Street was built up with the homes of many prominent cit- izens. The houses numbered one to four, as also number nine, the Amory-Ticknor dwelling, were built in 1804, and the others shortly thereafter. Some of these were reconstructed wholly or in part by later owners in conformity with the Bulfinch style of ar- chitecture. Finally, within recent times, mercantile interests have acquired control of a majority of the vu PREFACE estates; and the year 1907 marked the disappearance of the last resident on this street. Park Street Church was built in 1809 on the site of the Granary. Among the many to whom the writer is indebted for assistance are J. Collins Warren, M.D.; Bernard P. Verne, Esq.; Walter K. Watkins, Esq.; Miss Mar- garet Fitzhugh Browne, Miss Katharine P. Loring, Miss Jane L. Motley, Mrs. Charles H. Gibson, Mrs. Francis J. Moors, Miss Annie H. Thwing, Dean Rous- maniere; and Messrs. Charles K. Bolton, Alexander Corbett, Jr.; Frank H. Chase, George Francis Dow, Edward Dunham, William Lyman Johnson, Julius E. Tuttle, Charles F. Read, George A. Sawyer, Francis Manning, Andrew McCance, and William B. Clarke. 177 Bay State Road, Boston April, 19-22 CONTENTS Beacon Hill 1 Beacon Street 11 The Laying of the Corner-Stone of the State House 20 Park Street .24 The Almshouse 32 The Town Pound 37 The Bridewell 39 The Workhouse 41 The Public Granary 45 The Granary Burying-Ground 47 Number One Park Street 51 Number Two Park Street 65 Number Three Park Street 58 Number Four Park Street 62 Number Five Park Street 64 Number Six Park Street 69 Number Seven Park Street 75 The Union Club House 79 The Amory-Ticknor House — Number Nine Park Street 81 Reminiscences of Park Street, by J. Collins Warren, M.D. — 98 Park Street Church^ 115 • IX CONTENTS The Estates Numbered Eighteen and Twenty on the South Side of Beacon Street 123 Number Sixteen Beacon Street 125 Numbers Twelve and Fourteen Beacon Street 130 The Athenaeum Lot — Number Ten and a Half Beacon Street 131 The Molineaux Estate 133 The Bowdoin Estate 139 The Bromfield Homestead 143 The Hinckley Mansion-House 147 The Sears Estate 152 The Lloyd Mansion-House 154 The Paddock Elms 157 The Trees on the Common 160 The Gingko Tree on the Common 162 Ulmus campestris venerabius 164 Index 165 ILLUSTRATIONS Park Street Church and Park Street about 1812 Colored Frontispiece From a fireboard in the Collections of the Bostonian Society Park, Beacon, and Tremont Streets in 1722 24 From an ideal sketch based on Bonner's Map and surveys in the City Engineer's Office, Boston. By courtesy of Dr. James B. Ayer View of Park Street from the State House 52 The Old Gate at the Corner of Park and Tre- mont Streets 98 Park Street Church about 1870 116 From a photograph owned by Dr. J. Collins Warren OLD PAEK STBEET AND ITS VICINITY • BEACON HILL The original name of Park Street was Sentry or Cen- try Street. As early as 1673 its upper portion, running northwesterly, was described as the way leading from the Common or Training Field to Sentry (now Bea- con) Hill, on whose summit stood the tall mast which served as the great alarm tower of the town. Near its top was suspended an iron cresset, wherein combus- tible materials were deposited. At intervals along the sides of the mast were foot supports, to facilitate the ascent to the cresset. The first Beacon was erected in accordance with a vote passed by the General Court in March, 1635, whereby it was ordered that such a warning signal should be set up on Centry or Centinel Hill. The vote read as follows: "It is ordered that there shall be a Beacon sett on Centry Hill at Boston, to give notice to the country of any danger; and that there shall be a ward of one person kept there from the first of April to the last of September; and that upon the discovery of any danger, the Beacon shall be fired, and an alarum given; as also messengers sent by that towne where the danger is discovered, to all 1 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY other townes within their jurisdiction." The early settlers of Boston were apprehensive of possible at- tacks by the Indians in their neighborhood. Such fears, however, proved groundless; although many of the villages farther inland were not so fortunate. A piece of land, six rods square, on the summit of the hill, was set apart by the Town for the Beacon, with a passageway from the Common thereto. 1 According to a recent writer, the erection of a po- tential torch on the summit of Beacon Hill was a noteworthy event. Thereby the Beacon became a landmark in both the physical and historical land- scape. But during the long period of its existence, it does not appear that any warning light was ever dis- played from its cresset. It is doubtful, in the words of one historian, if there was ever a spark of fire in its iron pot. The Beacon was maintained in its original position for more than one hundred and fifty years, although not in commission during two or three com- paratively short periods. Here follows an extract from the Selectmen's "Minutes," April, 1741: "Whereas for many years past there has been erected a Beacon on Beacon Hill; which in the winter past was blown down; the Question was put whether it would not be for the benefit of the Town to have a new one erected on the same place?" This was de- cided in the affirmative; and twelve pounds were allowed Mr. William Bowen for the purpose. Accord- 1 The Memorial History of Boston, I, 275. 3 BEACON HILL ingly a new mast of white oak was set up in the fol- lowing October. The Beacon was destroyed again during a tempest in November, 1789, and was soon after replaced by the Beacon Hill Monument, which was built, as inscribed on one of its tablets, "to com- memorate the train of events which led to the Amer- ican Revolution, and finally secured Liberty and Independence to the United States." The destruction of the old landmark was announced in the "Independent Chronicle," December 3, 1789, as follows: "The Beacon which was erected on Bacon Hill during the last war, to alarm the country in case of an invasion of the British into this town, was on Thursday night last blown down." This was the first monument of its kind in the country. It was a plain Doric column of brick, cov- ered with stucco, and standing on a stone pedestal. The monument was surmounted by a gilded wooden eagle. It was designed by the eminent architect, Charles Bulfinch, and was his first important work, which owed its existence to his patriotic fervor and en- ergy. This monument was taken down in 1811, when the summit of the hill was levelled. In 1898 a repro- duction in stone was erected on the same site under the auspices of the Bunker Hill Monument Association, and the original inscribed tablets were placed upon its four sides. It has been said that the name of Beacon Hill is as sacred to the people of New England as was that of Mount Sinai to the Israelites. Nathaniel In- OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY gersoll Bowditch, the learned conveyancer, in one of his "Gleaner Articles," gave a description of the Bea- con as it appeared to an intelligent merchant during his boyhood days in the year 1787. "At that time," he wrote, " there was a stone basement on which rested four horizontal timbers crossing each other in the centre. From this centre rose as high a mast as could be procured; and the mast was supported by braces. It was surmounted by a tar-barrel, which being set on fire in case of danger, was to serve as a beacon to the country around. There was an apparatus of ladders for ascending to this tar-barrel; but fortunately it was never found necessary to give this warning signal. The hill was of a very peculiar conical shape, and the boys were accustomed to throw balls up as far as possible toward its summit, the balls rebounding from it, as from a wall." The original Beacon Hill was described by another correspondent as a grassy hemisphere, so steep that one could with difficulty mount its sides; descending with a perfectly regular curve to the streets on the south, west, and north. On the east it had been encroached upon, and the contour was broken. Just opposite to the end of Cool- idge Avenue, on Derne Street, there was a flight of wooden steps, ten or fifteen in number, leading part- way up the hill. Above that point one had to climb by means of the foot-holes that had been worn in the surface along a wide path trodden bare by the feet, to the top, where there was a space, some fifty feet 4 BEACON HILL square, of level ground. In the midst of this space stood the monument. Descending by the south side, one followed a similar rough gravel path to another flight of plank steps, leading down to the level of Mount Vernon Street, and terminating at about the position of the house numbered thirteen on that street. "The sport of batting the ball up the hill, and meeting it again on its descent, was played by some boys; but it was not so easy a game as one might sup- pose, on account of the difficulty of maintaining one's footing on the hillside, which was so steep as to re- quire some skill even to stand erect upon it." Beacon Hill, which was regarded as quite a high mountain by the early settlers, is still the most prominent height of land within the City limits. The top of the State- House Dome is said to be about on a level with the highest point of the middle peak of the original three summits of Sentry Hill. The Beacon Hill of to-day has been described as "a gentle elevation, crowned upon its single summit by the State House." Yet whoever walks briskly from the Boylston Street Subway Station up the incline to Joy Street, without pausing to take breath, may realize that Beacon Hill remains a considerable elevation. Shortly before the Revolution, the hill was covered with small cedar trees and native shrubbery, with here and there a cow-path, through which the herds ranged unmo- lested. 1 1 S. A. Drake, Landmarks. 5 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY It does not appear that the old Beacon Hill Monu- ment was a very imposing structure. It was described by a traveller who visited Boston in 1792 as "a ridic- ulous obelisk, if such the thing may be called, which is placed on the highest point of the hill, by way of ornament. It puts one in mind of a farthing candle, placed in a large candlestick." 1 The exact date of the Monument's removal is fixed by a written statement preserved in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and bearing the sig- nature of the person who superintended the opera- tion. Its wording is as follows: Boston. July the 8th; 1811. At three o'clock this after- noon I lowered the Eagle from the Beacon Hill Monument. At the very same time the next day I undermined and dropped the Monument from the hill; and no harm was done to any person. Atherton Haugh Stevens One of the earliest writers about Boston, William Wood, described Beacon Hill as "a high mountain, with three little rising hills on top of it; wherefore it is called Tramount." Historians have definitely located these peaks as follows: the middle and tallest one, Centry or Beacon Hill, was situated behind the pres- ent State House. Westward of this was a lesser ele- vation, known as Copley's Hill, and later Mount Vernon. The eastern spur was called Cotton, after- ward Pemberton Hill. These three hills, forming 1 Massachusetts Historical Society, Proceedings, 1871. 6 BEACON HILL Trimountain, "extended through the centre of the peninsula, from the head of Hanover Street to the water beyond the State House"; that is, presumably, to about the line of Charles Street. 1 The laying-out of this thoroughfare from Park Square to Leverett Street, near the present Charles River Dam, was completed in 1809. In June, 1812, the Town authorities voted "to have the Street next to the Ropewalks at the bottom of the Common raised, so as to form a foot- walk, six feet wide, with a row of timber on each side, and filled between with gravel, as a further protection against high tides." At such times it appears that the water of the Charles River extended from near the corner of Cambridge and West Cedar Streets, past Beacon Street, and up the latter for about one hundred and forty feet. When workmen were excavating for the cellar of the house numbered sixty-one on this street, they are said to have encountered shells and other evidence of a river- bed. As early as 1758 the preservation of Beacon Hill be- came a subject for serious consideration. Thomas Hodson, an unaccommodating citizen, and others, per- sisted in encroaching on the northern side, thus im- pairing its symmetry. In May, 1764, a committee of townspeople, appointed for the purpose, reported that they had viewed the premises, and that in their opin- ion it was necessary for the preservation of the hill 1 The State House, page 5. 7 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY " to have the Highway that runs between the land of Thomas Hancock Esq; and the land of Mr. William Mullineux, and the avenues thereto, shut up, and sown with Hay Seed, till it is brought to a good Sword. And whereas the said Hill is in very great danger of being destroyed by Thomas Hodson and others digging gravel on his lot; they are of Opinion that it would be advisable to apply to the Assembly for an Act to prevent the destruction of Beacon Hill." This hill, as it appeared toward the close of the eighteenth century, was described by President Timothy Dwight, of Yale College, as almost a waste tract. In the year 1796 it was bought by three citi- zens of Boston; its irregularities and roughnesses were removed at great expense, its western declivity cut down, and a field of about thirty acres was trans- formed into a smooth tract, affording ideal building sites. Soon after this field was partly covered with pretentious houses. And in splendor of building and nobleness of situation, the summit of Beacon Hill, in the opinion of the above-named writer, was unrivalled on this side of the Atlantic. The western side of the hill, previously regarded as suburban, where wild roses and barberry bushes throve, was thus com- pletely transformed; and this result was largely due to the enterprise and business sagacity of Harrison Gray Otis and Jonathan Mason, who represented the Mount Vernon proprietors. Various modifications of the early name, Centry Hill, appear in old deeds and 8 BEACON HILL in the Town Records. Among these are found the following: Sentry, Centery, Center, and Centinel Hill. The name Century Street also appears, meaning Cen- try or Park Street. The removal of the original three peaks of Beacon Hill reduced it to about one half of its former height. But, as has been well said, the Common remains a dis- tinctive feature of the topography of Boston; and the fact that it has been preserved with comparatively little change from almost the beginning of the settle- ment renders it the more precious. Originally pur- chased from William Blackstone for thirty pounds sterling, its value is officially estimated at this time at forty-eight million dollars, or 320,000 times the amount paid for it in the year 1634. But as a health resort the value is incapable of estimation. A prom- enade within its borders, especially around the Frog Pond when children are frolicking thereabout, has been recommended for persons of a melancholy dis- position. Even a nervous headache may be relieved, according to one authority, by watching the laborers in their task of combing the grass during the annual spring cleaning. 1 "Will it be believed," wrote an ad- miring tourist many years ago, "that this enchanting Common takes its name from having been a common cow pasture, and is actually given up to that animal? " 2 A Londoner who sojourned at Boston in the autumn 1 H. B. Williams, The Common. 1842. * Ali Bey, Journal of Travels in North America. 9 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY of 1920 declared that Beacon Hill had for him an irre- sistible attraction. "And then Beacon Street," he wrote, "looking out, as it does, on a green Common, where Boston has the courage to saunter; and not go rushing with firm-set jaw up from the turmoil of Tre- mont Street, or down into it; intent on nothing but getting somewhere, and quite oblivious of the way it gets there. . . . And the narrow streets! The scarcely more than lanes, which at noontime are choked with good-natured strollers, who have the right of way, and cause no end of inconvenience to the poor motorist, who is struggling to understand the gyrations of the agile marionettes of the law; and the shopping streets, whose sidewalks are not wide enough to hold their travellers, might have been transported straight across from that part of London known as the City: the old, old part, paved with cobble-stones, which used to echo with the click-clack of hoofs prancing before some ornate, lumbering post-chaise." Long before the motor car was dreamed of as a pos- sible means of transportation, it appears that the traffic in Boston's thoroughfares rendered downtown pedestrianism somewhat strenuous. What matters it to a lover of bygone days, wrote Edmund Quincy, in the year 1837, that the din of busy life is in his ears; that he is jostled at every turn by eager traffickers; and that his escape with life from the thundering throng of drags and stage-coaches is a standing mir- acle? BEACON STREET The portion of this highway lying between Somer- set and Tremont Streets, formed originally a part of School Street. About five years after the setting up of the Beacon, a roadway was laid out thereto, ex- tending from the principal thoroughfare (now Wash- ington Street) in accordance with a vote of the Town, March 30, 1640, as follows: "It is ordered that the Streete from Mr. Atherton Haulghe's to the Centry Hill be lay'd out, and soe kept open for ever." Ather- ton Hough, a former Alderman of Boston, Lincoln- shire, had come over from England in 1633 with the Reverend John Cotton and other prominent persons. His residence was on the southwest corner of Wash- ington and School Streets. Under the date August 20, 1660, is to be found this Order in the Town Records: "Whereas there was a Streete ordered formerly from Mr. Haughe's house to the Centry Hill; and Lieuten- ant Robert Turner hath lately erected a new house in the said line; It is ordered that the Select men, with the four Captaines, shall have power to order the said Streete to the best advantage of the towne." It ap- pears that the section of Beacon Street between the site of King's Chapel and the Beacon was not used as a roadway immediately after being laid out; but the land was leased to individuals for cultivation in gar- 11 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY dening. 1 School Street was so named by the Town in 1708, and in the first Boston Directory, of 1789, it is called "South Latin School Street." Early in the eighteenth century the western limit of Beacon Street was at or near the Shaw Monument. It was afterward described as leading "from Tremont Street over Beacon Hill, westerly through the upper side of the Common, and so down to the Sea." At that period, therefore, it extended as far as the present Charles Street, to a point very near the former garden of the pioneer settler, William Blackstone. As early as June, 1724, Simon Rogers was granted leave to build a wooden house on Beacon Street, as set forth in his petition, and entered in the Book for recording Timber Buildings. Simon Rogers was the name of the landlord who was in charge of the George Tavern near the Roxbury line, at about that period. For some years after the Hancock house was built, Bea- con Street seems to have remained in a somewhat neglected state. And evidently the disposition of the water, which poured down from off the steep incline of the original Beacon Hill in rainy seasons, was a difficult problem for the Town authorities. On May 2, 1739, a committee reported that whereas pre- viously the water from Beacon Street had mostly run across the Common, and so took its course into Winter Street, its direction had been changed by raising the grade of the Common opposite to the head 1 A Record of the Streets, Lanes, etc., in the City of Boston. 1910. 12 BEACON STREET of the latter highway. "So that now," in the words of the Report, "the water from Beacon Street will spread over the Common; and as little will run down through Winter Street as runs through most streets of the Town." One of the first houses built on Beacon Hill was the stone mansion of Thomas Hancock, dating from 1737, and afterward the residence of his nephew, John Hancock, the patriot, who was the first Governor of Massachusetts under the Constitution, serving from 1780 till 1785. The price paid for this house-lot in 1735 was one thousand dollars. It comprised about an acre of land. Adjoining it on the west were the stable and carriage-house. His cow pasture, which in- cluded the whole of the present State-House grounds, had been bought by Thomas Hancock in 1752 for eleven hundred dollars. In 1855 it was estimated to be worth eleven hundred thousand dollars. "A thou- sand fold rise in value," wrote Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch, in " Gleaner Articles," " is very fair for such an old place as Boston." According to an inventory of the estate of Captain Nathaniel Cunningham, land in lower Beacon Street was worth less than one hundred dollars an acre in 1757. Previous to the Revolution, Beacon Hill was distinctly rural in character; and we learn that it was the acquisition of the Hancock pas- ture as the site of the new State House which gave the impulse for the development of this region. On August 15, 1739, Mr. Thomas Hancock ap- 13 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY peared before the Board of Selectmen, and informed them , that since the Common or Training Field had been railed in, the highway called Beacon Street, whereon his house fronted, had been "so much used by Carts, Horses, etc; passing in it, that he appre- hended what he had done to make the said highway convenient, will be greatly damnified, and the said highway spoiled, and soon become a nuisance, unless some means be taken to prevent the same." In response to a petition of several inhabitants, whose estates abutted on Beacon Street, setting forth the necessity of paving said street, the Town appro- priated fifty pounds sterling for that purpose in the year 1754. It seems, however, that the citizens nat- urally became more chary of expenditures during the hard times immediately preceding the Revolution. For at an adjourned public Town Meeting, held in the Reverend Dr. Joseph Sewall's Meeting-House (the Old South Church) in March, 1761, a request for funds wherewith to repave Bacon Street was voted down. In November, 1815, the Selectmen authorized the widening of that portion of Beacon Street lying be- tween the southwest corner of the State-House yard and Belknap (now Joy) Street, by taking from the Hancock estate a strip of land averaging about eight- een feet in breadth. This action was in response to a petition presented by a number of gentlemen residing near by. They maintained that the public safety and convenience required this widening, and that the im- 14 BEACON STREET provement could be made at that time with peculiar convenience "owing to the shattered and ruinous condition of the fences" occasioned by the historic equinoctial gales of September in the same year. Early in the nineteenth century, land on Beacon Street, anywhere between the top of the hill and the present Charles Street, could be bought at the rate of about seventy-five cents a foot. Dr. Jerome Van Crowninshield Smith, who was Mayor of Boston in 1854, related that a worthy carpenter named Inger- soll, of "unsullied reputation," was employed to fence in a lot on Beacon Hill, west of the State House, where there was a luxurious growth of huckleberry bushes. Mr. Ingersoll built a substantial fence, and in due time presented his bill, which the landowner considered excessive. After vainly endeavoring to ob- tain a reduction, the owner offered the land in pay- ment for the fence. This offer was indignantly re- fused. A half-century later the same piece of land, with the buildings thereon, was worth nearly a million dollars. 1 In the very early days lots within the Town limits were divided among the inhabitants, and cost from one to fifteen shillings an acre. Swamps and rocky land went for naught. There were no side- walks until after the Revolution. We have read that the townsfolk of Old Boston rose and went to bed early, wrought hard, and had long prayers several times daily. " They did n't laugh often enough, and 1 The Boston Almanac. 1853. 15 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY were too strait-laced. Dogs and small boys were not happy. The maidens were as demure as tabbies, and wore ribbons. Their gallants wore periwigs, though the pulpit thundered against them." The present State-House lot was bequeathed by Thomas Hancock to his widow, Lydia, together with his mansion-house, the gardens and other adjoining lands; also various outbuildings, including the car- riage-house, and his chariots, chaises, and horses, besides all his negroes. Mrs. Hancock died in 1777, and Governor John Hancock was her sole residuary legatee. The estate comprised "all the State House lot and lands to the west of it as far as Belknap Street (previously called Clapboard Street, now Joy Street) and all of Beacon Hill to the north of it." " In 1800, and for some years thereafter, Sumner Street led from Beacon Street, opposite to the head of Park Street, nearly due north and past the new State House, to the Beacon Monument. The location of Sumner Street is shown on a plan of Boston from actual survey, by Osgood Carleton. The first brick house on Beacon Street was built by the Honorable John Phillips, Boston's first Mayor, in 1804. This house, now occupied by the Misses Ma- son, was the birthplace of Wendell Phillips. In the very early days of the nineteenth century, Beacon Street was considered rather remote. When Mr. John Phillips moved into his new house, his uncle, 1 Gleaner Articles, page 107. 16 BEACON STREET Judge Oliver Wendell, was asked what had induced his nephew to reside out of town! 1 At that period there were but three houses on Beacon Street between Charles Street and the top of the hill. The fourth house built in that locality belonged to Dr. John Joy, a druggist, whose shop was on Washington Street, at the corner of Spring Lane. His wife was an invalid, and her physician advised her removal to Beacon Street, which she was averse to doing, because it seemed so far away. "That this part of the city is really on a hill," wrote Robert Shackelton, in the "Book of Boston," "is recognized as you climb it; and if, on some of the streets, you sit inside one of the bowed windows, and a man is walking down the hill, you are likely to see him from the waist up as he passes the upper window, and to see only the top of his hat when he passes the lower. This Beacon Hill is so charming a part of the city as to be supreme among American perched places, for delightfulness of homes and city living." The denizens of the "Hub" are so accustomed to raillery and banter regarding their crooked thorough- fares and alleged provincialism that a few words of praise for Beacon Hill from unprejudiced observers may not seem inconsistent with becoming modesty. Anthony Trollope, the English novelist, who visited Boston during the Civil W T ar, remarked that Beacon Street bears some resemblance to Piccadilly as it runs 1 The Memorial History of Boston, in, 225. 17 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY along the Green Park in London. And there is also a Green Park in Boston, called the Common, he ob- served. Mr. Trollope avowed that he had become enamoured of the Lincolnshire seaport's American namesake. The State House, with its great yellow dome, was sightly in his eyes. And the sunsets over the western waters that encompass the city were su- perior in brilliancy to all other sunsets that he had ever seen. "I have stood upon the keep of Caris- brooke Castle in the Isle of Wight," wrote E. C. Wines in "A Trip to Boston" (1838), "on the Lean- ing Tower of Pisa; on the dome of the Cathedral at Florence; on the summits of Gibraltar, Vesuvius, the Acro-Corinthus at Corinth, Greece; the Acropolis of Sardis in Asia Minor; and on many other elevated points in all the four continents. And I declare that few of the prospects thus obtained are equal, and fewer still superior, to that enjoyed from the State House at Boston." Again, a well-known English author and traveller, E. V. Lucas, after a tour of sight-seeing in this country during the year 1820, admired the "serene fagades" of the Beacon-Street houses overlooking the Common. These fagades he considered to be "as satisfying as anything in Georgian London." In some " Sketches of History, Life and Manners in the United States" (New Haven, Conn., 1826), the author, Mrs. Royall, of Saint Stephens, a village on the Tombigee River in Alabama, thus wrote: "The 18 BEACON STREET State House, Boston, a grand edifice, with a lofty dome, stands upon the highest ground in the City, nearly in the centre. This, and the cupolas of Faneuil Hall, the Old State House, and a dozen others, with about seventy white steeples, pierce the clouds in every part of the town. Much as I had travelled, and curious as I had been to regard the scenery of the States through which I passed, never had I seen any- thing to compare with this view from the State-House cupola. Even my favorite scenery in Washington City shrinks into nothing beside it." And the gilded Dome was described by Henry James as "high in the air; poised in the right place over everything that clustered below; the most felicitous object in Boston." THE LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE OF THE STATE HOUSE In 1795 the Hancock pasture became the property of the Town; and on May 2d of that year it was for- mally transferred to the Commonwealth "for the purpose of erecting thereon a State House for the accommodation of all the legislative and executive branches of the Government." The corner-stone of the new building was laid with impressive ceremonies by the Governor, Samuel Adams, on Saturday, July 4, 1795, being the twentieth anniversary of the Dec- laration of Independence. Preliminary exercises were held in the Old South Church, where an oration was delivered by George Blake, Esq., and was received with great enthusiasm. In the large assemblage, which included many distinguished officials and other prominent citizens, "every countenance (some few excepted) smiled with joy and satisfaction. The whole audience listened with profound admiration to the end; when, as if by some impulse of sentiment and soul, the citizens filled the House of God with Praise and Joy." At the conclusion of these exercises a Procession was formed, as follows: . 20 CORNER-STONE OF THE STATE HOUSE The Independent Fusileers Martial Music Two Toilers The Corner-Stone _ on a truck decorated with ribbons, and drawn by fifteen white horses, with a leader. Operative Masons Grand Marshal ' Stewards with Staves Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts Three Master Masons bearing the Square, Level, and Plumb-Rule Three Stewards bearing Corn, Wine, and Oil Master Masons Officers of Lodges in their respective Jewels Past Masters, Royal Arch, etc. Grand Toiler Band of Music, decorated Grand Stewards Grand Deacons with Wands Grand Treasurer and Grand Secretary , Past Grand Wardens Grand Senior and Junior Wardens Past Deputy Grand Masters Past Grand Masters '* Reverend Clergy Grand Master attended by the Deputy Grand Master and Stewards Deputy Grand Marshal Sheriff of Suffolk The Agents of the Commonwealth His Excellency the Governor His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor The Adjutant-General The Quartermaster-General The Honorable Council Members of the Legislature Clergy and Strangers of Distinction 21 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY In this order they marched to the State-House site, where the Corner-Stone was laid by Governor Adams, assisted by officials of the Grand Lodge of Free- masons of Massachusetts. 1 , It appears that at that time certain elements among the citizens of the Commonwealth were jeal- ous of Boston's supremacy as the Metropolis of New England. For to what other motive can be attributed the following extract from a Salem newspaper of Sep- tember 15, 1795? "Notwithstanding that the corner- stone of a new State House has been laid with so much pomp in Boston, it is doubted whether a superstruc- ture will ever rest upon it; as the factious attempts of the Bostonians to govern the State render that town a very improper place for legislative deliberations!" On Thursday, January 11, 1798, the "Supreme Executive" met the members of the Legislature in the Senate Chamber of the Old State House; this being their last meeting in that historic building. And at noon of the same day the State officials, in- cluding the Senators and Representatives, with other dignitaries, proceeded to the new "Commonwealth House," where the Reverend Doctor Thatcher, Chap- lain of the General Court, in an eloquent address, "dedicated the building to the most honorable of human pursuits; the honor of God, and the people's good." 2 Governor Increase Sumner also made an 1 The Columbian Centinel, July 8, 1795. 2 The Centinel, January 13, 1798. 22 CORNER-STONE OF THE STATE HOUSE address, wherein he dwelt upon the advantages of the new edifice; commenting upon its convenient apart- ments, suitable retirement, wholesome surroundings, and delightful prospect. He remarked, moreover, that perhaps no more useful or magnificent public building was to be found in the United States at that time. The distinguished editor, Richard Grant White, described the State-House Dome as a protension heavenward of the Hub of the Universe; the globed and gilded tip of that axis around which all that is best in western civilization revolves, ever has re- volved, and as it seems, ever will revolve. In the opinion of the same writer, the edifice, while not a very wonderful or beautiful structure, compels admiration on account of its expression of dignity, decorum, and eminent respectability. The Dome, originally built of wood, was sheathed with copper in 1802. The red bricks of the main building were painted white in 1825. Many years later the lead color of the Dome was changed to yel- low; and in 1874 a covering of gold leaf was applied. The present cupola dates from 1897, and is a repro- duction of the original one. 1 1 The State House Guide. 1917. PARK STREET In 1708 Sentry (now Park Street) was officially known as the highway extending from Common (now Tremont) Street, up Sentry Hill, to the former head of Temple Street, within the State-House grounds. It was sometimes called Century Street, and the exact time of the adoption of the name Park Street is uncertain. This name, however, appears on Carle- ton's Plan of the Town, attached to the first Boston Directory in 1789. And in 1800 Park Street was shown as extending from the Granary at the foot of Common Street to the Almshouse on Beacon Street. At that period, we are told, the appearance of the now thriving thoroughfare was unattractive, with its row of old, dingy public buildings and dilapidated fences. In 1803 or thereabout this highway was laid out anew by Bulfinch, and was then called Park Place. But its present name soon after came into general use. All this region was for some eighty years a part of the Common. In 1813 Park Street was men- tioned as leading from the head of Tremont Street Mall to the State House. Park Street Mall dates from 1826, and the iron fence surrounding the Common was built ten years later. On Bonner's Map of 1722 more than a dozen houses are shown within the irregular quadrilateral bounded 24 ^ c O ** « a Q ^ x PARK STREET by Tremont, Park, and Beacon Streets. Yet on Wil- liam Burgiss's map, of about the year 1728, but three houses appear on this same territory; and these were on the site of the present Tremont Building. 1 Before its improvement by Bulfinch, as already mentioned, Park Street appears to have received little attention. It was described as a narrow, vagrant lane, ill-defined and tortuous, which had not been accepted by the Town. Indeed, the locality was said to have been hardly respectable before the appearance of Mr. George Ticknor, and the building of his fine mansion-house, "which was to dignify and illumine the region at the head of the street." And it is a happy circumstance that this former mansion-house, although long since enlarged and given over to business uses, yet stands as a reminder of its old-time supremacy as a pioneer of respectability for the neighborhood. "The site formerly occupied by the Granary and Almshouse," wrote Shubael Bell in 1817, "is called Park Place, composed of a range of elegant, lofty buildings, in an improved style of architecture, after the modern, English models. The upper end of Park Place is terminated by a stately mansion, which will long be remembered as the residence of that accom- plished gentleman and able statesman, our late Gov- ernor, Christopher Gore. A superb meeting-house makes the lower corner, and the appearance from the 1 First Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston. 25 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY Common has a fine effect. The venerable mansion of Hancock in Beacon Street remains as it was, aloof from modern improvements. This street is now lined with elegant buildings down to the Bay, which have a compleat view of the Common in front, and an ex- tensive prospect of the scenery beyond Charles River, which nature formed delightful, and art has greatly embellished." * The famous coast, over whose icy incline the Bos- ton boys were wont to slide, had been in use for this popular sport from an early period. It extended east- erly from just below the crest of Beacon Hill, near the present Unitarian Building, down Beacon and School Streets, as far as Washington Street. Affixed to the iron fence in front of the City -Hall grounds is a bronze tablet, which was placed there by the Boston Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1907. The tablet bears the following inscription: "Here stood the house occupied in 1774-1775 by General Frederick Haldiman, to whom the Latin School boys made protest against the destruction of their coast. He ordered the coast restored, and re- ported the affair to General Gage, who observed that it was impossible to beat the notion of Liberty out of the people, as it was rooted in them from their child- hood." The boys' complaint is said to have been tactfully worded. They maintained that the sport of coasting was one of their inalienable rights, sanc- 1 The Bostonian Society Publications, hi. 1919. ( 26 PARK STREET tioned by custom from time immemorial. General Haldiman was prompt in yielding to their demand; and ordered his servant not only to remove the ashes from their coast, but also to water it on cold nights. In the "fifties" of the last century the "Long Coast" extended from the corner of Park and Beacon Streets to the former West Street Gate of the Common, "and as much farther as one's impetus would carry him." James D'Wolf Lovett, in his fascinating vol- ume, entitled "Old Boston Boys, and the Games they Played," gives a vivid account of the sport of coasting in those days; a pastime which was keenly relished by many of his contemporaries. Even after Boston became a city, Park Street was in a neglected condition, as is evident from a petition addressed by the residents to the Mayor and Alder- men, and dated June 20, 1823. The petitioners rep- resented that no common sewer had ever existed in Park Street, and that the drains there emptied into a hogshead placed in the middle of the roadway. This receptacle was said to be connected by pipes with the old Almshouse and Workhouse drains. Within two years the hogshead had twice burst open during the hot season, "to the great annoyance of passengers, and great danger to the health of the good citizens of Boston." Moreover, the petition- ers expressed the opinion that the decomposition of vegetable substances and the effluvia from bad drains were chief causes of the diseases peculiar to 27 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY cities. They therefore requested the authorities to adopt such measures as would abate the nuisance, so that the atmosphere might retain its purity, and that the health of the community might be safeguarded. In a second petition, dated March 30, 1824, it was stated that Park Street was much out of repair, and that a new roadway was urgently needed. At a meeting of the Board of Aldermen, November 18, 1824, a petition was received from Thomas H. Perkins, Esq., and other residents, who desired that Park Street should be widened. And later a com- mittee reported that they had "examined the lower end of Park Street, and found it to be a dangerous corner for carriages or sleighs, especially in winter." And they respectfully reported that "if the propri- etors of estates bounding on said Park Street will relay their sidewalks, and place them upon a regular line of ascent from said Park Street to Beacon Street, it will be expedient for the City to repair said street upon the McAdam principle." Bliss Perry, A.M., LL.D., a former editor of the "Atlantic Monthly," thus wrote in "Park Street Papers," 1908: "And what and where is Park Street? It is a short, sloping, prosperous little highway, in what Rufus Choate called 'our denationalized Boston Town.' It begins at Park Street Church, on Brim- stone Corner. Thence it climbs leisurely westward toward the Shaw Memorial and the State House for twenty rods or so, and ends at the George Ticknor 28 PAKK STREET house on the corner of Beacon. The street is bor- dered on the south by the Common; and its solid- built, sunward-fronting houses have something of a holiday air; perhaps because the green, outdoor world lies just at their feet. They are mostly given over, in these latter days, to trade. The habitual passer is conscious of a pleasant blend of book-shops, flowers, prints, silver-ware, Scotch suitings, more books, more prints, a Club or two, a Persian rug, — and then Park Street is behind him. . . . Sunny windows look down upon the mild activities of the roadway below; to the left upon the black lines of people streaming in and out of the Subway; and in front toward the Common with its Frog Pond gleaming through the elms." In June, 1808, the Selectmen authorized the con- struction of a paved gutter along Park Street, "to prevent the wash from the upper streets doing dam- age to the Common." In 1824 Mayor Josiah Quincy, the elder, some- times called "the Great Mayor," caused the removal of a row of unsightly poplar trees, which then lined Park Street Mall. And with his own hands he is said to have planted American elms in their stead. The latter grew to stately proportions. Within a few years, however, many of these beautiful elms have had to yield to the ravages of age, ice-storms, moths and beetles. Park Street Mall was formerly called the "Little 29 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY Mall," to distinguish it from the "Great Mall/' alongside Tremont Street. About sixty years ago an old blind man kept a movable cigar-stand on the Common, near the mas- sive granite gate-posts, which then stood at the lower corner of Park Street. Here could be bought so- called cinnamon cigars, that had a seductive, spicy flavor, that probably yet lingers in the memory of a good many "Old Boston Boys." This same corner has become a favorite rendezvous for pigeons, whose numbers seem to increase each year. They are all plump and sleek, and seem to be on excellent terms with the multitude of people who patronize the sub- way route. Any attempt to molest them, or the very tame grey squirrel habitues of the Common, would offend public sentiment; and the pigeons and squir- rels appear to be fully aware of this fact. Tremont Street Mall, between Park and West Streets, presented a lively scene on Election Days during the early years of the nineteenth century. For, alongside the old wooden fence, which then bor- dered the Common, were to be seen long rows of stands and push-carts, whose proprietors offered for sale divers kinds of refreshments, of varied degrees of indigestibility. Among these delectable foodstuffs were lobsters, oysters, doughnuts, cookies, waffles, buns, seedcakes, candy, baked beans, hot brown bread, ginger beer, lemonade, and spruce beer. Some of the venders were colored women, who wore bright- 30 PARK STREET hued bandannas around their heads, after the South- ern fashion. 1 Mr. Edward Stan wood, in his article on the " Topography and Landmarks of the Last Hundred Years," 2 remarks that although all the buildings on Beacon Hill, including those on Park Street, are comparatively modern, there exists abun- dant material wherewith sketches may be drawn of famous buildings in that region, and of the people who have lived in them. Here resided many men and women who have been leaders in the social and lit- erary life of the City. Here too lived numbers of the prominent merchants, lawyers, and men of affairs, who were active in promoting the welfare and devel- opment of the community. The vicissitudes of Boston's winter climate are well known. In the mild winter of 1843, according to a recent statement by the editor of the "Nomad's" column in the "Transcript," "ground-hogs were rampant all over Beacon Hill and the Common; not having denned up at all; and the only snow of that year was in June." Whereas on New Year's Day, 1864, milk froze in its pitchers on breakfast- tables, and thermometers in the vicinity of Park Street Corner registered sensational figures below 1 Samuel Barker, Boston Common. * The Memorial History of Boston, THE ALMSHOUSE Captain Robert Keayne, a philanthropic citizen, and founder of the " Military Company of the Mas- sachusetts," afterward known as the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, " bequeathed to the Town the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds sterling for the purpose of erecting an Almshouse. Other bequests of one hundred pounds and forty pounds, to be devoted to this object, were made by Mr. Henry Webb, a public-spirited merchant, and Deacon Henry Bridgham, a tanner. At a Town Meeting, March 31, 1662, it was voted that these legacies be received, and that the Town proceed " to agree and compound with severall workemen for stones and timber for the erecting and finishing of the Allmehouse." Frequent allusions to this Institution are to be found in the Selectmen's Records. For example, a woman named Elinor Reed is mentioned as having been entertained there in August, 1708. The first Board of Overseers of the Poor was elected in 1691; and from an early date its members were accustomed to make periodical visits to all parts of the Town, sometimes at night. They were accompanied on these occasions by other officials, and it was a part of their duty to observe carefully economic condi- 32 THE ALMSHOUSE tions among the poorer inhabitants. It devolved upon the constables to report cases of idleness and thriftlessness. In Bennett's "Manuscript History of New Eng- land," 1740, the author stated that the Boston au- thorities provided very well for their poor, and were very tender of exposing those that had lived in a handsome manner. "And for the meaner sort," he wrote, "they have a place built on purpose, which is called the Town Alms-house, where they are kepi in a decent manner. . . . There are above a hundred poor persons in this house, and there is no such thing to be seen in town as a strolling beggar. And it is a rare thing to meet with any drunken people, or to hear an oath sworn in the streets." This first alms- house was built in 1662 at or near the corner of Beacon and Park Streets. It was burned down in 1682, and a Jiew structure was erected four years after at the head of Park Street, where stands the large, brick building known as the Amory-Ticknor house. The second almshouse, of two stories, with a gambrel roof, fronted on Beacon Street. For some years this was the most pretentious, if not the only building on that thoroughfare, whereof the easterly portion, from School Street to the site of the present State House, was laid out in March, 1640. It was offi- cially described in 1708 as "the way leading from Mrs. Whetcomb's Corner, by the house of Captain Fairweather, westerly through the upper side of the 33 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY Common, and so down to the sea." In a Deed of the year 1750, Beacon Street is mentioned as the "Lane leading to the Almshouse." In 1702 Francis Thresher was appointed "to take care in getting the Aims- House yard, Burying Place and Pound well fenced in and the Almes or Work House repaired; and to procure some Spinning Wheeles for setting the poor at work." Although originally intended solely as a home for the deserving poor, the Almshouse was afterward used also as a place of confinement for criminals and vagrants, until the erection of a House of Correction or Bridewell on the adjoining lot in the early part of the eighteenth century. At a Town Meeting, March 9, 1713, one of the Articles of the Warrant read as follows: "to see whether the Almshouse ought not to be restored to it's prim- itive and pious design, even for the relief of the ne- cessitous, that they might lead a quiet, peaceable and godly life there; whereas 't is now made a Bridewell and House of Correction, which obstructs many hon- est, poor people from going there." In 1729 there were eighty-eight inmates, the majority being stran- gers; and only one third "town born" children. The Almshouse, as well as the adjoining Workhouse, was used for the reception of British soldiers who were wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill. During the strenuous years of the Revolutionary War, the occupants of the Almshouse were left at times in a deplorable condition. In April, 1781, the 34 THE ALMSHOUSE Overseers of the Poor "represented in a most af- fecting manner the suffering and almost perishing circumstances of the poor in the Almshouse, and the necessity of an immediate and adequate supply of money to provide for their support." A year later the Overseers reported that they were sorry to be under the disagreeable necessity of informing the Town regarding the unhappy situation of the Almshouse inmates, for want of the necessaries of life. In 1790 the building had nearly three hundred occupants; and a committee reported that the Boston estab- lishment was probably the only Institution of its kind where persons of every class were lodged under the same roof. At a Town Meeting, May 25, 1795, Messrs. Thomas Dawes, Samuel Brown, and George Richards Minot were appointed agents for and in behalf of the inhabitants of Boston, "to sell at public auction all that parcel of land occupied for an Alms- house and Workhouse, and for other purposes, ex- tending from Common to Beacon Streets.'* It was voted, moreover, to erect at Barton's Point, on the north side of Leverett Street, a more commo- dious structure; and the new Almshouse was com- pleted and occupied at the close of the year 1800. "No More," wrote Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, in his "Historical Description of Boston," "will the staid townsman or the jocund youth, proceeding to the Common on Election or Independence Days, be in- terrupted by the diminutive hands thrust through 35 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY the holes in the Almshouse fence, or stretched from beneath the gates; or by the small and forlorn voices of the children of the destitute inmates, entreating for money. Nor will the cries of the wretched poor in those miserable habitations be heard calling for bread, which oftentimes the Town had not to give." THE TOWN POUND At a meeting of the townspeople, held February 23, 1634, it was ordered that "there shall be a little house built, and a sufficiently payled yard, to lodge the Cattel in of nights, at Pullen Poynt Necke" (in the present township of Winthrop). This was the first Town Pound. In May, 1637, Richard Fairbanks was appointed foldkeeper, and was allowed threepence for every trespassing beast or horse that he brought into the Fold or Pound; and twopence for every tres- passing calf, goat, or hog so brought in. In the year 1641 it was ordered that the owners of any goats " found without a keep, should be fined half a bushel of corn for each goat so found; and three-pence for pounding, where they are to remain 24 hours, namely, in the pound; and if not owned by that time, then to be sent to Deare Island, where they are to remain until they have given full satisfaction." In April, 1708, George Ripley and Edward Bartles were given authority to impound any horses, cattle, or sheep which might be found going at large or feeding upon the common land or lanes of the Town. In an "Historic Sketch of the Granary Burying- Ground," it is stated that a Pound was built therein, near the present Tremont Building, and just back of its southern projection. By a vote passed, August 19, 37 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY 1720, the Pound was established on a lot just below the site of the Bridewell, on Centry Street, adjacent to the northern line of the Burial Ground. In a cor- ner of the latter enclosure the "Town bulls" were quartered. 1 In April, 1703, George Ripley was appointed "to take care of watering the bulls, and to put them by night in the Burrying Place." In April, 1777, com- plaint having been made to the Selectmen that horses were allowed to roam at large on the common land, public notice was given that all horses found there- after upon said land, would be placed in the Town Pound, near the Granary. 1 Boston City Document No. 47. THE BRIDEWELL In May, 1714, the townspeople decided to provide forthwith a House of Correction, "for the accommo- dation of able-bodied persons, who were unwilling to work; the Almshouse never having been intended for the entertainment of such scandalous persons." No action was taken, however, until 1820, when it was voted that the Selectmen, Overseers of the Poor, and the Town Treasurer be authorized to erect a House of Correction. In their report to the townspeople, Feb- ruary 13, 1720, this committee recommended as a site for the new building the lot adjacent to and below the Almshouse; which lot they described as extending from the upper part of the Burying-Ground north- ward; and fronting westward toward the west side of the Almshouse. The new building was about fifty feet long, and twenty feet wide, with a stud of four- teen feet. It contained a common or middle room, whereof one end was for the accommodation of men, and "t'other for women." The new Bridewell was a brick structure, its walls being "two brick thick," and its cost was about three hundred and fifty pounds sterling. The committee recommended that the Keeper of the Workhouse should be appointed Mas- ter of the House of Correction; and that "a whipper" should be in constant attendance, subject to the Mas- OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY ter's order. These suggestions were duly approved and adopted by the Town. The site of the Bridewell corresponded in part with the present Union Club- House lot. In May, 1741, a parcel of the Common Land, adjoining the Almshouse, was granted, whereon a new brick building, ninety feet long, was set up for the benefit of the Poor. THE WORKHOUSE In 1736 the Massachusetts General Court passed an Act whereby the Town of Boston was authorized to build a Workhouse for the accommodation of idle and vagabond persons, rogues, and tramps. This was done in 1738, the expense being met by popular sub- scription. The new building adjoined the Bridewell, and extended, partly in front of the latter, down the incline, facing the Common. Its lower portion abut- ted on the western border of the Burying-Ground, and reached to the northern line of the present Park Street Church lot, where the Granary then stood. The Workhouse was a well-proportioned, brick build- ing, having two stories and a gabled roof. Its length was about one hundred and twenty-five feet, and it contained a large common Hall. 1 In October, 1739, certain rules were adopted for the management of the Institution. It was ordered that "the Mistress take care that the victuals be well and seasonably dressed; the bread and beer prepared according to the direction of the Overseers; that the rooms be swept, and the beds made every day; and that the people be kept clean and neat in their ap- 1 The location of the Almshouse and Bridewell is shown in a sketch, idealized from Bonner's Map (Edition of 1743) and from a study of the Surveys of the City Engineer's Office. This sketch is in the posses- sion of Dr. James B. Ayer. 41 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY parel. It was also specified that the common work of the House should consist in picking oakum, and that such of the women as were capable, should be em- ployed in carding and spinning wool, flax and yarn; also cotton yarn for candle wick; knitting, sewing, etc." The inmates were forbidden to smoke tobacco in their beds, on penalty of being denied smoking for one week. It appears that the Workhouse was used as a Hos- pital for British soldiers during the period between the Battle of Bunker Hill and their departure from Boston in March, 1776. This fact is evident from the following deposition. Whether the large quantity of arsenic therein mentioned was left in the Workhouse with sinister intent or otherwise, is a matter of con- jecture. I, John Warren, of Cambridge, Physician, testify and say that on or about the twenty-ninth day of March, last past, I went into the Work House of the Town of Boston, lately improved as an Hospital by the British Troops sta- tioned in said Town; and upon examining into the State of a large quantity of Medicine there by them left; partic- ularly in one Room, supposed to have been by them used as a Medicinal Store Room; I found a great variety of medicinal articles laying upon the Floor, some of which were contained in Papers, while others were scattered upon the floor, loose. Amongst these I observed small quanti- ties of what I supposed to be arsenic; and then received Information from Doctor Daniel Scott, that he had taken up a large quantity of said arsenic in large lumps, and secured it in a Vessel. Upon receiving this Information, 42 THE WORKHOUSE I desired him to let me view the arsenic; with which he complied; and I judged it to amount to about the Quan- tity of twelve or fourteen pounds. Being much surprised by this extraordinary Intelligence, I more minutely ex- amined the Articles on the Floor, and found them to be chiefly capital Articles, and those most generally in de- mand. And judging them to be rendered intirely [sic] unfit for use, advised Scott to let them remain, and by no means to meddle with them, as I thought the utmost Hazard would attend Using of them. They were ac- cordingly suffered to remain, and no account was taken of them. John Warren Colony of the Massachusetts Bay. Watertown ss. April 3d. 1776. Then Dr. John Warren made solemn oath to the truth of the above written deposition: Before me James Otis ' a Justice of the Peace throughout the Colony The French traveller, Brissot de Warville, who visited Boston in 1788, wrote that "the Workhouse was not so peopled as one might expect. In a rising country, where provisions are cheap, good morals predominate, and the number of thieves and vaga- bonds is small. There are vermin attached to misery, and there is no misery here." At a Town Meeting, March 12, 1821, a Committee was chosen to consider and report upon the subject 43 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY of "Pauperism at large." From the investigations of this Committee it was learned that the buildings on Park Street, formerly belonging to the Town, "con- sisted of two ranges, one of which was used as an Alms House, for the reception of persons whom it became a duty of charity to relieve from distress; and the other as a Work House, where disorderly and disso- lute people were restrained of their liberty, and com- pelled to work for their support." Between these two buildings there was a smaller one, called a Bridewell, with grated cells. This served as a House of Correc- tion, for the confinement of such persons as were not amenable to milder treatment. These several Insti- tutions were intended for the accommodation of all classes of the poor. But a distinction, previously neglected, was made between the virtuous and vicious. Enlightened public opinion demanded that innocent unfortunates should not be regarded as criminals, nor confined in the same institution with law-breakers. In the latter class the Town Records designate vag- abonds, pilferers, beggars, night-prowlers, wantons, stubborn children, wandering fortune-tellers, and other individuals whose freedom from restraint was deemed a menace to the public welfare. As early as 1662 authority was given magistrates to cause the arrest of idle vagrants, and to confine them in a House of Correction. THE PUBLIC GRANARY In April, 1728, the Town voted that "a Grainery be built on the Common, near the Almshouse "; and that a sum not exceeding eleven hundred pounds sterling be appropriated therefor. The location of this build- ing was a little to the north of the Park Street Subway entrance. In the year 1737, "to accommodate the Workhouse, and to make the Appearance or Prospect the better/' the Granary was removed to the corner of Long Acre Street, where the Park Street Church now stands. The Granary was the most roomy edifice in the Town, occupying an area of twenty-four hun- dred square feet. It was built of wood, with oaken rafters, and had a storing capacity for twelve thou- sand bushels of grain, chiefly wheat, rye, and Indian corn. It was a prominent landmark in Boston, and gave its name to the adjacent Burying-Ground. At a meeting of the Selectmen, August 2, 1738, it was re- ported that "the tar under the Granary heats the grain that lies on the lower floor, and damnifies it; also that weevils have taken the corn, and mice annoy the corn much, being very numerous." The chief function of the Granary was its service as a reposi- tory, where the poor might buy grain in small quan- tities at a slight advance over its cost. In 1795 it was decided to sell the building; but for some years there- 45 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY after it was occupied by various tradespeople, and portions of it were devoted to the sale of refreshments, and to the storage of second-hand furniture. Finally in 1809 the Granary was removed to Commercial Point, Dorchester, where it was reconstructed and used as a tavern. The sails for the famous frigate Constitution (which was launched in October, 1797, at Hart's Ship Yard, now Constitution Wharf) were made in the Granary, which was the only available building large enough for the purpose. THE GRANARY BURYING-GROUND Occupies land taken in 1660 from the Common, which formerly extended northeasterly as far as the present Tremont Building. It was the third Ceme- tery in Boston, and was originally called the South Burying-Ground; afterward the Central or Middle Burying-Ground. Its present name dates from 1737. In April, 1719, the Town ordered that "the South Burying Place should be enlarged next the Common or Training Field." This may account for the finding of some tombstones and human bones when excava- tions were made for the foundation of a drinking- fountain at the foot of Park Street Mall, where a memorial tablet now stands, about the middle of the nineteenth century. No fence separated the burial enclosure from the Common until 1739, when the Town ordered that one should be set up between Common and Beacon Streets. It consisted of a row of posts surmounted by a rail, and was placed there "in order to prevent carts etc. from passing upon and through the Common, and spoiling the herbage thereof." In the Town Records, 1759, the enclosure was mentioned as "the South Burial Ground, on the back of the Work House." This hallowed ground is the resting-place of many famous personages, includ- ing Edward Rawson, who served as Secretary of the 47 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY Colony for thirty-six years; his contemporary, John Hull, the celebrated mint master, and the latter 's son-in-law, Chief Justice Samuel Sewall. Here repose also the patriots, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, besides many of the earlier Governors of Massachusetts; Jonathan Phillips, the first Mayor of Boston, and Paul Revere. The oldest epitaph bears the date 1666, and is in memory of Elizabeth Neal, aged three days. The Franklin monument, erected by Benjamin Franklin in memory of his parents, had the following inscription : Josiah Franklin and Abiah his wife, lie here interred. They lived lovingly together in wedlock fifty-five years; and without an estate or any careful employment; by constant labor and honest industry, maintained a large family comfortably, and brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren respectably. From this instance, Reader, be encouraged to diligence in thy calling, and distrust not Providence. He was a pious and prudent man; she a virtuous woman. Their youngest son, in filial re- gard to their memory, places this stone. J. F. Born, 1655. Died, 1744. Art. 89. A. F. Born, 1667. Died, 1752. Ad. 85. The original inscription having been nearly obliterated, a number of citizens erected this monument as a mark of respect for the illustrious author, mdcccxxvii. 1 1 To Dr. J. C. Warren belongs the credit of raising funds for this object. The granite blocks were quarried from Bunker Hill ledge, and the obelisk 48 THE GRANARY BURYING-GROUND Within this enclosure two hundred and sixty-six Rev- olutionary soldiers were buried. Here also is the resting- place of seventeen members of the Boston Tea Party. Perhaps the most curious epitaph is that of Mary Brackett, who died in 1679: "Under these clods a pretious gemm ly(es) hear, Belov'd of God, & of her husband dear; Pius and prudent, helpful to neighbors all; By day and night, whenever they did call. Pelican like she freely spilt her blood, To feed her chickens, and to do them good." • •••••• The stone wall and tall iron fence along the Tre- mont Street side were erected during the adminis- tration of Mayor Samuel Turell Armstrong in 1836. No trees adorned the enclosure until about the year 1825; but soon thereafter a considerable number were planted, including specimens of the willow, larch, maple, bass-wood, and mountain-ash. At this time (1919) about forty large and thriving shade trees remain. Among them are English elms, horse- chestnuts and lindens. The perpetual care of the cemetery is assumed by the City authorities; but this does not apply to the monuments and tombstones, whose oversight devolves upon individuals. There have been about 8030 interments during a period of two hundred and sixty years. Prominent among the was designed by Solomon Willard. The corner-stone was laid June 27, 1827. 49 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY many notabilities who here repose are Thomas Fleet, the printer and publisher (1685-1758), and his moth- er-in-law, Elizabeth Vergoose, who was believed by many to have been the original Mother Goose. But proof of this is lacking. We have the testimony of one of her descendants that she was buried here in 1759, although no stone bearing her name is now standing. NUMBER ONE PARK STREET On the lower portion of this land (adjoining the Gran- ary lot, where the Church now stands) Mr. Isaac P. Davis built a four-storied, brick house, which was the residence of General Welles from 1805 until 1826. In June of the following year his heirs sold the prem- ises to Dr. J. C. Warren, and they remained in the possession of members of the Warren family for about seven years, when Edmund Dwight became their owner. He was a native of Springfield, Massa- chusetts, and a Yale graduate of 1799. Later he be- came a merchant, and was active in business enter- prises, especially in the establishment of extensive cotton mills in Hampden County, where there are superior water-power facilities. Mr. Dwight was also a patron of learning, and with others was in- strumental in founding Normal Schools in the Bay State. In the spring of 1858 the ownership of this house passed to Jane, Mary, and Anne Wigglesworth, who made it their home for many years. Their brother, Thomas Wigglesworth, a prominent business man of Boston, also lived there for nearly half a century, until his death in March, 1907. This was the last house on Park Street to be occupied as a resi- dence. The emigrant ancestor of the Wigglesworths, of 51 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY Boston, was Edward, who came over with his wife and son, Michael, in the year 1638. He was de- scribed as one of those resolute Puritans, who with their families found a refuge from religious persecu- tion in what was then the New England wilderness. Here they had to brave the rigors of a severe winter climate with scanty protection; and were moreover exposed to danger from hostile Indians. Their son, the Reverend Michael Wigglesworth (1631-1705) Harvard, 1651, clergyman and poet, stated in his "Reminiscences" that he was the son of "Godly parents, who feared the Lord greatly even from their youth." But they had lived in an ungodly place, where the children had learned wickedness betimes. "These Godly parents of mine," he wrote, "meeting with opposition and persecution for religion, took up resolution to pluck up their stakes, and remove them- selves to New England. And the Lord brought them hither, and landed them at Charlstown; and me along with them, being then a child not full seven years old. After about seven weeks' stay at Charls- town, my parents removed again by sea to New Haven. We dwelt in a cellar, partly under ground, covered with earth, the first winter." After gradua- tion Michael Wigglesworth served as a Tutor, and also as a Fellow of the College for ten years. In the meantime he was preparing himself for the ministry, and was ordained pastor of a church in Maiden in 1653. Among his poetical effusions are some verses 52 ■ 1 11 TTT 5 • rain •ilvJE** : 'Sv «™2r W 11 yjS B*w m !IWWIiljlllH^«^tl»i«nMrt«^3'' r*4"' i VIEW OF PARK STREET FROM THE STATE HOUSE Showing Ticknor House at left and the Sidewalk with Trees along the Common Side NUMBER ONE PARK STREET relating to certain epidemic affections then preva- lent. A specimen here follows: "New England, where for many years you hardly heard a cough; and where Physicians had no work, now finds them work enough. Now colds and coughs, rheums and sore throats do more and more abound; now agues sore and feavers strong in every place are found." The Reverend Mr. Wigglesworth was the author of va- rious theological treatises, whereof the most noted was a poem entitled "The Day of Doom." Edward Wigglesworth, a son of Michael (1692- 1765) Harvard, 1710; S.T.D., 1730, was the first Hollis Professor of Divinity of the College, serv- ing forty-four years. His son, Edward (1732-94), Harvard, 1749; A.M., Yale, 1752, succeeded his father as Hollis Professor, and held the position twenty -nine years. He was of a scientific turn of mind, and in 1775 ventured the prediction that this country would have a population of ninety million at the close of the nineteenth century. Thomas Wigglesworth, the Park Street resident, was a merchant, engaged in the Calcutta trade. He was short in stature, and an enthusiastic pedestrian, who took long walks in the early morning, regard- less of weather conditions. He usually wore at such times an old-fashioned spencer, or short outer gar- ment, over a swallow-tailed coat. Mr. Wigglesworth was an energetic man, and "a model of mercantile integrity." He was wont to de- 53 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY clare that he would maintain his residence adjoining Park Street Church to the last, even if the whole City of Boston were offered him in exchange therefor! Although his life was quiet and uneventful, and he never held any public office, his good judgment and ability in the management of important business transactions were well known and appreciated. "Park Street," wrote a correspondent in July, 1895, "once the site of princely residences of aristocratic Bostonians, has been so far given up to business purposes and club-houses, that now only one dwell- ing remains, a modest, brick structure, bearing upon the old-fashioned door-plate the inscription *T. Wig- glesworth.' " NUMBER TWO PARK STREET On March 24, 1801, the Town sold the lot adjoining the Granary, measuring seventy-eight feet on Gentry (now Park) Street, to General Welles, whose wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of General Joseph Warren. The new owner soon after conveyed the northerly half to Isaac P. Davis, rope-maker, who built thereon a brick dwelling-house,, which he very soon sold to Francis C. Lowell. The latter, after finishing it off, transferred it to Jonathan Mason, whose daughter was the wife of Dr. John C. Warren, its first inhab- itant. "The new owner at once allowed the young couple to occupy the house, and thither they re- moved in the month of October, 1805. There they continued to dwell until Mr. Mason's death, when it was found that he had left the estate to his daughter, Mrs. Warren. After the decease of the latter, it came to her children by descent; as she left no will; and Dr. Warren, their father, bought their respec- tive interests, thus becoming the owner thereof ab- solutely. At his death he bequeathed the 'mansion- house in Park Street, valued at forty thousand dol- lars/ to his son, Mason, in fee simple; from whom it ultimately passed by his will to Mrs. Warren for life, with remainder to his children." The house re- mained unchanged until the spring of 1877, when it 55 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY was taken down, and shortly after replaced by the present Warren Building. A somewhat minute description of this house is given in a "Memoir of Jonathan Mason Warren, M.D.," by Howard Payson Arnold, 1886. The office or study, on the left of the main entrance, was de- scribed as a fairly spacious room, with an air of an- cient and prosperous dignity. Beneath this office was a place of retirement for students. This apart- ment was devoted to medical and surgical work, and the compounding of drugs. "From the back win- dows of the house one overlooked the Burying- Ground, and the rears of all the other dwellings which surrounded it. Passing to the front of the edifice, one was impressed with a prompt and strik- ing contrast. The parlors at the head of one flight of stairs, and the two chambers above them, overlooked the Common, sloping in a gentle and verdurous expanse to the water, which then lapped its lower boundary." The writer dwells further upon the beauty of the western view from Dr. Warren's win- dows. The Great Elm and Flagstaff Hill were promi- nent features of the landscape; and in the distance the Blue Hills of Milton. In the early days of Christian Science, meetings were held at the houses of different Church members. Hawthorne Hall, at Number Two Park Street, with a seating capacity of two hundred and twenty-five, was the scene of the first public meeting, in November, 56 NUMBER TWO PARK STREET 1883; and that Hall has therefore been appropriately called the cradle of the Christian Science Church. The following Notice dates from that period: "The Church of Christ respectfully invites you to attend their Services at number two Park Street, Hawthorne Hall, every Sunday at 3 p.m.; and learn how to heal the sick with Christianity. Mrs. Eddy teaches Metaphysical Healing at 551 Shawmut Avenue, Boston. Many certificates could be given of the sick, healed by her lectures." The last service at Hawthorne Hall was held, October 18, 1885. Mrs. Eddy herself was accustomed to preach at the Park Street Services, "and was always effective on the rostrum." * A copy of the Notice given above may be seen at the book-store of Messrs. Smith & McCance, on the site of Hawthorne Hall. 1 The Life of Mary Baker Eddy. NUMBER THREE PARK STREET Peter Chardon Brooks, a distinguished merchant and philanthropist, of Boston, appears to have been the first owner of this property. He was a son of Ed- ward Brooks, A.M., of Medford. Beginning business as an insurance broker, he became President of the New England Insurance Company. After holding this position for several years, he retired. Mr. Brooks was also President of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company, and a member of the State Senate. In later life he was active in charitable work. The estate passed from Mr. Brooks to Jonathan Davis, merchant, November 10, 1802; and the latter sold it, April 25, 1804, to George Cabot, Esq., being "a lot of land on Centry Street, now Park Street, near the Common or Mall in Boston." Mr. Cabot was a leader of the Federalist Party; he served one year as Secretary of the Navy during the Revolu- tionary War, and afterward five years as United States Senator. He was one of a group of prominent men who contributed political articles to the Boston newspapers of those days; his communications ap- pearing in the columns of the "Columbian Centinel." In April, 1809, Richard Sullivan, Esq. (1779-1861), paid Mr. Cabot sixteen thousand dollars, and became owner of the premises. Mr. Sullivan was a grandson 58 NUMBER THREE PARK STREET of John Sullivan, of Limerick, Ireland; and a son of James, who was Attorney-General of the Bay State in 1790. Richard Sullivan was a native of Groton, and a member of the Harvard Class of 1798. He served as an Overseer of the College for thirty-two years. He was admitted to the Bar in July, 1801; but having an independent fortune, did not continue long in the practice of law. During the War of 1812 he was second in command of a cavalry troop, called the Hussars, formed by the Honorable Josiah Quincy, the elder. The troop was well mounted, and their uniforms were brilliant and effective. "The members were thoroughly drilled, and being under strict disci- pline, they made an imposing display." Their dress included a short overcoat or spencer, which was left unbuttoned and thrown back, revealing a gorgeous vest; and their headgear consisted of a square-topped hat, with tassels and a plume. During the political campaign of 1807, when James Sullivan was a candi- date for Governor, an article appeared in the "Cen- tinel" reflecting upon his character. Thereupon his son, Richard, waylaid the editor, Benjamin Russell, on the street, and struck him with a cane. 1 On October 4, 1816, Mr. Sullivan transferred the title of his Park Street estate to Lydia, the wife of Thomas Wren Ward, a well-known merchant; and here the Wards made their residence for many years. Mr. Ward was the Boston agent of Messrs. Baring 1 S. A. Drake, Historic Landmarks. 59 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY Brothers & Company, of London. The following cor- respondence explains itself: 3 Park Street, Boston, September 16, 1852 The Hon. Daniel Webster, Dear Sir, Mr. Thomas Baring will dine with me on Monday next at ^ye o'clock, with some of your friends and his; and we shall be honored and obliged by the pleas- ure of your company. I am, dear Sir, with the greatest respect, Yours T. W. Ward Mr. Webster replied as follows: Green Harbor, Marshfield, September 17, 1852 It would give me sincere pleasure, my dear Mr. Ward, to dine with you on Monday, and to meet Mr. Baring. . . . But I am stationed here by my Commander, Doctor Jeffries, in the recruiting service; and he bids me not to leave my post until I receive his official permission. Always very truly yours Daniel Webster Mr. Webster did visit Boston on the day of the Dinner, and he appeared at Mr. Ward's table during the dessert course, remaining but a short time. The next morning he returned to Marshfield. His death occurred there October 24, 1852. About two years before, Mr. Webster had written from Washington, D.C., to his farmer, Porter Wright, directing him to send Dr. J. C. W T arren, Mr. Ward's next-door neigh- 60 NUMBER THREE PARK STREET bor, "six selected ears of our corn. If you have any with husks on, braid them up handsomely." * On March 12, 1863, Mrs. Ward conveyed the prop- erty to Augustine Heard, of Ipswich, a well-known merchant; and on November 30, 1895, the premises were sold at auction, under foreclosure of a mortgage, to John Duff, the highest bidder, for sixty-seven thousand dollars. The latter 's heirs retained the es- tate until May 31, 1916, when it was bought by the Warren Institution for Savings. The dwelling-house, built in 1804, was razed, and the present handsome structure erected. 1 The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster. Edited by Fletcher Webster. NUMBER FOUR PARK STREET One of the first owners of this lot was Jonathan Davis, who bought it of Peter C. Brooks, November 10, 1802, for $6692.53. Next came Samuel Ridgway Miller, who lived there from 1821 to 1840. His only daughter, Mary Jane, became the wife of the Hon- orable Josiah Quincy, the younger, who made his home there for many years. The property remains in the possession of the Quincy family. Mr. Miller was an original subscriber to the stock of the Suffolk Na- tional Bank in 1818. He was reckoned among "the most influential Boston men of the day," and was en- gaged in the importation of British dry goods, as a member of the firm of Gore, Miller & Parker. Since the year 1880 the firm of Houghton Mifflin Company, incorporated in 1908, has occupied as ten- ant three stories of this building. Here are the head- quarters of the main branches of its business, includ- ing the Publishing, Educational, Advertising, Edito- rial, and Subscription Departments. The Printing Department remains, as for many years, at The Riv- erside Press in Cambridge. For many years the "Atlantic Monthly," most prominent among the literary periodicals of America, maintained its offices here. "Even within the sub- stantial walls of Number Four" wrote Professor 62 NUMBER FOUR PARK STREET Bliss Perry, one of the "Atlantic's" former editors, in "Park Street Papers, " "built as it was for a family mansion, and long identified with a widely honored name, the magazine used to flit upstairs and down, like a restless guest. Mr. Howells's tiny sanctum was on the second floor, and many a delighted caller re- members that third-floor back room, looking out upon the Burying-Ground, where Mr. Aldrich was wont to mitigate the severity of his position with an Irish setter and a pipe. The * Atlantic' loves the memory of the gentlemen and scholars, and men of letters, who once frequented Park Street. It was more happily housed in the ancient Quincy mansion than in any tall office building of Gath or Askalon." * J John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel. 1681, NUMBER FIVE PARK STREET The Site of the Town Pound This lot was bought by John Gore in September, 1802. The grantor was Thomas H. Perkins, and the price paid was $6360. It is probable that Mr. Gore built the house which was soon after erected on the premises. According to the Boston Directories, he lived there from 1805 to 1816; and his widow, Mary Gore, occupied the house until 1826. In 1843 the es- tate became the property of Francis C. Gray, whose residence it was for eleven years. Francis Calley Gray (1790-1856), Harvard, 1809; LL.D., 1841, a son of Lieutenant-Governor William Gray, was a native of Salem, Massachusetts. Soon after leaving college he accompanied John Quincy Adams (then Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard, and afterward President of the United States) on his mission to Russia, in the capac- ity of private secretary. Mr. Gray studied law, and was admitted to the Bar; but he never practised. He was described as a Gentleman and Man of Letters; "an elegant and accomplished writer, and an honored son of Harvard, who requited his Alma Mater for her nurturing care by his literary and political labors and laurels.' ' He was much engrossed in antiquarian and historical research. Mr. Gray bequeathed fifty thou- 64 NUMBER FIVE PARK STREET sand dollars for the establishment and maintenance of a Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge. He also left the College a collection of rare engravings. The estate descended to his nephew, William Gray, who sold it in February, 1857, to the Honorable Josiah Quincy, Senior (1772-1864), who lived there several years. His mother, whose maiden name was Abigail Phillips, was a woman of decided character, who had, moreover, very positive opinions on matters relating to hygiene and methods of promoting bodily vigor. It is said that when her son was hardly more than an infant, she was accustomed to have him taken from his bed every morning in all seasons, into a basement kitchen, where he was thrice dipped in a tub of cold water. 1 Mr. Quincy was educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, and at Harvard (A.B., 1790; LL.D., 1824). He served as a member of Congress, 1805-13, and as Mayor of Boston, 1823-29. During his administra- tion the Fire Department was reorganized, and effi- cient street-cleaning methods were introduced. The Quincy Market was built under his supervision. Mr. Quincy was one of the first among Boston men "to denounce the slave-holding interest as a dangerous and rising tyranny." He was President of Harvard College from 1829 to 1845, and wrote a History of the College. His innate modesty was shown by the fact that his own name hardly appears in that work. 1 Mayors of Boston. Issued by the State Street Trust Company, 1914. 65 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY During his term of service in Congress, as a mem- ber of the Federalist Party, he was a consistent oppo- nent of the measures of the Administration; and his ready wit and keen satire in debate were sources of annoyance to his Democratic fellow members. He was a lifelong opposer of slavery; and during the Civil War, at the age of ninety-one, he made an eloquent speech in support of the Union. During political campaigns, when party feeling ran high, he was lam- pooned and caricatured by his adversaries. In one cartoon he was styled "Josiah the First," and wore upon his breast a symbol representing crossed cod- fishes, in reference to his unwavering defence of the fisheries of New England. Mr. Quincy was always in- tensely patriotic. He was, moreover, foremost in pro- moting the welfare of his native city; and was indeed "a great public character." James Russell Lowell in "My Study Windows," relates an anecdote of Mayor Quincy, which he characterized as "quite Roman in color." The Mayor was once arrested on a malicious charge of fast driving, in violation of a City ordinance. He might have resisted; but instead he appeared in court and paid a fine; because it would serve as a good example of the principle that "no citizen was above the law." By President Quincy's will, which was proved August 29, 1864, his three daughters, Eliza Susan, Abby Phillips, and Maria Sophia Quincy, became the owners of the estate. His library was NUMBER FIVE PARK STREET given to the sons, Josiah and Edmund, with the proviso that the books should remain in the Park Street house during the lifetime of his daughters, or of any one of them; and, further, that the sons should always have free access to them. Bibliophiles, whose pleasure it is to delve amid the musty volumes in Mr. Goodspeed's well-known book-shop in the base- ment of the former Quincy mansion, may perchance be interested to view the old kitchen fireplace, which remains intact. The estate is still in the possession of the Quincy heirs. The Honorable Josiah Quincy, the younger (1802- 82), a prominent citizen of Boston (Harvard, 1821), was Mayor of the City from 1846 to 1848. Salient features of his administration were the introduction of water from Lake Cochituate, at a cost of five million dollars; and the reorganization of the Police Department. It was said of Mr. Quincy that "he wrote his name in water; yet it will last forever. The people of Boston have never found him dry, and he has taken care that they shall never be so." His knowledge of municipal affairs was said to be very thorough; and during his term of office he dis- played much of the zeal and ability which were char- acteristic of his father, the "Great Mayor." The Honorable Josiah Quincy, third of the name, was born at Quincy in 1859, and graduated at Har- vard in 1880. He was a prominent member of the Democratic Party, and held various public offices, 67 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY having served as First Assistant Secretary of State under President Cleveland. Mr. Quincy was elected Mayor of Boston in 1895, and served four years. An important event of his administration was the erection of the South Union Railway Station. He was especially interested in the system of baths, gymnasia, playgrounds, and other progressive meas- ures for the benefit of the people. In later years he served as a member of the Boston Transit Com- mission. His death occurred in 1919. NUMBER SIX PARK STREET This lot was sold by the Town, in 1801, to Thomas Handasyd Perkins, who resold it in the following year to John Gore. The latter built thereon a brick dwelling, and the property remained in the posses- sion of his descendants for many years. Francis Calley Gray became the owner of the estate in 1843; and the next year a portion of the lot was bought by Dr. John C. Warren, Senior. He built a house, nine- teen feet wide, on this land, for his son, Dr. J. Mason Warren, who occupied it, with his family, in 1845. Here they made their home until 1857, when they removed to Number Two Park Street. This latter house had been the residence of the elder physician for more than half a century. As Dr. J. M. W 7 arren had then five children, "this removal greatly in- creased his comfort; and in truth the need of more roomy quarters had become imperative. For the dwelling at Number Six, although cheerful and con- venient both within and without, was but a little slice of a house at best." This house was bequeathed by Dr. J. C. Warren, Senior, to his son, James Sul- livan Warren (Harvard, 1832), who lived there for about ten years; and his widow continued to occupy it until 1898. John Warren, M.D. (1753-1815), Harvard, 1771, 69 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY was Surgeon to the military hospitals of Boston during the Revolutionary War; and Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at Harvard for thirty-three years. He was a younger brother of Joseph War- ren, the eminent physician, Major-General, and pa- triot, who was killed at Bunker Hill, at the age of thirty-four. John Warren was settled at that time in Salem, where he heard the sound of the cannon, and saw the smoke and flames of the Charlestown conflagration on June 17, 1775. Knowing well the courage and boldness of his brother, and that he would not hesitate to expose his life in the service of his country, John Warren hastened on foot toward the battle-field, anxiously seeking tidings of Joseph. Pressing forward in haste, when near the scene of action he encountered a sentinel, whom he attempted to pass; and in so doing he received a bayonet wound, whereof he carried the scar through life. Both Jo- seph and John Warren were born at the Warren homestead farm in Roxbury. A strong attachment existed between the brothers. "Joseph's twelve years of seniority, while it gave him the advan- tage of a large experience, was not sufficient to repel familiarity; neither was his disposition likely to do so. The brothers, warm-hearted, ardent, enthusi- astic, and of attractive manners, were closely united by patriotic, as well as by professional sympathies." l Dr. John Collins Warren, Senior (1778-1856), a 1 Edward Warren, The Life of John Warren, M.D. 70 NUMBER SIX PARK STREET son of the preceding, was for seven years a student at the Boston Public Latin School, and graduated at Harvard in 1797. After devoting three years to medical studies abroad, chiefly in London, Paris, and Edinburgh, he returned home, and in 1809 was appointed Adjunct Professor of Anatomy in the Harvard Medical School. In 1815 he succeeded his father as Hersey Professor of Anatomy and Surgery; retaining the position until 1847. "As a surgeon," wrote Dr. O. W. Holmes, "Dr. Warren was supreme among his fellows, and deservedly so. He performed a great number of difficult operations; always de- liberate, always cool; with a grim smile in sudden emergencies, where weaker men would have looked perplexed, and wiped their foreheads. He had the stuff in him, which carried his uncle, Joseph War- ren, to Bunker Hill, and left him there, slain among the last in retreat." Dr. Warren was for seventeen years a warden of Saint Paul's Church, Boston. Jonathan Mason Warren, son of Dr. John Collins Warren, was born at Boston, February 5, 1811, in the house, Number Two Park Street, and died there, August 19, 1867. He was for a short time a member of the Harvard Class of 1830; but was obliged to leave college during the Sophomore year owing to ill health. He graduated from the Medical School in 1832, and received the honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1844. After more than three years' study in Europe, Dr. Warren, following his father's example, 71 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY entered upon practice in his native city. He married, April 30, 1839, Anna Caspar, the youngest daugh- ter of Benjamin W. Crowninshield, a member of Congress and a former Secretary of the United States Navy. Dr. Warren was elected a Visiting Surgeon of the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1848; and in October of that year he "assisted his father in the operation which was destined to be known as the first public demonstration of surgical anaesthesia." "Dr. Warren," wrote his biographer, "was equally eminent as surgeon and physician; a union seldom encountered; since few are so consti- tuted that the qualities needed for success in the one calling do not prevent, in a certain degree, distinction in the other." John Collins Warren (A.B., Harvard, 1863; M.D., 1866; LL.D., 1906) was born in Pemberton Square, Boston, May 4, 1842. His early education was re- ceived at the Public Latin School, and at Epes S. Dixwell's private school in Boston. After leaving the Medical College, he devoted three years to the study of surgery in Vienna, Berlin, and Paris. Re- turning, he became Instructor in Surgery at Har- vard; Assistant Prof essor, 1882; Associate Professor, 1887; Professor of Surgery, 1893; Moseley Professor of Surgery, 1899; Professor Emeritus, 1907. He has been President of the American Surgical Association, 1896; Harvard Overseer, 1908-14. Dr. Warren was largely instrumental in securing liberal donations 72 NUMBER SIX PARK STREET for the erection of the present magnificent Harvard Medical School Buildings. He is the author of several works on Surgery. Dr. Warren married, May 27, 1873, Miss Amy Shaw, of Boston. John Warren, his elder son (Harvard, A.B., 1896; M.D., 1900), served as Demonstrator of Anatomy 1901- 08; and since the latter date he has been Associate Professor of Anatomy, and University Marshal since 1911. Joseph Warren, the younger son (Harvard, 1897; LL.B., 1900), held the office of Secretary to the Corporation, 1907-10; Instructor in the Law School, 1909-13. He is at this time Bemis Professor of Law in the University. In the upper portion of the house, at Number Six Park Street, are the apartments of the Mayflower Club, which was founded by Mrs. Charles D. Ho- mans and her sister, Mrs. Oliver W. Peabody. The first President was Mrs. J. Elliot Cabot. The need of a rendezvous for ladies had long been felt; and this was the pioneer Women's Club of this region. At the start the Club was fortunate in having rooms in the John Amory Lowell house at Number Seven Park Street, with its charming view of the Common and of the country beyond from its front windows. The organization was named after the flower, and not after the Pilgrims' vessel. Its rooms were opened on Mayflower Day, May 1, 1893. At first the mem- bership was limited to three hundred. The object of the Club was solely to provide comfort and rest for 73 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY its members. It was a social Club for women, where mental improvement was ignored, and no petitions for objects of charity or philanthropy were allowed. As the membership increased, more spacious quar- ters were needed, and when, in 1896, the house was bought by the Union Club, the Mayflower members leased apartments in "the Tudor," on the corner of Beacon and Joy Streets. Later they removed to their present home at Number Six Park Street, which was owned at that time by Mrs. J. Sullivan Warren. For many years the Club has been under the able management of Miss Katharine P. Loring, as Presi- dent, < NUMBER SEVEN PARK STREET In August, 1896, the trustees of the Union Club bought the house numbered Seven Park Street, ad- joining their Club House. The land whereon this building stands was sold by the town agents, March 24, 1801, to Thomas Handasyd Perkins, a prominent merchant and humanitarian. For half a century he maintained a fine estate in Brookline, where, under the supervision of foreign expert gardeners, he took great interest in the cultivation of choice plants, fruits, and flowers. Mr. Perkins was the well-known founder of the Massachusetts School for the Blind, or Perkins Institution. He retained the ownership of the Park Street lot for somewhat over a year, and sold it in September, 1802, to John Gore, a Boston mer- chant. He was of the sixth generation from the emi- grant, of the same name, who settled at Roxbury in 1635, and served for many years as Clerk of the Writs. His grandfather, John, of the fourth generation, was a merchant and Loyalist refugee, who accompanied the British troops to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in March, 1776. His citizenship was restored by an Act of the General Court in 1787. He was the father of thirteen children, including Governor Christopher Gore. In a Funeral Sermon preached by the Reverend William Cooper, pastor of Brattle Street Church, Mr. Gore, the refugee, was described as "an ingenious and reli- 75 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY gious gentleman; an Ornament to his Country, and to the College." John Gore, the owner of the Park Street estate* was prominent in financial affairs. He was one of the incorporators of the New England National Bank, of Boston, in 1813. His only daugh- ter, Louisa, married Horatio Greenough, the eminent sculptor, and pioneer of the American artists' colony in Italy. In August, 1811, Mr. Gore sold the property, which included a brick stable, to Artemas Ward, Esq. (1762- 1847), of Boston, a son and namesake of the Revolu- tionary General, and a prominent jurist. He was a Harvard graduate of 1783; LL.D., 1842; member of Congress; and Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court of Common Pleas. Mr. Ward began practice as a lawyer about the year 1787, at the time of Shays 's Rebellion, during an unsettled period, when the lawyers were accustomed to carry pistols in their pockets while journeying on their circuits. 1 He was occupying this house in 1818; for in September of that year the Selectmen granted him permission to have a well dug in front of his house, and to place a pump over it, "on condition that the pump be well finished and painted, and that there be a good shoe to the same." In October, 1848, the executors of Justice Ward's will conveyed the premises to Henry Joseph Gardner, Esq. (1819-92), a native of Dorchester. A.M., 1851; 1 Our First Men. 1846. 76 NUMBER SEVEN PARK STREET LL.D., Harvard, 1855. He was educated at private schools in Boston, and at Phillips Exeter Academy. He then joined the Class of 1838 at Bowdoin College, but did not graduate. Mr. Gardner became a mem- ber of the firm of Denny, Rice & Gardner, dry-goods merchants, and remained therein until 1876, when he formed a partnership with George Bacon, who dealt in leather and hides. In 1887 he represented the Mas- sachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, as its resident agent in Boston. During his mercantile career he became interested in municipal affairs, and served four years as a mem- ber of the Common Council, and later in the State Legislature. He was also a member of the Constitu- tional Convention in 1853, and Governor of Massa- chusetts for three years (1855-57). Mr. Gardner was the candidate of the Know- Nothing Party, whose principal doctrine was ex- pressed by the phrase "America for the Americans." Its chief aim was the exclusion of foreigners from all public offices. This party was likened to a vast secret society, with branches in every part of the Union. In many places lodges were instituted, with passwords and mysterious ceremonies. Mr. Gardner was elected with a plurality of more than fifty thousand votes over the Honorable Emory Washburn, his Whig predecessor as Governor. Next in line of the distinguished owners and oc- 77 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY cupants of this estate was John Amory Lowell, Esq. (1798-1881), Harvard, 1815; LL.D., 1851; a success- ful merchant, who was connected with many phil- anthropic enterprises. He was also a Fellow of the American Academy, and a member of the Linnsean Society of London. By the will of the founder of the Lowell Institute, Mr. Lowell was appointed sole trustee of that Institution. The third codicil of his own will gave to his wife the right to occupy the Park Street house during her life, "free of rent and taxes." Finally, as before mentioned, the estate was bought by the Union Club in August, 1896, and reconstructed for the use of its members. A portion of the building was set apart for ladies. "Oh!" wrote Miss Susan Hale in one of her "Letters," in February, 1898, "The Union Club, you know, has a department for ladies; to wit, in the old Mayflower Rooms. It has been beautifully done over, and is a much more charming place for a meal than our Mayflower. I lunched there several times. They have a Chef, and good food. The Thorndike also has a Chef from Del- monico's ; and all the chops have little tufts on top of them, and layers of peppers beneath. You would n't know a lamb, if you met him thus disguised; but the result is good! " Again, writing from Weimar in 1882, she described the German beds as quite comfortable on top, but very breezy underneath, "where every blast of heaven howls and whistles all night, as they do around Park Street corner!" THE UNION CLUB HOUSE The house numbered eight on Park Street is on the site of the Bridewell. This estate was owned suc- cessively by Thomas Amory, Dr. John Jeffries, Wil- liam Payne, John Gore, and Jonathan Amory, Junior. It was bought by the last named in June, 1811, and he lived there until 1828. In October, 1836, the Hon- orable Abbott Lawrence became its owner, and he occupied it until his death in 1855. Mr. Lawrence was a native of Groton, Massachusetts. At an early age he served as an apprentice in the store of his brother Amos, at Number Thirty-One Cornhill (now a part of Washington Street), Boston. On attaining his majority the brothers formed a partnership under the firm name of A. & A. Lawrence. In 1834 Mr. Lawrence was elected a member of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, and served two years. In 1849 he was ap- pointed U.S. Minister to England, and retained the position until the autumn of 1852, when he returned to Boston. By his will he bequeathed "the mansion- house estate situated in Park Street, Boston," to his wife, Katharine Bigelow Lawrence, who continued to reside there for several years. In December, 1863, the trustees of Mr. Lawrence's estate leased the property to the Union Club of Bos- ton; and the latter became the owner thereof, Febru- 79 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY ary 1, 1868. The Union Club was founded in the year 1863, "For the encouragement of patriotic sentiment and opinion." A condition of membership was "un- qualified loyalty to the Constitution and Union of the United States; and unwavering support of the Fed- eral Government in its efforts for the suppression of the Rebellion. ,, THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE Number Nine Park Street The lots on the present Park Street, taken originally from the Common, and previously covered by public buildings, were sold under certain conditions, namely : that all buildings erected thereon should be uniform in style of construction; that the material employed should be brick or stone; and that the roofs should be of slate or tiles, or of such other components as might best resist fire. Accordingly, in March, 1801, the agents for the Town, previously mentioned, sold at public auction to Thomas Amory, Esq., merchant, of Boston, the corner lot, measuring one hundred and fifty feet on Beacon Street, and sixty -six feet on Park Street. On this lot, where the Almshouse had formerly stood, Mr. Amory built in 1804 the large brick mansion of the Georgian style, which is still standing (although much altered for business pur- poses) at the head of Park Street. According to the Boston Directory of the year last mentioned, he was at that time the only resident on that thoroughfare; and the new house was called "Amory's Folly" on account of its unusual size and pretentiousness. Thomas Amory (1762-1823) was a partner in busi- ness with his brother John, and at one time had amassed a considerable fortune. Financial losses, 81 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY however, obliged him to dispose of his new mansion, which was later enlarged, and divided into four dwellings, whereof two had entrances on Beacon Street. The other two fronted on Park Street. The corner dwelling was occupied as early as 1806 by Mrs. Catherine Carter, who there maintained a fashionable boarding-house, which became a popular resort for visitors from abroad. We quote from a letter of this period: "Mrs. Carter rejects twenty or thirty strangers a day; yet still keeps the mod- erate number of sixty in her family. After the warmth of the day is over, we form animated groups. We had quite a romantic one last evening, sitting on the grass by moon-light, with the accompaniment of a guitar and singing." Mrs. Carter afterward re- moved to Howard Street, where she kept a large, four-storied boarding-house, which was frequented by many people of quality. At a Selectmen's meeting, August 15, 1804, Mr. Thomas Amory was granted permission to build a range of wine and coal vaults, connected with his house, by forming brick arches under Beacon Street. These vaults, which are quite extensive, still exist. In January, 1807, Mr. Amory sold this dwelling, with the land, "and all the title to the wine and coal vaults," to the Honorable Samuel Dexter (third of the name), an eminent jurist, statesman, and promi- nent Federalist, who served as Secretary of War and Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of 82 THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE President John Adams. Before settling in Boston, Mr. Dexter owned and occupied a fine estate in Charlestown, where he maintained an attractive garden, with a greenhouse, fruit and ornamental trees. He was described by the Honorable Fisher Ames as "an Ajax at the Bar; and a gentleman of varied and liberal acquirements, and very distin- guished as a lawyer." In the practice of his profes- sion before the Supreme Court at Washington, he always attracted an audience consisting of the "beauty, taste, and learning of the City." Lucius Manlius Sargent, in his "Reminiscences of Samuel Dexter," 1857, wrote that this Commonwealth had never produced a man of more extraordinary intel- lectual powers. And yet, even then, a generation was springing up, who, upon mention of his name, might be pardoned for enquiring, "Who was Samuel Dex- ter?" Such is fame. Judge Joseph Story, of the Su- preme Court, in an address delivered May 15, 1816, spoke of Mr. Dexter as a steadfast friend of the Con- stitution of the United States, and a patriot in the purest sense of the term. Mr. Dexter 's wife was Katherine, daughter of William and Temperance (Grant) Gordon, of Charlestown. In October, 1831, Mrs. Katherine Dexter, widow, sold the dwelling-house, which was her portion of the Amory estate, to Richard Cobb, Esq., who occupied it for several years. Matthias Plant Sawyer, of Portland, Maine, be- 83 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY came the owner of the Dexter house in August, 1836, paying Mr. Cobb thirty thousand dollars therefor. He lived there for about nine years, and meanwhile was engaged in business, acquiring a handsome for- tune. Mr. Sawyer never married; but had an adopted daughter, Lydia N. Osgood, of Newburyport, who became the wife of Curtis B. Raymond. They were married in New York, March 29, 1849. By his will, dated April 5, 1853, he bequeathed to this adopted daughter the use or rent of his mansion-house on the corner of Beacon and Park Streets, during her nat- ural life, with the right to dispose of the same at her discretion; together with all the silverware, books, pictures, musical instruments, wines, and furniture. The portion of the edifice fronting on Beacon Street is still known as the Raymond Building. The foregoing items have been derived chiefly from the Probate Records. As Dr. Holmes wrote in the "Poet at the Breakfast-Table," "the Registry of Deeds and the Probate Office show us the same old folios, where we can read our grandfather's title to his estate (if we had a grandfather, and he happened to own anything) and see how many pots and kettles there were in his kitchen, by the Inventory of his estate." Curtis Burritt Raymond (1816-92) was a native of Sherburne, Chenango County, New York. He was educated at the Polytechnic Institute at Chitten- ango, in Madison County, and at Columbia College. 84 THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE After a period of European travel, he became a resident of Boston about the year 1844, and a mem- ber of the firm of Rice, Hall & Raymond, dry goods, at 54 Milk Street. In the Directory of 1859 his name appears as President of Brady's Bend Iron Company, 30 City Exchange. Mr. Raymond was prominent in military circles, and attained the rank of Major. He was well versed in the science of tactics, and re- vised Spencer's Manual for the First Corps of Ca- dets. This Manual, as revised by him, was after- ward adopted for use in the Russian Army. Major Raymond also drilled several regiments of volunteers at the camp in Lynnfield early in the Civil War. An intimate friend described him as having "a wonderful memory, a superior mind and talents of a high order." He was also an enthusiastic explorer, and lover of the White Mountains. In 1863 he first blazed the way along the trail which leaves the carriage-road at the second mile-post, on the Glen side of Mount Washington, and leads upward to the so-called Snow Arch. This trail was improved by him in 1891, and is known as the Raymond Path. In 1884 or thereabout Lydia N. Raymond leased her homestead to John G. Mitchell, and soon after- ward the entire building was devoted to mercantile uses. The dwelling adjacent to and below the Dexter house, fronting on Park Street, and forming a part of the original Amory mansion, was owned succes- 85 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY sively by Dr. John Jeffries, William Payne, the Honorable Christopher Gore, Andrew Ritchie, Har- rison Gray Otis, and George Ticknor. Dr. Jeffries bought this house from Mr. Thomas Amory in April, 1806, for forty thousand dollars, and retained pos- session of it for one year only. He was of a family which has been represented in Boston for some two hundred and fifty years; a Harvard graduate of 1763; M.D., Aberdeen Uni- versity, 1769; and a prominent Loyalist practitioner in Boston. Dr. Jeffries assisted in caring for the British wounded after the Battle of Bunker Hill; and he it was who identified the body of General Joseph Warren. He accompanied the King's troops to Halifax in March, 1776, and was made Surgeon- General of his Majesty's forces in North America. During the later years of the Revolution he made his home in London, and in 1785 he acquired distinction by accompanying the French aeronaut, Frangois Blanchard, in a balloon, on the pioneer aerial flight across the English Channel. In order to prevent a descent into the sea, they were obliged to throw overboard considerable ballast, including a large portion of their clothing and supplies. In 1790 he re- turned to Boston, where he acquired a large practice. We have the testimony of Dr. O. W. Holmes that among the old ladies of the town Dr. Jeffries was known as "Jeffers," which was doubtless a term of endearment. It was said that during the fifty-six 86 THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE years of his professional career, he seldom enjoyed an uninterrupted meal in his own house. He was an inveterate foe to quackery in any form, and "never from any motive allowed to pass, without remon- strance, fulsome praise of the fashionable charlatan of the day." Dr. Jeffries was succeeded in the ownership of the estate by William Payne, Esq., merchant, of Bos- ton. As a young man he was engaged in the insur- ance business, in partnership with his father, Edward Payne. Their office was on Long Wharf. Later he formed a partnership with Thomas C. Amory "in the commission line." After this he wrote: "I bought and sold public securities, and like a simple- ton gave up the insurance business, and bought large tracts of land in the State of Georgia." The Honorable Christopher Gore was the next proprietor of this portion of the Amory mansion, which he occupied while serving as Governor in 1808-09. He was one of a group of distinguished con- temporary lawyers, which included Theophilus Par- sons, Samuel Dexter, James Sullivan, Fisher Ames, and Harrison Gray Otis. His failure of reelection, after one year's service, was attributed to the poli- tical excitement and bitter party contentions of the day, and not to any lack of popular appreciation. "Few men," it was said of him, "were more power- ful in argument or more eloquent in debate." Gov- ernor Gore was afterward a member of the United 87 ' OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY States Senate. His estate at Waltham was one of the most pretentious in New England, and its fine old mansion is still to be seen there. He was accustomed to drive about in an orange-colored coach, with liveried coachman, footman, and outriders; a spec- tacle which must have been sensational in its effect upon the minds of the plain country people there- about. While serving in the National Congress, he formed a close and enduring friendship with the Honorable Jeremiah Mason, one of the most prominent states- men and lawyers in the country. Mr. Mason once referred to Mr. Gore as having few superiors in Washington or anywhere else. Andrew Ritchie (Harvard, 1802), who bought the Jeffries house in 1816, was a practising lawyer, of Boston, and a well-known authority on fine editions of the classics. He delivered the oration at the municipal exercises on Independence Day, 1808. The Honorable Harrison Gray Otis (1782-1862) was the next owner. "All three of his names/' wrote his biographer, "stood for respectability and long- established position in the Province of Massachu- setts Bay. . . . He came of pure English stock, strengthened by five generations in America, and refined by three generations of public service." Mr. Otis was one of the leaders of the Federalist Party, and a distinguished public speaker. He served in both Houses of Congress, and as Mayor of Boston 88 THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE for two years. "Old Faneuil Hall," said one of his admirers, "will ever be memorable as the forum, whence with a voice of silvery sweetness, the flashes of wit and stirring eloquence of the Boston Cicero captivated the people." The mother of Mr. Otis was the only daughter of Harrison Gray, Loyalist, and Treasurer of the Province. The large dwelling at number 45 Beacon Street, which Mr. Otis first occupied in 1807, was afterward bought by Edward Austin, Esq., who re- sided there for fifty years. In July, 1830, the easterly portion of the Amory house came into the possession of George Ticknor (1791-1871), the well-known author of the "History of Spanish Literature," who made his home there for forty-one years. "The situation, the proportions and the taste of this residence," in the words of his biographer, "sufficed for all the needs of domestic and social hours. His new house stood at the most attractive point of the margin of the Common, at the top of the slope, looking down the avenue of elms of the finest of its malls." * His valuable books were kept in a large, attractive room, with three balconied windows, on the second floor. Mr. Ticknor was a graduate of Dartmouth Col- lege in 1807, and was admitted to the Bar in 1813. He served as Professor of Modern Languages and 1 George S. Hillard, Life, Letters and Journals of George Ticknor. 89 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY Literature at Harvard for sixteen years, and was one of the founders of the Boston Public Library. He was also Chairman of its Board of Trustees in 1864-66. By his will Mr. Ticknor bequeathed to his wife the Park Street estate, together with "all the fur- niture, stores, plate, housekeeping articles, pictures, engravings, marbles, busts and works of art and taste." Mrs. Ticknor continued to occupy the house, where she is said to have "ruled as a social queen," until the year 1884. Over the mantel in the library hung a portrait of Sir Walter Scott. When the Tick- nors were returning to Boston from Scotland in 1824, Sir Walter offered to give Mr. Ticknor some remembrance of his visit; and the latter suggested a portrait of his host. In deference to Mr. Ticknor's nationality, an American artist, C. R. Leslie, was selected to paint the portrait, which was considered an excellent likeness. Sir Walter desired that the artist should include one of his dogs in the picture; but after one or two experiments Mr. Leslie decided against it. In the Park Street mansion for half a century many eminent citizens were hospitably welcomed. Prescott, the historian, was often there; and among other frequent visitors were Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, and Rufus Choate. "It was in the Spring of 1832," wrote Mr. Hil- 90 THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE lard in his "Memoir" of the Honorable Jeremiah Mason. " We met at the house of our common friend, Mr. Ticknor; a house for so many years known in Boston for its elegant hospitality, and the culti- vated and agreeable society which gathered there. Every member of the Bar, and every law student in New England, knew at least two things about Mr. Mason; that he was a very tall man, and a very great lawyer. Had I seen him without knowing who he was, I should have taken him for a prosperous farmer. As I glanced from his face to that of Sir Walter Scott, in a fine portrait by Leslie, which hung over the fire-place, I thought I saw some resemblance between the two." An esteemed correspondent, writing from New Bedford, enclosed a copy of an extract from a Bos- ton newspaper of the year 1876, as follows: "George Ticknor was not remarkable for originality. He never said brilliant things, nor surprised anybody by the boldness of his criticism. He made no happy strokes, and dropped no memorable bons mots, to circulate in the speech of his friends. But his large reading, his exact and cheerful scholarship, his finely culti- vated taste, elegant manners, and pronounced con- servatism made him conspicuous and respected. He was a good listener and a shrewd observer; and if his own flint emitted no sparks under the steel, his tinder caught and kept those struck from more gifted minds." 91 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY The Society to Encourage Studies at Home was founded by Miss Anna Eliot Ticknor, daughter of George Ticknor, in the year 1873, and continued to exist until 1897. Meetings of the Society were held in the attractive library of the mansion. From there Miss Ticknor "laid out and directed courses of study over the country. By a well organized system of dis- tribution, she sent books, engravings, photographs, maps and all that makes the outfit of thorough in- struction, to the doors of families living far from libraries, museums or colleges. She opened new sources of progress and pleasure to mothers and their children within their own homes; and without hindering in any way domestic duties or claims." The Department of History of the Society was or- ganized by Miss Katharine P. Loring. The object of the teachers was to assist the students in finding the meaning of history, "and to understand a people by taking dates, events and even the lives and doings of important men as indications, and not as final knowledge." The title was suggested by that of an English Society of similar name. Edward Greene Malbone (1777-1807), the noted painter of miniatures, began his work in Boston in 1796, when but nineteen years of age. He visited Europe in 1801 with Washington Allston, but soon returned, and made his home in the Amory mansion, not long after it was built. He probably boarded 92 THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE with Mrs. Catherine Carter, who entertained many well-known people at her hostelry in the same man- sion. As a portrait-painter Malbone was said to have ranked with the foremost artists of any age. His masterpiece was called "The Hours," wherein the present, past, and future were represented by female heads. The Honorable Fisher Ames was one of the early occupants of the Amory house, which was also the birthplace of Thomas Coffin Amory, Junior (1812-89). Mr. Ames was a graduate of Harvard College, Class of 1774. He practised law for a time in his native town of Dedham, and then entered upon a political career. Throughout the eight years of President Washington's administration he was an influential Federalist member of the National Congress. In 1804 he was elected President of Harvard, but ill health obliged him to decline the honor. The Amory house was the home of General La- fayette during his visit to Boston in August, 1824. At that time the portion of the building facing Beacon Street was occupied by a Club, which was an organi- zation of Boston merchants. Replying to an address of welcome by Mayor Quincy, Lafayette said: "What must be my feelings, Sir, at the blessed moment when, after so long an absence, I find myself surrounded by the good citizens of Boston; when I can witness the prosperity, the immense improve- ments, that have been the just reward of a noble OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY struggle, virtuous morals and truly Republican In- stitutions! I beg you all, beloved citizens of Boston, to accept the respectful and warm thanks of a heart which has, for nearly half a century, been devoted to your illustrious City." Lafayette also declared that the crowd which thronged the streets appeared to him "like a picked population out of the whole human race." 1 While Marshal Joffre was driving past this house, with his military escort, in May, 1917, he was ob- served to raise his hat; a graceful act, it was believed, in memory of his illustrious compatriot. On the day of his arrival in Boston, Lafayette, attended by the members of his suite and the civil authorities, passed along the Tremont Street Mall to the foot of Park Street. He was greeted en route by some twenty-five hundred school children, who were gayly attired in honor of the occasion. A bat- talion of light infantry formed in line on Park Street, and was reviewed by the General. The children sang the "Marseillaise." Among them was Wendell Phillips, the famous orator, reformer, and aboli- tionist, who was then eleven years old, and a pupil at the Public Latin School. Mr. Phillips related how he stood in line with his schoolmates on that oc- casion. They had ribbons, bearing portraits of La- fayette, pinned on their jackets. And "when that enthusiast for Liberty, then a grand old man, re- 1 The Life of Josiah Quincy. 94 THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE visited the land, to which in the hot blood of youth, he had given his sword, he little dreamed that his journey was to be a triumphal procession, such as the world had never seen." Even the horses were ex- horted to do their best on this historic occasion. "Behave pretty now, Charley," said the driver of the General's coach to one of his pair; "behave pretty; you are going to carry the greatest man in the world." l Soon after his arrival General Lafayette appeared upon the balcony above the entrance of the Amory mansion, to receive the greetings of the populace. He was escorted on either side by Governor William Eustis and by the former Governor John Brooks, each wearing Continental uniforms. The first-named had served as a surgeon in the American army dur- ing the Revolution, and attended the wounded after the Battle of Bunker Hill, wherein Mr. Brooks was a participant. These two veteran officers had become reconciled after an estrangement, in order that they might share together the honor of welcoming the distinguished visitor. On the evening of August 30, 1824, Lafayette held a reception in his apartments at the Amory house; and this function was attended by many prominent ladies of Boston. In some "Reminiscences of Lafayette's Visit to Boston," in 1824, General William H. Sumner nar- rates that a portion of the Amory mansion was fitted 1 Mary Caroline Crawford, Old New England Inns. 95 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY up for the occasion, and that an iron door was opened in the wall of the partition between Mrs. Carter's lodgings and the apartments of Mrs. John Jeffries, thus connecting the splendid drawing-rooms of the two houses. "When Lafayette entered the house, which was thrown open for the free reception of citizens, the latter rushed in to take him by the hand. But the multitude who thronged to see him were sur- prised at not being able to do so; because the moment he entered the house, he enquired for the bath-room, where he refreshed himself for so long a time, that many retired without accomplishing their wishes." On the 2d of September, when the General re- turned from New Hampshire, a banquet was given by the City Council in his honor at the Amory- Ticknor house. Lafayette, we are told, enjoyed his visit to Boston highly. He was cheered to the echo whenever he went abroad; and the corner of Park Street was seldom deserted. 1 On the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1825, a pro- cession was formed at the head of Park Street under the direction of Major-General Theodore Lyman, Junior. The military escort consisted of sixteen companies of infantry and a cavalry squadron. Then came about forty veterans, survivors of the Battle. They were followed by some two hundred Revolutionary officers and soldiers. Next in the line 1 Samuel A. Drake, Historic Landmarks of Boston. 96 THE AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE were a large body of Freemasons, adorned with their regalia and jewels. These preceded General Lafa- yette, who rode in a "coach and four." In that order the procession moved down Park Street, and along Tremont Street to Charlestown. 1 Lafayette's appearance at that time was thus described: "A tall man, of a ruddy, or rather sun- burnt complexion; with strong features and a very gracious smile. His eyes were bright and expressive. He wore a wig, and was dressed very plainly in a brown frock coat and nankeen pantaloons. He walked lame from an old wound in one of his legs; and bowed with that graceful and benevolent air, which ever distinguishes a gentleman." 2 In a con- temporary account of the anniversary celebration, mention is made of a veteran soldier, who occupied a front seat of one of the carriages in the procession. Wearing his old battle-stained uniform, in which bullet-holes were plainly visible, he held in his ex- tended right hand a Continental bullet-pouch, which he waved gently, to attract the attention of the spec- tators, by whom he was greeted with wild enthu- siasm. 1 Caleb H. Snow, A History of Boston, 8 George H. Moore, LL.D. REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET By J. Collins Warren, M.D. At the time of my birth in 1842, our family was liv- ing in Pemberton Square, at Number Twenty-Nine, nearly opposite the approach to the Square from Som- erset Street. It was when I was three years of age that we moved into Number Six Park Street. Incidentally it may be remarked that I have lived continuously "on the Common" from that time to this (1922), the sole remaining local representative of the resi- dents of that period. Number Six was a more modern type of house than the Bulfinch block, being con- structed, like its neighbors, Numbers Five, Seven, and Eight, with a front elevation of the red-faced brick, which was so characteristic a feature of the fashionable dwelling of that period. The lot on which this house stood, nineteen feet in width, had been a part of the estate of Governor Gore, which had been sold to Mr. Francis C Gray, who built a house for himself on the larger lot. It was purchased by Dr. John C. Warren in order that his son might be near him; and the house which had already been planned by the architect, Mr. George M. Dexter, was built upon it. It was a tradition in the family that my mother had hesitated long before agreeing to this site in preference to one next to Saint Paul's Church on 98 REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET Tremont Street. The latter choice was finally set aside as one in too close proximity to the inevitable funereal functions of its neighbor. In preparation for the occupancy of this house, illuminating gas was in- troduced into all the rooms; and my mother was re- sponsible for a statement, often dwelt upon by her, that this was the first instance of gas being used in a private dwelling-house in the City; and that the event was considered one of sufficient importance to be men- tioned in the daily newspapers. It must have been about this time also (1848) that Cochituate water was introduced into the City. The installation of "fixed basins" in every bedroom was then considered a great advance over the old type of washstand. There were two bath-tubs, which, for a house with less than twenty feet frontage, was considered a gen- erous supply. Both of them were fitted with appara- tus for shower-baths, which poured a feeble stream of cold water upon the shoulders of those whose systems could withstand the shock. The tonic effect of this mode of ablution was heralded abroad with much en- thusiasm by the medical fraternity, and was admin- istered indiscriminately to the young, the feeble, and the aged, as a panacea for many ailments. The im- perfections inseparable from the plumbing of those days soon gave rise to complications which were not always compatible with an ideal hygienic standard, and finally led to the abolishment of the "fixed basin" from the sleeping-apartment. It was in this house OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY that the younger members of the family were born; and although there were but four master's bedrooms, it was supposed at the time to give ample accommo- dations for a family of seven children. My earliest recollections of sleeping conveniences are those associated with a "trundle bed," which in the daytime disappeared beneath the flowing drap- ery of the four-posted bed of my parents. The draw- ing- and dining-rooms were up one flight of stairs; which occupied so much space in the centre of the building that the passage which communicated with these two apartments was a long and narrow one. The doctor's office was on the ground floor, and the adjacent hall did service for the waiting patients; as did also a goodly portion of the first flight of stairs. My good father was fond of sermonizing on the lux- uries of the day, as compared with those of his youth. Doubtless the changes in "essentials" since his time have much to do with present-day laments over the high cost of living. Our immediate neighbors on each side were members of the Quincy family. I recall a visit which I made with my father to President Josiah Quincy in his old age. He was suffering from an injury to his hip, caused by a fall. He had been at- tended medically during his long life by three genera- tions of the Warren family; and inasmuch as the first generation yielded two members to his service (Jo- seph and John), my father thought that the oppor- tunity should not be missed of introducing to him a 100 REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET fifth Warren. I was still quite a lad, and doubtless went with my father more or less by compulsion ; but I recall vividly the scolding which my father got for not giving him a better leg. This threw me for the time being quite into the background, much to my satisfaction. After the death of President Quincy, the house passed, I think, into the possession of Governor Gardner, and underwent much alteration, receiving in the lower story a facing of freestone, which had then begun to be a fashionable material. Number Eight Park Street was occupied at that time by the Honorable Abbott Lawrence, whose dwelling has been preserved with comparatively little change in many of its parts, by the Union Club. I re- call a very agreeable visit to Mr. Lawrence, in my childhood; and was much entertained, while seated on his knee, by the exhibition of a bag of copper coins, which had recently been discovered by work- men digging in his cellar. They were of more historic than monetary value, bearing the imprint of King George, and evidently buried there in Revolutionary times. After the death of my grandfather in 1856, we moved into Number Two Park Street, and Number Six was occupied by my uncle, J. Sullivan Warren and his wife. My uncle died in 1867, and his widow con- tinued to live there until her death in 1896. Number Two Park Street was one of a block of four brick houses, four stories in height, with low 101 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY attic roofs. An iron balcony on the parlor floor re- lieved the simplicity of the front elevation. A broad arched doorway gave cover to a flight of two steps, and avoided encroachment upon the sidewalk, which was of more moderate width than at the present time; a sidewalk of similar breadth then existed on the Com- mon side of the street. Each lot represented a front- age of about forty feet, which gave ample space for a passage to the right of the main entrance into the back yard. This was a necessary feature of each building, owing to the absence of an alleyway in the rear of the block, due to the fact that the lots abutted directly upon the Granary Burying-Ground. The original plans ' show an arched entrance to this pas- sageway, possibly intended to admit vehicles. The windows on the other side of the front door are drawn on a smaller scale than those which existed in my time, and resemble many still to be seen in some of the ancient residences on Beacon Hill. The house as originally built occupied the front of the lot only; and an Ell was subsequently added on the northern half of the yard, which extended nearly to the rear boundary fence. This had a solid brick base supporting a tall iron railing, in one corner of which was a padlocked gate, permitting at times ac- cess to the cemetery. This enclosure served the pur- pose of a private city park for the abutters, rather 1 In the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and signed by Bulfinch. 102 REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET than a place for the burial of the dead; for few inter- ments were made there after the beginning of the nineteenth century. It afforded far from a mournful prospect to the occupants of the Park Street dwellings, and served as a playground for the children of the family. In the summer-time the foliage was most lux- uriant; and before the advent of horse-cars on Tre- mont Street, the enclosure afforded to the inhabitants of Park Street all the advantages of private grounds; giving protection from the noises of city life, and pro- viding a much enjoyed breathing space in the very heart of the metropolis. With the broad expanse of Boston Common on the western front, the buildings afforded an ideal dwelling spot, for the better part of a century, until the rising tide of traffic finally forced the last inhabitant into a new residential district. Many were the adventures in the "Old Granary," as it was called. Members of my family can still tell of picnics and other festivals held upon the quaint old table-like structures covering the graves of families with historic names. Many of these tablets were already showing signs of extreme age, and the loosened brick- work of crumb- ling walls furnished temptation to youthful curiosity. But a wholesome respect for, not to say fear of, their gruesome contents, restrained tendencies to ju- venile vandalism. Governor Gardner, who at one time occupied the house, Number Seven Park Street, once told the writer that a tomb in the rear of this lot 103 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY had greatly excited the curiosity of members of his family by showing signs of collapse in one of its walls, sufficient to expose the contents. The final tumbling in of a few loose bricks, perhaps aided in their fall by inquisitive hands, disclosed a skull still covered with luxurious flaxen tresses. The excitement caused by this discovery induced him to examine into the his- tory of the former inhabitants of this last resting- place. Investigation led to the somewhat startling discovery that a beautiful young lady who had died of smallpox had found here an untimely grave. . . . At Number Two Park Street Dr. and Mrs. John C. Warren passed their married life; and here their children were born. There were three boys, John, James Sullivan, and Jonathan Mason; and three girls, Susan (Mrs. Charles Lyman), Mary Collins (Mrs. Thomas Dwight), and Emily (Mrs. William Apple- ton). My father (Mason) was born, and died in the same room (1810-67); a record certainly unusual in the rapidly changing conditions of an American city. The house, as originally built, contained no fur- nace. In cold weather the older people sat around the fire; while the boys lighted pieces of brown paper, and shook them up and down in their long boots to warm them, before venturing to pull them on. Although windows were usually kept closed at night, ice had to be broken for the boys to wash in, on rising in the morning. Fortunately, the house was situated in a sheltered spot under the brow of Beacon Hill, and in 104 REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET later years, when the hot-air furnace was in all its glory, there was never any difficulty in keeping the house warm in spite of its wide frontage and the entire absence of double windows. In the early part of the century, the custom pre- vailed of apprenticing the young student of medicine to a member of the Faculty. Until 1810 the medical lectures were given at Cambridge, and until 1821, when the Massachusetts General Hospital opened its doors for patients, little or no facilities for studying disease in hospital wards existed in Boston. The ap- prentice system, therefore, still prevailed as a legacy from a previous generation. My father often described to me the conditions which consequently existed at Number Two Park Street during his boyhood days. A room on the ground floor, well sanded, was given up to the medical students. Here the pupils pursued their studies, and picked up such clinical experience as the practice of their preceptor afforded. The students also boarded, or at all events took their midday meal, in the house. The boys, Sullivan and Mason, were given places at the table, and took advantage of their association with companions of more mature years to play many childish pranks upon them. I recall the thrilling story of a fiery-headed youth, generally regarded as the "butt" of his com- rades, who, after some more than usually impudent practical joke, pursued relentlessly young Sullivan Warren out of the house and across the Common, 105 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY until the guilty urchin found sanctuary in the Frog Pond. This was before the day when that delightful old reminder of the mother country, the iron fence, had been erected. The rapidly increasing volume of works on medical subjects finally necessitated the construction of an Ell, in which the library was placed. Here all non- professional books found an asylum, in cases of ma- hogany hue reaching nearly to the ceiling, and form- ing an oval room of charming proportions, decorated with portraits and busts of many old worthies. In an alcove at the farther end, receiving light from the "Old Granary," stood a bust of James Jackson, the lifelong friend, which seemed to give special charac- ter and dignity to the apartment. My recollections of the house during this period of its history are con- fined to occasional visits to my grandfather, and to my step-grandmother; and also to the annual family gatherings, which occurred on Thanksgiving Days. It was our custom to attend these every other year, the alternate years being devoted to similar gatherings at the home of my mother's father, the Honorable B. W. Crowninshield, on the corner of Somerset and Beacon Streets. It would appear that the harvest fete day was more formally observed by the heads of families at that time than either Christ- mas or New Year's Day. I also recall attending the wedding of Emily Warren and William Appleton, when hardly more than three years of age. The cere- 106 REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET mony was held in the two front rooms, which gave space for a large gathering; and the service was performed by the Reverend Alexander H. Vinton. Susan Powell Mason died on January 3, 1841; and in October, 1843, Dr. Warren married Anne Winthrop, sister of the Honorable Robert C. Winthrop. After her death, in December, 1851, Mr. and Mrs. James Sullivan Warren came to live at Number Two Park Street. Dr. John C. Warren died in 1856, and in the fall of the next year his son, Dr. Jonathan Mason Warren, moved from Number Six Park Street into his father's house. The old homestead at this time needed much renovation. As the family had gradually diminished in size, many of the rooms were given up to osteo- logical and fossil collections; accumulations of years during the development of the "Mastodon Museum" on Chestnut Street. A full-sized copy in oil of Rem- brandt's "Lesson in Anatomy" occupied the south- ern wall of the entrance hall; but this was removed, partly in deference to my mother's protests, and partly for the purpose of cutting an archway to communicate with a patients' waiting-room, in the space formerly provided for the alleyway. The neces- sary alterations were completed during the winter, and my father and his family entered into possession in the autumn of 1857. I recall that a valuation of forty thousand dollars had been put upon the house by the executors of my grandfather's estate; a figure 107 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY which my father regarded as excessively high, and therefore prejudicial to his financial interests as one of the heirs. The mansion at this period was a fine example of an old Boston homestead, made com- fortable by many modern improvements. There were two bath-rooms, and set basins in many of the bed-chambers. This custom was, I think, quite universal at the time, there being no prejudice against the presence of waste pipes in a sleeping apartment. On the ground floor, and opposite to the new arched recess in the front entry, was the doctor's office. The room had two windows facing on the street, and partook more of the character of a "Study" than of an "Office." High oak-colored book-cases sur- rounded what was in reality a spacious apartment, forming an oval curve at the farther end, through which an entrance penetrated into an interior lava- tory and medicine closet, provided with remedies such as the times afforded. Between the windows was an old mahogany piece of furniture, which con- tained on its ^shelves above books of reference, and below a series of shallow drawers containing a for- midable array of surgical instruments, most of which in the fulness of time have since found their way into the cases of the historical collection at the Har- vard Medical School. Here was to be found a fine medical library, the accumulation of half a century of medical literature, and giving a fair representa- 108 REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET tion of the medical progress of that period. No ex- pense had been spared by its former occupant, and my father became thus the possessor, not only of the current medical literature of the day, but also of many a rare and valuable monograph produced at times when no thought of expense stood in the way of an ambitious author. The old library on the sec- ond floor of the Ell was carefully preserved from any modern improvements, and continued to represent the dwelling-place of the lares and penates. The front rooms on this floor were separated by the typical mahogany "folding-door," one of them being given up to the dining-room, as in former times; and the other to the drawing-room; or, as it was usually called by us children, "the best parlor." The view from these rooms was an exceptional one in the City at that period; there being no dwelling-houses inter- vening between this block and the sky-line formed by the hills of Brookline. The western sun on a winter's day gave light and warmth which pene- trated all corners of these houses until the very close of the day. Our family consisted at that time of my father, Jonathan Mason Warren, my mother, Annie Crowninshield Warren, and five children, — Mary (Mrs. Samuel Hammond), myself, next in order; then Rosamond (Mrs. C. H. Gibson), Eleanor (Mrs. Thomas Motley), and Annie C. Warren. The wed- dings of Mrs. Hammond (1858), Mrs. Gibson (1871), and Mrs. Motley (1872) took place while they were 109 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY living in this house. Dr. Mason Warren died here on August 19, 1867. During the season of 1868-69, the house was leased to and occupied by John Lothrop Motley, the historian. In the summer of that year the writer returned from a three years' course of medical study in Europe, and began the practice of his profession in the old doctor's office; and con- tinued in practice there until 1874, when he removed to Number Fifty-Eight Beacon Street, where he has since resided (1922). The night of the Great Boston Fire in 1872 was a memorable one for Number Two. This private dwelling was then on the very front line of the resi- dential district; and with its neighbors in the block was nearer to the seat of the conflagration than any dwelling-house of that period. The writer, being the only occupant of the house at that time, hastily summoned members of the family from their homes in the "Back Bay," and they kept open house for the greater part of the night. Old fire bags, bearing the name of John C. Warren, were unearthed from their concealment in ornamental fire buckets of the date 1816. These were filled with silver; and to- gether with valuable paintings, were removed to the homes of relatives. This was not done until the fire had worked up Summer Street as far as Washington Street, when it was felt that the stampede of vehicles of all kinds would soon make passage from Park Street to Beacon Street impracticable. 110 REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET The final occupants of the old homestead were Mrs. Jonathan Mason Warren and her unmarried daughter, Annie C. Warren, who remained there un- til the house was pulled down and replaced as an office and store building, which was leased to Messrs. Doll & Richards for a term of years. This event oc- curred in the year 1878. The tearing down of the old Bulfinch building opened a vista into the cemetery from Park Street. Public attention was thus drawn anew to this old relic of the past. The grave of John Hancock was situated in this part of the grounds and had always been an object of interest to visitors at Number Two Park Street. A single stone with the simple inscrip- tion "Hancock" was all that marked the site of the grave. It was not long after this occurrence that a suitable monument was placed over the grave of this distinguished Bostonian, for the first time, so as to be easily seen by the passer-by on the crowded Tre- mont Street thoroughfare. Numbers Three and Four of this block had, if my memory serves me right, already been claimed for business purposes; but Num- ber One was still occupied by Mr. Thomas Wiggles- worth and his two sisters, Miss Mary and Miss Anne. I was sent to school at Park Street Church at the age of five. This was in 1847. It was a girls' school, kept by Miss Dwight, and I was the only boy. The school-room was situated in the brick portion of the tower which supports the steeple, and was lighted 111 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY by an arched window above the main entrance on Tremont Street. A door from the farther end led directly up into the wooden steeple, which served as a playground for the pupils. Miss D wight's scholars varied in age from beginners to "big girls." I re- mained there about one year, and then was trans- ferred to Mr. D. B. Tower's School for Boys. This school occupied a large room on the ground floor of the church, running from Park Street to the rear of the building, facing directly upon the Granary Bury- ing-Ground. The entrance was, as at present, on Park Street. Mr. Tower had for assistants Mr. Tweed and Mr. Baxter. Mr. Tower was a short, thick-set man, with a powerful physique. He had a deep voice and somewhat imperious manner; but was much inter- ested in his pupils individually, and was a popular and successful teacher. Mr. Tweed, the senior assist- ant, was no longer young. He was tall and slender in figure, a quaint old-fashioned type, long since passed away. Mr. Baxter was a most genial schoolmaster, and with his colleagues succeeded in keeping well in hand a conglomeration of representatives of the younger generation of fashionable and unfashionable Boston of the period. I remember that Thanksgiv- ing Day was always observed by an annual gathering at the school. Each boy's desk was covered with a generous supply of apples, nuts, and raisins; and some of the older boys were expected to contribute to the day's entertainment by "speaking pieces." 112 REMINISCENCES OF PARK STREET One of the oldest boys in the school was the lead- ing star, and always wound up the day's exer- cises with an oratorical effort, which was greatly appreciated. Mr. Sullivan's school for boys was in the basement of the church, and was approached from Park Street corner by a steep flight of steps. This was also a popular school, but not so large as its neighbors. The schools above mentioned all con- tinued to occupy the church building for many years after. During the years immediately preceding the Civil War, the eastern part of the Common, especially the grass-plot alongside Park Street Mall, was a favorite playground for school-boys, hockey being then a popular feature in athletics. Many boys from the Public Latin School, then on Bedford Street, took part in these sports. In the spring and summer the game of marbles was a customary pastime. In those days the Park Street region was purely residential; the only evidence of its role as a thoroughfare being the passage of the old stage-coach in the early morn- ing hours, from the northern to the southern railway terminus, and the not infrequent blocking of the road by flocks of sheep which were being driven across the city. Cab-stands were unknown, and a quiet, home-like atmosphere, which also pervaded both Tremont and Winter Streets, gave safe ap- proach for timid pedestrians to the shopping district. The residential quarter of Boston at that time was 113 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY largely in this locality, and the fine old specimens of early nineteenth century architecture, extending well beyond Washington Street, through Summer Street, past Church Green, were strongly suggestive of many parts of the mother City of London. PARK STREET CHURCH The lot whereon the Granary stood, measuring one hundred and eighteen feet along Park Street, was sold by the Town agents, November 10, 1795, for the sum of $8366 to Major-General Henry Jackson, who commanded the Massachusetts Militia at the time of the sale. He had served with distinction dur- ing the Revolution, and was the owner of consid- erable real estate in the town. From him the Granary lot passed to the control of Mrs. Hepsibah Swan, the widow of James Swan. Thereafter it became the property of her daughters, who sold the premises, April 13, 1809, to Caleb Bingham, book-seller and publisher; Andrew Calhoun, merchant; and William Thurston, Esq., Trustees of the Church. The price paid for this land was twenty thousand dollars. A subsequent deed to Samuel H. Walley, January 17, 1810, recites that "a Church of Christ, called Park Street Church, had been gathered in the Town of Boston; and a brick meeting-house lately erected on a street formerly called Centry Street, and now called Park Place." The Trustees "do permit and suffer the said house and land to be used, occupied and enjoyed as and for a meeting-house or place for the public, Protestant worship and service of God." The Granary was removed in 1809, and the Church 115 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY was built immediately afterward from designs pre- pared by Peter Banner, an English architect and builder, of whom little is known. The wooden capi- tals of the steeple are the handiwork of Solomon Willard, the architect of Bunker Hill Monument. The mason-work was under the supervision of Bena- jah Brigham. It was the intention of the Building Committee to use common bricks; but better coun- sels prevailed, and face bricks were employed. The building, now seen in its original red-brick dress, was newly painted in 1906. At that time, to quote from a recent writer, "the sympathetically toned gray of the body of the Church, with its white trimmings, combined to give a pearly effect, which could not but convey to the coarsest apprehension the fact that this Church was a pearl of great price for Boston." Henry James, the American novelist, described its style of architecture as "perfectly felicitous." "Its spire," he said, "recalls Wren's bold London exam- ples, like the comparatively thin echo of a far-away song; playing its part, however, for harmonious effect as perfectly as possible." Mr. James regarded this Church building as "the most interesting mass of brick and mortar in America." [The weather-vane, which crowns the spire, is two hundred and seventeen feet above the street level. Many will recall the thrill- ing sight of a steeple-jack, engaged in regilding this vane a few years ago. It was not originally intended that the edifice should have a spire. But the Building 116 PARK STREET CHURCH Showing Fence and Sidewalk along the Common, Horse-Car Tracks in Tremont Street, and the Paddock Elms in front of the Granary Burying-Ground PARK STREET CHURCH Committee yielded to the prevailing sentiment that a Church occupying such a prominent site should be thus ornamented. And for more than a century the graceful spire has remained intact, defying the fury of winter storms; although it was observed to sway considerably during the great gale which destroyed Minot's Ledge Light House in the middle of the last century. 1 The Park Street Church Society was organized at the mansion of William Thurston, a well-known at- torney, on Bowdoin Street, February 27, 1809; and in that house the first religious exercises of the new Society were held. The Corner-Stone of the Church building was laid May 1, 1809; and the total cost of the latter was somewhat over seventy thousand dol- lars. The Dedication Sermon was preached by the Reverend Doctor Edward Dorr Griffin, January 10, 1810; and he was installed as Pastor, July 31, 1811. Mr. Lindsay Swift, in his "Literary Landmarks of Boston," wrote that Park Street Church is an im- portant strategic point; and that "all roads lead to Rome, except in Boston, where they lead to, or cer- tainly from this convenient centre of the City's life." For many years the corner of Tremont and Park Streets has been a rendezvous, and a point of de- parture, especially for strangers. The origin of the name "Brimstone Corner," some- times applied to this locality, has been attributed to * April 81. 1851. 117 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY the fervid doctrines preached within the walls of the Church. The true source of that name appears to be the historic fact that brimstone, for use in making gunpowder, was stored in the building during the War of 1812. There is also a tradition that in the early days of this Church, sulphur was sprinkled on the sidewalk near by, to attract the attention of way- farers. In this building were founded the American Education Society (1815), the Prison Reform Society, and the American Temperance Society (1826). On the Fourth of July, 1832, the song "America" was heard in public for the first time, at a children's celebration in Park Street Church. The author, Sam- uel Francis Smith, then a theological student at An- dover, Massachusetts, had composed poetry from his childhood. Inspired by the words of a patriotic Ger- man hymn, he determined to produce an anthem which should manifest the love felt by him for his own country. " Seizing a scrap of paper, he began to write, and in half an hour the words stood upon it substan- tially as they are sung to-day." * On Sunday forenoon, November 24, 1895, one of the workmen engaged in excavating for the Tremont Street Subway, almost under the front wall of Park Street Church, probably struck his pickaxe into a main water-pipe, which burst; and the water shot up with such force that it broke the window glass in the minister's study, ruining its furnishings, and covering 1 C. A. Browne, The Story of Our National Ballads, 118 PARK STREET CHURCH with mud its carpet and luxurious upholstery. Fears were entertained that the foundations of the building had been weakened. At the following evening service the minister told the members of his congregation that it was an outrage to permit the carrying on of such work at the very portals of the Church on a Sun- day. And with natural righteous indignation he re- ferred to the Subway as "an infernal hole," in more than one sense. "And who is the Boss in charge of this work?" he demanded. Then after a pause, he added, "It is the Devil!" In 1809, when Park Street Church was built, Bos- ton still preserved the appearance of an old English market-town. No curbstones separated the streets from the sidewalks. The cows still browsed on the Common, and the Town Crier made his proclama- tions. There were then but two houses of more than one story on the present Tremont Street. "Colon- nade Row had not been built, and Boston was a city of gardens. There were only a few residences on Bea- con Hill: its western slope was a series of terraces. The business section of to-day still retained its resi- dential character, with its old-fashioned gardens, trees and churches." * In 1902 Park Street Church and its site were sold for one and a quarter million dollars to a syndicate of business men, who proposed to erect in its stead a sky-scraper office building. Thereupon a committee 1 The Preservation of Park Street Church. Boston, 1903. 119 OLD PAEK STREET AND ITS VICINITY of influential persons was formed, whose object was the preservation of the Church property. It was justly claimed that the whole aspect of the Common and of the Granary Burial-Ground would be irre- trievably marred by the destruction of this impressive landmark. The committee doubtless reflected the prevailing sentiment of the community, in their plea that the preservation of the Church would avert a severe blow to the architectural beauty of the City. And they maintained with reason that the building could be made to serve as an important centre for educational and civic work. Influenced, it may be, by the trend of public opinion, the members of the syndicate failed to meet a condition of the transfer; namely, that they should pay three hundred thou- sand dollars of the purchase money within a specified time. Therefore it was announced in April, 1903, that the preservation of the Church was assured. The published account of the Semi-Centennial Celebra- tion of the founding of Park Street Church, held in 1859, contains these eloquent words : "For nearly half a century this majestic spire has withstood the burn- ing heat of the summer's sun, and the freezing cold of inclement winters. The storms have raged and north- west winds have roared around it; gales which have uprooted the massive elms of our magnificent Com- mon, have passed it unheeded; even the earthquake's shock, and the lightning's fiery blast have shaken, yet spared it. And Time, old Time, which subdues no PARK STREET CHURCH all things, has laid a gentle hand upon its head. What time and the elements have suffered to endure, let man preserve!" "I love to stop before the beautiful Park Street Church spire," said the Reverend J. Edgar Park, in an Artillery Election Sermon, delivered in the New Old South Church, June 7, 1920, "almost the last hold that the ancient town of Boston has upon the cosmopolitan city; a spire that speaks still of the old residential Beacon Street, and of the days when its bell called across the Common to its congregation to gather in their meeting-house, to worship the God of the Pilgrim Fathers. Here I feel that I am standing on one of the most historic and beautiful spots, not only in this country, but in the whole world." All the old meeting-houses of Boston, if we agree with an opinion expressed by former Mayor J. V. C. Smith, M.D., in the year 1853, such as Park Street Church, the Old South, and a few others with spires, were superior in architectural beauty to the more modern edifices of higher cost. For, says our critic, "the genius that is among us, ready to be exercised in the Metropolis of New England, seems fated to be smothered by the overruling determination of old women and Deacons!" When a Church was to be built in Boston, it was customary to have a committee appointed. And oftentimes no two of any such a committee "had a rational notion of what should, or should not be 121 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY adopted in a plan. However classical, beautiful, or grand the artist may have been in his projection, each one of the sapient conservators on the committee must have a whim gratified, even if it is at the expense of the artist's reputation. Botch after botch follows, and when the building is fairly completed, they are all laughed at for their stupidity, and condemned for their vulgarity!" If the learned gentleman could have seen some of Boston's Church edifices of comparatively recent years, he might well have modified his above-quoted naive utterances. THE ESTATES NUMBERED EIGHTEEN AND TWENTY ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF BEACON STREET Within a few years after the founding of Boston, the Town granted to the Reverend John Wilson (1588- 1663), pastor of the First Church, about an acre of land, which had previously been a part of the Com- mon. This land was "bounded with the Burying Place on the south, and with the Towne's Common and highway on the west, north and east," as it was then fenced in. The same lot was sold by Mr. Wilson to James Oliver, a merchant, October 8, 1661, " for 35 Pounds certain, and 40 shillings a year." * This property ap- pears to have included the sites of several of the upper houses on Park Street, previously mentioned, and of all those on the south side of Beacon Street between the Athenaeum Building and the Common. The lot next to the Amory-Ticknor house on the east was sold by the Town agents to Thomas Amory in March, 1801. This lot had a frontage of fifty-six feet on Bea- con Street, and extended southwesterly one hundred and thirty-four feet to the Burying-Ground. Mr. Amory transferred the estate in February, 1807, to the Misses Mary and Sarah Payne, twin daughters of 1 Suffolk Deed, Lib. 3, Fol. 489. 123 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY William Payne, Esq. Two brick houses were soon after erected on the lot. For more than thirty years this property remained in the possession of members of the Payne and allied families. Among the later occupants of these houses were James K. Mills, a dry-goods merchant, Dr. Henry G. Clark, and the Honorable Harvey Jewell (1820-81). The last-named was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1844, and served for several years as Speaker of the Massachu- setts House of Representatives. While holding this position, he sustained a reputation for able and im- partial rulings. A man of scholarly tastes, he owned "a magnificent library, stored with the choicest and most valuable gems of literature." His brother, the Honorable Marshall Jewell, was Governor of Con- necticut in 1869-72, and afterward United States Minister to Russia. Mr. Harvey Jewell was engaged in the practice of law in Boston. He was an enthu- siastic fisherman, and an expert in the capture of striped bass off the rocks at Swampscott, where he had a summer cottage. Dr. Henry Grafton Clark, who sold this estate to Mr. Jewell in 1873, was a well-known practitioner of Boston, who devoted much time and thought to mat- ters concerning the public health. He was the first incumbent of the office of City Physician, which he held from 1847 until 1880. NUMBER SIXTEEN BEACON STREET Adjoining the Raymond Building on the north, there is still to be seen in the year 1921 a small, three-sto- ried, brick dwelling-house, numbered sixteen on Bea- con Street. Nestled in between two lofty structures, it seems to shrink from public view, as if abashed by the superior dimensions of its stately neighbors. In its rear an iron gate stands between a tiny, brick- paved back yard and an alleyway leading to Park Street alongside the Union Club House. This is the last house on this portion of Beacon Street to be oc- cupied as a residence. It was built by Robert Fletcher about the year 1808, and was sold by him to Rufus G. Amory soon after. The premises are described x as a parcel of land with the buildings thereon "situate back of Bacon Street, beginning at the house occupied by Samuel Willard, as said Fletcher's tenant; in the middle of the partition wall built by Christopher Gore between the house which he now occupies and the residence of the said Willard." In December, 1827, this estate was bought by Chester Harding, the well-known portrait painter, who lived there about two years. He was a native of Conway, Massachu- setts. When he was fourteen years old, his father moved to central New York, and settled in Madison i Suffolk Deeds, Lib. 228. FoL 160. W5 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY County which was at that time an uninhabited wil- derness. Here they built a log cabin, and reclaimed a patch of land for cultivation. In 1813 Chester Hard- ing enlisted as a drummer in the army, and marched with the militia to the border of the Saint Lawrence River. He next became a travelling peddler and af- terward found employment in a chair factory at Caledonia, a village in Livingston County. And here he met his future wife, Caroline Woodruff. A year or two later, in search of more congenial work, he tramped afoot to the head waters of the Allegheny River, where he took passage on a raft for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After tarrying there awhile, he re- turned through the wilds to Caledonia, having no guide but the blazed trees. On this trail he saw so many bears, wolves, and deer that he would hardly turn to look at them. Returning to Pittsburgh with his wife and child, he found occupation as a sign- painter. Having met there an artist named Wilson, he became interested in the latter's work; and this meeting completely changed his prospects. Finding that he had an aptitude for portrait-painting, he be- came absorbed in this new vocation, and exhibited so much talent that his portraits found a ready sale at twenty-five dollars each. After a course at the Phila- delphia Academy of Design, he went abroad and set up a studio in London. On his return to this country he settled in Boston. And "to that city," he said, "I feel that I owe more than to any other place. More 126 NUMBER SIXTEEN BEACON STREET of my professional life has been spent there than any- where else. And it is around it that my most grateful recollections cluster." In the latter part of the sum- mer of 1830 he exchanged his house at Number Six- teen Beacon Street for one at Springfield, Massachu- setts, which was his home in later years. Following Mr. Harding, the estate was owned successively by Adoniram Chandler, a stereotype founder, of New York, and Emily Wolcott, of Boston. The latter sold it, November 24, 1863, to Levi Bart- lett, a Boston merchant, who had occupied it many years before. Thereafter it became by inheritance the property of his daughter Martha, who married Dr. Henry C. Angell. They made their home there for about half a century. By the terms of Mrs. An- gell's will the estate passed to the American Unitarian Association. The walls of the various rooms were covered by valuable paintings, collected abroad. There were several landscapes by Corot, and as many by his contemporary rival, Daubigny. Other famous French artists of the nineteenth century there repre- sented were Claude Monet, Jean Francois Millet, Troyon, Diaz, and Dupre. There were also paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Turner. About forty choice pictures of this collection were bequeathed by Mrs. Angell to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The Angell house naturally became a favorite resort of artists. And while a love of the beautiful in art was a prominent characteristic of both Mrs. Angell and her 127 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY husband, they were also devoted to music, and wel- comed music-loving friends to their hospitable abode. Passing through a room whose walls were adorned with engravings, one reached a cosy little sanctum in the rear, where Dr. Angell was wont to entertain his more intimate friends. William Howe Downes, the art critic, in describing some of the pictures in this house, mentioned a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which was in poor condition, but capable of restora- tion. This picture was a likeness of Lady Caroline Ponsonby (1785-1828) in her childhood. She was a daughter of the third Earl of Bessborough, and the author of several popular romances. She married in 1805 William Lamb, afterward Lord Melbourne. Of the American pictures in the Angell collection, ac- cording to Mr. Downes, the only one of importance is the work of Frank Duveneck. It is the portrait of a solemn, bespectacled old Professor, who looks at you through his glasses with an inscrutable air. "A flawless gem of art is Troyon's Landscape. It is as naturalistic a painting of open air and sunshine as one will find anywhere. It is a miracle, the airness of it! It makes you happy to look at it, and you want to whoop for joy!" In the autumn of 1919 the Angell house was re- constructed and adapted for use as an annex of the American Unitarian Association Building. A door on the west side of the front entrance, open- ing from the sidewalk, and overhung by the second 128 NUMBER SIXTEEN BEACON STREET story, marks the place of access to a passageway, for- merly on land of Dr. Henry G. Clark, and used as a cow lane. The entire building has been renovated, and the windows of the lower floor are of an old-fashioned type, having small panes. The Unitarian Book-Room and the offices of the "Christian Register" occupy this floor. Next above are the quarters of the Reli- gious Educational Society; and the upper stories are provided with accommodations for the clergy. Dr. Angell, after graduating at the Hahnemann Medical College in 1855, studied for three years at the University of Vienna. On his return to Boston, he became prominent as an eye specialist, and was for twenty years Professor of Ophthalmology at the Boston University Medical School. In 1882 he was chosen President of the Philharmonic Society. NUMBERS TWELVE AND FOURTEEN BEACON STREET A lot belonging to the Town, having a frontage of fifty-six feet on Beacon Street, and running back to the Burial-Ground, was acquired in 1801 by William Payne, a broker, and his maiden sisters, Mary and Sarah. The site of the premises is between the Angell house and the Athenaeum lot. Here the Paynes built a large double house, with an archway through the centre, leading to a stable in the rear. Originally the entrances were within, on either side of the archway. Later the houses were joined by the removal of a par- tition wall. Mr. Payne's brokerage office was in the Exchange Coffee House Building on State Street. His name first appears as a resident of Beacon Street in the Directory of 1809. The easterly house came later into the possession of John Torrey Morse, Esq. And as early as 1866 it was owned and occupied by Charles Merriam, Esq., the railroad magnate. The westerly house became the home of the family of James K. Mills, who lived there until 1858, when the property was bought by Charles O. Whitmore, a well-known merchant. In 1886 the City leased both houses, which then belonged to the Lexington Build- ing Association, and there brought together a num- ber of municipal departments. These lots are now the site of the American Congregational Association's Building. THE ATHEN.EUM LOT Number Ten and a Half Beacon Street The Boston Athenaeum had its origin in the Anthol- ogy Club, which was founded in 1804. Beading- Rooms were established in Joy's Building, Congress Street, January 1, 1807; and in the following month the Anthology trustees were incorporated by an Act of the Legislature, as a body politic under the name of the Proprietors of the Boston Athenaeum. In June, 1822, the books and other property of the Institution were removed to the former mansion of James Per- kins, Esq., on Pearl Street, and there remained for about twenty years. At the close of that period the locality had become almost wholly occupied by mer- cantile buildings, and a strong sentiment developed in favor of removal. In 1845 a lot on Tremont Street was purchased. This was soon after sold, and on De- cember 1 of the same year the Proprietors bought of Edward B. Phillips, Esq., the former pasture lot of his grandfather, Lieutenant-Governor William Phil- lips, together with four brick dwelling-houses stand- ing thereon. The lot has a frontage of one hun- dred and twenty-four feet on Beacon Street, and is bounded by the Granary Burial-Ground in the rear. The Corner-Stone of the present edifice was laid April 27, 1847, and the books and art treasures were removed thereto in July, 1849. Among the more pre- cious acquisitions of the Athenaeum are many volumes 131 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY formerly in the possession of George Washington. These were procured through the generosity of sev- enty gentlemen of Boston and Salem, who contrib- uted fifty dollars apiece for that object. 1 1 Barrett Wendell, Litt.D., The Athenaeum Centennial. THE MOLINEAUX MANSION-HOUSE ESTATE On July 14, 1760, William Molineaux, a Boston mer- chant, bought of John Alford, of Charlestown, a piece of land having a frontage of one hundred feet on Beacon Street, and running back due north three hundred and sixty-seven feet. It was bounded on the west by a passageway leading to the Beacon, as shown on a plan recorded with the original deed; and on the northwest by the summit of the hill. The price paid was seven hundred and eleven pounds, two shillings, and three pence. This lot was a part of the large es- tate of Robert Turner, a shoemaker, and one of the early townsmen, who owned eight acres on Beacon Hill. 1 On this commanding site the new owner built one of the most pretentious dwelling-houses in the town. William Molineaux was a distinguished merchant of Boston. He was of French Huguenot ancestry; and during the years immediately before the Revolution he attained distinction as an ardent patriot. He was one of a group of prominent citizens, who were wont to gather in private houses, there to devise measures which proved to be the forerunners of a united oppo- 1 N. I. Bowditch, Gleaner Articles, page 92. 133 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY sition to the oppressive policy of the British Crown. He was therefore closely associated with Samuel Adams, John Hancock, James Otis, Joseph Warren, and other leading patriots. Mr. Molineaux was an influential member of the Sons of Liberty, an organ- ization founded in 1776 or thereabout. He was also active in the work of the Committee of Correspond- ence from its origin in 1772; and was associated with Paul Revere and many others who formed the person- nel of the Boston Tea Party. Notable among the en- terprises which enlisted the aid of this public-spirited citizen was the establishment of Spinning Schools, which proved of value in developing this branch of industry in the community. The Town voted, April 4, 1769, that the sum of two hundred pounds "be given Mr. William Mullineux, to enable him to pur- chase Spinning Wheels, Cards, and to procure con- venient places and Appartments for carrying on the Spinning Business, and a sufficient number of Spin- ning Mistresses, well skilled and experienced in the Art and Mistery of spinning Wool into good Yarn; he the said William Mullineux giving Bond to the Town for his finding a sufficient number of good Spinning Wheels and Cards . . . and of persons thoroughly skilled in the said business, to teach and instruct such as are, or shall be, desirous to learn it; & for supply- ing sufficient Quantities of Wool fit for the purpose aforesaid, while learning; all at the proper Cost and Charge of the said William Mullineux." 134 THE MOLINEAUX MANSION-HOUSE ESTATE The Molineaux homestead, which was situated on the western corner of Bowdoin and Beacon Streets, now a part of the State-House grounds, was acquired by Charles Ward Apthorp, of New York, who was administrator of the estate. The homestead was con- fiscated under an Act passed in 1781 by the General Court, "to provide for the payment of Debts due from Absentees." On June 17, 1782, it was sold by the Commonwealth for eight hundred and fifty pounds sterling to Daniel Dennison Rogers, a mer- chant, of Boston, who there made his home for about forty years. By his will, dated August 1, 1823, the property was bequeathed to his wife, Elizabeth Rogers. Mr. Molineaux's store was described as being op- posite to the east end of Faneuil Hall. He advertised in the "Boston Gazette," October 31, 1757, that he then had on hand and for sale "a large assortment of Iron- mongery, Sadlery, Braizery and Cutlery Wares. Also tenpenny nails at Seven Shillings per thousand; best London Pewter, at One Shilling and Five Pence per Pound; and other Goods in Proportion." William Molineaux was Mr. Apthorp's business agent, and in that capacity he rented the latter's warehouses on Wheelwright's, now Foster's Wharf, to the British authorities, for their use as barracks. Charles Ward Apthorp was the eldest son, and one of eighteen children of Charles Apthorp, Paymaster and Commissary of the British land and naval forces 135 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY in North America. He was intimately connected with the administration of public affairs in the Province. The following Notice appeared in the "Boston Eve- ning Post," July 29, 1765: "All Persons having Ac- counts open in New England with Charles Ward Ap- thorp and Company, are desired, as soon as may be, to adjust and settle the same. And those that are in- debted to the said Company are desired, as speedily as possible, to pay their respective Ballances." The above-named Company "hope that none will lay them under a Necessity of taking any Method that may be disagreeable; which they must unavoidably do, if not soon satisfied." The Molineaux mansion was situated a little south of the former Beacon Hill Place, now included in the State-House grounds. It was a large double house, of a type then popular abroad. On either side were a stable and wood-house; and between them a long flight of stone steps led up to the main entrance. The estate was sold at auction in 1833, and the house soon after removed. 1 On November 9, 1802, Daniel Dennison Rogers sold the northerly portion of his land, "being about eighty feet of the depth of his garden," to William Thurston, Esq., who built thereon, two years later, a large three-storied, swell-front house, which became a conspicuous landmark in 1811, or thereabout, when a large part of the hill had been removed, leaving the 1 Shurtleff's History of Boston. 136 THE MOLINEAUX MANSION-HOUSE ESTATE dwelling perched high in the air. A view of this house is shown in the "Memorial History of Boston," iv, 64. It was taken down within a year or two there- after. Mr. Rogers was a native of Exeter, New Hamp- shire. Instead of attending college, he entered upon a business career at an early age. He came to Boston soon after the departure of the British troops in March, 1776. During many years he dispensed hos- pitality at his Beacon Street mansion in the lavish style of those days. At or near the site of the Molineaux house, and nearly opposite to the Angell residence, there stood, at the time of the Civil War, and for thirty years thereafter, a one-storied building, occupied at one time by William H. Henderson, who there conducted a grocery business; and a sign over the door on the Bowdoin Street side served to remind the public of that fact. Mr. Henderson was succeeded by the firm of J. B. Clapp & Company. Later tenants were Messrs. Henry and Julius Koopman, dealers in an- tiques and bric-a-brac, who remained there until 1893. There is an excellent picture of the building, as it ap- peared in 1880, in the Collection of Views of Beacon Hill, at the Boston Athenaeum. A striking feature of the picture is a prominent sign, bearing the leg- end: "Clapp's West End Shaker Bitters. The Liver Cleaner." The lot whereon the building stood was taken by 137 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY the Commonwealth, to form a part of the State- House grounds, under the provisions of an Act of the Legislature, June 29, 1894; and the old structure was soon after demolished. THE BOWDOIN MANSION-HOUSE ESTATE By virtue of a deed bearing the date June 3, 1756, John Erving, of Boston, sold to James Bowdoin a lot of land bounded southeasterly in front on Beacon Street, one hundred and thirty-seven feet; south- westerly on land formerly of the widow Rogers; and northwesterly on land of Mrs. Middlecott, sixty- seven feet, to Mr. Lynde's Corner where a locust tree then stood; with a dwelling-house and other build- ings. 1 Here, at the eastern corner of Beacon and Bow- doin Streets, Governor Bowdoin made his home. John Erving (1693-1786) was of Scottish lineage, and became one of the most prominent of American mer- chants. He was Colonel of the Boston Regiment, and a member of the Governor's Council for twenty years. Being in sympathy with the Loyalist element in the community, he retired from public life at the out- break of the Revolution. His daughter, Elizabeth, married Governor Bowdoin. In September, 1765, Colonel Erving served on a committee to wait upon the Honorable Adam Gorden, M.P., who was then on a tour in America. The committee was charged with felicitating his lordship, in the name of the Town, upon his safe arrival; and was instructed to bespeak his kind influence in favor of the Town and Province; 1 Gleaner Articles, No. 39. 139 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY especially in regard to the new Parliamentary Regu- lations, which so nearly affected the Rights, as well as the Trade of the American Colonies; and which had created such universal uneasiness among His Majes- ty's loyal subjects on this continent. Again, in April, 1776, the Honorable John Erving was chosen one of a committee to draw up Resolu- tions, expressing the gratitude felt by the people of Boston toward those patriots on the other side of the water, whose endeavors had secured the Liberties of America by the happy Repeal of the Stamp Act. The Bowdoin Mansion, as well as the adjoining Bromfield house, was set back from the street, and was reached by a flight of stone steps. A spacious garden extended over the brow of the hill, and down its north- ern declivity as far as the present Ashburton Place. The Honorable James Bowdoin, LL.D. (1726-90), Harvard, 1745, was of French Hugenot ancestr} 7 . He was President of the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts, and served two years as Governor. In the latter capacity he showed great resolution in quelling Shays's Rebellion. Governor Bowdoin was the first President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and from him Bowdoin College de- rived its name. He was described by the celebrated traveller and patriot, Jean Pierre Brissot de Warville, "a brisk little Frenchman," who visited the United States in 1778, as "a man of universal talents, com- bining the virtues of a magistrate with profound eru- 140 THE BOWDOIN MANSION-HOUSE ESTATE dition; as a public servant, he always retained the confidence of his fellow citizens." By his will, dated March 23, 1789, Governor Bowdoin devised the Man- sion-House estate, including a portion of the land formerly belonging to his father-in-law, John Erving, to his son, James Bowdoin, Junior; reserving the use of the same for Madam Bowdoin during her life. James Bowdoin, Junior (1752-1811), after grad- uating at Harvard in 1771, at the age of nineteen, went abroad, and passed a year at Oxford Univer- sity. He was with General Washington on Dorchester Heights, March 17, 1776; and crossed over to Boston with the Commander-in-Chief on that day, which marked the departure of the British soldiers, and of the large company of aristocratic Loyalists who ac- companied them. James Bowdoin, Junior, was a man of wealth, liberal education, and scholarly tastes. He gave much attention to agriculture, and to the breed- ing of fine horses and cattle. In public life he served as Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Spain, and as Associate Minister to the French Court. Under his will, dated June 4, 1811, he be- queathed his works of art, together with his library and philosophical appliances, to Bowdoin College. The Beacon Street homestead passed to his nephew, James Temple Bowdoin. The Bowdoin line is extinct in Boston, but the name is perpetuated in the College, and in three public thoroughfares within the Metro- politan District. 141 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY At one time a keen controversy developed re- garding the ownership of the estate, between James Temple Bowdoin and the authorities of Bowdoin College. Choosing a time when the mansion was vacant, a large body of workmen, acting in behalf of the College, took possession of the premises and hastily constructed a temporary wooden building. Thereupon the agents of Mr. Bowdoin proceeded to remove the obnoxious structure; and these proceed- ings met with public approval, as a distinct allevia- tion of the monotony of everyday life. 1 On Octo- ber 27, 1843, James Temple Bowdoin, Gentleman, sold the homestead to Theodore Chase, merchant, for $9030.30. Mr. Chase occupied the mansion for about seventeen years; and his widow continued to reside there until her death in 1884. On May 19th of that year, her sons, Theodore and George Bigelow Chase, conveyed the premises to the American Uni- tarian Association. The front of the Bowdoin house has been de- scribed as having a covering of "smoothened deal boards." The main entrance and the window frames were ornamented with carvings. A spacious window over the front door afforded an excellent vantage- point for the display of a large illuminated trans- parency, with suitable inscriptions, during patriotic evening celebrations or other popular demonstra- tions. 1 Gleaner Articles, No. 39. THE BROMFIELD HOMESTEAD Adjoining the Bowdoin estate was the residence of Edward Bromfield, Junior (1695-1756), a prominent merchant, who held important official positions in the Province and Town. These premises were a part of the possessions of Robert Turner, and descended, through his son-in-law, John Fayerweather, to Wil- liam Allen. 1 In May, 1731, the estate passed to Samuel Sew- all, merchant, for a consideration of seven hundred pounds sterling; together with all its fences, edifices, trees, waters, and water-courses. In February, 1742, it was bought by Mr. Bromfield, whose son, Edward, the third (1723-46), was noted at an early age for his scientific attainments and phenomenal versatility. The first organ made in America was the product of his hands, although he did not live to perfect it. The workmanship of the keys and pipes was said to have been extremely clever, surpassing anything of the kind that had ever come from England. More- over, he made microscopes of improved design, grinding the finest glasses. "For nearly a century the sun still shone through a hole (in the shutter of an attic window) which he had cut for his solar microscopes.'' 2 1 Gleaner Articles, No. 7. 8 The Memorial History of Boston, iv, 510. 143 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY In January, 1763, Abigail Bromfield, widow, and sole executrix of the will of Edward Bromfield the younger, sold the homestead to her son-in-law, Wil- liam Phillips, for £1333 and 6 shillings. The Honorable William Phillips (1750-1827) was a wealthy business man, of Boston, and a staunch patriot. The fact that he was familiarly known as "Billy Phillips" about town is doubtless evidence of his popularity. In like manner the American people love to designate two of their eminent historic per- sonages as "Abe" Lincoln and "Teddy" Roosevelt, without thought of detracting in the least from the dignity of their characters. At the beginning of the Revolution Mr. Phillips removed his family to Nor- wich, Connecticut, where they remained during the Siege, occupying a house which is still standing, the reputed birthplace of General Benedict Arnold. Mr. Phillips was a Deacon of the Old South Church for thirty years. He also served as a Representative; and as Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts for several years, during the administrations of Gov- ernors Strong and Brooks (1812-23). In the course of a eulogy delivered by the Reverend Doctor Wis- ner, of the Old South Church, the speaker remarked that "scarcely a measure had been adopted, or an association formed in the community, for the im- provement of the physical, intellectual, moral or spiritual condition of man, which had not received the liberal support of William Phillips." The two 144 THE BROMFIELD HOMESTEAD Academies at Andover and Exeter are enduring memorials of six members of the Phillips family, representing three generations. The last occupant of the Bromfield mansion was Jonathan Phillips (1778-1860), Hon. A. M. Harvard, 1818, a son of the Lieutenant-Governor; who succeeded to the estate. He was a member of the General Court, and served efficiently as an Overseer of the Poor for ten years. Mr. Phillips was associated with his brother Ed- ward, under the firm name of J. & E. Phillips, dealers in hardware and dry goods. Among his benefactions was a gift of ten thousand dollars to the Boston Public Library. The Bromfield mansion was remarkable on ac- count of its size and dominant situation. It was built in 1722, and is shown on Bonner's Map of the same year. At that time there were but three houses on the upper side of Beacon Street, east of the present State-House lot, and near the summit of the hill. A description of the Bromfield house, as it appeared during the occupancy of Jonathan Phillips, is given in a "Memoir of the Life of Eliza S. M. Quincy" (Boston, 1861). "The house was of three stories, and richly furnished according to the fashion of the eight- eenth century. There were large mirrors in carved mahogany frames; and one apartment was hung with tapestry representing a stag hunt. Three steep flights of stone steps ascended from Beacon Street to the front of the mansion. And behind it was a 145 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY paved courtyard, above which rose successive ter- races, filled with flowers and fruit trees. On the summit was a summer house, elevated higher than the roofs of the houses, which in 1861 formed Ash- burton Place, and commanding a panoramic view of the harbor and environs. The hill on which the mansion stood was levelled in 1845, at which time it was taken down; and the site is now marked by- Freeman Place Chapel, and the adjoining houses on Beacon Street." THE HINCKLEY MANSION-HOUSE The Reverend James Allen (1632-1710), son of a clergyman in Hampshire, England, came over to this country in 1662. He was the Minister of the First Church in Boston for forty-two years. A grad- uate of Oxford University, he served as a Fellow of Harvard College from 1692 to 1707. Mr. Allen be- came one of the largest land-owners in the commun- ity, his holdings including a large portion of the present West End in Boston. His homestead (being part of a tract of eighteen acres bequeathed to him in 1671 by James Penn, Ruling Elder of his Church) was on the east corner of Beacon and Somerset Streets. 1 And there he lived in a two-storied stone house built by himself, and "maintained the style of a gentleman." His barn occupied the corner above- mentioned; and the house was placed about seventy feet to the eastward, on Beacon Street. On March 12, 1705, Mr. Allen deeded the property, including "the Mansion-House, with the land, mem- bers and appurtenances thereof," to his son, Jere- miah Allen, who became Treasurer of the Province in 1715. On the latter 's death in 1741, the estate passed to his son, of the same name (d. 1755), and later was inherited by his grandson, James Allen, of 1 Gleaner Articles, No. 11. 147 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY the fourth generation from the emigrant ancestor. 1 On December 20, 1799, the latter sold the homestead to his brother, Jeremiah, who held the office of High Sheriff of Suffolk County. After being in the posses- sion of members of the Allen family for nearly one hundred and forty years, the demesne was sold by James Allen, January 8, 1810, to David Hinckley, a Boston merchant, who took down the old stone house. And during or about the year 1814 he built a large double granite mansion on the premises, and occupied the westerly, corner portion, which fronted on Somerset Street. This mansion was at that time considered to be the finest dwelling-house in the town. 2 It was elaborately furnished, and filled with beautiful works of art, together with many costly statues and mirrors. 2 The progress of its building was interrupted by the War of 1815; and the venture must have been an expensive one at that time, when the cost of materials was high. The window glass and cornices were said to have been imported. This mansion was the scene of a tragic occurrence in July, 1820. Miss Anne Hinckley, daughter of David Hinckley, had taken a course of lessons in modern languages under the guidance of a young Neapolitan named Pietro Perodi, who had served in the Italian army, and who had arrived in Boston t, Nd 33. 2 The Memorial History of Botfon, rv, 59. 1 A full description of the interior of this house is given in some unpub- lished Reminiscences of Mrs. J. Mason Warren. 148 THE HINCKLEY MANSION-HOUSE some three years before. Here he obtained the entrie of polite society, and had won the affection of Miss Hinckley. Their engagement had been for- mally announced, when it was discovered that he had made false representations regarding his an- tecedents. This fact, and her father's strong oppo- sition, caused the lady to break the engagement. Unable to regain her confidence, Perodi became des- perate. Repairing to the Hinckley home, he ran up to her chamber, where she was engaged with a dress- maker; and there, in her presence, he ended his life by the thrust of a dagger. Such is one account of the melancholy affair. A correspondent, Syphax Ter- tius, in a communication to the "Boston Trans- cript," February 20, 1873, stated that the scene of the tragedy was the house of a friend, Mrs. Eliza- beth Davis, who kept a boarding-school at Number Three Somerset Place, now Allston Street, in the immediate neighborhood of the Hinckley residence. According to the above authority Miss Hinckley had fled to Mrs. Davis's school, to avoid Perodi. On Mr. Hinckley's death in 1825, the property was inherited by his daughter. Not long after she mar- ried an Englishman named William Gill Hodgkinson. On April 25, 1832, the estate was bought by the Hon- orable Benjamin Crowninshield, a former Secretary of the Navy of the United States, for $38,500. He and the members of his family occupied the corner house on Somerset Street until his death in 1851. 149 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY In the following year this house was acquired by the members of the Somerset Club, and was occupied by them for about twenty years. In 1872, or there- about, the Club bought the Sears mansion, at Forty- Three Beacon Street, built by David Sears in 1819. Its site is a part of the former large estate of John Singleton Copley, the distinguished American painter. The original mansion formed the western half of the present structure, and its entrance opened on a courtyard. Later, Mr. Sears built another house adjoining, on the east; the older dwelling being en- larged, and both forming the present double, swell- front edifice, facing the Common. The decorative carvings of the marble tablets, above the bow-win- dows are the handiwork of Solomon Willard, the architect of Bunker Hill Monument. 1 In the rear of the old Copley domicile was a barn, which was used as a temporary hospital, where some of the wounded British officers were cared for after the Battle of Bunker Hill. The easterly portion of his estate, including the land, and "the large, elegant stone house and other buildings thereon standing," was sold by Mr. Hinck- ley, December 20, 1820, to Benjamin Wiggin, Gen- tleman, for forty thousand dollars. In 1825 the ownership passed to Joseph Peabody, Esq., of Salem, who gave it to his daughter as a wedding present, at the time of her marriage to 1 History of the Somerset Club. 150 THE HINCKLEY MANSION-HOUSE John L. Gardner, Senior, an enterprising young mer- chant in the East India trade. The house was the birthplace of his son, of the same name, whose widow occupies the well-known Italian palace in the Fen- way region. The Hinckley house was the residence of the Gardners for many years, and they retained pos- session of the property until 1871, when the Ameri- can Congregational Association bought both por- tions of the original mansion for $292,000. In 1904 the whole edifice was removed, and a new building was erected and occupied by the Houghton & Dut- ton Company. THE SEARS ESTATE The two brick houses on the westerly corner of Somerset and Beacon Streets occupy land formerly belonging to John Fayerweather (d. 1712). * The easterly half, including a wooden dwelling-house, was acquired in December, 1740, by Benjamin Green, merchant, "together with the garden, out- houses, buildings, easements and fences, ways, pas- sages, waters, watercourses, rights, members, profits, privileges, improvements, commodities and appur- tenances thereunto belonging." Mr. Green bought it for a residence, and was living there in 1747. One of the later owners was John Bowers, of Som- erset, Bristol County, Massachusetts, who had laid out Somerset Street in 1800, and had given it the name of his native town. In May, 1803, Mr. Bowers sold the property to David Sears, Senior, a rich mer- chant, "being the same house, stable, outhouses & land now in the occupation of said Sears, between Somerset Street and Deacon Phillips' land." Mr. Sears was one of the very few millionaires of his day. About the year 1815, his son, the Honorable David Sears (1787-1871), Harvard, 1807, built the two brick houses above-mentioned; and about ten years thereafter he built the westerly half of the stone 1 Gleaner Articles, No. 37. 152 THE SEARS ESTATE mansion on Beacon Street, now occupied by the Somerset Club. The large fortune inherited by Mr. Sears had been amassed by his father in the China trade. David Sears, Junior, was a member of the State Senate, and an Overseer of Harvard College. Actuated by a desire to promote Christian Unity, he built a massive stone Chapel, overlooking Muddy River, in Long wood. This Chapel was patterned after the Parish Church of his Sears ancestors, in the ancient town of Colchester, Essex, England. His desire was to found a Union Church, where clergy- men of different denominations could officiate, and where sectarian distinctions were not to be. The edifice was dedicated June 30, 1862. The brick houses on the Somerset Street corner were the former home of the Boston City Club, and are still a part of the Sears estate. THE LLOYD MANSION-HOUSE At a short distance from Ashburton Place, down the incline of Somerset Street, on the right-hand side, there formerly stood a double brick dwelling, which was built by the Honorable James Lloyd, Junior, about the year 1808. The site is now covered by the Suffolk County Court-House, and formed originally a part of the spacious garden of Dr. James Lloyd, Senior (1728-1810), an eminent surgeon, who had an extensive practice in this neighborhood for more than half a century. He was at one time President of the Massachusetts Medical Society; and as one of the consulting physicians of the Boston Dispen- sary (founded in 1796), his services were freely given to the poor without fee or reward. His son, above- mentioned (1769-1831), was a leading merchant, and a member of the United States Senate, who strove to prevent this Country from entering upon the War of 1812. When General Lafayette returned to Boston, to take part in the ceremony of laying the Corner-Stone of Bunker Hill Monument, he was entertained by Mr. Lloyd at the latter's man- sion. And during the forenoon of June 17, 1825, the Grand Master and Deputies of the Masonic Order escorted the General from that house to his place in the Procession. Senator Lloyd occupied the dwell- 154 THE LLOYD MANSION-HOUSE ing, at Number Twenty-Seven Somerset Street, until 1827, when he removed to Philadelphia. The next occupant was Elijah Morse, a prominent lawyer, who resided there until his death in 1831. He was District Grand Master of the Society of Freemasons. The Lloyd Mansion was one of the old-fashioned kind, with solid walls and high ceilings. It was built to endure. "On the ground floor a large arched door, like the entrance to an armory, opened from the street into a passage-way leading to the court in the rear. This was used for provision and supply wagons; and here the cows were driven home in the after- noon. The chimneys were massive, and suggested wide and warm fire-places. The main entrance was up a long flight of stone steps, and under a generous porch." * By Mr. Morse's will, dated August 4, 1831, the dwelling-house, land, and appurtenances, valued at twelve thousand dollars, were left to his wife, Mary Morse. And on July 13, 1832, she conveyed the same "genteel premises" to Ebenezer Francis. For some years the building was used as a family hotel. In 1833 it was kept by a Mrs. Lydia Jackson, who soon afterward married the Reverend Lyman Beecher, the first minister of a church in Hanover Street. As late as 1872 it was run as an hotel under the name of the Somerset House. In June, 1847, Uriel Crocker bought of Jonathan 1 New England Historic-Genealogical Register, vol. 41, page 265. 1887. 155 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY Preston, Gentleman, a three-storied, brick dwelling, numbered twenty-nine on Somerset Street, nearly opposite Allston Street, being one of a block of three houses built by Mr. Preston on land formerly of Ebenezer Francis. Here Mr. Crocker lived for thirty- eight years, or until 1885, when the estate was taken as a part of the Court-House site. Uriel Crocker formed a partnership with Osmyn Brewster in the printing and publishing business. And in November, 1886, Messrs. Crocker and Brewster celebrated the seventieth anniversary of their first meeting as ap- prentices in 1800. Mr. Crocker was the pioneer of this region, in the use of an iron-lever printing press. THE PADDOCK ELMS Around the corner on Tremont Street, alongside the Burying-Ground, fourteen noble English elms sprang from the sidewalk. Of majestic height, their wide- spread branches afforded a grateful shelter from the sun's glare. They were planted in 1762 by Captain Adino Paddock, Loyalist and coach-builder, whose workshop was across the way. And there they stood, braving the winter storms for more than a century un- til the year 1873, when they were ruthlessly cut down. While still fairly vigorous they fell under the dis- pleasure of City foresters, victims of the modern spirit of improvement, which gives little heed to his- toric sentiment and association with the past. Only two years before the removal of these trees, the Honorable Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, a former Mayor of Boston, thus wrote regarding them: "Far distant be the day when these old trees must be removed from the spot which they have so long occupied and ornamented! And may our City fathers ever regard them as among the cherished objects which must be preserved with the greatest care!" With the exception of the Great Elm, which was destroyed by a storm in February, 1876, but two trees are shown on the Common in Bonner's Map of 157 OLD PARK STREET AND ITS VICINITY 1722. Both of these trees were on or near the line of Park Street Mall. It is evident that popular senti- ment was divided as to the expediency of removing the Paddock Elms. But public convenience, together with an appreciation of the need for better traffic con- ditions, finally prevailed over sentimental considera- tions. In the years 1824 and 1825 a forester named Ira Adams had the sole charge of the Common and the trees thereon. In view of the public interest in the history of the Paddock Elms, occasioned by their re- moval, Mr. Adams, who was then an octogenarian, published some reminiscences, which appeared in the form of a letter addressed to the editor of the "Bos- ton Transcript," March 9, 1874. Among those with whom he was wont to converse, while engaged in his work on the Common, was an old gentleman named Benjamin Callender, who in his younger days had carried on the business of a merchant tailor on State Street; and whose residence was on Common Street, near the head of the Mall. He was a great lover of trees, and remembered well the time when the Pad- dock Elms were set out. Mr. Paddock had them brought in from Milton, where they had been stored since their importation from England. When the elms were planted, he used as supports a lot of old axle- trees, which had accumulated in his carriage-shop near by. Mr. Adams was the forester who planted with his own hands the two rows of trees which arch 158 THE PADDOCK ELMS over the Charles Street Mall, with the exception of a very few at the extreme southerly end. Under the shade of the Paddock Elms the farmers sold dairy produce, which they had brought from the country in their market wagons. And here too their horses rested, and enjoyed their noonday provender. THE TREES ON THE COMMON Serious injury to the trees on the Common resulted from the great equinoctial gale of September, 1815, which raged with almost unexampled fury at inter- vals for two or three days. Perhaps the strongest evidence of the storm's violence was the overthrow of five of the Paddock Elms; the largest of these having a circumference of nearly eight feet. Eleven large trees on the line of Beacon Street were uprooted, and more than twenty stately elms on the Common were laid low. Vivid descriptions of the tempest's ravages appeared in the "Boston Gazette," the "Columbian Centinel," and other local newspapers. "It excites truly melancholy reflections," wrote one observer, "to see such noble trees torn up by the roots. . . . The injury done to the Mall, that superb Promenade, the pride and ornament of the Town, will be greatly lamented." Every building in Boston, it was stated, however situated, experienced more or less damage; many of them being unroofed. Battle- ments and balustrades were blown down, windows broken, and tiles, bricks, and timbers were hurled through the air in every direction. The uproar was terrific and appalling. Salt water from the ocean was borne forty miles inland by the wind, which was de- scribed as "an awful, tremendous blast." 160 TREES ON THE COMMON In response to a request for information about the elm trees on the Common, Frank William Rane, Esq., the State Forester, wrote as follows, in July, 1918: "In looking over the trees in this neighborhood I find that there are but five which could have been planted by the elder Mayor Quincy; all others having either died or been taken off. There are three elms, one good-sized one, about center way on Park Street, and two more near Tremont Street, which may have been planted at that time. On the Common itself there are two more good-sized elms, one farther up toward the State House, and the other about midway, that would appear to have about the proper age alluded to." In regard to the causes which have led to the re- moval of so many of these trees, the State Forester mentions the depredations caused by insects and diseases, together with changes of the grades of streets and paths; the congestion of hordes of tramp- ing people; and gases from City pipes. All these have a deterrent effect upon tree growth. The feeding of trees has usually been the last consideration shown them. In these days, however, more careful study and attention are being given the subject. Dr. Holmes was accustomed to carry about in his pocket a string, wherewith to determine the girth of any especially large tree at home or abroad. "For," wrote he, "it is wonderful to note how people will lie about trees!" THE GINGKO TREE ON THE COMMON At a point about one hundred and fifty feet eastward from the Guild Memorial Steps, and at the apex of a grassy triangle, whereof two sides are formed by Bea- con Street Mall and a pathway leading to Winter Street, there stands a tall Gingko tree, far removed from its habitat in eastern Asia. Its name, we are told, signifies "Silver Apricot Tree" in the Chinese language. Its popular title is "Maidenhair Tree," on account of the similarity of its leaves to those of the maidenhair fern. The above-mentioned tree was transplanted, early in May, 1835, from the Gardiner Greene estate, which was situated in the region between Pemberton Square and Ashburton Place. When this property changed hands, it was specified that the Gingko tree should not be included in the sale; inasmuch as it was at that time the only one of its kind in the country, with the exception of a specimen at Hyde Park, a township on the Hudson River, near Poughkeepsie, New York. Accordingly this tree, which was then about forty feet in height, was transported to its present site in the Common on a low, four-wheeled truck, built for the purpose. Its removal excited gen- eral interest at that time. The tree has been over- shadowed by neighboring American elms; and the loss of many branches has detracted from its former 162 THE GINGKO TREE ON THE COMMON symmetry and beauty. It is to be hoped that this Asian exotic, now for many years a naturalized Amer- ican, may long continue to grace its conspicuous sta- tion on the brow of Beacon Hill. There is a majestic specimen of the Gingko family in the Public Garden. It stands at a distance of about forty feet southwesterly from the so-called Ether Monument. Another flourishing Gingko is to be seen, nearer the pond. In the public pleasure grounds of Tokyo, Japan, are some noble trees of this genus, fully one hundred feet high. According to naturalists the Gingko tree, when thriving in its native soil, bears a hard nut containing a kernel, resembling that of the apricot. This kernel has a delicate almond-like flavor, and is esteemed as a table delicacy by the Jap- anese. The German traveller and physician, Engel- brecht Kaempfer (1651-1716) wrote that it was an important ingredient in several Japanese dishes. And in the Far East these nuts were believed to have some therapeutic value. The Gingko is a hardy tree, and is said to be immune from the depredations of moths, beetles, and all other enemies. It bears no fruit until it has attained the age of thirty or forty years. In 1832 Dr. Alexander de Bunge, a distinguished Russian scientist and explorer, wrote that he had seen some beautiful specimens of the Gingko growing in gar- dens and near Buddhist temples in northern China. One of these had a girth of about forty feet; and the only other evidence of great age was its towering height. 163 ULMUS CAMPESTRIS VENERABILIS At a short distance above Joy Street, and close to the iron fence along Beacon Street Mall, there is a mas- sive English elm, which is known to have been grow- ing there for at least one hundred and forty years. It stands on a line leading directly north from the Gingko tree. An elaborate volume entitled "Cam- pestris Ulm," by Joseph Henry Curtis (Boston, 1910), contains an historical sketch of the life of this tree, and describes various events which have occurred al- most under its shade in past years. Since the tragic fall of its American cousin, the Great Elm, in 1876, this one has been the patriarch of the Common, and no rival claimant for that distinguished title has ap- peared. It is believed to have been planted in the autumn of 1780 by authority of the Selectmen in re- sponse to a petition of John Hancock at about the time of his inauguration as the first Governor of Mas- sachusetts under the Constitution. THE END INDEX INDEX Adams, Ira, 158. Adams, John Quincy, 64. Adams, Samuel, 20, 22, 48. Allen, Rev. James, 147. Allen, James, great-grandson of Rev. James, 147. Allen, Jeremiah, son of Rev. James, 147. Allen, Jeremiah, great-grandson of Rev. James, 148. Allen, William, 143. Almshouse, the first, 32, 33; the second, 33-35; the third, 35, 44. "America," the song, 118. American Congregational Associa- tion's Building, 130. American Education Society, 118. American Temperance Society, 118. American Unitarian Association, 127, 128, 142. Ames, Fisher, 87, 93; quoted on Samuel Dexter, 83. Amory, Jonathan, Jr., 79. Amory, Rufus G., 125. Amory, Thomas, 79, 81, 82, 123. Amory, Thomas Coffin, Jr., 93. Amory-Ticknor house, the, 81-97. See Ticknor. Angell, Dr. and Mrs. Henry C, 127-29. Appleton, William, 106. Appleton, Mrs. William, 104. Apprentice system in medicine, 105. Apthorp, Charles, 135. Apthorp, Charles Ward, 135, 136. Armstrong, Samuel Turell, 49. Arnold, Howard Payson, his de- scription of Number Two Park Street, 56. Athenaeum, Boston, 131, 132. Atlantic Monthly, its quarters, 62, 63. Austin, Edward, 89. Bacon, George, 77. Banner, Peter, 116. Bartles, Edward, 37, Bartlett, Levi, 127. Baxter, Mr., 112. _ Beacon, on Beacon Hill, the first, 1 ; the second, 2, 3; description of, 4. Beacon Hill, early name, forms of, 1, 8, 9; beacon on, 1-4; Monu- ment, 3, 6; description of, 4, 5; the three hills of, 6, 7; measures for preservation of, 7, 8; change in western side of, 8; as seen by a Londoner, 9, 10. Beacon Hill Monument, 3, 6. Beacon Street, between Somerset and Tremont Streets, 11; laying- out of, 11; in the early part of the eighteenth century, 12; value of property on, 13, 15; and Thomas Hancock's estate, 13- 15; paving of, 14; widening of, 14; first brick house on, 16; charm of, 17-19; Numbers Eight- een and Twenty, 123, 124; Num- ber Sixteen, 125-29; Numbers Twelve and Fourteen, 130; the Athenaeum lot, 131, 132; the Molineaux mansion-house estate, 133-38; the Bowdoin mansion- house estate, 139-42; the Brom- field homestead, 143-46; the Hinckley mansion-house, 147-51; the Lloyd mansion-house, 154- 56. 167 INDEX Beecher, Rev. Lyman, 155. Belknap Street. See Joy Street. Bennett, quoted on the Almshouse, 33. Bingham, Caleb, 115. Blackstone, William, 9, 12. Blake, George, 20. Blanchard, Frangois, 86. Boston, winter climate of, 31; in 1809, 119. Boston Common. See Common. Bowditch, Nathaniel Ingersoll, 3, 4,13. Bowdoin, James, Sr., 139-41. Bowdoin, James, Jr., 141. Bowdoin, James Temple, 141, 142. Bowdoin College, 140, 142. Bowdoin estate, the, 139-42. Bowen, William, 2. Bowers, John, 152. Brackett, Mary, epitaph of, 49. Brewster, Osmyn, 156. Bridewell, the, 39, 40, 44. Bridgham, Henry, 32. Brigham, Benajah, 116. "Brimstone Corner," 117, 118. Bromfield, Abigail, 144. Bromfield, Edward, father and son, 143. Bromfield homestead, the, 143-46. Brooks, Edward, 58. Brooks, John, 95. Brooks, Peter Chardon, 58, 62. Brown, Samuel, 35. Bulfinch, Charles, designer of Bea- con Hill Monument, 3; lays out Park Place (Park Street), 24. Bunker Hill, battle of, 70. Burying-Ground, Granary. See Granary Burying-Ground. Cabot, George, 58. Cabot, Mrs. J. Elliot, 73. Calhoun, Andrew, 115. Callender, Benjamin, 158. Carter, Catherine, her boarding- house, 82, 93. Cemetery. See Granary Burying- Ground. Center Hill. See Beacon Hill. Centery Hill. See Beacon Hill. Centinel Hill. See Beacon Hill. Centry Hill. See Beacon Hill. Centry Street. See Park Street. Century Street. See Park Street. Chandler, Adoniram, 127. Charles River, 7. Charles Street, the laying-out of, 7. Chase, Theodore, 142. Choate, Rufus, 90. Christian Register, offices of, 129. Christian Science Church, cradle of, 57. Clapboard Street. See Joy Street. Clark, Dr. Henry Grafton, 124. Coast, Long, the, 26, 27. Cobb, Richard, 83. Common, Boston, 9, 10; iron fence of, 24; Park Street Mall, 24, 29; pigeons and squirrels of, 29; Tre- mont Street Mall, 30; games on, 113; trees of, 160-64. "Constitution," frigate, 46. Cooper, Rev. William, 75. Copley, Singleton, 150. Copley's Hill, 6. Cotton Hill, 6. Court-House, Suffolk County, 154, 156. Crocker, Uriel, 155, 156. Crowninshield, Anna Caspar, 72. Crowninshield, Benjamin W., 72, 106, 149. Cunningham, Captain Nathaniel, estate, 13. Curtis, Joseph Henry, his book, "Campestris Ulm," 164. Davis, Elizabeth, 149. Davis, Isaac P., 51, 55. 168 INDEX Davis, Jonathan, 58, 62. Dawes, Thomas, 35. Dexter, George M., 98. Dexter, Katherine, 83. Dexter, Samuel, 82, 83, 87. Doll & Richards, 111. Downes, William Howe, 128. Duff, John, 61. Duveneck, Frank, 128. D wight, Edmund, 51. Dwight, Mrs. Thomas, 104. Dwight, Timothy, 8. Dwight, Miss, 111, 112. Elms, the Paddock, 157-60; a ven- erable elm, 164. Erving, John, 139, 140. Eustis, William, 95. Everett, Edward, 90. Fairbanks, Richard, 37. Fayerweather, John, 143, 152. Fire, the Great Boston, 110. Fleet, Thomas, 50. Fletcher, Robert, 125. Francis, Ebenezer, 155, 156. Franklin Monument, 48. Gardner, Henry Joseph, 76, 77. Gardner, John L., 151. Gardner, Gov., 101, 103. George, Mary Morse, 155. George Tavern, the, 12. Gibson, Mrs. C. H., 109. Gingko trees, 162, 163. Goodspeed book-shop, 67. Gordon, Adam, 139. Gore, Christopher, 25, 75, 86, 87. Gore, John, emigrant ancestor of Gore family, 75. Gore, John, descendant of preced- ing, 75. Gore, John, grandson of preceding, 64, 69, 75, 76, 79. Gore, Mary, 64. Granary, the, 45, 46. Granary Burying-Ground, 47-50, 102-04. Gray, Francis Calley, 64, 69, 98. Gray, Harrison, 89. Gray, William, 65. Greenough, Horatio, 76. Griffin, Rev. Edward Dorr, 117. Haldiman, General Frederick, 26, 27. Hale, Susan, quoted on ladies' apartment of the Union Club, 78. Hammond, Mrs. Samuel, 109. Hancock, John, 13, 16, 48; grave, 111. Hancock, Thomas, his mansion, 13-15; his pasture becomes prop- erty of town, 20. Hancock, Mrs., 16. Harding, Chester, 125-27. Hawthorne Hall, 56, 57. Heard, Augustine, 61. Henderson, W r illiam H., 137. Hillard, Mr., quoted on Jeremiah Mason, 90, 91. Hinckley, Anne, 148, 149. Hinckley, David, 148. Hinckley mansion-house, the, 147- 51. Hodgkinson, William Gill, 149. Hodson, Thomas, 7, 8. Holmes, Dr. O. W., quoted on Dr. Warren, 71; on the Registry of Deeds and the Probate Office, 84; on Dr. Jeffries, 86; anecdote of, 161. Homans, Mrs. Charles D., 73. Hough, Atherton, his residence, 11. Houghton & Dutton Company,151. Houghton Mifflin Company, 62. House of Correction, 39, 40, 44. Hull, John, 48. Jackson, General Henry, 115. 169 INDEX Jackson, Lydia, 155. James, Henry, quoted on the State House, 19; on Park Street Church, 116. Jeffries, Dr. John, 79, 86, 87. Jewell, Harvey, 124. Jewell, Marshall, 124. Joffre, Marshal, 94. Joy, Dr. John, 17. Joy Street, early name of, 14, 16. Keayne, Captain Robert, 32. Know-Nothing Party, 77. Lafayette, General, his visit to Bos- ton in 1824, 93-97. Law-breakers, 44. Lawrence, Abbott, 79, 101. Lawrence, Katharine Bigelow, 79. Leslie, C. R., 90. Lloyd, James, St., 154. Lloyd, James, Jr., 154. Lloyd estate, the, 154-56. Loring, Katharine P., 74, 92. Lovett, James D'Wolf, on coasting, 27. Lowell, Francis C, 55. Lowell, James Russell, anecdote of Mayor Quincy, 66. Lowell, John Amory, 78. Lowell Institute, 78. Lucas, E. V., quoted on Beacon- Street facades, 18. Lyman, Mrs. Charles, 104. Malbone, Edward Greene, 92, 93. Mason, Jeremiah, 88. Mason, Jonathan, 8, 55. Mason, Susan Powell, 107. Mason, the Misses, 16. Mayflower Club, 73. Merriam, Charles, 130. Miller, Samuel Ridgway, 62. Mills, James K., 124, 130. Minot, George Richards, 35. Mitchell, John G., 85. Molineaux, William, 133-35. Molineaux estate, the, 133-38. Monument, Beacon Hill, 3, 6. Morse, Elijah, 155. Morse, John Torrey, 130. Motley, John Lothrop, 110. Motley, Mrs. Thomas, 109. Mount Vernon, 6. Neal, Elizabeth, 48. Oliver, James, 123. Osgood, Lydia N., 84. Otis, Harrison Gray, 8, 86-89. Overseers of the Poor, 32. Paddock, Adino, 157-59. Paddock elms, the 157-60. Park, Rev. J. Edgar, quoted on Park Street Church, 121. Park Place, 24, 25. Park Street, early names of, 1, 24; in the early part of the nine- teenth century, 24-29; Bliss Per- ry's description of, 28, 29; Num- ber One, 51-54; Number Two, 55-57, 101-11; Number Three, 58-61; Number Four, 62, 63; Number Five, 64-68; Number Six, 69-74, 98-101; Number Sev- en, 75-78; Union Club house, 79, 80; the Amory-Ticknor house, 81-97; reminiscences of, 98-114. Park Street Church, 115-22; schools in, 111-13. Park Street Church Society, 117, Park Street Mall, 24, 29. Parsons, Theophilus, 87. Payne, Mary and Sarah, 123, 124, 130. Payne, William, 79, 86, 87, 130. Peabody, Joseph, 150. Peabody, Mrs. Oliver W., 73. Pemberton Hill, 6. 170 INDEX Perkins, James, 181. Perkins, Thomas Handasyd, 28, 64, 69, 75. Perkins Institution for the Blind, 75. Perodi, Pietro, 148, 149. Perry, Bliss, quoted on Park Street, 28, 29; on the home of the At- lantic Monthly, 62, 63. Phillips, Abigail, 65. Phillips, Jonathan, 16, 48, 145. Phillips, Wendell, birthplace of, 16; at time of Lafayette's visit to Boston, 94. Phillips, William, 131, 144. Ponsonby, Lady Caroline, 128. Pound, the Town, 37, 38. Prescott, W. H., 90. Preston, Jonathan, 155, 156. Prison Reform Society, 118. Probate Office, O. W. Holmes on, 84. Public Garden, Gingko trees in, 163. Quincy, Edmund, 10. Quincy, Josiah, the elder, 29, 65- 67, 100. Quincy, Josiah, the younger, 62, 67. Quincy, Josiah, 3rd, 67, 68. Rane, Frank William, 161. Rawson, Edward, 47. Raymond, Curtis Burritt, 84, 85. Raymond Building, the, 84. Reed, Elinor, 32. Registry of Deeds, O. W. Holmes on, 84. Religious Educational Society, 129. Revere, Paul, 48. Reynolds, Sir Joshua, painting of, 128. Ripley, George, 37, 38. Ritchie, Andrew, 86, 88. Rogers, Daniel Dennison, 135-37. Rogers, Elizabeth, 135. Rogers, Simon, 12. Roy all, Mrs., quoted on the State House, 18, 19. Russell, Benjamin, 59. Sargent, Lucius Manlius, on Sam- uel Dexter, 83. Sawyer, Matthias Plant, 83, 84. School Street, name of, 11, 12. Scott, Sir Walter, portrait of, 90. Sears, David, Sr., 152. Sears, David, Jr., 152, 153. Sears estate, the, 150, 152, 153. Sentry Hill. See Beacon Hill. Sentry Street. See Park Street. Sewall, Justice Samuel, 48. Sewall, Samuel, merchant, 143. Shackelton, Robert, quoted on Bea- con Hill, 17. Shaw, Amy, 73. ShurtlefF, Nathaniel B., quoted on the Almshouse, 35, 36; on the Paddock elms, 157. Smith, Dr. Jerome Van Crownin- shield, 15, 121. Smith, Samuel Francis, author of "America," 118. Society to Encourage Studies at Home, the, 92. Somerset Club, the, 150, 153. South Latin School Street, 12. Spinning Schools, 134. Stanwood, Edward, 31. State House, laying of corner-stone of, 20-22; completion of, 22; sub- sequent changes in, 23. Story, Judge Joseph, 83. Sullivan, James, 87. Sullivan, John, 59. Sullivan, Richard, grandson of John, 58, 59. Sullivan, Richard, son of Richard, 59. Sullivan, Mr., his school, 113. Summer Street, 16. 171 INDEX Sumner, Increase, 22. Sumner, William H., quoted on Lafayette, 95, 96. Swan, Hepsibah, 115. Swift, Lindsay, quoted on Park Street Church, 117. Thatcher, Rev. Dr., 22. Thresher, Francis, 34. Thurston, William, 115, 117, 136. Ticknor, Anna Eliot, 92. Ticknor, George, 25, 86, 89-92. Tower, D. B., 112. Trees, on the Common, 160, 161; Gingko, 162, 163. See Elms. Tremont Street Mall, 30. Trollope, Anthony, his praise of Boston, 17, 18. Turner, Robert, 133, 143. Tweed, Mr., 112. Union Club, the, 75, 78-80. Unitarian Book-Room, 129. Vergoose, Elizabeth, 50. Vinton, Rev. Alexander H., 107. Walley, Samuel H., 115. ' Ward, Artemas, 76. W 7 ard, Lydia, 59, 61. W T ard, Thomas W T ren, 59-61. Warren, Annie C, 109, 111. Warren, Emily, 106. W'arren, James Sullivan, 69, 101, 104, 107. Warren, Mrs. James Sullivan, 74, 107. W'arren, Dr. John, 104; deposition of, 42, 43; career, 69, 70. Warren, John Collins, the elder, 51, 55, 60, 98, 104, 107; raised funds for Franklin monument, 49 n.; career, 70, 71. Warren, Dr. John Collins, the younger, career, 72, 73; his rem- iniscences of Park Street, 98- 114. Warren, Dr. Jonathan Mason, 69, 104, 107, 110, 111; career, 71, 72. Warren, General Joseph, 55, 70. Warren, Joseph, son of John Collins, 73. Warren Building, the, 56. Warren Institution for Savings, 61. Warville, Jean Pierre Brissot de, quoted, on the Workhouse, 43; on Governor Bowdoin, 140. Webb, Henry, 32. W 7 ebster, Daniel, 60, 61, 90. Welles, Elizabeth, 55. Welles, General, 51, 55. Wendell, Judge Oliver, 16, 17. Whippers, 39. White, Richard Grant, his opinion of the State House dome, 23. Whitmore, Charles O., 130. Wiggin, Benjamin, 150. Wigglesworth, Edward, emigrant ancestor of Wigglesworth family, 52. Wigglesworth, Edward, son of Michael, 53. Wigglesworth, Edward, son of Ed- ward, son of Michael, 52. Wigglesworth, the sisters Jane, Mary, and Anne, 51. Wigglesworth, Rev. Michael, 52, 53. Wigglesworth, Thomas, 51, 53, 54. Willard, Solomon, 48 n., 116, 150. W r ilson, Rev. John, 123. Wines, E. C, praises Boston, 18. Winthrop, Anne, 107. Winthrop, Robert C, 107. Wisner, Rev., quoted on William Phillips, 144. Wolcott, Emily, 127. Wood, William, quoted on Beacon Hill, 6. Woodruff, Caroline, 126. Workhouse, the, 41-44. 172 DATED^ UNIVERSITY ?Ro5ucfs7iNC^859-5503 BOSTON COLLEGE 3 903 572578 1 iM#ai&«fr APR 2 7 f987 APR 2T 1992 F 73,67 .P3 L4 copy 2 Lawrence? Robert Means? 1847 Old Park street and its vicinity? Boston College Libraries Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167