STORICAL SKETCH MATTERS APPERTAINING Coem H in. Burial-Gro *% 1030 ,-<# HHh IHH .1 • M ■ I ■'" > I -'l"\ "'",-.'^1 m '.V»< ■ CwiaJrffTtfl EB9 P73.U. By HISTORICAL SKETCH AND MATTERS APPERTAINING TO THK Copfs Hill Bubial- Ground^ Published by the Cemetery Department of the City of Boston TRUSTEES J. Albert Brackett, Chairman Jacob Morse Albert W. Hersey William J. Fallon Frederick E. Atteaux Albert E. Smith, Secretary BOSTON MUNICIPAL PRINTING OFFICE 1901 HULL STREET ENTRANCE, COPP'S HILL BURIAL-GROUND. HISTORY OF COPP'S HILL In early days the well to do of Boston dwelt largely in the North End, a very pleasant and convenient part of the peninsula. Until the time just succeeding the Revolution, the North End retained its social prominence ; then the notables and fashionables began to leave it. It was quite natural, there- fore, in accordance with the custom of the time, that the town should early provide a burial-ground in this comparatively well settled section. In 1659 there was bought a lot of land on the summit of Copp's Hill, which formed the nucleus of the present cemetery. Copp's Hill was an eminently suitable spot for the purpose. Although lower than Beacon Hill and Fort Hill, it was scarcely less commanding and seemed equally a topographical feature. The rectangular plateau on the summit easily lent itself to burial needs. Wood, among the first travellers to record his impressions of Boston, says in his "New England Prospect" (London, 1634) : " On the North side is another Hill, equall in bignesse (to Fort Hill), whereon stands a Winde-mill." This was the first windmill erected in the colony. These old windmills, in the days when corn was legal tender, were useful servants to the community and were a feature of the landscape. Winthrop records a mill built on Windmill Point in 1636, and three others were put up by 1650. After Boston had become a city, the two last surviving windmills still stood on Windmill Point. On July 31, 1643, the town granted Henry Simons, John Button and others all the land between the Town Cove and the marshes beyond, on condition that they erect " one or more corne mills, and maynteyne the same forever." The "south" and "north" mills were accordingly constructed on the shore of the Mill Pond; and others gradually followed, including later a sawmill and a chocolate mill. During the first century of its existence the burial ground was called the North Cemetery, this name giving way to that of the hill itself. On the hill, in turn, three names were succes- sively bestowed'. At first it was generally known as the Mill Hill, and the entire district about the hill was also known as the " Mylne Field " or " Mill-field," being frequently so named in grants and conveyances of land. The early settlers in Watertown had there built a windmill ; and Governor Winthrop notes in his diary that on August 14, 1632, "the windmill was brought downe to Boston, because (where it stoode neere Newtown) it would not grind but with a westerly wmde." It was set up on the summit of Copp's Hill, where for years it ground corn for the settlers and served as a landmark to skippers working into the harbor. The windmill also gave its name to " ye Mylne Field." As the old windmill thus lost its uniqueness, the name it had given the north hill also lost its hold, being supplanted by that of " Snow Hill." This title is now kept only in Snowhill street near by. The name may be due to the drifts that succes- sive northeasters left piled upon the hill late into the spring, but is more probably derived from a certain Snow Hill street in London. In its turn this second name gave way to Copp's Hill, so called after William Copp, who from about the time of the settlement owned and dwelt upon a half-acre lot on, the south- east corner, near Prince street. The possessions of William Copp, who was a woi'thy shoemaker and an elder in Dr. Mather's Church, as set forth in the Boston Book of Posses- sions, were : " One house & lott of halfe an Acre in the Mill field bounded with Thomas Buttolph southeast: John Button northeast : the marsh on the southwest : & the River on the Northwest." The date of this change in name is not precisely known. Some of the maps made at the time of the Revolution have the name Copp's Hill attached to that part of the hill north-west of Snowhill street, where Copp dwelt. The present aspect of Copp's Hill and its surroundings differs considerably from that of the early days. Like the other two hills, Copp's Hill was quite bare, there being scarcely a tree on the peninsula. Dr. Snow, in his history of Boston, gives the following description of the hill as it appeared in the early days : " The hill at the north, rising to the height of about fifty feet above the sea, presented then on its north-west brow an abrupt declivity, long after known as Copp's Hill steeps. Its summit, almost level, extended between Prince and Charter streets towards Christ Church ; thence south a gentle slope led to the water, which washed the south side of Prince street below, and the north side above Thacher street as far as Salem ; eastward from the church, a gradual Ascent led to the North Battery, which was considered the bottom of the hill. South- easterly the slope was still more gradual, and terminated at the foot of North square, leaving a knoll on the right, where at present stands the meeting-house of the Second Church." " On the southerly slope of this hill," says Dr. Shurtleff in his " Topographical Description of Boston," " was Stanley's pasture, extending to Hanover street, and covering the large tract of land lying between Prince and Charter streets, the westerly end of Bennet street at its junction with Salem street being the centre of the lot." The owner, a tailor, who died in March, 1646, deserves to be remembered as the first person to bequeath the town property for the support of public schools, one of the items of bis will reading, " I give to the maintenance of the free-schools of Boston a parcell of land lying aeere to the waterside it foiire roads in Length backward." In the early days, Conn's Hill and the land around its base were formed almost into an island by the two coves running up into the peninsula, — Mill Cove or Pond, or North Cove, as it was first railed, on the north, and Town Cove on the south. The North Cove stretched over to the point extending north-west from the Tramount, or Beacon Hill, and high tides often swept over the intervening lowlands. The Town Cove, on the other side, reaehed inland almost to the foot of Brattle street. At the foot of the headland was a small stretch of beach, where Commercial street (formerly Lynn street) now 7 runs, the material for the street being taken from the summit of the hill, where Snowhill street was cut across. Three of the half-dozen points then prominent in the shdVe line were grouped in the Copp's Hill promontory. Where the gasometer now stands, Windmill, later Wheeler's Point, pro- jected. At the junction of Charter and Commercial streets was "Ye Mylne Point," so called in 1635, and later known as Hud- son's Point, whence Francis Hudson, the fisherman who became a ferry-man, ran his ferry to Charlestow 7 n and Chelsea. Merry's Point, whereon the famous North Battery was built, was situ- ated between the Winnisimmet Ferry and Battery Wharf, and was so called after Walter Merry, the first Boston shipwright, who there built his wharf a few years after the settlement. Around these points gradually grew up a considerable shij)- wrighting industry , many grants to " wharf out " being recorded by 1660. Most notable of the shipyards was that of Joshua Gee, as prominent a ship-builder in his day as later was "Billy" Gray. In 1698 Governor Bellomont said that Boston owmed 194 good ships, or more than were possessed by all Scotland and Ireland. A great change in the surroundings of Copp's Hill was inau- gurated by the chartering on March 9, 1804, of the Boston Mill Corporation, successors to Simons, Button, and others, for the purpose of filling up the Mill Pond. After 25 years' work, an area of 70 acres was thus added to the town. Beacon Hill was mainly resorted to for filling, but beginning with 1806 earth was also taken during several years from Copp's Hill, lowering its height about seven feet. At the north-eastern base of the hill dwelt Boston's first col- ored colony, then called " New Giiinea." Inland, as far as the neck crossed by the Mill Creek, ran the quaint, garden- fringed streets of the old North End, the good end of the tow 7 n. It was then of limited area, containing, according to Shurtleff, but 680 houses at the beginning of its social decay at the end of the Revolution, and measuring but 803 yards in length and 726 yards in breadth. From this territory, during a century and a half, came most of the tenants of Copp's Hill. 6 The cemetery itself comprises four successively acquired parcels of land and is the largest in the City proper, the total area aggregating 88,800 square feet, or about two acres. It lies to-day between Hull, Snowhill, and Charter streets, the exact boundaries being as follows: On the north-east, about 314 feet by Charter street ; on the north-west, about 324 feet by Snowhill street, above which the cemetery rises twenty feet, being sup- ported by a granite wall ; on the south-west, about 330 feet by Hull street; on the north-east again by Marshall place, about 120 feet by Marshall place and about 127 feet by private prop- erty ; and on the south-east, about 123 feet by private property and the Hull-street Primary School. The land for the North Burying- Ground was purchased of John Baker and Daniel Turell, and in 1735 the transaction is recorded as follows, under date of February 20, 1659, in the Suffolk Deeds, lib. 53, fol. 153: "John Baker and Daniel Turell, sell to the Selectmen of Boston, a lot of land, 294 feet on the northerly side, 252 feet on the southerly side ; in breadth on the easterly end 126 feet. Butting on the way that leadeth from the new meeting-house in Boston towards Charlestown Ferry, on the north; on the land of William Phillips, southerly; on the land of John Baker and Daniel Turell, easterly ; and on the way that leadeth from Senter haven to Charlestown Ferry, westerly." The North Burying- Ground is thus second in point of time to King's Chapel, although the Granary is practically contem- poraneous with it. Concerning the piece of land that had been bought, the town passed the following order November 5, 1660 : " Itt is ordered that the old burying place shall bee wholly deserted for some convenient season, and the new places ap- pointed for burying onely be made use of." The only entrance at the time was from Charter street until the next addition was made, forty years later. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, enlargement had become necessary, but, as was usual with the town cemeteries, was effected only with difficulty and when it could no longer be postponed by overcrowding the existing space. The town had voted for enlargement some time before it was accomplished, appointing a committee which seems rather to have neglected its duty. It was discharged and another appointed, consisting of Hon. Thomas Hutchinson, Timothy Thornton, and Edward Martyn, by whom the necessary land was promptly purchased, January 7, 1708. It was sold to the town by Judge Samuel Sewall and his wife Hannah, and formed a corresponding section to the old ground on the south-west, fronting on Hull street. It was part of the pasture which Mrs. Sewall had inherited from her father, John Hull, master of the mint. The deed is dated December 17, 1711, (Suffolk Deeds, lib. 26, fol. 97). The tract thus added was nearly squai'e in shape and on three sides was bounded by streets. It was included in the old Nortli Burying-Ground. The principal path on the east hill, cust of the tool house and parallel to Charter street, follows approximately the boundary separating the Sewall purchase from the original burial-ground. 'The tract long known as the New North Burying-Ground, and now called simply the Small Ground, was added by pur- chase in 1809. The deed is recorded as follows under date of December 18, 1809: "For $10,000, Benjamin Weld, and his wife Nabby, sold to the Town of Boston a parcel of land, bounded south-west on Hull street 148 feet ; north-west on the burial-ground, 148 feet and 6 inches ; north-east on land of Goodwin and others, 153 feet; south-east on land of Jonathan Merry, 123 feet"; being land conveyed to Weld by Merry, October 21, 1809, recorded lib. 230, fol. 191." This lot also is nearly square and somewhat less than one- half the size of the old yard. It comprised part of Jonathan Merry's pasture, Merry selling it to Mr. Weld, who disposed of it to the town. It was long known as the New North Burying- Ground, and is now called the Small Ground. In 1814 Hon. Charles Wells, later mayor of Boston, built 52 tombs around the sides of this enclosure; and in 1827 Edward Bell built 15 more on the site of the old gun-house of the Columbian artillery. The new ground was laid out sym- metrically in tiers and several bodies were interred in each grave. The first interment was that of John Richardson, July 6, 1810, who had been drowned a few days before. Again, in 1819, Hon. Charles Wells became the owner of a small tract, usually called the Charter Street Burying-Ground, between the old and new grounds and Marshall place and fronting on Charter street. The purchase is recorded as fol- lows in Suffolk Deeds, lib. 262, fol. 296: "June 3, 1819, John Bishop, of Medford, sold to Charles Wells, for $1,051.30, land in Charter street, bounded north-east on said street 20 feet; north-easterly on the burying-ground 20 feet wide ; then con- tinuing westerly, 70 feet on the burying-ground 20 feet wide ; then continuing 50 feet more, 28 feet wide ; south-west 28 feet on land formerly of Dr. Wm. Clark, but now a burying-ground ; then south-east 50 feet, 28 feet wide, then continuing 70 feet more 20 feet wide, on land formerly owned by William Fowle ; being the land which Stephen Gorham, as administrator of Nathaniel Holmes, sold to said Bishop, December 14, 1791, recorded lib. 184, fol. 59." This small lot Mr. Wells had fenced in and upon it, with the consent of the town, he erected 34 tombs. The intervening fence was later removed, and the yard became part of the old cemetery. In 1832 a final purchase was made by Mr. Jacob Hall and others of a strip of land adjoining the north-western side of the old burial-ground, which was given the title of " Hull- Street Cemetery." In 1853 this section was discontinued and the bodies it contained removed to Mt. Hope in February, 1861. This strip was on the present site of the gasometer and con- tained several rows of tombs. The proprietors at the same time relinquished certain rights of way to that part of Snow- hill street from Hull to Charter street, which had been merely a private foot-passage, and the City agreed to maintain here a public walk 33 feet wide. A similar private burial-ground of much more ancient date and of smaller extent is still kept intact in the very centre of the cemetery. Judge Sewall and his wife on January 7, 1708, sold to Joshua Gee, the noted ship-builder, a small portion of their pasture " one rodd square, in consideration of two and thirty shillings paid them, being part of their pasture adjoin- ing to the north burying-place, in which parcel of ground Mrs. Mary Thacher now lyeth buried ; bounded northerly by the said burying-ground and on all other sides by the land of the said Samuel and Hannah Sewall, with no right of way except through the old burying-place." Mr. Gee bought it at the urging of his wife, who did not care to be buried among the common multitude. The only restriction was that he should maintain one-half the fence. The Mrs. Thacher who lay buried therein was the wife of Judah Thacher of Yarmouth, and had died November 30, 1708, aged 68. Her gravestone is standing in the north-east corner of the little plot. This enclosure later became the property of- Deacon Moses Grant, one of the leaders of the Boston Tea Party. It is yet held in the family, being in possession of the heirs of the late Moses Grant, the temperance lecturer, and contains the remains of three generations. The spot is still private property, quite exempt from control of the cemetery authorities. By 1840 burials on Copp's Hill had become comparatively infrequent, and there was no further need of expansion. Beside the changes during 180 years, there were minor alterations in the appearance of the cemetery. When Snowhill street was cut through the edge of the old bluff and extended northerly to Charter street it encountered a row of old tombs, having a walk leading from end to end, with steps at each extremity. The entrances to these tombs and the tablets thereon were transferred within the fence. About 1837 the whole western slope beyond Snowhill street was dug away and the existing heavy granite wall erected to protect the cemetery. During the period from the Revolution to 1830 the cemetery began to be neglected, until on May 27, 1833, the City appro- priated $50 for the purchase of ti-ees to ornament the grounds. To-day there are almost 200 trees in the cemetery. New walks were laid out in 1838, and many stones were then or since removed or altered in position with the same mistaken efforts at symmetry that have been remarked in the case of King's Chapel. 9 By 1878 the hill had again fallen into decay, and become sub- ject to all kinds of depredations. In that year the Board of Health appointed the present superintendent, Mr. E. MacDonald, by whose care the neglected tombs and paths have been re- stored to orderliness and many lost tombstones recovered. Two hundred and twenty-seven tombs are contained within the cemetery. Two of the number belong to the City, one for adults near Charter street, and one for children near Hull street, built in June, 1833. Nearby is a large tomb, set aside about 1840 for mariners. The oldest tombs were built in 1717, shortly after the Sewall purchase, and front on Hull street. In 1722 a new range of tombs, running north, was started at the south-east corner on Hull street. The selectmen's records down to 1806 contain numerous grants of permission to erect tombs, almost invariably with the provision that " the brick wall thereof be carried up so as to be a sufficient fence." In 1805 were con- structed the tombs on Snowhill street, and in 1807 those front- ing on Charter street. We have already recorded the later erection of tombs in 1814, 1819, 1827, and 1832. The latter date practically ends the growth of the cemetery. During the century to 1760, it is estimated that one-fourth the population of the town was buried on Copp's Hill. The de- caying stones form a rude epitome of most of the North End's history. That part of the cemetery near Snowhill street was at first reserved for slaves and freedmen. The remainder contains gen- erations of the old North Enders, some of them famous in local history, others simple folk who have left merely a name. The date of the first interment is unknown, although probably occurring around 1660, and there is some doubt as to the iden- tity of the oldest stone. Apparently it is that erected to the memory of Grace Berry, wife of Thomas Berry, who, according to the inscription, died May 17, 1625, or five years before Boston was settled. The stone is of old Welsh slate, well preserved and with the carving quite distinct ; the edges are ornamented with curves and at the top are carved two cherubs and the angel of death. There is also cut a shield, without quartering of arms. The marks of British bullets are visible, this stone, like many others on the hill, having been a target for the British soldiers during the siege of Boston. It has generally been held that the true date on the Grace Berry stone is 1695, a boyish freak of Mr. George Darracott having led him to change the figure 9 with his jack knife into the figure 2 ; in the same fashion the date on the stone of John Thwing in King's Chapel was altered from 1690 to 1620. In like manner the dates upon the stones of John White and of Joanna, the six-months-old daughter of William and Anne Copp, has been altered to 1625, and that of Abigail Everden's death to 1626. Like vandalism is evident in the old Charlestown ceme- tery. 10 Custodian MacDonald, however, accepts the date of 1625, and supposes the stone one of the oldest in New England. He relates a visit to Copp's Hill, in July, 1878, of an old gentleman from the West, who produced a memorandum book, yellow with age, on the first page of which was a facsimile drawing of the stone with the coat of arms (without the hullet marks). On the first two pages was a footnote stating that the stone, together with the remains of Mrs. Berry, had been removed from Plym- outh in 1659. "No record of Grace Berry's death can be found at City Hall. — MacDonald." There is little likelihood that the trouble would be taken, in the early days of perilous traveling, to transport the remains of a person of no particular note over the long journey from Plym- outh to Boston, and at a date 35 years after interment. Beyond this, moreover, the fact is that Grace Berry, who was the daughter of Major John Jayman, a rope-maker, was living in the flesh with her husband, Thomas Berry, in their house near the Ship Tavern, at the junction of Ship (North) and Clark streets', very many years after her reputed death in 1625. The oldest stone, accordingly, is one bearing the date of 1661, which was found buried beneath the surface in 1878. It stands near the Shaw monument, and preserves the memory of the grandchildren of William Copp in the following inscrip- tion : DAVID SON TO DAVID THOMAS, SON TO DAVID COPP & OBEDIENCE HIS COPP & OBEDIENCE HIS WIFE WIFE AGED 2 WEEKS AGED 2 TEAKS & 3 QUARTERS DYED DEC 22 DYED JULY YE 25 1661 1678 Near the centre of the yard is erected the stone commemorat- ing the Kind children, long supposed the oldest stone, but really second in j)oint of age by some six months. It was dug up in the 40's by Mr. Glidden, and reads : MARY KIND WILLIAM KIND AGED AGED ABOUT 1 YEAR DYED DIED YE 15 OF AUGUST YE 14 OF FEBRUARY 1662 1666 THE CHILDREN OF ARTHUR AND JANE KIND. William Copp, who gave his name to the hill, is buried in the cemetery, but no stone to his memory is now extant, and not much is known of him. In his will, dated Oct. 31, 1662, and proved April 27, 1670, made after he had become " sick and weak," he terms himself a cordwa'iner, or shoemaker, by trade, and leaves his property to his wife " Goodeth," or Judith. The inventory shows property of the respectable sum for those days of almost £110, including houses, outhouses, orchard, garden and land, to the value of £80. 11 The stone erected in memory of his wife Judith may be found in the northern pari <>t' the yard, between the Shaw monument and the Grant tomb. It is small in size, and extends but a few- inches above the ground. Many of the name of Copp were buried here. Beside that of little Joanna Copp, however, and the two grandchildren men- tioned above, only eight stones still remain. David Copp was the most notable member of the family. He was an elder in Cotton Mather's Church, and of considerable prominence in the North End, dwelling in a brick house at the head of Hull street. He died November 20, 1713, aged 78. Amy, his second wife, died November 28, 1718, at the age of 82. The stone is left standing to record the name of his first wife, who was Obedience Topliff. At his funeral Judge Sewall notes that there was present a distinguished company, with " a pretty many Men, but few Women." The Colony records show that William Copp was made a Freeman on June 2, 1641, and David on October 11, 1670. The other children of William Copp are recorded as follows : Jonathan, born August 23, 1640 ; Rebecca, May 6, 1641, and Ruth, September 24, 1643. In later days the Copp family removed to Connecticut. A long list might be made of the tenants of Copp's Hill who possess claim to mention, as being at least of local note — divines, scholars, and patriots. Doubtless the most famous tomb in the yard is that near the Charter-street gate, containing the remains of the Mathers, In- crease, Cotton and Samuel — the " Mather dynasty," comprising three generations of divines. The tomb is of brick, plainly built, and is surrounded by iron railings. A great slab of brownstone forms the lid, in which are set two squares of slate, of different dates. On the more ancient, in almost illegible let- tering, is carved the following inscription : THE REVEREND DOCTORS INCREASE, COTTON, & SAMUEL MATHER were intered in this Vault. Tis the Tomb of our Father s MATHER — CROCKER S. I DIED Augt 27th 1723 M 84 C DIED FEB 13th 1727 M 65 S DIED June 27th 1785 M 79 Here lie together the three eminent figures in Boston's eccle- siastical history between 1664 and the Revolution, men of great general learning, of emphatic temperament and of remarkable influence in the affairs of the age. Their history needs no re- counting. They were buried with great solemnity. Six of the leading ministers formed Cotton Mather's pallbearers, while in the funeral procession walked the public dignitaries. The narrow streets were thronged, and the " windows were filled with sorrowfull spectators all the way to the burying-place." 12 Many of the numerous descendants of the Mathers also rest in this tomb. Cotton Mather, for instance, had fifteen children by the first two of his three wives. When the tomb was last opened sixteen years ago for the interment of one of the Crocker family, the remains of generations of the family were found heaped in great disorder. The Hutchinson tomb, in the south-east corner, was built about 1711. Here were buried Elisha and Thomas Hutchinson, father and grandfather of the governor. Thomas Hutchinson, who died December 31, 1789, built at his own expense the first school-house in the North End. On the sandstone slab covering the entrance of tomb is beautifully carved the family coat of arms. Like many other memorials in the Boston cemeteries, it has not escaped vandalism. With incredible effrontery, one Thomas Lewis, an undertaker, scattered the Hutchinson remains to the winds, took possession of the tomb and in place of the honored name of Hutchinson had carved his own. Another notable stone is that commemorating the patriot, Capt. Daniel Malcom. It is of hard blue slate, well preserved, and bears the following inscription : Here lies buried in a Stone Grave 10 feet deep CAPt DANIEL MALCOM MERCH> who departed this life October 23d 1769 Aged 44 years. a true son of Liberty a Friend to the Publick an Enemy to oppre/sion and one of the foremo/t in oppo/ing the Revenue Acts on America. The stone grave, however, is built of brick. Malcom was a merchant, and his store on Fleet street was a favorite resort of the haters of the revenue acts. He was also a warden of Christ Church and vice president of the Charitable Irish Society. In February, 1768, aided by friends armed with clubs, he smuggled in at night a cargo of sixty casks of wine from a vessel anchored five miles down the harbor. A little later he presided over a meeting of business men, at which it was resolved to import no more English goods, except those needed for the fisheries, for a year and a half. Some months afterward, he was one of the leaders in the mob which resisted the seizure of John Hancock's sloop " Liberty " by the boats of the British frigate " Romney." He was decidedly obnoxious to the King's officers, and six years after his death the British soldiers made his tombstone a particular target, the bullet marks being very conspicuous. In the north-western part of the yard is the stone of Capt. Thomas Lake, bearing the following inscription : 13 Capt- Thomas Lake Aged 61 Yeeres An EmineNe 1 Faithfvll ServaN of God & One Of a Publick Spirit Was PerfidovslJ' Slain K> y e Indians At Kennibeck Avgvst ye 14* h 1676 1ERE Interred IE 13 Of March Following The story runs that the deep slit cut into the stone was filled with melted bullets taken from his body. The knives of relic hunters, however, have left no vestige of the lead. Captain Lake was a man of fortune, being one of the earliest proprietors of lands in Maine and New Hampshire and actively engaged in commercial pursuits. He commanded the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1662 and 1674. He served in the early part of King Philip's War, then departing for Arowsick Island, Maine, which he owned jointly with Captain Thomas Clarke. His body was not discovered until seven months after he had been slain, his fate being meanwhile unknown. Not far from the Lake stone is a large slate block preserving the memory of Nicholas Upshall, who died in August, 1666, aged about 70. He is notable as furnishing one of the good examples of religious toleration in the early days, and although a man of much property and influence, as well as a prominent membei uf the church, he fell a victim to the intolerance of his fellow townsmen. He owned land in 1637 from Hanover street to the w r aterside on the northeast side of Richmond street, and was the twenty-third original member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. His main offence was his kindness towards the Quakers, who were zealously prosecuted by certain authori- ties from Governor Endicott down. For bribing the jail-keeper to supply two imprisoned Quaker women with food he was fined £20 and banished. He resided in Rhode Island during the remaining six years of Governor Endicott's rule, and on his return gave the Quakers the free use of a room in his house, w r hich for a long time subsequent was known as the " Old Red Lyon Inn." He is referred to as follows in the " History of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company : " " Property, moral worth, public services, wife, children, friends, cannot preserve a man from the ruthless fangs of religious persecution. The respectable Quakers of the present day (Lynn) have recently reclaimed the remains of their former brethren from the old Quaker burying-ground lest rapacious hands of speculation should trespass further. Why do they not redeem the ashes of those who may be considered among the first martyrs of their sect?" In December, 1878, there w r as discovered among five stones 14 closing the entrance to an old tomb one with the following inscription : " Recompense Wadsworth, A.M. First Master of ye Grammar Free School at ye North End of Boston. Aged about 25 years; Died June ye 9th, 1713." The establishment of this school was voted at a town meeting on March 11, 1711-12, and on March 9, succeeding, the selectmen were " empowered to introduce Mr. Recompense Wadsworth at the North End, and to allow him sixty pounds for one year." The young teacher died after teaching for six months in the new school-house, which was built on Bennet street in 1713. One of the most finely carved armorial bearings in the ceme- tery is that chiselled on the well-preserved slate stone over the Clark tomb near the main gate. The inscription reads : HERE LTES THE MORTAL PART of (William Clark Esq 1 -) An Eminent Merchant of this Town, and An Honorable Coun/ellor for the Province ; Who Diytingui/hed Him/elf as A Faithful and Affectionate Friend A Fair and generous Trader ; Loyal to his (Prince), Yet always Zealous for the Freedom of his Countrey; A De/piyer of Sorry Per/ons and fiecle Actions, An Enemy to Priestcraft and Enthusiasm Ready to relieve and help the Wretched; A Lover of good Men of Various Denominations And a Reverent Woryhipper of the (Deity) William Clark was one of the wealthiest ship-owners of the time and an original member of Christ Church. His brick mansion on the corner of Garden Court and Prince Street, later occupied by Sir Henry Frankland, the collector of customs, was among the finest in town. In the French wars he suffered the loss of forty ships, which, with other reverses, is said to have hastened his end. His stone suffered the same fate as that over the Hutchinson tomb. One Samuel Winslow, sexton of the First Baptist Church, boldly appropriated the tomb, ejecting the occupants, and inscribed his own name above that of the rightful owner. In the adjoining tomb sleeps Dr. John Clark, brother to the merchant, a very worthy physician according to the Latin eulogy upon his finely carved tombstone. The seven succeed- ing generations of the family each produced a physician of the same name. Among the most illustrious by birth of the cemetery's ten- ants were the Mountforts, long a prominent North End family. Tomb No. 17, on the Hull street side, built in 1711, bears the name of John Mountfort ; and No. 59, erected in 1724, that of Jonathan Mountfort, together with the family coat of arms. The two were sons of Edmund Mountfort, who fled from 15 London in 1(556 on account of political offences. He manicl a granddaughter of Nicholas Upshall, and died in 1723, being buried in the Granary. The Mountforts traced their descent to an ancient Norman family, scions of which came over with the Conquest. Turstain de Mountfort, 1030, is mentioned in Dugdale's " History of Warwickshire." Jonathan Mountfort was a wealthy physician and apothecary, his shop being long known as " Mountfort's Corner," and was of a decidedly eccentric temperament. He was one of the seceders from the New North Church in 1719, and helped build the " New Brick " or " Weathercock " Church, of which he was chosen treasurer. John Mountfort was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1696, and owner of Mountfort's wharf. His descendants long resided on Prince street. Another tomb emblazoned with family arms is that of the family of Joshua Gee, one of the most famous of the old ship- wrights, who, as we have noted, purchased the small private lot in the centre of the cemetery. The inscription on his tomb reads simply : " The Arms and Tomb belonging to the family of Gee." The noted Gee shipyard was located on the south-west side of Prince street, while the family mansion stood on the corner of Salem and Prince streets, known as " Gee's Corner." The adjoining lands were also in possession of the Gees. Judge Sewall frequently mentions dining with the Gees. A plain white stone in the north-west corner, bearing the simple inscription : " Edmund Hartt's Tomb, 1806," records the memory of the yet more famous builder of the " Constitution " and the " Boston." In the western part of the yard is the Mariners' Tomb, " Dedicated to the Seamen of All Nations, by Phineas Stowe, Pastor of the First Baptist Bethel Church, Boston, 1851." It contains the remains of Emily, wife of Dr. Stowe, who died on the day the monument over the tomb was completed, and also those of four sailors. The cost of erection was met by contri- butions from seamen and their friends, the crew of the United States sloop-of-war Albany giving $52. A tragic history is told by the large triple stone near the tool- house, which preserves in intricate lettering the memory of George Worthylake, aged 45 ; his wife Ann, 40, and their daughter, Ruth, 13. Worthylake, who had been brought up on George's Island, was the first keeper of Boston Light. On No- vember 3, 1718, the family set sail for Noddle's Island, but, the craft capsizing, they " took in heaven by the way," according to the old historian. Franklin, then a printer's apprentice to his brother, at the latter's urging, took this incident as the theme for a street ballad, called the " Lighthouse Tragedy." Although " wretched stuff," according to the author, and severely criti- cised by his father, it had a considerable sale. Unfortunately no copy is now extant. 16 In the northern part of the yard, in a plain brick vault, lie the remains of Chief Justice Parker. Near the north-west angle is the much more pretentious monument to Charles Jar- vis, a noted local politician, who died in 1807, aged 59, "a Statesman, a Patriot, and an honest Man, whose dignified De- portment, sublime Eloquence, unbounded Philanthropy, and other Virtues endeared his memory to his Fellow Citizens." A few feet away is the vault once owned by Governor Christopher Gore. Perhaps the most ornate monument in the cemetery is that erected by Isaac Dupee, and bearing a beautifully carved coat- of-arms, together with the following tribute in verse : MY NAME FKOM THE PALMS OF HIS HANDS ETERNITY WILL NOT ERASE ; IMPRESSED ON HIS HEART, IT REMAINS IN MARKS OF INDELIBLE GRACE. YES, I TO THE END SHALL ENDURE, AS SURE AS THE EARNEST IS GIVEN, MORE HAPPY, BUT NOT MORE SECURE, THE GLORIFIED SPIRITS IN HEAVEN. A simply inscribed stone records the death in 1778, at the age of 66, of Dr. Andrew Eliot, the well beloved pastor of the New North Church. A beautiful coat-of-arms, said not to be- long to the family, is carved on the obverse side. Dr. Eliot's house is still standing at the corner of Hanover and Tileston streets. Timothy Thornton, who died Sept. 19, 1726, aged 79, was one of the committee which negotiated the Sewall purchase. He was also prominent in town affairs, being several times town commissioner and selectman, as well as in the General Court and serving on the committee appointed to issue bills of credit to pay the debts incurred in the French and Indian wars — the first paper currency issued in Massachusetts. Edward Martyn, another of the committee, sleeps at the right of the Hull-street entrance. His tombstone bears an elaborate coat-of-arms. He commanded the Ancient and Honorable Ar- tillery Company in 1715, and once owned most of the land from Hanover street to the sea. Beside the Ellis tomb and monument in the north-east corner of the yard for over forty years grew a willow tree of interest- ing origin. It was brought as a slip from the willow that shades the grave of Napoleon at St. Helena by Capt. Joseph Leonard in 1844, and here transplanted by Roland Ellis. It was destroyed by the great gale of 1888. In the centre of the yard stands the tombstone of one of the foremost of the Quakers, William Mumford, who died in No- vember, 1718, at the age of 77. He was a stonecutter and builder, and on July 10, 1694, bought a lot in Brattle square, whereon he erected the first Quaker meeting-house, which was as well the first brick church built in the town. In January, COPP'S HILL BURIAL-GROUND. (CENTRAL PART.) 17 1708, he purchased another lot on Congress street, and there built a second meeting-house, to which the Quakers repaired after selling the earlier edifice Part of this lot constituted the Quaker burying-ground, until the remains contained therein were removed to Lynn in 1825. On the northern slope of the yard is the monument erected in 1848 to Major Samuel Shaw by his grandson, Robert G. Shaw. The story of the soldier's life is briefly told by the inscription, which runs : [MAJOR SAMUEL SHAW,] third son of Francis & Sarah, served as an Officer in the Revolutionary War, from its commencement to its close. On the 22d of Feb. 1784, he sailed from New York in the Ship Empress of China, for Canton, as Supercargo & part owner; this being the first vessel that sailed from the U. States for that place he was appointed by Washington Consul to China, which office he held until his death in 1794 Near the front gate sleeps a fellow-soldier, Major Thomas Seward, who " gallantly fought in our late Revolutionary War and through its various Scenes behaved with Patriotic Fortitude and died in the Calms of Domestic Felicity as becomes a Uni- versal Christian, November 27th, 1800, M 60." The following commanders of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company are interred in the cemetery : Capt. Thomas Lake, Capt. Ralph Hart, Col. John Carnes, Capt. Caleb Lyman, and Capt. Edward Martyn. On the western slope of the hill is the stone recording the name of Deacon Shemm Drowne, Hawthorne's famous carver in wood, who wrought the grasshopj)er on the Faneuil Hall vane. He died in 1774 at the ripe age of 90. Nearby rests Captain John Pulling, died January 25, 1787, at the age of 51, after whom was named the headland in Chelsea fronting on the water. Another noteworthy stone is that erected in memory of Prince Hall, first Grand Master of the colored Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts. A rather pathetic inscription is that on a stone near the Snow- hill-street path, reading: In memory of BETSY, Wife of David Darling, died March 23d, 1809 M 43 She was the mother of 17 children, and around her lies 12 of them, and 2 were lost at sea. BROTHER SEXTONS, please leave a clear berth for me near by this Stone. 18 The request was not heeded, as Mr. Darling, who was sexton of the North Church and also a grave-digger in the yard, was buried in another part of the yard. Mention should not be neglected of a tiny stone in the northern part of the yard, reading : SARAH RULE aged 9 years died July ye 5 1690 This little lass is the one who daubed with ink the papers of Cotton Mather, moving the worthy divine to great wrath. These are a few of the more notable stones that claim the attention of the rambler in Copp's Hill. Almost equally note- worthy are the old epitaphs, many of them, as is usual in old cemeteries, quaint and curious, some incoherent and ungram- matical. Doubtless the oddest and most puzzling is that over the grave of Mrs. Ammey Hunt, who died in 1769. We have no clue to the neighborhood gossip hinted at in these peculiar lines : A sister of Sarah Lucas lieth here, Whom I did Love mo/t Dear; And now her Soul hath took its Flight, And bid her Spightful Foes good Night. Even more amusing is the tradition connected with the fol- lowing conventional stanza on the stone of Mrs. Mary Huntley : Stop here my friends & cast an eye, As you are now, so once was I ; As I am now, so you must be, Prepare for death and follow me. A young wag is said to have added in chalk : To follow you I'm not content Unless I know which way you went. Some of the other more interesting epitaphs follow : Henry D. Emerson, d. Aug. 16, 1840, aged 4 : " Like a bright flower he was cut down." Peter Gilman, April 12, 1807, aged 42 : "Stop my friends, and in a mirroir/ee What you, though e'er so healthy, soon niu/t be. Beauty, with all her rosebuds, paints each face ; Approaching death will strip you of each grace." Mrs. Betsy Pitman, 1784, aged 27 : 1!) "lla/te: Im/tc: lie lies in \v:iil, lie's al t .In- door. Insidious Death: /"hould his /trong hand arreyt, No composition sets the prisoner free." Elijah Swift, May 9, L803, aged 7:; : "A wits a featlior, and a chief s a rod ; An honest man's the noblest work of God." Mrs. Eliza Fuller, Sept. 16, L806, aged 22: " An angel's arm can t snatch me from the grave, Legions of angels can't confine me there." On an old monument near the Winslow tomb: "A SAMUEL returned to God in Christ After a short abode on earth To shun earth's barmes and crimes Was here well put to bed betimes The grave's as short as you prepare Lest thy death come at unaware." James Seward, died 1792, aged G months : " He bore a lingering sickness with patierfce, and met the King of Terrors with a smile." The prophecy contained in the following inscription on the stone of Major John Ruddock, who died in 1772, was literally fulfilled, the words having almost entirely disappeared : " Time may efface this monumental stone, But time nor malice can his worth dethrone For villains living oft may buy a name, But virtue only swells posthumous fame." The following lines are carved on an old foot-stone, without name or date, probably erected about 1700 : " What is t fond, mortal yt thou wouldst obtain By spining out a painful life of cares; Thou livest to act thy childhood ore again, And nought intends but grief and seeing years. Who leaves this world like me just in my prime Speeds all my business in a litel time." Mrs. Eliza Meria Revere, died 1804, aged 28 : " Death with his dart has pierced my heart, When I was in my prime ; When this you/ee grieve not for me, Twas God's appointed time." 20 Capt. Robert Newman, died 1806, aged 51 : "Though, Neptune's waves and boreas's blasts Have tost 1 me to and fro : Now well escap'd from all their rage, I'm anchored here below, Safely I ride in triumph here, With many of our fleet, Till signals call to weigh again, Our admiral Christ to meet. O may all those I've left behind Be wash'd in Jesus's blood, And when they leave the world of sin Be ever with the Lord." Elizabeth Kenney, Sept. 10, 1807,-42. In the cold mansions of the silent tomb, How still the solitude, how deep the gloom, Here sleeps the du/t, unconcious close confin'd But far, far distant dwells the immortal mind. Eliza Starr died June 8, 1800, — 6 yrs. 3 mos. Nor Youth nor Innocence could/ave, Eliza from the in/atiable Grave! But cease our Tears ; no longer weep, The little Maid doth only/leep: Anon /he'll wake and ri/e again. And in her Saviour's arms remain. John Crease, Dec. 8, 1800,-33. How lov'd how valued once, avails the not To whome related or by whome begot; A heap of du/ts alone remains of thee, Tis all thou art and all the proud /hall be. Rebecca Perkins, March 16, 1802, — 19 yrs. 7 mo. My friends and Parents do not mourn, Nor drop one tear now I am gone; Where I am gone, I am at re/t; Pray think me number' d with the ble/t. John James, Dec. 22, 1803,-47 Tho' worms destroy this Body's skin, Yet I shall see my Lord; He'll build my Body up again, For I believe his word, My God that lives above the skies Shall safely guard my clay, Till he shall bid it to arise At the great Judgement day. William N. Steel, Dec. 21, 1815,-3 mo. 6 ds. 21 .Inst like an early rose, We've seen an infant bloom, But sadder oft before it blows Death lays in the tomb. Susanna Gray, July 9, 1798, — 42. Stranger as this spot you tread, And meditate upon the Dead; Improve the moments as they fly, For all that live must shortly die. Stephen Kent Chaclwiek, Apr. 27, 1790, — 2 yrs. 8 mo. Beneath this Stone doth lye as much Virtue, as could dye, Which when alive did vigor give, to as much Beauty as could live. John GofT, Feb. 26, 1807,-44. My glass is run, my life is spent My earthly temple was but lent; Why should I wish a length of years, To spend in such a vale of tears. Hannah Newhall, Apr. 29, 1785. O cruel death that would not to me spare, A loving wife a kind companion dear, She now her saviour's beauty does behold, And joins to sing his prai/e on harps of gold. Elizabeth Brown, Dec. 11, 1803,-35. When the last scene the closing hour drew nigh, And earth receded from her swooning eye, Tranquil she left this transitory scene, With decent triumph and a look serene; By faith she fix'd her ardent hopes on high In Jesus mercies, and in him did die, So shall her grave with rising flowers be drest, And the green turf lie lightly on her breast; Here shall the morn her earliest tears bestow; Here the first roses of the year shall blow, While angels with their silver wings o'er shade The ground now sacred by her relics made, Then rest in peace beneath this sculptur'd stone, Till Jesus' trumpet call thee to his throne. Nathaniel Lewis, May 12, 1778,-42. What's Fame, a fancy'd life in other's breath A thing beyond us ev'n before our Death. A Wits's a feather and a Chief's rod An hone/t Man's the noble Work of God. 22 Sally Goodwin, Aug. 23, 1781,-25. My hope is fix'd my Spirit's free, Longing my Saviour for to See ; Such joy and bli/s, doth fill my/oul, Nothing on earth doth me control, My loving Hu/band and Infant /mall My Parents dear I leave you all; My Soul doth wing the heavenly way. My Saviour's call I mu/t obey, Read this and weep but not for me. Who willing was to part with thee; That I may re/t with Chri/t above, In peace and joy and endless love. Elijah Adams, Aug. 25, 1798,-61. Death thou ha/t conquer'd me, 1 by thy Dart am slain, But Chri/t will conquer thee, And I shall ri/e again. '4 Children of Jabez & Lydia Sweet, aged 4, 10, 12 & 14 raos. Stay gentle reader, view this spot of Earth, Sacred to virtue, innocence, and worth, Four infant roses, budding in the morn, Shed their sweet fragrance in life's early dawn, Entwin'd their parent stems, so fond care/'d Each gave one smile, to glad the pensive brea/t, And dropp'd and wither'd, died! Here seek repose, Till Christ transplant them in the groves above, To bloom immortal in the joys of love. John Buckley, Jr., Aug. 23, 1798,-23. In Peace here re/ts a Traveller's Du/t, His Journey's at an End; He priz'd E/teem among the Ju/"t, A Cen/ure from a Friend, 11 Broke loq/'e from Time's tenacious Chains, And Earth's revolving Gloom, To range at large in va/t Domains, Of radiant World's to come." Mrs. Deborah Blake, d. in 1791, aged 21 years : " Friend, as you pass, suppress the falling tear; You wish her out of heaven to wish her here." Mrs. Martha Cabot, d. in 1809, aged 60 : " So unaffected, so compos'd a mind, So firm, yet soft, so strong, yet so refin'd, Wasteing disease and pain severely tri'd, The saint sustain'd it, but the woman di'd." Capt. William and Mrs. Mary Burke, d. in 1787 : " They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths they were not divided." 23 Mrs. Mary Hughes, d. in L765, aged 16: "Time, what an empty vapour t is. And days, howywift they May: Our life is ever on the Wing, And Death is over nigh. The Moment when our Lives begin, We all begin to die." Timothy Gay, d. in 1799, aged 36 : He was diligent in bu/iness, faithful to his friends, and affectionate to his family. " Life's little Stage is a small Eminence, Inch high the Grave above; that Home of Man, Where dwells the Multitude: We gaze around; AVe read their Monuments; We sigh; and while We sigh, we sink; and are what we deplor'd." A great deal of local history and tradition is connected with Copp's Hill, but so fragmentary in character that no proper sequence can he found in the narration. It is presumed that in 1621 the Plymouth folk landed under the shadow of the hill, as told by Prince in his "Chronology": "The Governor chuses 10 men with Squanto and two other savages, to go in the shallop, Tuesday, Sept. 18; at midnight, the tide serving, we set sail; next day got into the bottom of Massachusetts Bay, about 20 leagues north from Plymouth, and anchor next morning, we land under a cliff. The sachem of this place is Obbatinewat." The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company is associated more or less with Copp's Hill. The company once claimed ownership of part of the hill, under the terms of an old mort- gage, and tried to prevent the transfer of the Sewall purchase. The matter was adjusted, and, after the evacuation of Boston by the British, when the company again laid claim, the obliga- tion was satisfactorily discharged. While the British troops were still in Boston the company Avas forced to use Copp's Hill as a parade ground, instead of the Common, as thus told in the company's minutes : "In 1775, before the Artillery Company suspended its meetings, the Common was occupied hy the British army, and the Artillery Company were refused admittance. Capt. Bell, therefore, marched to Copp's Hill. Soon after the bridge over Charles River was built, there was a complaint against the street at the foot of this hill. It was supposed the proprietors of that part of the hill enclosed from Snowhill street ought to repair the wharf and street at their own expense. This led to inquiry, in town meeting, to whom it belonged; some one said it be- longed to this company. Col. Jackson, their Treasurer, was sent for, and declared he considered it their property, a mortgage upon it to them having long run out, and that Capt. Bell, with his company, had taken possession of it in 1775. Capt. Bell was then interrogated by Col. Dawes, the Moderator: Why did you march your company to Copp's Hill? Answer: I was prohibited from entering the Common; conceiv- ing this hill to be the property of the company, I marched them there, 24 as a place no one had a right to exclude them from. Question hy Moderator: Supposing a party of British troops should have been in possession of it, and should have forbid you entrance, what would you have done? Answer: I would have charged bayonets, and forced my way as surely as I would force my way into my dwelling-house, if taken possession of by a gang of thieves. The late Col. Wm. Tudor, who was then present, said: l Mr. Moderator, the hill clearly belongs to that company, and 1 wish they would execute a quit claim deed of it to me at a fair price. 1 The Mortgage was discharged afterwards, and the street repaired by the town.' 1 Closely connected with the history of the hill is the famous North Battery beneath it on Hudson's point. It was built by Major- General John Leverett in 1646, twenty years earlier than the erection of its twin, the South Battery, or Sconce, at the foot of Fort Hill. It was built on the petition of the North Enders, and at their expense, they praying that they might " for the future be freed from all rats and assesments to what other fortificacions be in the towne untill such time as the other part of the towne not ioynninge with us herin shall have disbursed and layd out in equall proporcion of their estats with ours as by true Acount may apear." A committee of inspection reported on both batteries in May, 1666, saying : " Wee also tooke survey of another worke on the north side of Boston, called Merrjes Point, raysed with stones. The foundation is defended from the violenc of the sea w tb spyles & plancks ; the wall of a considerable thick- nes, yet lesse safe then the other, by reason of the sharpe edges next the cannon, & widenes of the ports w th in, which beinge faced w th strong timbers, as is intended, will be much better." Capt. Edward Johnson of Woburn, in his " Wonder Work- ing Providence of Sion s Saviour, in New England," speaks of the " very strong battery built of whole Timber, and filled with Earth, at the descent of the Hill in the extreme poynt thereof." Daniel Neal, in his description of Boston in 1719 says: " There are two Batteries at the North and South Ends of the Town, which command the whole Bay, and make it impossible for an Enemy s Ship of Burthen to ride there in safety." In 1706 the battery was extended 120 feet, with a breadth of 40 feet, at an expense of £1,000. It was finally sold to Jeffrey and Russell, and became Jeffrey's Wharf between 1787 and 1796. To-day it is appropriately called Battery Wharf. The site of the North Battery was, possibly, where Win- throp's company landed, and where Anne Pollard, the first white woman to tread on Boston soil, jumped ashore. Here, too, was Francis Hudson's ferry landing. From the Battery also, the 52d, 48d, and 47th British regiments, together with detachments of grenadiers, light infantry and marines, embarked for Bunker Hill ; and here, after the battle, the wounded were brought ashore. At the time of the evacuation, the Battery was armed with seven 12-pounders, two 9-pounders, and four 6-pounders, all left dismantled. In the old days of short range guns, the North Battery was regarded as of great importance, 25 because covering the harbor, the mouth of the Charles, and the entrance to the Town ( '<»\ e. In May, 1644, while the civil war was raging in England, a parliamentary man-of-war of 24 guns, ('apt. Thomas Stagg, sailed into the harbor and demanded the surrender < » t' a Bristol ship of LOO tons then in port. All the townspeople assembled: on Windmill Hill to watch the expected hostilities. The Bristol craft, however, prudently surrendered. In June, two years before, the windmill was struck by light- aing, shattering the sail, breaking the standard and riving off the boards of the sides, beside setting on fire the sacks in the null. "The miller, being under the mill upon the ground chopping a piece of hoard, was struck dead; but company coming in found him to breathe, and within an hour or two he began to stir, and strove with such force, as six men could scarce hold him down. The next day he came to his senses, but knew nothing of what had befallen 111111.'" The surrender of Quebec was celebrated by a great bonfire on Copp's Hill. "45 Tar Barrels, 2 Cords of Wood, a mast, spars, and boards, with 50 lbs of powder were set in a blaze; this, with a similar illumination on Fort Hill, was paid for by the province, together with 82 Gallons of Rum and much Beer." In 1765, the year of the repeal of the Stamp Act, Copp's Hill was the scene of the part of the celebration of the anniver- sary of the powder plot on Nov. 5, as thus told in the Massachu- setts Gazette : " About noon the Pageantry, representing the Pope, Devil and several other Effigies were brought in stages and met at King-street, where the Union (between the factions from the north and south ends) previously entered into by the leaders, was established in a very ceremonial manner, and having given three huzzas, they interchanged ground. 1 ' After parading, they " proceeded to the Tree of Liberty, under the shadow of which they refreshed themselves for awhile, and then retreated northward, agreeably to the plan. They reached Copp's Hill before six o'clock, where they halted, and having enkindled a fire, the whole Pageantry was committed to the flames and consumed. This being finished, every person was requested to their respective houses." This was the customary observance of the day. On January 24, 1793, a barbecue was held on Copp's Hill in honor of the French Revolution. After the feast the horns of the ox were fixed to a pole sixty feet high and triumphantly raised in Liberty square. Copp's Hill figured quite conspicuously in the Revolution. Works w 7 ere erected by the British on the summit, near the south-western corner of the cemetery. They w T ere hastily thrown up and never completed, comprising but a few barrels of earth arranged as parapets. There w r as a small earthwork to the rear designed as a shelter for infantry. The battery consisted of three 28-pounders, on carriages, which were left spiked after 26 the evacuation. Here Clinton and Burgoyne witnessed the battle of Bunker Hill and directed the tire of the little battery. One of the shells from Copp's Hill, aiding the fire of the ships in the harbor, is said to have started the conflagration in Charlestown. Traces of the works remained on the hill until the summit was lowered in 1807. It was from the North Battery below, that Clinton rushing down the hill when he saw his veterans quailing, took boat and crossed over to the Charles- town shore to aid Howe On the south corner of the New Burying-Ground added in 1809 and fronting on Hull street, stood the old gun-house of the Columbian artillery, afterwards removed to make room for tombs built in 1827. At the celebration of the completion of the bridge from the old ferry landing to Charlestown in 1786, salutes were fired from Copp's Hill, as well as from the Castle and Breed's Hill. The, gas-works at the foot of Copp's Hill, the most prominent feature of the neighborhood, were erected in 1828, and gas first made in December of that year. It was not used to illuminate the City in general until 1884. All this time the change in the character of the surroundings of Copp's Hill which we described in the beginning has been slowly going on, the old houses decaying or being replaced and all but a few of the old families removing far from the vicinity. There still dwell on Copp's Hill a number of the Dodds, Goddards, Pitmans and Adamses of the early days, but the place generally has acquired a new and changing appearance. Perhaps the earliest example of the term " Copp's Hill," in our printed records, is found in the Selectmen's minutes of January 21, 1725-26. DATE DUE JUL -5 IS 93 n ^ i •<" Q9 jl J[_ 3 \ it 'JO UNIVERSITY PRODUCTS, INC. #859-5503 BOSTON COLLEGE 3 9031 01565730 7 F73*<>l.Bn Boston College Library Chestnut Hill 67, Mass. 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