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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028818453
A TOPOGRAPHICAL
HISTORICAL DESCEIPTION
BOSTON.
BT
NATHANIEL B. SHURTLEFF.
BOSTON:
PniNTBD BT BEQUEST OF THE GITT COUNCIL.
1871.
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' 3
5 6~U-^
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873 ,
Br NATHANIEL B. SHURTLEFF,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington*
ALFRED MUDGE AND SON,
CITY PRINTERS,
34 School Strbst, Bostoit
CITY OF BOSTON
In Board of AiiDERMEN,
June 28, 1869.
Ordered, That the Committee on Printing be instructed to
obtain, if practicable, the assent of his Honor the Mayor, to the
publication of his manuscript relating to the history and topog-
raphy of the City of Boston and its Harbor ; and if such assent
can be obtained, to cause one thousand copies of such manu-
script to be printed for the use of the city, the expense thereof
to be charged to the appropriation for Incidental Expenses.
Passed in Common Council. Came up for concurrence.
:Read and concurred. Approved by the Mayor, June 28, 1869.
A true copy. Attest:
S. F. McCLEARY, City Clerk.
COMMITTEE ON PRIITTING,
FOB THE TEAR 1869.
ALDERMEN.
NEWTON TALBOT,
MOSES FAIRBANKS.
cotnrctLMBir.
EBENEZEK NELSON,
ALBERT GAY,
NATHAN D. CONANT.
COMMITTEE ON FEINTING,
FOR THE YEAR 1870.
ALDEBSIEN.
NEWTON TALBOT,
HENRY L. PIERCE.
COUNOILMEN.
ALBERT GAY,
SAMUEL TALBOT, Jr.,
AUGUSTUS PARKER.
A^nj^^
PREFACE.
The following pages comprise a series of articles on the topog-
raphy of Boston, with an occasional mention of historical
occurrences. They were written during the leisure hours
allowed by a professional life, from memorandums which the
writer has been preserving for nearly forty years. The fifty-
seven chapters which are included in the volume are a portion
only of what should form the work, if it should ever attain to
the distinction of being a comprehensive topographical and
historical description of the ancient town, with its changes,
enlargements and improvements since it became endowed with
the corporate powers granted by its city charter ; the book,
therefore, treats only of parts of what a general work would
demand. To each of the particular subjects of description, per-
haps enough has been given, leaving to the future a continuation
of the work and other matters for similar consideration.
The nature of- the efibrt has been such, that each subject has
been made to cover the whole space of time that appropriately
belongs to it ; and therefore, each chapter may have a range
from the first settlement of the town to the present year : for
the writer has attemj)ted to bring his descriptions to the time
when he takes his pen from the paper. A chronological work,
in the shape of annals, might have been more sure of touching
all matters of interest than the plan pursued ; but, then, subjects
would have been dismembered, and the searcher for information
would have been compelled perforce to become a compiler, in-
stead of a reader of the deductions and arrangements of others.
IV PEEPACR.
In matters relating to the localities and ancient landmarks of an
old place, with their olden-time associations, no other plan of
arrangement could well be adopted and carried out. The plan
is made imperative by the subject.
It would be impossible, even in so pleasant a task as the
writer has attempted, to perform the work without au uninten-
tional omission of some little matters intimately connected with
the subject of the descriptions. Many of these omissions have
undoubtedly occurred in the chapters now presented to the
reader; and while indulgence is asked for these shortcomings,
the mention of a few only are deemed of sufScient importance to
require their notice in a preface. These relate to maps and
plans of Boston, Roxbury, and Boston Harbor. In the Pennsyl-
vania Magazine for July, 1775, is a plan of the town of Boston
and Provincial camp, engraved by Aitkins. The plan ot the
town is derived from the same source as that of the plan in the
Gentleman's Magazine. On one corner of the plate is a small
chart of the Provincial camp, drawn to a scale of two miles to
an inch, exhibiting the lines extending from Charles River
through Cambridge and Charlestown to Winter Hill on the
southerly border of the Mystic River, and also the lines in Rox-
bury, as well as Gage's lines around Boston Neck near the
Roxbury line. Besides these lines are designated the situations
of tiie main guard at " Cambridge College," and of the various
ports, batteries, and hills. A plan of General Gage's lines on
Boston Neck, drawn to the scale of about three hundred feet to
an inch, illustrates the August number of the same magazine;
and in the number for June is an " engraving of the Harbour and
Town of Boston and parts adjacent." A map of the town of
Roxbury, as surveyed by John G. Hales, was published by the
selectmen of Roxbury in Apri!, 1832, on a scale of one hundred
rods to an inch, the plate being twenty-fi.ve by seventeen and a
half inches in size. This last includes the present town of West
Roxbury. In 1817, a careful survey of Boston Harbor was
made by Alexander S. Wadsworth, U. S. N., by order of Com-
PREFACE. V
modore William Bainbridge, and engraved by Allen & Gaw, on
a scale of fifteen hundred feet to an inch, under the direction of
John Melish, by whom it was published at Philadelphia in 1819.
This is a very valuable chart of the whole harbor, and is printed
on a sheet measuring forty-two by thirty-six inches.
With these few prefatory remarks these pages are now com-
mitted to the public. But for the request of the City Council
of Boston, that they might be printed in the present form, they
would have been allowed to remain in the writer's scrap-boolc
until the work that he has undertaken shall have been com-
pleted. If any information can be gleaned from the chapters
and pleasant recollections or associations of the past awakened
by them, the labor of one who feels a deep interest in the subject
upon which he has written, as well as in everything that apper-
tains to the place of his birth and habitation, will be satisfactorily
rewarded.
N. B. S.
Boston, November, 1870.
OONTEIJ^TS.
Page.
PREFACE iii
HISTOEICAL INTRODUCTION ....... 3
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION . 23
Aekival of Colonists anb Settlement of Boston . . 23
Eakly Desceiptions of Boston 38
Ancient Descriptions by English Weitees ... 53
Desceiptions by Feench Weitees 67
Descriptions by Feench Weitees 77
Maps and Plans 91
Points, Coves, Ceeek, Old Bridges, and Batteries • . 106
Divisions of the Town 124
Divisions of the Town, and Eivees 137
The Theee Hills of Boston 158
Beacon Hill and its Eminences, Beacon Pole and Monu-
ment 170
Cemeteeies. Chapel Bueying-Geottnd 182
NoETH Bueying-Ground 197
Granary BuEYiNG-GEOtrND 210
Quaker BxTRYiNG-GEOimD 227
Central Burying -Ground . 235
Vm CONTENTS.
Paffc.
South BuETrNG-GEOTJND, axd Cemeteeies .... 243
South Boston and East Boston Cemeteeies . . • 252
Bueting-Geounds in Boston Highlands .... 270
dorchestee burtingf-geounds 280
HiSTOET or Boston Common . . . . • . . - 294
BouNDABT, Extent, and Fences of the Common . . 307
Malls, Paths, and Walks of the Common .... 320
The old Elm and other Teees on the Common . . 329
Topography of the Common. Executions .... 341
Public Gaeden 356
Paddock's Mall 368
Public Squaees 378
Speings, Town Pumps, and Keseevoies 388
The old Conduit 398
Ponds and Aqueducts 406
Entrances to Boston 416
Boston Harbor, and its Surroundings and Islands . . 431
Bird, Koddle's, Hog, and Goteenoe's Islands . . . 442
Catasteophe in the Haeboe. Apple and Snake Islands 453
Deee Island . . 462
Channels, Upper Middle, and Castle Island . . . 472
Castle Island and Foet Independence .... 484
Thompson's, Moon and Half-Moon Islands .... 497
The Back Wat, and Spectacle Island 508
Eainsfoed Island, and the Old Quarantine ... 518
Long Island - . 528
Nix's Mate. The Narrows and other Ship Passages . 537
Gallop's and Lovell's Islands 545
CONTENTS. IX
Page.
George's, Pettick's, and othee Islands .... 554
Islands at the Mouth of the Harbok 564
Eecapitulatoey Description of the Harbor, and Distances 579
Ancient Style or«BtriLDiNG, and the Old Landmarks . 588
The Province House ... 593
The Green Dragon Tavern 605
The Birthplace of Pranklin 615
The Blue Ball in Union Street 626
The Old Feather Store 639
The Julien House in Milk Street 649
The Old Stone House in Cross Street .... 663
The Old Corner Book-Store 671
The Triangular Warehouse 681
INDEX ...... o 693
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATION OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT
PREVIOUS TO THE SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
A BRIEF review of the principal facts relating to the
discovery and settlement of the American continent by
European enterprise, and particularly that portion of it
included within the limits of l!^ew England, is indispen-
sably requisite to a correct understanding and apprecia-
tion of the pecToliar institutions which must be depicted
in giving a faithful history and description of a place so
noted in American history, so distinguished in its own
relations, and so identified with all the liberal movements
of the age, as is Boston.
With a full belief of the sphericity of the earth's
figure, and consequently possessing the knowledge that
where the ocean terminated land would have a begin-
ning, the great discoverer of the western hemisphere,
under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, the for-
tunate sovereigns of Spain, set sail from Palos on Friday,
the third day of August, 1492, with three vessels and a
few men, to perform a voyage, the grandest in design,
the most daring in achievement, and the most wonderful
and important in its result, of any that has ever been
undertaken and accomplished by man. Of the largest
4: HISTOKICAi INTEODITCTIOK.
of the three vessels, called the Santa Maria, Columbus
himself, as Admiral, took command. The Pinta was
placed uiider the charge of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and
the Mna under that of Yincent Yanez Pinzon, both
of these gentlemen holding the rank of Captain.
Putting into Gomera, one of the most westerly of
the Canary Islands, on the twelfth of August, for the
purpose of repairs and refitting, these vessels sailed for
the grand exploration on the sixth day of the next Sep-
tember. A sufficiently minute detail of the occurrences
of this ever-memorable voyage is given by the eloquent
and gifted historian of Columbus and his companions,
"Washington Irving; which being familiar to historical
readers precludes the necessity of repeating in this
connection any of the interesting particulars of the
eventful passage.
On the night of the eleventh of October, the eagle-
eye of the enthusiastic and ever- watchful Columbus dis-
covered a small glimmering light, the harbinger of land
so much desired; and which, on the morning of the
next day, became apparent also to the eyes of the
discouraged and almost rebellious voyagers, his com-
panions on the sea. At break of day, Columbus,
superbly arrayed in rich and costly garments,
strongly contrasting with the naked inhabitants of the
newly discovered land, sword in hand, went first on
shore; and there with his happy and wondering follow-
ers gave thanks for their safe deliverance from the per-
ils of the ocean, and for the successful and glorious
termination of their voyage.
The land thus discovered proved to be Guanahani,
now known as San Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands ;
and the day of the discovery was Friday, the twelfth day
HISTORICAL INTEODUCTION. 5
of October, 1492, which should now be commemorated
on the twenty-first day of the same month, to accord
with the new style of computing time now in use. After
the discovery of several other islands, Columbus, sailing
from Hispaniola, the last discovered land, on the six-
teenth day of the following January returned to Spain,
arriving at the mouth of the Tagus on the fourth of
March.
During the year 1493, Columbus made a second voy-
age to the new world; and, on the eighth day of Decem-
ber of the same year, he laid the foundation of a town
on the island of Hispaniola, which, being the first founded
in the new country, he named Isabella, in honor of his
patroness, the Queen of Castile.
It was not, however, until the first day of August,
1498, that Columbus, on his third voyage, reached any
part of the main land of the American continent; nor
was he aware, at that time, that the land which was then
seen was any other than an island; therefore he gave it
the name of La Isla Santa, little thinking that he beheld,
for the first time, the soil of a new continent. This land,
situated at the mouth of the river Orinoco, is now in-
cluded within the boundaries of the repubKc of Vene-
zuela, which lies easterly of that great country which
bears the name of Colombia, in grateful remembrance
of the illustrious navigator, its first European discoverer.
After maMng a fourth voyage across the Atlantic, the
admiral, for by this title Columbus wished always to
be designated, quitting forever the field of his discov-
eries and glory, returned to Spain ; and, being worn out
by fatigue, ill-treatment, and premature old age, he died
at Yalladolid on the twentieth of May, 1506, in about
the seventy-first year of his age, and the fourteenth of
b HISTOEICAL INTEODtrCTION.
his renown, and was buried in the convent of St. Fran-
cisco, the funeral services being attended with great
pomp, in the parochial church of Santa Maria de la An-
tigua. Such, however, is the mutability of all sublunary
matters, that his earthly remains were afterwards re-
moved, in the year 1513, to a chapel of a Carthusian
monastery in Seville, and again, in 1536, to Hispaniola,
where they were deposited in the principal chapel of the
cathedral, in the city of San Domingo. After remaining
in this last place of sepidture about two hundred and
sixty years, the relics of the great discoverer were trans-
ported to the island of Cuba, and in January, 1796, were
placed near the great altar in the cathedral at Havana,
there, it is hoped, nevermore to be distiirbed by mortal
hands.
Although Columbus was the first authentic discov-
erer of the western hemisphere, nevertheless, in the
eighteenth century, an Icelandic historian, Thormoder
Thorfseus, inspired with national pride, claimed for his
own countrymen a prior knowledge of the American
Continent, founded on tradition of undoubted authority,
dating back many centuries, .
It is well known that the ISTorthmen, inhabiting IS'or-
way, Sweden and Denmark; were at a very early period
of the Christian era acquainted with the science and
practice of navigation, far surpassing the people of the
south of Europe in building vessels and managing them
upon the sea. The adventures of this people, however,
were of a mere predatory character, and possessed noth-
ing of that thirst for the glory of discovery which so
eminently distinguished those of the navigators of the
southern countries. As early as the year 861, in one of
their piratical excursions, Iceland was discovered; and.
HISTORICAL INTEODUCTION. 7
about the year 889, Greenland was peopled by the Danes
under Friedlos, better known as Eireck Rauda, Eric
Raude, and sometimes as Eric the Red, a noted chief-
tain.
"Very early in the eleventh century, Biame or Biome,
somietimes called Biron in historical writings, an Icelan-
der, who had visited many different coxmtries with his
father, Heriulf, for trading purposes, being accidentally
separated from his parent on one of these voyages, in
directing his course to Greenland was driven by a storm
southwesterly to an unknown country, level in its for-
mation, destitute of rocks, and thicMy wooded, having
an island near its coast. After the abatement of the
storm, performing his intended voyage to Greenland, he
sailed, in the year 1002, on a voyage of discovery in
company with Leif (son of the Eric the Red), a person
of adventurous disposition, whose desire he had awakened
by a recital of his accidental discovery. In this expedi-
tion, Biron officiated as guide. It is supposed that the
countries which these men visited on this voyage, and
which they called Helluland on account of the rocky soil,
Markland (the woody), and Vinland dat gode (the good
wine country), were in the neighborhood of the island
of IsTewfoimdland and the gulf of St. Lawrence; and that
the inhabitants, which from their diminutive size they
called Skraelings, were the aborigines of that region.
It has been stated that the Icelandic navigators not
only visited the shores of Greenland and Labrador, but
in often repeated voyages they explored the seacoast
of America as far south as IS'ew Jersey, establishing
colonies in E'ova Scotia and jSTewfoundland. They are
supposed to have been in ISTew England on some of
their voyages, and it Ijas been suggested by Wheaton in
8 HISTOEXCAIi INTEODXTCTION.
his history of the Northmen that they even anchored
near the harbor .of Boston; but of this the tradition is
very vague and unsatisfactory.
Leif, the son of Eric, was succeeded in his explora-
tions by his brother Thorwald, who in the year 1003
attempted discoveries more to the southward than those
previously made, and who is said to have fallen in with
several islands, perhaps those lying south of the
Massachusetts coast, destitute of inhabitants. In a
subsequent year, 1004, pursuing a more easterly and
then northerly direction, he passed a cape to which he
gave the name Kiliarnese, by some supposed to be Cape
Cod, and following . the coast in a circuitous course
discovered an abrupt promontory well covered with
forest trees, which he named Krossaness, and which
archaeologists have been led to think was one of the
headlands of Boston harbor called by the Plymouth
forefathers, in honor of their early agent. Point Aller-
ton, the northerly termination of Nantasket Beach.
The voyage of this last individual ended as it com-
menced by wintering at Vinland previous to a return to
Greenland, the place from which it was projected.
Another of the same class of adventurers, but a per-
son of considerable distinction and wealth among his
countrymen, Thorfin by name, made a similar attempt
in the same du^ection in 1007. By this time the route
to Wineland, the vinland of Leif, had become well-
known to the Icelandic and INTorwegian navigators, and
Thorfin, with more than usual encouragement, and an
outfit ample for the days in which it was made, set saU
in three vessels with seven score of men with the inten-
tion of planting a colony in some of the regions that had
been discovered by his predecessors, or upon some new
HISTOEICAi OTTBODUCTION. 9
and more suitable territory which he perchance might
fall in with on his voyage. Whether the island abound-
ing with wUd ducks, to which he gave the name of
Straumey, was Martha's Yineyard, and his new haven
of Straumfiords was Buzzard's Bay, cannot well be de-
ternfinedj but it is related, that in prosecuting his inves-
tigations farther in an inland direction by passing
through a river giving prospect of the desired land, and
arriving in an expanse of water bountifully supplied
with grain and fruitful vines, he met with savages whose
description is not much unlike that of the JS'ew England
Indians, and who forced him much against his will to
give up his contemplated design, and return home, not
only frustrated but disheartened from making further at-
tempts; and thus terminated, with the exception of a
few smaller attempts, the voyages of the Icelandic navi-
gators and adventurers upon the American continent.
"Wales, in the person of Madoc, son of Owen Gwyn-
neth, claims to be interested in the first settling of
America. It is asserted by HaHuyt, who wrote in the
time of Queen Elizabeth, and whose book was first pub-
lished in 1589, that this Welshman, a younger son of
one of the Welsh rulers, left his natural home, where
his relatives were quarrelling about an inheritance, and
sailing for the west, made discovery of land in the
neighborhood of Florida, in the year 1170. It is also
said that he made several voyages, and finally established
himself and followers in a region not far from Mexico
and the West Indies. But these accounts, written at a
time when England was aspiring to the sovereignty of
the 'New World, are too frivolous, and are destitute of •
all internal evidence of truth. The same may be said
of almost all of the early claimed discoveries, including
10 HISTOEICAIi INTEODITCTION'.
those of the brothers Zeno : and, indeed, whatever may
have been gained by these traditionary voyages, it is
certain that they were forgotten for many years; and
that, as late as the fifteenth century, Greenland was only
known to the ISTorwegians and Danes as a lost land.
[^Notwithstanding the exalted idea Colimibus had of
the importance of his discovery, his imagination fell far
short of its real greatness. He never dreamed of hav-
ing given a new continent to the world; his utmost
thought being that he had found a new and shorter pas-
sage to the long-known golden regions of the East.
But it remained for another, Amerigo Yespucci, who
followed in his plain and easy track, to take advantage
of his ignorance, and give his name to the largest conti-
nent of the world, by announcing, as he did in his
famous letter to Lorenzo de Medici, in 1504, that the land
discovered in the western hemisphere was not the India
long sought by a western passage, but a new and exten-
sive continent.
On the fifth of March, 1496, John Cabot, a Venetian
merchant residing in Bristol, England, obtained from
Henry Vil., King of England, a patent, giving power to
himself and three sons (Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius),
or either of their legal representatives, to sail with five
ships, procured at their own expense, for the purpose of
making search for lands unknown to Christian people,
where they should raise the standard of England, and
occupy the land, thus discovered and possessed, as vas-
sals of the English crown. The patentees were required
to pay to the king one-fifth of all the proceeds of the
enterprise; and, moreover, were bound to land at the port
of Bristol on their return from all voyages. John
Cabot, and his son Sebastian, a native of Bristol and
HTSTOEIOAL INTKODXJCTION. 11
afterwards more distinguished than his father, sailing
from Bristol in the ship Matthew, undertook their voyage
to the unknown regions of the west under this patent;
and in this adventure made the first authentic discovery
of the American continent. The land thus discovered
by English merchants was a portion of Labrador, and
the event took place on the twenty-fourth day of June,
1497, O. S., about fourteen months before Columbus on
his third voyage came in sight of the main land, and
nearly two years before Amerigo Yespucci (or, as he is
better known, Americus Vespucius) ventured to follow
the illustrious Columbus.
On the third of February of the next year, another
patent, with more limited powers and privileges, was
granted to John and Sebastian Cabot, father and son,
who sailed for Labrador in the following May. In this
voyage they made land very far to the north; and, having
coasted as far south as the most southern boundary of
Maryland, were compelled to put about and return to
England on account of a deficiency of provisions. Al-
though Sebastian Cabot kept up an interest in adventu-
rous voyages until his death, at a very advanced age,very
little is known of his making any subsequent to this.
Of the long list of illustrious names connected with
the voyages made to the southern part of the IsTorth
American Continent, nothing further need be said; but
it may not be uninteresting to notice the fact, that in
1524, John de Verazzani, a Florentine, in the service
of Francis I. of France, discovered a continent, in which
he found a harbor supposed to be that of IS'ew York;
and that he subsequently coasted along the northern
shores as far as JSTewfoundland. Many were the voyagers
who visited the American coast in northern latitudes
12 HISTORICAL INTEODXJCTION.
before the actual settlement of 'New England, some of
whom attempted the establishment of colonies, but failed
in their endeavors. Others attempted the colonization
of Virginia with more or less success.
It would be a serious omission not to mention in this
place, that, after the unfortunate attempts of Sir Walter
Ealeigh to make a settlement of Virginia, under the
patent obtained of Queen Elizabeth, in 1584, Bartholo-
mew Gosnold, a daring mariner from the western part of
England, being possessed of a great desire for discovery,
on the twenty-sixth of March, 1602, O. S., set sail from
Yarmouth, in England, in a small vessel with only
thirty-two men, and by the first direct course ever
accomplished made land on the fourteenth of May fol-
lowing. After cruising about a fortnight, he disem-
barked on the eighteenth of May, probably the first
Englishman who set foot on Massachusetts soil, selecting
as a resting-place the small island called Outtyhunk, the
most westerly of the group at the mouth of Buzzard's
Bay, Imown as the Elizabeth Islands, and about fifteen
miles south of l^ew Bedford. There upon a little but
well wooded islet of about one acre of land, in a pond of
fresh water, Gosnold built a fort, and established -a home,
the vestiges of which to a sharp and not incredulous
eye may be seen at the present time. The stay at
Outtyhunk was of short duration, only long enough to
give time for discoveries near the present site of 'New
Bedford; for on the eighteenth of June, scarcely a
month after his landing, he sailed with his men for home,
and arrived at Exmouth, in the west of England, on
the twenty-third of July. Gosnold, nothing daunted,
returned to America in an expedition for the settlement
of Virginia, where he died at Jamestown on the twenty-
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 13
second of August, 1607, much regretted by his associ-
ates, by whom he had been held in the highest esteem.
The next attempt, of any account, for the settlement
of l^ew England by EngUshmen,was made in the year
1607, by Sir George Popham and Ealeigh Gilbert, with
a hundred men and the proper supplies. Having left
Plymouth, England, on the last of May, they fell in
with Monahigon Island, near the coast of Maine, on the
eleventh of August, and selected, for their field of
operations, a position at Sagadahoc, at the mouth of
Kennebec Eiver. There, after going through certain
forms, they built a barn for a storehouse, and having
fortified it in some degree against the hostile attacks of
the natives, called it Fort St. George. Popham, under
the title of President, took command of the small colony
of forty-five persons, and the larger part of the original
one hundred left for England on the fifth of the follow-
ing December. Early the next year, on the fifth of
February, Popham, their president, died, and the com-
pany soon after, discouraged by this sad event, and
dispirited by the loss by fire of a great part of their
stores, abandoned the settlement of Sagadahoc. The
French, however, were more successful in their endeavors,
and made several small settlements, the most important
of which was Quebec, the foundations of which were
laid by Samuel Champlain on the third of July, 1608.
Captain John Smith, whose name has become so
familiar on account of his participation in the coloniza-
tion of Virginia, and his visit to the 'New England coast,
to which he gave namej set sail from the Downs on the
third of March, 1613-14, and arrived at the island of
Monahigon on the last of April, 1614. In a boat,
which he had built since his arrival, Capt. Smith, with
14 HISTOBICAIi INTKODTJCTION.
eight men, explored the seacoast from Penobscot Eiver
to Cape Cod, trading with the natives, and giving names
to the various locahties, which he subsequently pre-
served upon a map of his own drawing, that is now
regarded as one of the greatest curiosities which has
been transmitted to posterity from the early voyagers.
It was on this memorable occasion that, during the
absence of the captain, the master of one of the vessels,
Thomas Hunt, enticed on board his vessel twenty-four
of the natives, and, conveying them into Spain, sold
many of them for slaves. Among these captives was
the famous Squanto, or Tisquantum, who subsequently,
on being restored to. his home, proved of very much
service to the Plymouth colonists. Capt. Smith died in
London on the twenty-first of June, 1631, in the fifty-
second year of his age.
Captain Thomas Dermer, who had been with Cap-
tain Smith in his voyage to 'New England in 1614,
visited the region of Plymouth in June, 1620, about six
months previous to the memorable landing of the Ply-
mouth forefathers. He restored to his home the captive
Squanto, and then returned to Virginia, where he soon
died of wounds received from the Indians of Martha's
Vjneyard.
On the sixth of September, 1620, O. S., the Plymouth
forefathers, after previous ineffectual attempts, left the
harbor of Plymouth, in England, in the May Flower, a
vessel of a hundred and eighty tons' burden, and on the
ninth of November, the sixty-fourth day of their voyage,
came in sight of the cliffs of Cape Cod, as the promon-
tory which now bears the name was called by Gosnold
in 1602, although Smith in 1614 attempted to designate
it Cape James in honor of the ruling sovereign of Eng-
HISTORICAL INTEODTJCTION. 15
land; and in the hospitable harbor of Provincetown
dropped anchor on the eleventh. There, on the last men-
tioned day, the pilgrim fathers of 'New England first
entered into a most sacred compact for their better order-
ing and preservation; there the firstborn of that little
band of self exiles first saw light; and there the immor-
tal passengers of the May Flower first set foot on
American soil, just one month before the famous land-
ing upon Plymouth Rock, on Monday, the eleventh of
December, 1620, O. S., which by the new style of reckon-
ing time occurred on the twenty-first. On the fifth of
April of the next year, the May Flower returned to
England; the Fortune arrived on the ninth of Novem-
ber, 1621, the Ann and the Little James in August,
1623, and the Charity in 1624, and from this time
forward arrivals at Plymouth were frequent.
In 1622, Thomas Weston, a London merchant, who
had been among the most active of the adventurers in
promoting the settlement of Plymouth, withdrew his
interest and attempted the estabhshment of a plantation
of his own; and for this purpose sent fifty or more men ia
two vessels, the Charity and the Swan, to commence
a colony in the neighborhood of Plymouth, at a place
called Wessagusset, part of the township of Weymouth.
!N^ot succeeding to their mind, and fearing destruction
by the Indians, these men abandoned the design, and the
plantation was broken up within a year of its commence-
ment under the auspices of Mr. Weston.
In the year 1623, David Tompson, a Scotchman, and
Edward and William Hilton, fishmongers of London,
under patents obtained by John Mason and Sir Ferdi-
nando Gorges, and others,^ commenced a settlement at
Piseataqua Eiver. Subsequently the Hiltons removed
16 HISTOEICAL INTHODirCTION.
to Cocheco, now known as Dover, in JS'ew Hampshire.
In 1624, under an indenture, with all the formality of a
charter, made on the first day of January, 1623-4, be-
tween Edmund, Lord Sheffield, on the first part, and
Eobert Cushman and Edward Winslow and their as-
sociates and planters at Plymouth, on the second, an
attempt for the settlement of a plantation at Cape Ann
was made by Roger Conant and others, under the pat-
ronage of the Dorchester Company in England. From
this efibrt undoubtedly resulted the settlement of Salem,
which dates its precedence from 1626, when a portion of
Conant's colony removed to Naumkeik or !N^aumkeag,
named by Smith on his early chart as Bastable, but sub-
sequently called Salem by the early Massachusetts
colonists.
During the same year an abortive attempt was made
for a settlement at Mount Wollaston (now Qtiincy) by.
that prince Of misrule, Thomas Morton, a London petti-
fogger. This by the instrumentality of the Plymouth
colony was summarily prevented.
On the nineteenth of March, 1627-8, Sir Henry
Eosewell and Sir John Young, with their associates
near Dorchester, in England, purchased of the Council
for [N'ew England a patent for that part of the coun-
try situated between three miles to the northward of
the Merrimac River and three miles to the southward of
the Charles River, and in length from the Atlantic
Ocean to the South Sea. Under this charter, "the
Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in
iSTew England " commenced the settlement of the Massa-
chusetts colony; and for this purpose they chose Matthew
Cradock to be their Governor, and Thomas Gofie their
Deputy-Governor; and Captain John Endicott and
HISTOEICAL INTEODTJCTION. 17
Samuel Skelton and others were first sent over to
JSTaumkeag, now Salem, which was the first town perma-
nently settled in the Massachusetts colony, Endicott's
company arriving in IN^ew England on the sixth of Sep-
tember, 1628, and Skelton's on the twenty-ninth of
June, 1629. A few persons from the Salem people
about the same time settled Mishawum, Charlestown,
where were seated a tribe of Indians called Aberginians,
under John Sagamore, their chief.
Perhaps the greatest step which the Massachusetts
company took was consummated on the twenty-ninth of
August, 1629, when it was determined, by the " general
consent of the company," that the government and pa-
tent should be settled in ISTew England. A few days
previous to this resolution, twelve men, among whom
were Sir Richard Saltonstall, Thomas Dudley, Isaac
Johnson, Increase ITowell and John "Winthrop, pledged
themselves at Cambridge, to be ready to embark for
"New England with their families on the following
March. In this stage of afiiairs, Matthew Cradock
resigned his office as Governor, and John "Winthrop
was chosen in his place; and Mr. Goflfe gave way to
John Humphrey as Deputy-Governor.
It may be well, here, to pass in review the great
charters under which the first colonists were induced to
leave their old homes of England, and to transplant
themselves to American soU. On the tenth day of
April, 1606, O. S., the memorable letters patent passed
the seals of "Westminster, when the first James of
England, son of the unfortunate Mary of Scotland,
granted the first charter, to Sir Thomas Gates and Sir
George Somers and others, and established by one
instrument the two great colonies of America, — one
3
18 HISTORICAL INTEODTJCTION.
to be called " the First Colony of Yirginia," and to be
under the London Company,, and the other to be called
"the Second Colony of Vn-ginia," and to be under
the Plymouth Company. By this grant the terri-
tories of these two overlapped each other three whole
degrees of latitude, without ever causing any serious
difficulties between the colonies on this account. A
second charter was granted to the London Company on
the twenty-third of May, 1609, and a third charter to
the same on the twelfth of March, 1611-12, when they
were incorporated by the name of " the Treasurer and
Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of
London for the First Colony in Virginia."
On the third of l^ovember, 1620, the patent of !N'ew
England was granted to the "council established at
Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting,
ruling, ordering and governing of 'New England in
America." This document, generally designated as
the " Great Patent of IsTew England," was in reality the
basis of the various charters, indentures, and grants
which were so numerous during the first years of the
colonization of New England; and which, with the
exception of the Massachusetts Charter, under which
the settlement of Boston was commenced, need not be
mentioned in this connection.
On the fourth of March, 1628-9, O. S., the first
Charles of England granted letters patent to Sir Henry
Eosewell and others as a body corporate " by the name
of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay,
in New England." The original of this is preserved
in the State archives, and has upon it the certificate,
signed by Charles Csssar, that Matthew Cradock quali-
fied under the charter on the eighteenth of March,
HISTOKICAIi INTRODUCTION. 19
1628-9; a duplicate of the same is preserved at Salem.
The original at Boston has the following indorsement:
"A perpetuity granted to Sir Henry Eosewell and
others of parte of !N"ewe England, in America. "Wolse-
ley." The Salem copy has this indorsement: "A du-
plicate upon a pa granted to Sir Henry Eosewell
and others. "Wolseley." The original has the autograph
signature of "Wolseley, while the latter has the name
written by the engrosser.
Such was the condition of iN'ew England, and such
the settlements in the colonies of Plymouth and Mas-
sachusetts, when the first settlers of Boston were pre-
paring for planting a colony on the territory which -the
following chapters will attempt to describe.
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TOPOGRAPHICAL
HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION
BOSTON.
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
CHAPTBE I.
ARRIVAL OF COLONISTS AND SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
Arrival of the Colonists of Boston at Salem, in 1630 • • • Departure from Yar-
mouth, England, 8 April, 1630...The Humble Bequest •• -Arrival at
Charlestown • ■ • William Blaxton at Shawmut • • • Death of Isaac Johnson
at Charlestown • • • Removal of the Colonists to Trimountalne • • • Origin of
the name of Boston • . ■ Improbable Traditions • • • Scanty Fare and Meagre
Accommodations • • • Capt. Clap's Account of Hardships • • • Boston in the
Olden Time on the Peninsula ■ • . The early limits of the Town • • •Pulling
Point, Rumney Marsh, and Winnisimmet • • • Mount Wollaston, or Merry
Mount, and Muddy Brook • • • Chelsea incorporated as a Town in 1739, and
as a City in 1857 • • • North Chelsea incorporated in 1846, and Winthrop in
1852 ■ ■ • Islands, Dorchester Neck and Point, and Washington Village • • •
Annexation of Roxbury in 1868, and Dorchester in 1870 • • • Incorporation of
Roxbury as a Town in 1630, and City in 1846, and Change of Boundary . . ■
Incorporation of West Roxbury in 1851 • ■ • Incorporation of Dorchester in
1630, and Change of Boundary in 1855 • • • Hyde Park incorporated in 1868 • • ■
Position of Boston • • ■ Area, Shape and Size of the Peninsula • ■ -Length and
Breadth of the old Town.
Ok Saturday, the twelfth day of June, according to
the old style of reckoning time, and in the year 1630,
rode into the outer harbor of Salem the Arbella and
other vessels conveying the first germ of a small town,
which was destined soon to be the capital of a new
colony and the metropolis of a great country,
Mr. John Winthrop, a man of extraordinary strength
of mind and perseverance, together with other men of
Idndred spirit, as the leaders of a large company of self-
exiled colonists, left the land of their birth and childhood.
24 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
their friends, their relatives and ahnost all they held dear,
and set sail from Yarmouth, in England, on the eighth
day of April, 1630, to he tossed for many days and
nights upon the waves of the perilous ocean, to plant
themselves in trans-atl antic regions on the shores of a
wild, but free country, to establish a safe resttag-place
for the oppressed of all nations of the earth. While at
Yarmouth, the principal men signed on board the Arbella
that excellent address styled " the Humble Request of
his Majesty's loyal subjects, the Governor and Company
late gone for !N'ew England, to the rest of their brethren
in and of the Church of England, for the obtaiaing of
their prayer, and the removal of suspicions and miscon-
structions of their intentions."
!N^ot intending to remaiu at Salem, where Mr. John
Endicott and his associates were already seated, a delega-
tion was sent, on the seventeenth of June, to seek out
a suitable place for the new comers to commence a settle-
ment. These visited Charlestown, the Mishawum (in
Indian dialect " a great spring ") of the aboriginal inhabi-
tants, where Mr. Thomas Walford and others dwelt, and
other neighboriug localities previous to their return to
Salem on the nineteenth, where they reported favorably
for building at Charlton, as they abbreviated the name,
which the residents there called Charles Town. By the
first of July the Arbella had been removed with the
passengers to this place of their choice; and during the
month, the greatest part of the fleet that left England
with Mr. Winthrop had arrived safely into port in the
present harbor of Boston.
When the first English resident of Boston, Mr. Wil-
liam Blaxton (spelled sometimes Blackstone), a retired
Episcopal clergyman, selected the peninsula for his place
I>ESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 25
of abode, it bore the name of Shawmut, given by its
former inhabitants, Indians of the Massachusetts Bay,
the appellation signifying ia their dialect " living foun-
tains."
The people of Charlestown very early renounced the
Indian name of their town; and they also gave to the
peninsula on the other side of the river, south of them,
the name of Trimountaiue, iu consequence of the promi-
nent hill upon it, which had three distinct heads or sum-
mits. Governor "Winthrop and his company of adven-
turers did not long remain satisfied with their location
north of the Charles Eiver, but were soon induced to
remove to Trimountaiue, at the earnest entreaties of Mr.
Blaxton, already seated there, who, among other induce-
ments, told of excellent springs of good water, which
there abounded. Authority that can be relied upon (a
writer in the old volume of Charlestown records) says,
"In the meantime Mr. Blackstone, dwelling on the other
side of Charles Eiver, alone, at a place by the Indians
called Shawmutt, where he only had a cottage at, not
far off, the place called Blackstone's Point, he came and
acquainted the Governor of an excellent spring there,
withal inviting him and soliciting him thither. "Where-
upon, after the death of Mr. Johnson and divers others,
the governor, with Mr. Wilson and the greatest part of
the church removed thither; whither also the frame of the
governor's house, in preparation at this town, was (also
to the discontent of some) carried when people began to
build their houses against winter, and this place was
called Boston." The exact date of removal from Charles-
town to the peninsula cannot be ascertained. It is
certain that Mr. Isaac Johnson died at Charlestown on
the thirtieth of September, 1630, and that a Court of
26 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL,
Assistants was held at the same place two days previous;
and it is also known that the first General Court of the
colony held in Boston was on the nineteenth day of Oc-
tober, 1630. The Massachusetts Colony Records, under
date of the twenty-third of August, of the same year,
give the following : "It was ordered, that there shovld
be a Court of Assistants helde att the Gou''n" howse
on the 7th day of Septemb"" nexte, being Tuesday, to
begin att 8 of the clocke." This meeting was held at
Charlestown (where it is to be inferred that the Gover-
nor dwelt) on the appointed day, and then the ever
memorable order was passed which gave to the penin-
sula the name it now bears. The exact record which
chronicles the naming of three important towns is :
"It is ordered, that Trimountaine shalbe called Boston;
Mattapan, Dorchester; &the towne vpon Charles Ryuer,
"Waterton." There is therefore good reason for be-
lieving that Boston was not settled by the English colo-
nists until after the month of September, 1630, although
the town took its present name on the seventh day of
that month according to the old style, or on the seven-
teenth according to the new style now in use; and this
is confirmed by the fact that the Court- was held on the
twenty-eighth day of September at the Governor's house
in Charlestown, and by the statement already quoted
that the removal was not made until after the decease of
Mr. Johnson, which occurred on the thirtieth.
It has been stated by many historical writers, that
the name of Boston was given to the peninsula out of
respect to Rev. John Cotton, subsequently the beloved
teacher of the first church established within its limits,
he having served many years as vicar of St. Botolph's in
the borough of Boston, in Lincolnshire in England.
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTON 27
This was not the case : in proof of which we have only
to call to mind that it was not until the fourth of Sep-
tember, 1633 (three years after the act of the General
Court), that the Grriffln, a noble vessel of three hundred
tons burden, sailed into Boston harbor, bringing Eev.
John Cotton, and with him a choice freight of aijout
two hundred individuals, some of whom were the mag-
nates of the ancient borough of Boston; for Mr. Ather-
ton Hough had been Mayor of old Boston, and he and
Mr. Thomas Leverett, afterwards the Euling Elder of
the church of which Eev. John "Wilson was the pastor,
and Mr. Cotton the teacher, had surrendered their places
of aldermanship just before taking their voyage to IN^ew-
England in Jidy. The true reason for giving the name
of Boston to the peninsula was undoubtedly in honor of
Mr. Isaac Johnson, the great friend and supporter of the
Massachusetts Colony, who came over with "Winthrop in
1630, and died in Charlestown about three weeks after
the naming of the town; his wife, the Lady Arbella,
after whom the principal ship had been named, having
died at Salem a month previous. Mr. Johnson was from
Boston in England; and there he made a will in April,
1628, styling himself of Boston, making bequests to his
minister and the poor of Boston, and providing that he
should "be buryed in the church yard of Boston." It
would be presumptuous to suppose for a moment that
he meant Boston in ]N"ew England, as he had not at
the time of executing this instrument resolved to remove
to America, nor had the name at that time been given to
the peninsula; nevertheless, this last-mentioned proAdsion
has been the foundation of improbable traditions that
have obtained large credence, and which will be alluded
to hereafter.
28 TOPOGEAPBttOAL AND HISTOBICAL
The arrival of Governor Winthrop and his company
is thus aUuded to in the "IS'ew Englands Memorial," by
JS'athaniel Morton, Secretary of the Colony of l^ew
Plymouth, printed in 1669.
"This Year [1630] it pleased God of his rich grace
to Transport over into the Bay of the Massachusets
divers honourable Personages, and many vrorthy Chris-
tians, whereby the Lord began in a manifest manner and
way to make known the great thoughts which he had of
Planting the Gospel in this remote and barbarous Wilder-
ness, and honouring his own "Way of Instituted "Wor-
ship, causing such and so many to adhere thereunto, and
fall upon the practice thereof: Among the rest, a chief
one amongst them was that famous Patem of Piety and
Justice Mr. John Winthrop, the first Governour of that
Jurisdiction, accompanied with divers other precious
Sons of 8ion, which might be compared to the most fine
gold. Amongst whom also I might name that Reverend
and Worthy man, Mr. John Wilson, eminent for Love
and Zealj he likewise came over this year, and bare a
great share of the difficulties of these new beginnings
with great cheerfulness and alacrity of spirit: They
came over with a Fleet of ten Ships, three of them arriv-
ing first at Salem, in which several of the chiefest of
them came, who repaired sundry of them in some short
time into the Bay of the Massachusets; the other seven
Ships arrived at Charlestown, when it pleased the Lord
to exercise them with much sickness, and being destitute
of housing and shelter, and lying up and down in Booths,
some of them languished and died: yea, it pleased God
to take away amongst the rest, that blessed Servant of
Christ Mr. Isaac Johnson with his Lady, soon after their
arrival, with sundry other precious Saints. This sick-
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 29
ness being heavy upon them, caused the principal of
them to propose to the rest to set a day apart to seek
the Lord for the aswaging of his displeasure therein, as
also for direction and guidance in the solemn enterprize
of entering into Church-fellowship; which solemn day of
Humiliation was observed by all, not onely of themselves,
but also by their Brethren at PlimoutK in their behalf:
and the Lord was intreated not onely to asswage the
sickness, but also encouraged their hearts to a begin-
ing, and in some short time after to a further progress
in the great Work of Erecting a way of Worshipping
Christ in Church-fellowship, according to Primitive In-
stitution.
"The first that began in the work of the Lord above-
mentioned, were their honoured Governour Mr. John
WirdJirop, Mr. Johnson fore-named, that much honoured
Gentleman Mr. Thomas Dudley, and Mr. John Wilson
aforesaid; These four were the first that began that
honourable Church of Boston, unto whom there joyned
many others. The same year also Mr. George Philips
(who was a worthy Servant of Christ, and Dispenser of
his Word) began a Church-fellowship at Watertown;
as did also Mr. Maverick and Mr. Wareham at Dorches-
ter the same year.
" Thus out of small beginnings greater things have
been produced by his hand that made all things of noth-
ing: and as one small Candle may light a thousand; so
the Light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in
some sort to our whole ZS'ation. Let the gloi'ious Name
of Jehovah have all the praise in all Ages."
To give the reader somewhat of an idea of the scanty
fare and meagre accommodations of the first settlers of
Boston, the brief recital of an account written by an
30 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AND HISTOEICAL
early colonist will suffice. Captain Roger Clap, who so
vividly describes the trials and sufferings of the early
comers, was of the company that settled at Dorchester
with those excellent ministers John Warham and John
Maverick. He set sail with others from Plymouth, in
England, in the ship Mary and John, on the twentieth
of March, 1629-30, and after a passage of ten weeks,
arrived at Hull the thirtieth of May, 1630, about a fort-
night before Grovemor Winthrop and his fleet reached
Salem. In this writing, addressed to his children a short
time before his death, which occurred on the second of
February, 1690-1, he described the forlorn condition of
himself and company in the following words, which will
clearly illustrate the condition of our Boston colonists
who so soon afterwards went through the same trials :
" When we came to Nantashet, Capt. 8queb, who was
Captain of that great Ship of Four Hundred Tons,
would not bring us into Gharles River, as he was bound
to do ; , but, put us ashore and our Goods on Nantasket
Point, and left us to shift for our selves in a forlorn
Place in this Wilderness. But as it pleased God, we
got a Boat of some old Planters, and laded her with
Goods; and some able Men well Armed went in her
unto Cliarlestown: where we found some Wigwams and
one House, and in the House -there was a Man which had
a boiled Bass, but no Bread that we see : but we did eat
of his Bass, and then went up Charles River, until the
River grew narrow and shallow, and there we landed
oxir Goods with much Labour and Toil, the Bank being"
steep. And ISTight coming on, we were informed that
there were hard by us Three Hundred Indians: One
English Man that could speak the Indian Language (an
old Planter) went to them and advised them not to come
DESCRIFEION OF BOSTON. 31
near us in the Night; and they hearkened to his Coun-
sel, and came not. I my self was one of the Centinals
that first ISTight: Our Captain was a Low Country Soul-
dier, one Mr. Southcot, a brave Souldier. In the Morning
some of the Indians came and stood at a distance off,
looking at us, but came not near us : but when they had
been a whUe in view, some of them came and held out a
great Bass towards us ; so we sent a Man with a Bisket,
and changed the Cake for the Bass. Afterwards they
supplied us with Bass, exchanging a Bass for a Bisket-
Cake, and were very friendly unto us.
" Oh Dear Children ! Forget not what Care God had
over his dear Servants, to watch over us, and protect us
in our weak beginnings. Capt. 8queb turned ashore Us
and our Goods, like a mercyless Man; but God, even
our merciful God, took pity on us; so that we were sup-
plied, first with a Boat, and then caused many Indians,
(some Hundreds) to be ruled by the Advice of one Man,
not to come near us : Alas had they come upon us, how
soon might they have destroyed us ! I think We were
not above Ten in I^umber. But God caused the Indi-
ans to help us with Fish at very cheap Eates. "We had
not been there many Days, (although by our Diligence
we had got up a kind of Shelter, to save our Goods in)
but we had Order to come away from that Place, (which
was about Watertown) imto a Place called Mattapan
(now Dorchester) because there was a Neck of Land fit
to keep our Cattle on: So we removed and came to Mat-
tapan: The Indians there also were kind unto us.
" Not long after, came our renowhed & blessed Govern-
our, and divers of his Assistants with him. Their Ships
came into Charles Biver, and many Passengers landed
at Charlestown, many of whom died the Winter follow-
32 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AST) HISTOKICAL
ing. Govemour Winthrop purposed to set down his
Station about Cambridge, or somewhere on the Eiver:
but viewing the Place, liked that plain Neck that was
called then Black-stones-Neck, now Boston. But in the
mean time, before they could build at Boston, they lived
many of them in Tents and "Wigwams at Gharlestown;
their Meeting- Place berug abroad under a Treej where I
have heard Mr. Wilson and Mr. Phillips Preach many a
good Sermon.
" In those Days God did cause his People to trust in
him, and to be contented with mean things. It was not
accounted a strange thing in those Days to drink Water,
and to eat Samp or .Homine without Butter or MUk.
Indeed it would have been a strange thing to see a piece
of Roast Beef, Mutton or Yeal; though it was not long
before there was Eoast Goat. After the first Winter,
we were very Healthy; though some of us had no great
Store of Corn. The Indians did sometimes bring Corn,
and Truck with us for Cloathing and Knives ; and once
I had a Peck of Corn or thereabouts, for a Uttle Puppy-
Dog^ Frost-fish, Muscles and Clams were a Relief to
many."
In speaking of Boston in the olden time the penin-
sula alone is intended to constitute the town; and this
extended from Winnisimmet Ferryways to the Eoxbury
Line. It should not be forgotten, however, that the
town had land out of the peninsula. The old records of
the colony inform us that, on the seventh of !N^ovember,
1632, it was ordered, "that the necke of land betwixte
Powder Home Hill & PuUen Poynte shall belonge to
Boston, to be enioyed by the inhabitants thereof for
ever." On the fourteenth of May, 1634, "the Coiu-t
hath ordered, that Boston shall have convenient inlarge-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 33
m' att Mount Wooliston, to be sett out by foure indif-
ferent men." On the same day, " it was ffurther ordered,
that Winetsemet, & the houses there builte & to be
builte, shall ioyne themselves eith'' to Charlton or Bos-
ton, as members of that towne, before the neste Gen'aU
Court." Muddy Eiver, now part of the town of Brook-
line, was also very early a part of Boston. . Portions of
these appendages to the town were granted to the early
inhabitants of the town, a minute of which was kept
with great exactness upon the town records.
It may be interesting for some to know that the town
of Braintree was established on the thirteenth of May,
1640, and that it included "Moimt "Wollaston," the
Merry Mount of Thomas" Morton's wild days, or " the
Mount," as it was generally called in the Boston records ;
and that Muddy Eiver (or Muddy Brook) was placed
within the jurisdiction of '^ Newe Towne" on the twenty-
fifth of September, 1634. Winnisimmet, Eumney Marsh,
and Pulling Point, were set off from Boston, and incor-
porated as the town of Chelsea on the ninth of January,
1738-9, and the territory has since been divided into
three separate municipalities" — Chelsea, incorporated as
a city on the thirteenth of March, 1857, ]!!^orth Chelsea as
a town on the nineteenth of March, 1846,. and "Winthrop
also as a town on the twenty-seventh of March, 1852.
Many of the islands of the harbor were very early
placed under the jurisdiction of the town, and remain so
to the present day. Dorchester ]N"eck and Point were
annexed to Boston on the sixth of March, 1804, and
"Washington Village, formerly a part of Dorchester, on
the twenty-first of May, 1855.
By an act of the legislature of the Commonwealth,
approved by the governor on the first of June, 1867, the
34 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
question of annexation of the city of Eoxbury to Boston
was submitted to the legal voters of Boston and Eox-
bury. The act was accepted by the decisive action of
the voters on the ninth of September, 1867, the vote in
Boston standing 4,633 yeas against 1,059 nays, and in
Eoxbury, 1,832 yeas against 592 nays; and the union
of the two municipalities was consummated on the sixth
day of January, 1868. On the fourth of June, 1869, the
governor approved an act to unite the city of Boston
and the town of Dorchester, and the same was submitted
for acceptance to the voters on the twenty-second day
of June following, the result being in Boston, 3,420
votes in favor of annexation, and 565 against; and in
Dorchester, 928 votes in favor, and 726 against; and so
the union was established, to take place on the third of
January, 1870.
The town of Eoxbury may be said to have been
incorporated on the twenty-eighth day of September,
1630, O. S., when it was first taxed for the support of
military teachers. It was incorporated as a city by an
act approved by the governor on the twelfth of March,
1846, and accepted by the legal voters of the town on
the twenty-fifth day of the same month, there being
836 votes for and 192 against the charter. At various
times its boundary line with Boston was altered and
established, by acts of the legislature; the most im-
portant of which were approved on the sixteenth of
March, 1836, the third of May, 1850, and the sixth of
April, 1859. The town of "West Eoxbury was set off
from the City of Eoxbury and incorporated on the
twenty-fourth of May, 1851.
Dorchester has the same date of incorporation as
Boston. By an act of the legislature approved on the
DESOEIPTION OF BOSTON. 35
second of May, 1855, so much of this town as was situ-
ated on the southeasterly side of JS'eponset Eiver, near
to and at the place called Squantum, was set off and
annexed to the town of Quincy. By another act of the
legislature, approved on the twenty-second day of April,
1868, a portion of the town was set off to form part of
the town of Hyde Park, leaving the southerly boundary
of the town as at present.
The old geographers tell us that Boston was the shire
town of Suffolk County and the capital of the Common-
wealth of Massachusetts; still older ones called it the
capital of the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay in
l^ew-England; and our forefathers designated it as the
place where the governor and company of the colony,
and subsequently, instead of company, the assistants
and deputies, held their courts. An old writer, who
seems to have had much reverence for the neighboring
college at Cambridge, tells us that the town lies in
longitude 0° 04' east from the meridian of Cambridge,
a place where astronomical observations can most easilj
be made, — a fact which has now become patent, — and
in latitude 42° 23' north. In using these figures in the
present instance, our astronomical readers must allow a
little indulgence, for careful observations had not then
been made so accurately as to give the nice figures re-
duced to decimals of seconds, which can be found in the
books of the observatory of the university at Cambridge.
The true latitude of Boston is 42° 21' 27.6" north, and
the longitude 5° 59' 18" east from "Washington, and 71°
3' 30" west from Greenwich. When it is noon at Bos-
ton, it is 44' 14 past four o'clock P.M. at Greenwich
Observatory, and 36 minutes past eleven o'clock A.M.
at Washington.
36 TOPOGEAPHICAi AND HISTOEICAL
The peninsula selected for the settlement of the party
that came over in 1630 was smallj containing an area of
less than one thousand acres, and was very irregular in
shape. On its north was the MUl Cove, part of the
Charles Kiver ; on its west was an expansion of the same
river, forming what was known as the Back Bay, and
which might with propriety have been called the "West
Cove; on the south was the township of Eoxbury; and
on the east the Great Cove and the South Cove, east of
which was a most convenient harbor that opened by nar-
row and deep channels into an extensive bay, both of
which were bounded with excellent highlands fit for the
sites of innumerable towns, that in time were to be tribu-
tary to the capital of the colony.
The length of the town, running north-northeast from
the Koxbury line to the place early selected for the forti-
fication on the neck, which was really in the early days
of the town its entrance, — for the neck land was consid-
ered only as an appendage to the town, — was about one
mUe and thirty-nine yards, and the distance thence to the
Winnisimmet ferry was one mUe and three-quarters and
one hundred and ninety-nine yards, making the whole
length of the town about two miles, three-quarters and
two hundred and thirty-eight yards.
The breadth of the peninsula, owing to its irregular
shape, varied much at different places. I^ear the fortifi-
cation it was very narrow; but proceeding north it
widened, measuring on the present line of Essex and
Boylston streets to the water on the west side about
eleven hundred and twenty-seven yards. From the
present situation of Foster's wharf, southeast of Fort
Hill to the northwesterly end of Leverett street, the
breadth was one mile and one hundred and tliu-ty-nine
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 37
yards. Advancing farther to the northward, and taking
the measurement from the Old MUl Pond, a few yards
east of where the church of St. Mary now stands in
Endicott street, through Cross street to the water on the
east, it was two hundred and seventy-five yards only in
breadth. From Charlestown ferry (now Charles River
Bridge) through Prince street, IsTorth square and Sun
Court street to the water, the breadth measured seven
hundred and twenty-sis yards.
CHAPTER n.
EAELT DESCRIPTIONS OF BOSTON.
Early Description by William Wood in 1634 • . • Situation of Mount Wollaston,
Dorchester, and Koxbury • ■ ■ Stony River . • • Boston and Boston Neck . ■ •
Captain Johnson's Description of Dorchester, Boston and Koxbury in 1654
. • ■ John Josselyn's Account of the Town in 1675 • ■ • Account by a French
Protestant Eefligee in 1687 ■ . -The Town • • • Cost of Passage to America . • •
Scarcity of Laborers ■ . • Products • • • Trade . • • Liberty • • • French Families
• • . Wild Beasts and Reptiles • ■ • Manners and Behavior of the Colonists.
Before entering into a particular description of the
topography of Boston, it may be well to see how it and
the neighboring towns, Koxbury and Dorchester, both
of which have been annexed to it, were described by
some of the earliest of the New-England writers. Mr.
"William Wood, who was in Lynn, Boston, and perhaps
in the Plymouth Colony, very early after the first settle-
ment of the country, thus writes of the town in his
"IN^ew Englands Prospect," which he styles "a true,
Uvely, and experimentall description of that part of
America, commonly called 'New England : discovering the
state of that Countrie, both as it stands to our new-come
English Planters; and to the old ISTative Inhabitants.
Laying downe that which may both enrich the knowledge
of the mind-travelling Reader, or benefit the future
Yoyager." Mr. "Wood's books are what book-fanciers
call in puritan quarto, and were " printed at London by
Tho. Cotes, for lohn Bellamie, and are to be sold at his
DESOEIPTION OP BOSTON. 39
shop, at the three Golden Lyons in Corne-hill, neere the
Eoyall Exchange, 1634:"
"Having described the situation of the countrey in
generall, with all his commodities arising from land and
Sea, it may adde to your content and satisfaction to be
infoi-med of the situation of every severall plantation,
with his conveniences, commodities, and discommodities,
&G. where first I will begia with the outmost plantation
in the patent to the Southward, which is called Wessagu-
tus, [Wessaguscus, now Weymouth] an Indian name:
this as yet is but a Small Village, yet it is very pleasant,
and healthfuU, very good ground, and is well timbred, and
hath good store of Hey ground; it hath a very spacious
harbour for shippiag before the towne; the salt water
being navigable for Boates & Pinnaces two leagues.
Here the inhabitants have good store of fish of all sorts,
and Swine, having Acornes and Clamms at the time of
yeare; here is Ukewise an Alewife river. Three miles
to the North of this is Moimt Walleston [WoUaston,
now Quincy], a verry fertile soyle, and a place verry con-
venient for Farmers houses, there being great store of
plaine ground, without trees. This place is called
MassacJiusets fields where the greatest Sagamore in the
countrey lived before the Plague, who caused it to be
cleared for himselfe. The greatest inconvenience is, that
there is not very many Springs, as in other places of the
countrey, yet water may bee had for digging : a second
inconvenience is that Boates cannot come in at a low
water, nor ships ride neare the shore. Sixe miles further
to the IsTorth, lieth Dorchester; which is the greatest
Towne in JSTew England; well woodded and watered;
very good arable grounds and Hay-ground, faire Corne-
fields, and pleasant G-ardens, with Kitchin-gardcns : In
40 TOPOGEAPHIGAL AND HISTOEICAL
this plantation is a great many Cattle, as Kine, Goats,
and Swine. This plantation hath a reasonable Harbour
for ships': here is no Alewife-river, which is a great
inconvenience. The inhabitants of this towne, were the
first that set upon the trade of fishing in the Bay, who
received so much fruite of their labours, that they encour-
aged others to the same undertakings. A mile from this
Towne lieth Roxberry, which is faire and handsome
Countrey-towne; the inhabitants of it being all very
rich. This Towne lieth upon the Maine, so that it is
well woodded and watered; having a cleare and fresh
Brooke running through the Towne: Vp which
although there come no Alewiues, yet there is great store
of Smelts, and therefore it is called Smelt-brooke.
" A quarter of a mUe to the I^orth-side of the Towne,
is another River called Stony-river; upon which is built
a water-mUne. Here is good ground for Corne, and
Medow for Cattle : Vp westward from the Towne it is
something rocky, whence it hath the name of Roxberry;
the inhabitants have faire houses, store of Cattle,
impaled Corne-fields, and fruitful! Gardens. Here is no
Harbour for ships, because the Towne is seated in the
bottome of a shallow Bay, which is made by the necke
of land on which Boston is buUt; so that they can trans-
port all their goods from the Ships in Boats from Boston,
which is the nearest Harbour.
" Boston is two miles North-east from Roxberry: His
situation is very pleasant, being a Peninsula, hem'd in on
the South-side with the Bay of Roxberry, on the ]S"orth-
side with Charles-river, the Marshes on the backe-side,
being not halfe a quarter of a mile over, so that a little
fencing will secure their Cattle from the Woolues.
Their greatest wants be "Wood, and Medow-ground, which
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 41
never were in that place; being constrayned to fetch their
building-timber, and fire-wood from the Hands in Boates,
and their Hay ia Loyters : It being a necke and bare of
wood: they are not troubled with three great annoyances,
of Woolves, Eattle-snakes, and Musketoes. These that
live here upon their Cattle, must be constrayned to take
Farmes in the Countrey, or else they cannot subsist; the
place being too small to containe many, and fittest for
such as can Trade into England, for such commodities
as the Countrey wants, being the chiefe place for ship-
ping and merchandize.
" This neclce of land is not above foure miles in com-
passe, in forme almost square, having on the south-side
at one corner, a great broad hill, whereon is planted a
Fort, which can command any ship as shee sayles into
any Harbour within the still Bay. On the N"orth-side is
another Hill, equall in bignesse, whereon stands a Winde-
mill. To the IS^orth-west is a high Mountaine with three
little rising Hils on the top of it, wherefore it is called
the Tramxmnt. From the top of this Mountaine a man
may over-looke all the Bands which lie before the Bay,
and discry such ships as are upon the Sea-coast. This
Towne although it be neither the greatest, nor the rich-
est, yet it is the most noted and frequented, being the
Center of the Plantations where the monthly Courts are
kept. Here likewise dwells the Governour: This place
hath very good land, affording rich corne-fields, and
fruitefuU Gardens ; having likewise sweete and pleasant
Springs. The inhabitants of this place for their enlarge-
ment have taken to themselves Farme-houses, in a place
called Muddy-river, two miles from their Towne; where
is good ground, large timber, and store of Marsh land,
and Meadow. In this place they keepe their Swine and
42 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
other Cattle in the Summer, whilst the Come is on the
ground at Boston, and bring them to the Towne in
Winter."
This description of Mr. "Wood should forever put to
an end the preposterous traditions (so called), about
buildings erected all over the town, with timber cut and
hewn upon the spot. If these could be believed, trees
would have grown in places which in the first days of
the town were nothing but salt marshes and creeks.
Capt. Edward Johnson, of Woburn, in his " Wonder
Working Providence of Sions Saviour, in itfew Eng-
land," printed at the Angel in Cornhill, 1654, thus de-
scribes Boston, Dorchester and Eoxbuiy, in giving an
account of the establishment of the third, fourth, and
fifth churches in the Massachusetts Colony, the first
being at Salem, and the second at Charlestown.
Of the town of Dorchester, where was planted the
third church of the Massachusetts Colony, he says:
"The third Church of Christ gathered under this
Government was at Dorchester, a frontire Town scituated
very pleasantly both for facing the Sea, and also its
large extent into the main Land, well watered with two
small Rivers; neere about this Towne inhabited some
few ancient Traders, who were not of this select band, but
came for other ends, as Morton of Merrymount, who
would fairie have resisted this worke, but the provident
hand of Christ prevented. The forme of this Towne is
almost like a Serpent turning her head to the !N'orth-
ward; over against Tompsons Island, and the Castle,
her body and wings being chiefly buUt on, are filled
somewhat thick of Houses, only that one of her Wings
is dipt, her Tayle being of such a large extent that shee
can hardly draw it after her; Her Houses for dwelling-
DBSCKIPTION OP BOSTON. 43
are about one hundred and forty, Orchards and Gardens
full of Fruit-trees, plenty of Come-Land, although
much of it hath been long in tillage, yet hath it ordina-
rily good crops, the number of Trees are neare upon
1500. Cowes, and other Cattell of that Mnde about 450.
Thus hath the Lord been pleased to increase his poore
dispersed people, whose number in this Flock are neare
about 150. their first Pastor called to feede them was
the Reverend, and godly Mr. Maveruck."
The same writer describes Boston, where the third
church was established, in the following words :
" After some little space of time the Church of Christ
at Charles Town, having their Sabbath assemblies oft-
enest on the South side of the River, agreed to leave the
people on that side to themselves, and to provide another
Pastor for Charles Towne, which accordingly they did.
So that the fourth Church of Christ issued out of
Charles Towne, and was seated at Boston, being the Cen-
ter Towne and Metropolis of this Wildemesse worke (but
you must not imagirie it to be a Metropolitan Church)
invironed it is with the Brinish flouds, saving one small
Istmos, which gives free accesse to the K'eighbour
Townes ; by Land on the South-side, on the !N^orth-west,
and !N'orth-east, two constant Faires are kept for daily
trafiique thereimto, the forme of this Towne is like a
heart naturally scituated for Fortifications, having two
Hills on the frontice part thereof next the Sea, the one
well fortified on the superfices thereof, with store of
great Artillery well mounted, the other hath a very
strong battery built of whole Timber, and filled with
Earth, at the descent of the Hill in the extreme poynt
thereof, betwixt these two strong arms lies a large Cave
or Bay, on which the chiefest part of this Town is
44 TOPOGRAPHICAL AMD HISTOPaCAL
built, over-topped with a third Hill, all three like over-
topping Towers keepe a constant watch to fore-see the
approach of forreia dangers, being furnished with a
Beacon and lowd babling Guns, to give notice by their
redoubled eccho to all their Sister-townes, the chiefe Edi-
fice of this City-Uke Towne is crowded on the Sea-
bankes, and wharfed out with great industry and cost,
the buildings beautifuU and large, some fairly set forth
with Brick, Tile, Stone and Slate, and orderly placed
with comly streets, whose continual! inlargement pre-
sages some sumptuous City. The wonder of this mod-
erne Age, that a few yeares should bring forth such great
matters by so meane a handfall, and they so far from
being inriched by the spoiles of other I^ations, that the
states of many of them have beene spoiled by the Lordly
Prelacy, whose Lands must assm-edly make Restitutions.
But now behold the admirable Acts of Christ, at this his
peoples landing, the hideous Thickets in this place were
such that Wolfes and Beares nurst up their young from
the eyes of aU beholders, in those very places where the
streets are full of Girles and Boys, sporting up and
downe, with a continued concourse of people. Good
store of Shipping is here yearly built, and some very
faire ones: both Tar and Mastes the Countrey affords
from its own soile; also store of YictuaU both for their
owne and Forreiners-ships, who resort hither for that
end: this Town is the very Mart of the Land, French,
Portugalls and Dutch, come hither for Traffique."
Eoxbury, where he classes the fifth church ia the col-
ony is thus described by Capt. Johnson :
" The fift Church of Christ was gathei-ed at Box^ry,
scituated between Boston and Dorchester, being well
watered with coole and pleasant Springs issuino- forth
DESCRIPTION or BOSTON. 45'
the Eocky-hills, and with small Freshets, watering the
Yallies of this fertill Towne, whose forme is somewhat
like a wedge double pointed, entering betweene the two
foure named Townes [Dorchester and Boston], filled
with a very laborious people, whose labours the Lord
hath so blest, that in the roome of dismall Swampes and
tearing Bushes, they have very goodly Fruit-trees, fruit-
full Fields and Gardens, their Heard of Cowes, Oxen
and other young Cattell of that kind about 350. and
dwelling-houses neere upon 120. their streetes are
large, and some fayre Houses, yet have they built their
House for Church-assembly, destitute and unbeautified
with- other buildings. The Church of Christ here is in-
creased to about 120. persons, their first Teaching Elder
called to Oflice is Mr. JEliot a yong man, at his com-
ming thither of a cheerfuU spirit, walking unblameable,
of a godly conversation, apt to teach, as by his indefati-
gable paiaes both with his own flock, and the poore
Indians doth appeare, whose Language he learned pur-
posely to helpe them to the knowledge of God in Christ,
frequently Preaching in their Wigwams, and Catechiz-
ing their Children."
John Josselyn, gent., who visited New England
about two hundred years ago, on his return to Eng-
land wrote an account of his two voyages, which were
published at the Green Dragon in St. Paul's church-
yard, London, in 1675. He compiled largely from
Johnson's description of the town, and added a few
interesting particulars, from which the following is
extracted: "The houses are for the most part raised
on the sea-banks and wharfed out with great industry
and cost, many of them standing upon piles, close
together on each side of the streets as in London,
46 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
and furnished with many fair shops, their materials are
Brick, Stone, Lime, handsomely contrived, with three
meeting Houses or Churches, and a Town-house
built upon pillars where the merchants may con-
fer, in the Chambers above they keep their monthly
Courts. Their streets are many and large, paved with
pebble stone, and the South-side adorned with Gardens
and Orchards. The Town is rich and very populous,
much frequented by strangers, here is the dwelling of
their Governour. On the ]!!^orth-west and ]^orth-east
two constant Faires are kept for daily Traffick there-
unto. On the South there is a small but pleasant Com-
mon, where the Gallants a little before Sunset walk with
their Marmalet-Madaias, as we do in Mborjields, &c.,
till the nine a clock Bell rings them home to their re-
spective habitations, when presently the Constables walk
their rounds to see good orders kept, and to take up
loose people. Two miles from the town at a place called
Muddy-River, the Inhabitants have Farms, to which be-
long rich arable grounds and meadows where they keep
their Cattle in the Summer, and bring them to Boston in
the Winter- the Harbour before the Town is filled with
Ships and other Vessels for most part of the year."
A very interesting tract in the manuscript collections
of Antoine Court, preserved in the Library of Geneva,
and published in a magazine in February, 1867, contains
very interesting particulars relating to Boston in 1687.
It was written by a French Protestant refugee, who it
appears set out for America two years after the Eevoca-
tion of the Edict of ISTantes, and arrived in Boston on
the seventeenth of October of that year, for the purpose
of collecting information to guide his fellow-refugees in
a proposed plan of settlement in America. Mr. J.%^.
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 47
Brevoort, of Brooklyn, caused an edition of one hun-
dred and twenty-five copies of a translation by Mr. E. T.
Fisher to be printed for distribution among his literary
correspondents. Although the name of the author is
unknown, it is evident the tract was written by an intel-
ligent and observing person, a native of Languedoc.
The following abstracts are given in the language of the
translator. He describes the town, on his arrival, thus :
"We sighted Cape Coot [Cod], which is twenty
Leagues from Boston towards the South, and on the
Morrow we arrived at Boston, after having fallen in with
a I>rumber of very pretty Islands that lie in Front of
Boston, most of them cultivated and inhabited by Peas-
ants, which form a very fine View. Boston is situated
at the Head of a Bay possibly three or four Leagues in
Circumference, shut in by the Islands of which I have
told you. Whatever may be the "Weather, Vessels lie
there in Safety. The Town is built on the Slope of a lit-
tle Hill, and is as large as La Rochelle. The Town and
the Land outside are not more than three MUes in Cir-
cuit, for it is almost an Island; it would only be necessary
to cut through a "Width of three hundred Paces, all Sand,
which in less than twice twenty-four Hours would make
Boston an Island washed on all Sides by the Sea. The
Town is almost wholly built of wooden Houses ; but
since there have been some ravages by Fire, building of
Wood is no longer allowed, so that at this present
writing very handsome Houses of Brick are going up.
I ought to have told you, at the Beginning of this Arti-
cle, that you pay in London for Passage here twenty
Crowns [2s. 6d. each], and twenty-four if you prefer to
pay in Boston, so that it is better to pay here than in
London; you have one Crown over, since one hundred
48 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Pounds at London, are equal to one hundred and twentj-
five here, so that the twenty Crowns one must pay at
London are twenty-five Crowns here, by Reason of the
twenty-five per cent., and twenty-four is all one has to
pay here; this Increase in the Yalue of Money is a great
Help to the poor Refugees, should they bring any."
He describes the scarcity of laborers, and the kind
that can be procured as follows :
"You can bring with you hired Help in any Voca-
tion whatever; there is an absolute !N^eed'of them to till
the Land. You may also own liTegroes and IS^egresses ;
there is not a House in Boston, however small may be
its Means, that has not one or two. There are those
that have five or six, and all make a good Living. Yoii
employ Savages to work your Fields, in Consideration
of one Shilling and a half a Day and Board, which is
eighteen Pence; it being always understood that you
must provide them with Beasts or Utensils for Labor.
It is better to have hired Men to till your Land. 'Ne-
groes cost from twenty to forty Pistoles [the Pistole
was then worth about ten Francs], according as they
are skilful or robust; there is no Danger that they will
leave you, nor hired Help likewise, for the Moment one
is missing from the Town, you have only to notify the
Savages, who provided you promise them Something, and
describe the Man to them, he is right soon found. But
it happens rarely that they quit you, for they would know
not where to go, there being few trodden Roads, and those
which are trodden lead to English Towns or Tillages,
which, on your writing, will immediately send back your
Men. There are Ship-captains who might take them
off; but that is open Larceny and would be rigorously
punished. Houses of Brick and Frame can be built
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTON. 49
cheaply, as regards Materials, but the Labor of 'Work-
men is very dear; a Man cannot be got to work for less
than twenty-four Pence a Day and found."
Concerning the products of the country, he is some-
what more careful in his remarks than previous writers,
and says:
"Pasturage abounds here. Tou can raise every
Kind of Cattle, which thrive well. An Ox costs from
twelve to fifteen Crowns; a Cow, eight to ten; Horses,
from ten to fifty Crowns, and in Plenty. There are
even wild ones in the "Woods, which are yours if you can
catch them. Foals are sometimes caught. Beef costs
two Pence the Pound; Mutton, two Pence; Pork from
two to three Pence, according to the Season; Flour
fourteen Shillings the one hundred and twelve Pound,
all bolted; Fish is very cheap, and Yegetables also;
Cabbage, Turnips, Onions and Carrots abound here.
Moreover, there are Quantities of I^uts, Chestnuts, and
Hazelnuts wild. These ISTuts are small, but of wonder-
ful Flavor. I have been told that there are other Sorts
which we shall see in the Season. I am assured that
the Woods are full of Strawberries in their Season. I
have seen Quantities of wild Grapevine, and eaten
Grapes of very good Flavor, kept by one of my Friends.
There is no Doubt that the Yine will do very well; there
is some little planted in the Country, which has grown.
" The Rivers are full of Fish, and we have so great a
Quantity of Sea and River Fish that no Account is made
of them. There are here Craftsmen of every kind, and
jjarticularly Carpenters for the building of Ships. The
Day after my Arrival, I saw them put into the Water
one of three hundred Tons, and since, they have
launched two others somewhat smaller. This Town
50 TOPOGBAPHICAL AST> HISTORICAL
carries on a great Trade with the Islands of America
and with Spain. They carry to the Islands Flonr, Salt
Beef, Salt Pork, Cod, Staves, Salt Salmon, Salt Mack-
erel, Onions, and Oysters salted in Barrels, great Quan-
tities of which are taken here; and for their Return they
bring Sugar, Cotton "Wood, Molasses, Indigo, Sago
IManihot utilissima] and Pieces of * * * * In
the Trade with Spain, they carry only dried Fish, which
is to be had here at eight to twelve Shillings the Quintal,
according to Quality: the Return Cargo is in Oils,
"Wine and Brandy, and other Merchandise which comes
by Way of London, for Ifothing can be imported
here, coming from a foreign Port, unless it has first been
to London and paid the half Duty, after which it can be
transported here, where for aU Duty one-half per cent is
paid for Importation, since Merchandise for Exporta-
tion pays ]N"othing at all."
According to the testimony of this writer it appears
that the same liberty was granted to travellers as now.
" One can come to this Country," he says, " and return
the same as in Europe. There is the greatest Liberty,
and you may live without any Constraint." But it was
necessary that those who desired to carry on business
should be naturalized in London before coming to
America.
The number of French Protestants is mentioned as
very small.
"Here in Boston there are not more than twenty
French Families, and they are every Day diminishing,
on Account of departing for the Country to buy or hire
Land and to thrive to make some Settlement. They are
expected this Spring from all Quarters. Two young
Men have lately arrived from Carolina, who give some
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 51
!N'ew8 of that Country; especially they say they never
saw so miserable a Country, and so unhealthful a Cli-
mate. They have Fevers there during the whole Year,
such as that those attacked rarely recover; and if there be
some who escape their Effect, they become all leather-
colored, as are these two who have arrived, who are Ob-
jects of Compassion."
Another rateresting subject he speaks of in the fol-
lowing manner :
" As for wild Beasts, we have here plenty of Bears,
and "Wolves in great ^Number who commit Ravages
among the Sheep, if good Precautions are not taken.
We also have here plenty of Rattlesnakes, but they have
not yet showed themselves. I have seen only some small
Snakes of three Inches [around?] and long in Propor-
tion; there are a great many, for they are to be seen
seven or eight together. All these Animals flee from
Man, and it doth not seem that they harm anybody."
Of the colonists, he speaks less flatteruigly, and in a
way that would leave a very unfavoralble impression of
their manners and behavior:
"The English," he writes, "who inhabit these Coun-
tries are as elsewhere, good and bad; but one sees more
of the Latter than the Former, and to state the Case to
you in a few Words, there are here of all Muds, and con-
sequently of every Kind of Life and Manners; not that
disputing and quarreling are common with them, but
they do not lead good Lives. There are those who
practice no Formality of Marriage except joining Hands,
and so live in Common; others who are sixty Years of
Age and are not yet baptized, because they are not Mem-
bers [of the Church]. It is about a Month since they
baptized in our Church a Woman of forty-five and five
52 DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON.
of her Children. Her eldest might have been sixteen
Years old; the Presbyterians would not baptize her
because she had not become a Member [of the Church] ."
Such was the appearance of Boston in its earliest
days, as given by writers whose statements are the most
worthy of reliance. As the town increased in age, in the
number of its inhabitants, and in its resources, changes
necessarily took place, a description of which will be
attempted in succeeding chapters.
CHAPTEK in.
ANCIENT DESCEIPTIONS BY ENGLISH WEITEES.
Ancient Description of Boston and its Inhabitants, by Edward Ward, in 1699
■ ■ • The High street, four Meeting Houses, Religious Character of the Peo-
ple, and Holidays • • ■ Forbidden Things, and Penalty for Kissing ; Drunl^en-
uess and Profanity ... A Cudgel in the Dark • . • Boston Women in 1699 ■ . -
The old Town Pump • • . Boston Factors Scandalized • ... Purchase of Boston
• • . Comments on the Libellous Ward • • • John Dunton's Life and Errors
in 1686, Printed in 1705 • . • Daniel Neal's Account of Boston in 1719 . . • Situ-
ation of the Town • • . The Bay of Boston . . . The Pier . ■ • Form of the Town
. ■ • Population • ■ • Places of Public Worship • . • Polite Conversation, etc., of
the People ■ • • Trade and Commerce . • • Account by Jeremy Dummer, in
1721... Boston in 1787.
In 1699, a curious and somewhat free-writing Eng-
lishman published an account of his "Trip to 'New
England," wherein he gave a very curious description of
Boston, which, notwithstanding its ridiculous cockney-
ism, wUl be found to contain some considerable smart-
ness, and will certainly give a good idea of the standing
our forefathers had in the estimation of those who were
more worldly-minded if not less religiously inclined. Mr.
Edward Ward, the Londoner, wrote thus of our good
old town:
"On the south-west side of Massachusets-Bay, is
Boston 5 whose I^ame is taken from a Town in Lincoln-
shire: And is the Metropolis of all N'ew-England. The
Houses in some parts joyn as in London. The Buildings,
like their Women, being ]S"eat and Handsome. And
54 TOPOGKAPHICAIi AND HISTOKICAL
their Streets, like the Hearts of the Male Inhabitants,
are Paved with Pebble.
"In the Chief, or high Street, there are stately Edi-
fices, some of which have cost the owners two or three
Thousand Pounds the raising; which, I think, plainly
proves Two old Adages true, viz: That a Fool and his
Money is soon parted; and, set a Beggar on Horse-back
he'U Eide to the DevU; for the Fathers of these Men
were Tinkers and Peddlers.
"To the Glory of Religion, and the Credit of the
Town, there are four Churches, built with Clap-boards
and ShiQgles, after the Fashion of our Meeting-houses ;
which are supply'd by four Ministers, to whom some,
very justly, have apply'd these Epitliites, one a Scholar,
the Second a Gentleman, the Third a Dunce, and the
Fourth a Clown.
"Their Churches are Independent, every Congrega-
tion, or Assembly, in Ecclesiastical Affairs, being dis-
tinctly Govern'd by their own Elders and Deacons, who
in their Turns set the Psalms; and the former are as
busie on Sundays, to excite the People to a Liberal Con-
tribution, as our Church- Wardens at Easter and Christ-
mas, are with their Dishes, to make a Collection for the
Poor.
"Every Stranger is unavoidably forc'd to take this
I^otice, That in Boston, there are more Religious Zea-
lots than Honest-men, more Parsons than Churches, and
more Churches than Parishes : For the Town, unlike the
People, is subject to no Division.
" The Inhabitants seem very Religious, showing many
outward and visible Signs of an inward and Spiritual
Grace : But tho' they wear in their Faces the Innocence
of Doves, you wiU find them in their Dealings, as Subtile
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 55
as Serpents. Interest is their Faith, Money then- God
and Large Possessions the only Heaven they covet.
"Election, Commencement, and Training-days, are
their only Holy-days; they keep no Saints-Days, nor
will they allow the Apostles to be Saints, yet they assume
that Sacred Dignity to themselves; and say, in the Title
Page of their Psalm-Book, Printed for the Edification
of the Saints in Old and 'New England."
This waiter very sorely scandalized not only the clergy
.and the traders, but also the good women, both young
and old, and the people generally. A few more quota-
tions from this writer will do.
"If you Kis& a "Woman in Publick, tho' offer'd as a
Courteous Salutation, if any Information is given to the
Select Members, both shall be "Whip'd or Fin'd. But
the good humor'd Lasses, to make you amends, will Kiss
the Kinder in a Comer. A Captain of a Ship who had
been a long Voyage, happen'd to meet his Wife, and
Kist her in the Street; for which he was Fin'd Ten Shil-
lings, and forc'd to pay the Money. Another Inhabitant
of the Town was fin'd Ten Shillings for Kissing his own
wife in his Garden; and obstinately refusiag to pay the
Money, endured Twenty Lashes at the Gun. And at
this rate one of the delightfulest Customs in the World
wiU in time be quite thrown out of Fashion, to the Old
Folk satisfaction, but to the Young ones Lamentattion,
who love it as well in N'ew-England, as we do in the
Old.
" Every Tenth man is chose as one of the Select, who
have- power, together, to Eegulate and Punish all Disor-
ders that happen in their several ]S"eighbour-hoods. The
Penalty for Drunkenness, is whipping or a Crown; Curs-
ing or Swearing, the same Fine, or to be bor'd thro' the
56 TOPOGEAPHICAX, AND HISTOEICAIi
tongue with a hot iron: But get your Select Member
into your Company and Treat Mm, and you may do
either without offence; and be as safe as a Parishoner
here in a Tavern in the Church- Wardens Company in
Sermon-time."
" They are very busie in detecting one another's fail-
ings; and he is accounted, by their Church Groverners,
a Meritorious Christian, that betrays his Ifeighbour to a
Whipping-Post.
" A good cudgel apply'd in the Dark, is an excellent
Medicine for a Malignant Spirit. I knew it once Ex-
perienced at Boston, with a very good success, upon an
Old Rigged Precisian, one of their Select, who used to
be more then ordinary vigilant in discovering every little
Irregularity in the ]!!^eighbourhood; I happening one
JSTight to be pritty Merry with a Friend, opposite to the
Zealots dwelling, who got out of his Bed in his Wast-
coat and Drawers, to listen at our Window. My Friend
having oft been serv'd so, had left unbolted his Cellar
Trap-door, as a Pit-faU for Mr. Busie-Body, who step-
ping upon it, sunk down with an Outcry like a distressed
Mariner in a sinking Pinnace. My Friend having
planted a Cudgel ready, run down Stairs, crying
Thieves, and belabour'd Old Troublesome very sevearly
before he would know him. He crying out I am your
JSTeighbour. You Lye, you Lye, you Rogue, says my
Friend, my IN'eighbours are Honest Men, you are some
Thief come to Rob my House. By this time I went
down with a -Candle, my Friend seeming wonderftiUy
surpriz'd to see 'twas his [tsTeighbour, and one of the
Select too, put on a Counterfeit Countenance, and
heartily beg'd his Pardon. Away troop'd the Old Fox,
Grumbling and Shruging up his Shoulders ; and became
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 57
afterwards the most Moderate Man in Authority in the
whole Town of Boston.
'■ A little Pains sometimes do good
To such Cross Knotty Sticks of "Wood.
Correction is the best Keceipt,
To set a Crooked Temper Streight.
If such Old Stubborn Boughs can Bend,
And from a just Chastisment mend,
Tond Parents pray asign a Reason,
Why Youth should want it in due Season.
" The "Women here, are not at all inferiour in Beauty
to the Ladies of London, having rather the Advantage of
a better Complexion; but as for the Men, they are gen-
erally Meagre; and have got the Hypocritical Kjiack,
like our English Jews, of screwing their Faces, into
such Puritanical postures that you would think they
were always Praying to themselves, or running melan-
choly Mad about some Mistery in the Eevelations; so
that 'tis rare to see a handsome Man in the Country, for
they have all one Cast, but of what Tribe I know not.
" The Gravity and Piety of their looks, are of great
Service to these American Christians : It makes strangers
that come amongst them, give credit to their ^ords.
And it is a Proverb with those that know them. Who-
soever believes a ]S"ew-England Saint, shall be sure to
be Cheated : And he that Knows how to deal with their
Traders, may deal with the Devil and fear no Craft.
"I was mightily pleas'd one Morning with a Conten-
tion between two Boys at a Pump in Boston, about who
should draw their "Water first. One Jostled the other
from the Handle, and he would fill his Bucket first,
because his Master said Prayers and sung Psalms twice
a Day in his Family, and the other Master did nof. To
58 TOPOGEAPHIOAL AND HISTORICAL
which the Witty Knave made this reply, Our House
stands backward in a Court; if my Master had a Room
next the Street, as your Master has, he'd Pray twice to
your Masters once, that he wou'd, and therefore I'll fill
my paU first, Marry wiU I, and did accordingly."
This last anecdote evidently refers to the Old Town
Pump which ia the olden trtne stood ia the middle of
Washington street, a few yards north of the head of Court
street. If the reader will bear with two more short
quotations from this absurd traveller, we wiU leave him
to his former unknown and unappreciated existence.
He thus vilified our honest traders and the worthy first
settlers of the town:
" Some Years Ago, when the Factors at Boston were
credited with large Stocks by our English Merchants,
and being backward in their Returns, and more in their
Books than they were willing to satisfie, contriv'd this
Stratagem to out-wit their Correspondents. As 'tis said,
They set Fire to their Ware-houses, after the disposal oi
their Goods, and Burnt them down to the Groimd, pre-
tending in theu' Letters, they were all undone, their Car-
gos and Books all destroy'd; and so at once Ballanc'd
their Accounts with England."
The last quotation, it wiU be perceived, is much the
worst of his numerous scandalous statements; and it
would have been omitted here, as many others of too
gross a character for the readers of the present day have
been, were it not that it refers so pointedly to the
first possession of the peninsula by Europeans. There
is no reason whatever for the assertion which follows :
" The Ground upon which Boston (the Metropolis of
New-England) stands, was purchas'd from the ]S"ative8,
by the first English Proprietors, for a Bushel of Wam-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 59
pum-peag and a Bottle of Rum, being of an inconsider-
able Value. Therefore the Converted Indians, (who
have the use of the Scriptures) cannot blame Esau for
selling his Birth-right for a mess of Porrage."
Edward Ward, the author so largely quoted from, was
the first of a numerous list of Londoners who have vis-
ited ^ew England for the purpose of traducing its in-
habitants,, and casting ridicule upon its customs and
practices. From such persons have been transmitted
the false traditions of our ancestry which are met with
so frequently by historical inquirers. The good that
this class of writers give should be thankfully received,
for the false can be easily disproved. The laws alluded
to in the above extracts are partly falsifications, and*
partly exaggerations. The incident at the old town
pump was undoubtedly a stretch of the author's imagi-
nation. The great fires which had taken place previous
to his visit happened during the years 1653, 1676, 1679,
1683, 1690, and 1691 ; and none of them could be attrib-
uted to the causes assigned by him. The four clergy-
men alluded to were probably Rev. Benjamin Wads-
worth of the first church, Rev. Cotton Mather of the
second church (old north), Rev. Samuel Willard, of
the third church (old south), and Rev. Samuel Myles,
rector of the episcopal church (king's chapel) ; neither
of whom were entitled to be called clowns or dunces, as
all of them were gentlemen and scholars.
During the first century of the settlement of the town,
many tourists who visited the place have given journals
to the public. Among these were John Dunton, a Lon-
don bookseller, and author, who was here in the year
1686, and who published a book entitled his "Life and
Errors," printed in London in 1705. In 1867, letters
60 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
by this same author, embodying his " Life and Errors,"
were edited by Wm. H. Whitmore, of Boston, and a
small edition of two hundred and ten copies printed for
subscribers and others. Several pag,es of these works
are given to pleasant personal reminiscences, and mention
of Boston families, written entirely in a different manner
from those of Mr. Ward. As these contain very little
especially relating to the topography of the town, which
is not compiled from Josselyn and other writers, but are
more particularly given to allusion to persons, they are
passed by at this time.
The following description of the town was written by
Daniel !N^eal, in the year 1719, and shows how much of
a change occurred in about twenty years. As it is very
nearly cotemporaneous with Bonner's plan of the town,
the first printed map of Boston, it may be considered
particularly valuable in connection therewith. Speaking
of Suffolk county, he says :
" The Capital of this County, and of all New-England
is Boston, which according to the exact Calculation of
Thomas Brattle, Esq; is 71 Degrees West from Lon-
don, Latitude 42 Degrees 24 ]S"orth, Variation of the
Needle, nearest 9 Degrees West. 'Tis pleasantly
situated in a Peninsula about four Miles in Compass
at the Bottom of a fine Bay, guarded from the Rough-
ness of the Ocean by several Rocks appearmg above
Water; and by above a Dozen Islands, many of which
are inhabited, and one called Nottles- Island, within these
few years was esteemed worth 2 or 300 I. per Ann. to
the Owner Colonel Shrimpton; there is but one common
and safe Passage into the Bay, and that not very broad,
there being hardly Room for three Ships to come in,
board and board at a tune, but being once in, there is
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 61
Eoom for the Anchorage of 500 Sail. The most remark-
able of these Islands is called Castle-Island, from the
Castle that is buUt in it; it stands about a League from
the Town upon the main Channel leading to it, and is so
conveniently situated, that no Ship of Burthen can ap-
proach the Town without the Hazard of being torn in
Pieces by its Cannon." After giving a description of
the fortifications upon Castle Island, Mr. ]S"eal proceeds
as follows, " But to prevent any possible Surprize from
an Enemy, there is a Light-house built on a Rock, ap-
pearing above Water about two long Leagues from the
Town which in Time of War makes a signal to the
Castle, and the Castle to the Town by hoisting and
lowering the Union-Flag, so many Times as there are
Ships approaching, which if they exceed a certain JS'um-
ber, the Castle fires three Guns to alarm the Town of
Boston, and the Governor, if need be, orders a Beacon
to be fired, which alarms all the adjacent Countrey; so
that unless an Enemy can be supposed to sail by so
many Islands and Rocks in a Fog, the Town of Boston
must have six or more Hours to prepare for their Re-
ception ; but supposing they might pass the Castle, there
are two Batteries at the IS^orth and South Ends of the
Town, which command the whole Bay, and make it im-
possible for an Enemy's Ship of Burthen to ride there in
safety, while the Merchantmen and small Craft may
retire up into Charles River, out of reach of their
Cannon.
" The Bay of Boston is spacious enough to contain
in a manner the !N"avy of England. The Masts of Ships
here, and at proper Seasons of the Year, make a kind of
Wood of Trees like that we see upon the River of
Thames about Wapjnng and Limehouse, which may
62 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
easily be imagined when we consider, that by Computa-
tion given in to the Collectors of his Majesty's Customs
to the Governor upon the building of the Light-house,
it appeared that there was 24000 Ton of Shipping
cleared annually.
"At the Bottom of the Bay is a noble Pier, 1800 or
2000 Foot long, with a Row of "Ware-houses on the
J^orth Side, for the Use of Merchants. . The Pier runs
so far into the Bay, that Ships of the greatest Burthen
may unlade without the Help of Boats or Lighters.
From the Head of the Pier you go up the, chief Street
of the Town, at the Upper End of which is the Town
House or Exchange, a fine piece of BuUding, containing,
besides the Walk for the Merchants, the Council Cham-
ber, the House of Commons, and another spacious Room
for the Sessions of the Courts of Justice. The Exchange
is surrounded with Booksellers Shops, wMch have a
good Trade. There are five Printing-Presses in Boston,
which are generally full of Work, by which it appears,
that Humanity and the KJnowledge of Letters flourish
more here than in aU the other English Plantations piit
together; for in the City of New-YoiTc there is but one
Bookseller's Shop, and in the Plantations of Virginia,
Maryland, Carolina, JBarhadoes, and the Islands, none
at all.
"The Town of Boston lies in the Form of a half Moon
round the Harbour, the surrounding Shore being high,
and affording a very agreeable Prospect. A considera-
ble Part of the Peninsula upon which the Town stands,
is not yet built upon, as the Reader will observe by the
Map [a small plan of the vicinity and harbor 3 1-4 by 3
inches] ; but yet there are at present twenty-two Allies,
thirty-six Lanes, forty-two Streets, and in all together
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 63
about three thousand Houses, several of which for the
Beauty of the Buildings may compare with most in
the City of London. The Town is well paved, and sev-
eral of the Streets as wide and spacious as can be
desired."
After computing the number of inhabitants of Boston
to be about 20,000, he remarks, "Whence it appears, that
the Town is considerably increased within these last ten
or twelve Years j for the late ingenious Tho. Brattle,
Esq; whose MS. Observations are now before me, says,
that in the Year 1708 the JSTumber of Inhabitants did
not amount to above 12 or 13,000 Souls. He further
adds, that the 'Militia of the Town consisted then of
eight Companies of Foot, of about 150 or 160 in a Com-
pany, and one Troop of Horse ; but the Inhabitants being
since increased above a third Part, their MUitia must
now amount to near 2000 Men."
Mr. ^N^eal then mentions the places of public worship,
ten in number, viz : the Old Church, whereof Rev. Ben-
jamin Wadsworth and Rev. Thomas Foxcroft, ^^Brown-
ists/^ were pastors ; the IS'orth Church, Doctors Increase
and Cotton Mather, pastors; the South Church, Rev.
Joseph Sewall and Rev. Thomas Prince, pastors; the
Church in Brattle street. Rev. Benjamin Colman and
Rev. "William Cooper, '' Breslyterians," pastors; the
New !N^orth, Rev. John Webb, pastor, and the New
South, Rev. Samuel ChecMey, pastor. Besides these
were one Episcopal Church, one French, one Anabap-
tist, and one congregation of Quakers.
Mr. Neal further remarks, " The Conversation in this
Town is as polite as in most of the Cities and Towns in
England; many of their Merchants having travelled into
' Europe; and those that stay at home having the Advan-
64 rOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
tage of a free Conversation with Travellers; so that a
Gentleman from London would ahnost think himself at
home at Boston, when he observes the ISTumbers of Peo-
ple, their houses, their Furniture, their Tables, then-
Dress and Conversation, which perhaps is as splendid
and showy, as that of the most considerable Tradesmen
in London.
" Upon the whole, Boston is the most flourishing
Town for Trade and Commerce in the Lnglish Amenca;
here the Governor commonly resides, the General Court
and Assembly meet, the Courts of Judicature sit, and
the Affairs of the whole Province are transacted; 'tis the
best Port in Nem-Lngland, from whence 3 or 400 Sail
of Ships, Ketches, Brigantines, «fec. are laden every Year
with Lumber, Beef, Pork, Pish, &c. for several Parts
of Europe and America."
In the year 1721 Jeremy Dummer, the Massachusetts
agent to England, wrote a similar accpunt of the town,
in which the writiags of Mr. IS'eal were largely used.
A good idea of the town as it was in the year 1787,
nearly seventy years later than Ideal's account, will be
found in the following, published at Philadelphia in the
Columbian Magazine :
" Boston, the metropoHs of Massachusetts Bay, in
'New England, is one of the largest and most flourish-
ing towns in J^orth America. It is situated upon a
peninsula, or rather an island, joined to the continent by
an isthmus, or narrow neck of land, half a mUe in length,
at the bottom of a spacious and noble harbour, defended
from the sea by a number of small islands. The length
of it is nearly two miles, and the breadth of it half a one;
and it is supposed to contain 3000 houses, and 18 or
20,000 inhabitants. At the entrance of the harboiir
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 65
Stands a very good lighthouse; and upon an island,
about a league from the town, a considerable castle,
mounting near 150 cannon. There are several good
batteries about it, and one in particular very strong,
built by Mr. Shirley. There are also two batteries in
the town, for 16 or 20 guns each, but they are not,
I believe, of any force. The buildings in Boston are
in general good, the streets are open, spacious and
well paved. The country round about it is exceed-
ingly delightful; and from a hill, which stands close
to the town, where there is a beacon erected to alarm
the neighbourhood in case of any surprise, is one of the
finest prospects, the most beautifully variegated, and
richly grouped, of any, without exception, that I have
ever seen.
" The chief public buildings are three churches ; thir-
teen or fourteen meeting houses; the governor's palace;
the cour|; house, or exchange; Faneuil-hall; a linen
manufacturing house; a workhouse ; a bridewell ; a public
granary; and a very fine wharf, at least half a mile long,
undertaken at the expense of a number of private gentle-
men, for the advantage of unloading and loading ves-
sels. Most of these buildings are handsome; the church
called King's Chapel, is exceedingly elegant, and fitted
up in the Corinthian taste. . There is also an elegant
private concert-room, highly finished, in the Ionic
manner.
" Arts and sciences seem to have made a gi'eater pro-
gress here, than in any other part of America. The arts
are undeniably much forwarder in Massachusetts-bay,
than either in Pennsylvania or l^ew York. The public
buildings are more elegant;" and there is a more general
turn for music, painting, and the belles-lettres."
9
66 DESCEIFTION OF BOSTON.
This chapter waS commenced with a description of
the town, and some of the customs and habits of its res-
idents, by an Englishman who had great reluctance to
notice any good in our peculiar institutions. It is pro-
posed in the next chapter to present a better picture of
the same as viewed by another foreign writer, a French-
man. These accounts, being cotemporaneous with
their dates, give a better idea of Boston as it existed
in days that are past than can any traditionary rela-
tions.
CHAPTEK IV.
DESCRIPTIONS BY TEENCH WKITEES.
Descriptive Account of Boston by the Abb6 Robin in 1781 . . • Appearance of
the Town, and the Construction of the Houses ■ . . Removal of Wooden
Houses . . . Number of Houses, Meeting-houses, and Inhabitants . • ■ Obser-
vance of the Sabbath • • . Style of building Religious Edifices • • • Ceremonies
of the Quakers • • • Appearance of the Women • • • Attendance at Meetings • ■ •
Situation of Boston . • • Ruins of Charlestown • • ■ Boston Harbor • • • Com-
merce and Fisheries • • • Rum, Wine and Brandy ■ • • Exportation of Lumber
and Sugar • • • Irish Presbyterians • • • University at Cambridge.
When the Count de Kochambeau was sent in 1780
from France with six thousand men to the assistance of
the United States in the war of the revolution, in which
he did great service at the siege of Yorktown, he had
among his chaplains the Abbe Robin, a person of con-
siderable culture and judgment, who in a series of thir-
teen letters to a friend, gave a very discriminating
account of his travels through the country. Unlike
most of the English tourists, who filled their pages with
the recital of wonderful adventures among the wild
Indian tribes, the Abbe, with a philosophic mind, enter-
tained his readers in a much more rational manner, de-
scribing objects and matters of considerable interest.
From his first letter, dated at Boston, in June, 1781, it
appears that his General had been in America some time
before he himself landed upon our coast, which at the
time of his arrival seems to have been visited by severe
storms; for he tells us that "a happy change of wind
68 TOPOGBAPHICAL AST) HISTOEICAL
and weather brought us safe into the harbour of Boston.
From this road, which is interspersed with several agree-
able little Islands, we discovered through the woods, on
the side toward the west, a magnificent prospect of
houses, built on a curved line, and extending afterwards
in a semi-circle above half a league. This was Boston.
These edifices which were loftj and regular, with spires
and cupolas intermixt at proper distances, did not seem
to us a modern settlement so much as an ancient city,
enjoying all the embeUishments and population, that
never fail to attend on commerce and the arts.
" The inside of the town does not at all lessen the idea
that is formed by an exterior prospect: a superb wharf
has been carried out above two thousand feet into the
sea, and is broad enough for stores and workshops
through the whole of its extent; it communicates at
right angles with the principal street of the town, which
is both large and spacious, and bends in a curve parallel
to the harbour; this street is ornamented with elegant
buildings, for the most part two or three stories high,
and many other streets terminate in this, communicating
with it on each side. The form and construction of the
houses would surprise an European eye; they are built
of brick, and wood, not in the clumsy and melancholy
taste of our ancient European towns, but regularly and
well provided with windows and doors. The wooden
work or frame is light, covered on the outside with thin
boards, well plained, and lapped over each other as we
do tiles on our roofs in France ; these buildings are gen-
erally painted with a pale white colour, which renders
the prospect much more pleasing than it would other-
wise be; the roofs are set ofi" with balconies, doubtless
for the more ready extinguishing of fire; the whole is
DESCKIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 69
supported by a wall of about a foot highj it is easy to
see how great an advantage these houses have over ours,
in point of neatness and salubrity.
" All the parts of these buildings are so well joined,
and their weight is so equally divided, and proportionate
to their bulk, that they may be removed from place to
place with little diflBculty. I have seen one of two sto-
ries high removed above a quarter of a mile, if not more,
from its original situation, and the whole French army
have seen the same thing done at ]S"ewport. What they
tell us of the travelling habitations of the Scythians, is
far less wonderful. Their household furniture is simple,
but made of choice wood, after the English fashion,
which renders its appearance less gay; their floors are
covered with handsome carpets, or printed cloths, but
others sprinMe them with fine sand.
"This city is supposed to contain about six thousand
houses, and thirty thousand inhabitants; there are nine-
teen churches for the several sects here, all of them con-
venient, and several finished with taste and elegance,
especially those of the Presbyterians and the Church of
England; their form is generally a long square, orna-
mented with a pulpit, and furnished with pews of a sim-
ilar fabrication throughout. The poor as well as the
rich hear the word of God in these places in a conven-
ient and decent posture of body.
" Sunday is observed with the utmost strictness ; all
business, how important soever, is then totally at a stand,
and the most innocent recreations and pleasures prohib-
ited. Boston that populous town, where at other times
there is such a hurry of business, is on this day a mere
desert ; you may walk the streets without meeting a
single person, or if by chance you meet one, you scarcely
70 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
dare to stop and talk with him. A Frenchman that
lodged with me took it into his head to play on the flute
on Sundays for his amusement j the people upon hearing
it were greatly enraged, collected in crowds round the
house and would have carried matters to extremity in a
short time with the musician, had not the landlord given
him warning of his danger, and forced him to desist.
Upon this day of melancholy you cannot go into a
house but you find the whole family employed in read-
ing the Bible; and indeed it is an alBfecting sight to
see the father of a family surrounded by his household,
hearing him explain the sublime truths of this sacred
volume.
"Nobody fails here of going to the place of worship
appropriated to his sect. In these places there reigns a
profound silence; an order and respect is also observ-
able which has not been seen for a long time in our
Catholic churches. Their psalmody is grave and ma-
jestic, and the harmony of the poetry, in their national
tongue, adds a grace to the music, and contributes
greatly towards keeping up the attention of the wor-
shippers.
" All these churches are destitute of ornaments. l>ro
addresses are made to the heart and the imagination;
there is no visible object to suggest to the mind for what
purpose a man comes into these places, who he is and
what he will shortly be. ]N"either painting nor sculpture
represent those great events which ought to recall him
to his duty and awaken his gratitude, nor are those he-
roes in piety brought into view, whom it is his duty to
admire and endeavour to imitate. The pomp of cere-
mony is here wanting to shadow out the greatness of the
being he goes to worship; there are no processions to
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 71
testify the homage we owe to him, that great Spirit of
the Universe, by whose wUl Nature itself exists, through
whom the fields are covered with harvests, and the trees
are loaded with fruits."
The Abbfe gives a particular description of the cere-
monies of the Quakers, which we omit, and he then con-
tinues : "Piety is not the only motive that brings the
American ladies in crowds to the various places of wor-
ship. Deprived of all shows and public diversions what-
ever, the church is the grand theatre where they attend,
to display their extravagance and finery. There they
come dressed off in the finest sUks, and overshadowed
with a profusion of the most superb plumes. The hair
of the head is raised and supported upon cushions to an
extravagant height, somewhat resembling the manner in
which the French ladies wore their hair some years ago.
Instead of powdering, they often wash the head, which
answers the purpose well enough, as their hair is com-
monly of an agreeable light colour; but the more fash-
ionable among them begin now to adopt the present
European method, of setting off the head to the best
advantage. They are of a large size, well proportioned,
their features generally regular, and their complexion fair,
without rudiness. They have less cheerfulness and ease
of behaviour, than the ladies of France, but more of
greatness and dignity; I have even imagined that I have
seen something in them, that answers to the ideas of
beauty we gain from those master-pieces of the artists
of antiquity, which are yet extant in our days. The
stature of the men is tall, and their carriage erect, but
their make is rather slun, and their colour inclining to
pale. They are not so curious in their dress as the
women, but everything upon them is neat and proper.
72 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTORICAL
At twenty-five years of age, the women begin to lose
the bloom and freshness of youth; and at thirty-five or
forty, their beauty is gone.
" The decay of the men is equally premature, and I
am inclined to think that life itself is here proportionably
short. I visited all the burying grounds ia Boston,
where it is usual to inscribe upon the stone over each
grave, the names and ages of the deceased, and found that
few who had arrived to a state of manhood, ever ad-
vanced beyond their fiftieth year; fewer still to seventy,
and beyond that scarcely any.
" Boston is situated on a peninsula upon a descent to-
wards the sea side ; this peninsula is connected with the
continent only by a neck of land, which at full tide is not
more than the breadth of a high way, so that it would
be no difficult matter to render this a place of great
strength. Hard by is an eminence which commands the
whole town, upon which the Bostonians have built a
kind of lighthouse or beacon, of a great height, with a
barrel of tar fixed at the top, ready to set fire to in case
of an attack. At such a signal, more than forty thou-
sand men would take arms, and be at the gates of the
town in less than twenty-four hours.
"From hence may be seen the ruins of Charlestown,
which was burnt by the English, on the 17th of June,
1775, at the battle of Bunker's hill — a melancholy pros-
pect, calculated to keep up in the breasts of the Bosto-
nians, the spirits and sentiments of liberty. This town
was separated from the peninsula only by Charles Eiver,
and was built in the angle formed by the junction of this
river with the Mystic. The buildings in it were good,
the whole capable of being fortified to advantage, and
seems to have been about half as big as Boston.
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 73
" The harbour of this last mentioned city, can receive
more than jfive hundred sail of vessels, but the entrance
is difficult and dangerous, being only a channel about
the breadth of three ships. Some strong batteries,
erected upon one of the adjacent islands, protect the
road, and consequently relieve the town from any appre-
hensions of an insult from an enemy by sea. The capes
that bound the entrance of the bay, — the reaf of rocks
that edge the outlet of the road, and the little islands
that are seen every where scattered up and down, form
so many obstacles, which diminish and repress the sea
swell, and render this harbour one of the safest in the
world.
" The commerce of the Bostoiiians formerly comprised
a variety of articles, and was very extensive before the
breaking out of the present war. They supplied Great
Britain with masts and yards for her royal navy, and
built, either upon commission or their own account, a
great number of merchantmen, remarkable for their
superiority in sailing. Indeed, they were of such a slight
and peculiar construction that it did not require the abili-
ties of a great connoisseur to distinguish their ships in
the midst of those belonging to other nations. Those
that they freighted on their own account were sent either
to the American islands or to Europe laden with timber,
plank, joiners stuff, pitch, tar, turpentine, rosin, beef, salt
pork and some furrs; but their principal object in trade
was the codfish, which they caught upon their own
coasts, and particularly in the bay of Massachusetts."
After remarking upon the fisheries and certain exports
the Abbfe continues, — "It is computed that from 1748 to
174:9, inclusive, there were 500 vessels employed from
this port in foreign commerce, and inward entries were
10
74 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
made at 430; and the coasting and fishing vessels
amounted to at least 1000. It appears, however, that
after this, as a certain English author remarks, their
commerce had declined.
" The great demand for rum among the Americans led
them to form connexions with the French Colonies : and
our wines and brandies mating this liquor of small
request among us, they flattered themselves that they
could import molasses to advantage. This attempt suc-
ceeded beyond their expectations, although they had
nothing to give in exchange but lumber, and some salt
provisions. But the English government perceiving the
injury its own islands thereby suffered, prohibited this
commerce entirely. The colonies, upon this, complauied
bitterly, and represented, that by hindering them from
exporting the productions of their soil to what port they
pleased, they would be rendered unable to pay for those
indispensably necessary articles, which they purchased
at an exorbitant price in England.
" The government then took a middle way; pennitted
them the exportation of lumber, and loaded French sugar
and other foreign commodities imported, with very heavy
duties. Bat this did not yet satisfy the colonies : they
considered the mother country in the light of a jealous
and avaricious step-mother, watching every opportunity
to turn to her own advantage those channels of gain,
which would have enabled them to live in ease and
plenty. This was one of the principal causes of the
misunderstanding between England and her colonies;
from thence forward the latter perceived what a change
independence would make in their favour, and France
was by no means ignorant of the political advantages
that would accrue to her from such a revolution.
DESOBIPTION OP BOSTON. 75
"The Irish Presbyterians, discontented with their
landlord, at home, and attracted by similarity of senti-
ment, have established in this place, with some success,
manufactories of linen, and have made some attempts at
broadcloths; those that have been lately manufactured
are close and well woven, but hard and coarse; their
hat manufactories have succeeded not better than the
cloths; they are thick, spongy and without firmness,
and come far short of the beauty and solidity of ours.
" The Europeans have long been convinced of the
natural and moral dangers to be apprehended, in acquir-
ing education in large towns. The Bostonians have
advanced farther, they have prevented these dangers.
Their University is at Cambridge, seven miles from
Boston, on the banks of Charles River, in a beautiful
and healthy situation. There are four colleges all of
brick, and of a regular form. The English troops made
use of them as barracks in 1775, and forced the profes-
sors and students to turn out. The library contains
more than 5000 volumes; and they have an excellent
printing house, well furnished, that was originally in-
tended for a college for the native Indians. To give
you an idea of the merit of the several professors, it will
be sufficient to say, that they correspond with the literati
of Europe, and that Mr. 8ewaU, in particular, professor
of the Oriental languages, is one of those to whom the
author of genius and ability has been lavish of those
gifts; their pupils often act tragedies, the subject of
which is generally taken from their national events, such
as the battle of Bunker's HiU, the burning of Charles-
town, the Death of General Montgomery, the Capture of
Burgoyne, th^ treason of Arnold, and the Pall of British
tyranny. You will easily conclude, that in such a new
76 DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON.
nation as this, these pieces must fall infinitely short of
that perfection to which our European literary produc-
tions of this kind are wrought up ; but still, they have a
greater effect upon the mind than the best of ours
would have among them, because those manners and
customs are delineated, which are peculiar to them-
selves, and the events are such as interest them above
all others: the drama is here reduced to its true and
ancient origia."
CHAPTEE Y.
DESCEIPTIONS BY FRENCH WEITEES.
Description by St. John de Creve Coeur in 1770-1786 • • ■ Account by the Mar-
quis de Chastellux in 1780-1782 . • . Road from Salem to Boston • • • Tea Party
in Boston ■ • ■ Aversion to the English • • ■ Visit to Harvard College • ■ • Tues-
day Club • • • The Parting Stone • ■ • Letters of Brissot de Warville in 1788
• • • His Delight on being in Boston • • • Young Women of Boston • • ■ Neat-
ness characteristic of the Mothers • • • Attendance at Meeting • • • Mary Dyer,
the Quakeress . . • Card-playing ... No Coffee Houses, but Exchanges ■ ■ .
Decline of Bum Distilleries and Suppression of the Slave Trade...
Meeting-houses and Bridges.
Akotheb Frenchman, sometimes known as "J. Hector
St. John, a farmer in Pennsylvania," and sometimes as
" M. St. John de Creve Coeur," wrote during the years
1770 to 1786 an account of his residence in the United
States, in which are very remarkable statements about
Boston, the greatest value of which is in their ludicrous '
absurdities, such as giving the famous Cotton Mather
(grandson of John Cotton and of Richard Mather) the
credit of the foundation of the town. These ridiculous
stories, were evidently derived from "family traditions,"
which, generally speaking, should as a class always be
received with great skepticism, for they are really the
rocks against which all true history splits, and from
which the fabulous gains precedence.
The Marquis de Chastellux, a Major-General under
the Count de Eochambeau, during the years 1780-1782,
wrote the journal of his travels in the United States,
78 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOMOAL
while the French Anny was assisting the American Col-
onies in their war of independence. A portion of this
account, in an edition of twentj-four copies only, was
printed on board the French squadron while lying off
Rhode Island, for strictly private circulation; and a sur-
reptitious edition of disconnected parts of the same
account was published in 1785, at Cassel. In 1787, a
translation of the whole work by Mr. John Kent, at one
time a resident of Salem, was published in Dublin; and
it is in this edition that the relation is to be found from
which the following extracts have been selected. The
Marquis was a gentleman of much culture, and was one
of the forty members of the French Academy. He
gives a very interesting account of social Hfe in Bos-
ton, introducing into the narrative many pleasant per-
sonal reminiscences.
The Chevaher Francois Jean — for he had not then
attained the rank of Marquis — in the course of his
travels, left Salem on the fourteenth of November,
1782, on horseback for Boston. He describes his
approach to the town in the following words: "The
road from Salem to Boston passes through an arid
and rocky country, always within three or four mUes
of the sea, without having a sight of it; at length
however, after passing Lynn, and Lynn Creek, you
get a view of it, and find yourself in a bay formed
by iNTahant's Point, and Pulling's Point. I got upon the
rocks to the right of the roads, in order to embrace more
of the country, and form a better judgment. I could
distinguish not only the whole bay but several of the
islands in Boston road, and part of the peninsula of
Il^antucket [a mistake for ISTantasket], near which I dis-
covered the masts of our ships of war. From hence to
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 79
"Winisimmet ferry you travel over disagreeable roads,
sometimes at the foot of rocks, at others across salt
marshes. It is just eighteen miles from Salem to the
ferry, where we embarked in a large scow, containiAg
twenty horses; and the wind, which was rather contrary,
becoming more so, we made seven tacks, and were near
an hour in passing. The landing is to the northward of
the port, and to the east of Charles-Town ferry." He
then speaks of alighting at the Cromwell's Head, kept
by Mr. Brackett (Joshua, an innholder, in South-Latin
School Street) ; after which he repaired to private lodg-
ings prepared for him at the house of a noted mechanic,
Adam Colson, a glove-maker, in that part of "Washing-
ton street which was formerly known as Marlborough
street. WhUe in Boston he appears to have associated
with the elite of the town, of whom he has spoken quite
favorably, giving the women a character for elegance
and refinement, and also as being well dressed, and in
general good dancers, though the men were very awk-
ward, especially in the minuet.
Having dined with one of the most opulent merchants
of the town, he remarks: "After dinner, tea was served,
which being over" the host "in some sort insisted, but
very politely, on our staying to supper. This supper was
on table exactly four hours after we rose from dinner; it
may be imagined therefore that we did not eat much, but
the Americans paid some little compliments to it, for, in
general, they eat less than we do, at their repasts, but as
often as you choose, which is in my opinion a very bad
method. Their aliments behave with their stomachs, as
we do in France on paying visits; they never depart,
until they see others enter. In other respects we passed
the day very agreeable; and there reigned in this soci-
80 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
ety a ton of ease and freedom, which is pretty general at
Boston, and cannot faU of being pleasing to the French."
He found very few persons who could speak in the
Fj-ench tongue, although some of his officers spoke Eng-
lish. This led him to write, "As for the Americans,
they testified more surprise than peevishness, at meeting
with a foreigner who did not undei-stand English. But
if they are indebted for this opinion to a prejudice of
education, a sort of national pride, that pride suffered not
a little from the reflection, which frequently occurred,
of the language of the country being that of their
oppressors. Accordingly they avoided these expres-
sions, you speak English; you understand English well;
and Iliave often heard them say — you speaTc American
well; the American is not difficult to learn. I^ay, they
have carried it even so far, as seriously to propose iatro-
ducing a new language; and some persons were desir-
ous, for the convenience of the pubhe, that Hebrew
should be substituted for the English. The proposal
was, that it should be taught in the schools, and made
use of in all public acts. We may imagine that this pro-
ject went no farther; but we may conclude from the
mere suggestion, that the Americans could not express
in a more energetic manner, their aversion for the Eng-
lish."
For a person endowed with the pecuHar traits of
mind which the Chevalier possessed, it was impossible
to leave Massachusetts without visiting the college at
Cambridge. Therefore, as he remarks, "At eleven I
mounted my horse, and went to Cambridge, to pay a visit
to Mr. Willard, the President of that University. My
route, though short, it being scarce two leagues from
Boston to Cambridge, required me to travel both by
BESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 81
sea and land, and to pass through a field of battle, and
an intrenched camp. It has long been said that the route
to Parnassus is difficult, but the obstacles we have then
to encounter, are rarely of the same nature with those
which were in my way. A view of the chart of the road,
and town of Boston, will explain this better than the
most elaborate description. The reader will see, that
this town, one of the most ancient in America, and which
contains from twenty to five and twenty thousand inhab-
itants, is built upon a peninsula in the bottom of a large
bay, the entrance- of which is difficult, and in which he
dispersed a number of islands, that serve still further for
its defence j it is only accessible one way on the land
side, by a long neck or tongue of land, surrounded by the
sea on each side, forming a sort of causeway. To the
[N^orthward of the town is another peninsula, which ad-
heres to the opposite shore by a very short rock [neck},
and on this peninsula is an eminence called Bunlcer's-
Jiill, at the foot of which are the remains of the little
town of Charles-town. Cambridge is situated at the
north-west, about two miles from Boston, but to go
there in a right line, you must cross a pretty considera-
ble arm of the sea in which are dangerous shoals, and,
upon the coast, morasses difficult to pass, so that the
only communication between the whole northern part of
the continent, and the town of Boston is by the ferry
of GTiarlestown, or that of "Winissimet. The road to
Cambridge lies through the field of battle of Bunker's-
hill." The writer describes Cambridge as " a little town
inhabited only by students, professors, and the small
number of servants and workmen whom they employ."
After words of respect for the President of the College,
and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, to
11
82 TOPOGRAPHICAL ASJ) HISTOEICAL
which he acted as Secretary, he remarts, "I must here
repeat, what I have observed elsewhere, that in compar-
ing our universities and our studies in general, with
those of the Americans, it would not be our interest to.
call for a decision of the question, which of the two
nations should be considered as an infant people."
The Tuesday Club is thus described by the Cheva-
lier: "This assembly is held every Tuesday, in rotation,
at the houses of the different members who compose it;
this was the day for Mr. EusseU, an honest merchant,
who gave us an excellent reception. The laws of the
club are not straitening, the number of dishes for sup-
per alone are limited, and there must be only two of
meat, for supper is not the American repast. Vegeta-
bles, pies, and especially good wine, are not spared.
The hour of assembling is after tea, when the company
play at cards, converse, and read the public papers, and
sit down to table between nine and ten. The supper
was as free as if there had been no strangers; songs
were given at table, and a Mr. Stewart sung some which
were very gay, with a tolerable good voice."
The journal of M. de Chastellux is very fuU in per-
sonal descriptions, and his pictures of American society
are extremely interesting, but are entirely too pointed
for the objects for which these chapters were intended.
One statement made by the Marquis needs an explana-
tion. Ho speaks of Cambridge being at a distance of
two leagues (about six miles) from Boston; and the
Abbe Eobin gives the distance between these places as
seven miles. IsTow, to have a fair understanding of these
writers, it must be remembered that Boston was not
connected with any of the neighboring towns by a
bridge at the time when the above quoted descriptions
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 83
were written; for the first bridge built from the town was
Charles Eiver Bridge, which was not opened for travel
until the seventeenth of June, 1786 j and Cambridge
Bridge, usually known as West Boston Bridge, was not
passable until the twenty-thu-d of ISTovember, 1793.
Until this last date, there was no comfortable approach
to "the Colleges," as the university was generally called,
except through Charlestown over Charlestown ISTeck,
or else over Boston I^eck and through Eoxbury and
BrooMine, and finally over Great Bridge, on the pres-
ent Brighton road. One relic of this old road remains
standing at the corner of Washington and Centre streets
in the Highlands — a large stone — which bears on its
front the following inscription: " The Parting Stone,
1744. P. Dudley." On its northerly side it directs to
"Cambridge" and " Watertown," and on its southerly side
to "Dedham" and "Rhode Island." This guide-stone,
which is constantly passed without even a notice, has,
unquestionably, given information to inquirers, and rest
to the weary for a century and a quarter, thanks to good
old Judge Paul Dudley of blessed memory, to whom
the old town of Roxbury was indebted for many good
things.
J. P. Brissot de "Warville, who was the Deputy of the
Department of Paris in the first Legislature, and who
suffered by the guillotiae on the thirty-first of October,
1793, published a series of letters descriptive of travels
in the United States, performed in 1788, containing a
letter dated at Boston on the thirtieth of July, 1788,
which gives an admirable picture of the social condition
of Boston, and which will be well worth the space it
takes in these chapters, even although so much has
already been said on the subject. All of these French
84 TOPOGRAPHICAi AND HISTOEICAi
works are deserving the attention of persons interested
in the history of the progress of the country, and are
mentioned in this connection, for the benefit of the
curious reader. This unfortunate man, a true friend of
liberty, thus wrote: —
" "With what joy, my good friend, did I leap to this
shore of liberty! I was weary of the seaj and the sight
of trees, of towns, and eyen of men, give a deUcious re-
freshment to eyes fatigued with the desert of the ocean.
I flew from despotism, and came at last to enjoy the
spectacle of liberty, among a people, where nature, edu-
cation and habit had engraved the equality of rights,
which everywhere else is treated as a chimera. "With
what pleasure did I contemplate this town, which first
shook off the English yoke ! which, for a long time, re-
sisted all seductions, aU the menaces, aU the horrors of
a civil war! How I delighted to wander up and down
that long street, whose simple houses of wood border
the magnificent channel of Boston, and whose fuU stores
offer me all the productions of the contiaent which I had
quitted! How I enjoyed the activity of the merchants,
the artizans, and the saUors I It was not the noisy vor-
tex of Paris ; it was not the unquiet, eager mien of my
countrymen ; it was the simple, dignified air of men, who
are conscious of liberty, and who see in all men their
brothers and their equals. Everything in this street
bears the marks of a town stUl ia its infancy, but which,
even in its infancy, enjoys a great prosperity. I thought
myself in that Salentum, of which the lively pencil of
Penelon has left us so charming an image. But the
prosperity of tliis new Salentum was not the work of
one man, of a king, or a minister; it is the fruit of lib-
erty, that mother of industry. Everything is rapid.
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 85
everything great, everything durable with her. A royal
or ministerial prosperity, like a king or a minister, has
only the duration of a moment. Boston is just rising
from the devastation of war, and its commerce is flour-
ishing; its manufactures, productions, arts and sciences
offer a number of curious and interesting observa-
tions."
The manners of the people are not exactly the same
as described by M. de Oreve Coeur. The writer speaks
correctly. " You no longer meet here that Presbyterian
austerity which interdicted all pleasures, even that of
walking, which forbade travelling on Sunday, which
persecuted men whose opinions were different from their
own. The Bostonians unite simplicity of morals with
the French politeness and delicacy of manners which
render virtue more amiable. They are hospitable to
strangers, and obliging to friends; they are tender hus-
bands, fond and almost idolatrous parents, and kind mas-
ters. Music, which their teachers formerly proscribed
as a diabolic art, begins to make part of their education.
In some houses you hear the forte-piano. This art, it is
true, is still in its infancy; but the young novices who
exercise it are so gentle, so complaisant, and so modest,
that the proud perfection of art gives no pleasure equal
to what they afford. God grant that the Bostonian
women may never, like those of France, acquire the
malady of perfection in this art! It is never attained,
but at the expense of the domestic virtues.
" The young women here enjoy the liberty they do in
England, that they did in Geneva when morals were
there, and the republic existed; and they do not abuse
it. Their frank and tender hearts have nothing to fear
from the perfidy of men. Examples of this perfidy are
86 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOKIOAL
rare; the vows of love are believed; and love always
respects them, or shame follows the guilty.
" The Bostonian mothers are reserved; their air is
however frank, good and communicative. Entirely
devoted to their families, they are occupied in rendering
their husbands happy, and in training their children to
virtue." He speaks of the law which makes the pUlory
and imprisonment the punishment of certain crimes and
remarks, " This law has scarcely ever been called into
execution. It is because families are happy; and they
are pure, because they are happy.
" JSTeatness without luxury, is a characteristic feature
of this purity of manners; and this neatness is seen every-
where at Boston, in their dress, in their houses, and in
their churches, l^othing is more charming than an
inside view of a, church on Sunday. The good cloth
coat covers the man; callicoes and chintzes dress the
women and childre,n, without being spoiled by those
gewgaws which whim and caprice have added to them
among our women. Powder and pomatum never sully
the heads of infants and children : I see them with pain,
however, on the heads of men: they invoke the art of the
hair-dresser; for, unhappily, this art has already crossed
the seas.
"I shall never call to mind, without emotion, the
pleasure I had one day in hearuig the respectable Mr.
Clarke, successor to the learned Dr. Chauncey, the friend
of mankind. This church is in close union with that of
Dr. Cooper, to whom every good Frenchman, and every
friend of liberty, owes a tribute of gratitude, for the love
he bore the French, and the zeal with which he defended
and preached the American independence. I remarked
in this auditory the exterior of that ease and contentment
DESCKIFTION OF BOSTON. 87
of which I have spoken ; that collected calmness, result-
ing from the habit of gravity, and the conscious presence
of the Almighty; that religious decency, which is equally
distant from grovelling idolatry, and from the light and
wanton airs of those Europeans who go to a church as to
a theatre.
' Spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsse.'
" But, to crown my happiness, I saw none of those
livid wretches, covered with rags, who in Europe,
soliciting our compassion at the foot of the altar, seem to
bear testimony against Providence, our humanity, and
the order of society. The discourse, the prayer, the wor-
ship, every thing, bore the same simplicity. The sef'mon
breathed the best morality, and it was heard with atten-
tion." He continues, " All the sects admit nothing but
morality, which is the same in all, and the only preaching
proper for a great society of brothers. This tolerance is
unlimited at Boston; a town formerly witness of
bloody persecutions, especially against the Quakers;
where many of this sect paid, with their life, for their per-
severance in their religious opinions. Just Heaven!
how is it possible there can exist men believing sincerely
in God, and yet barbarous enough to inflict death on a
woman, the intrepid Dyer, because she thee'd and thou^d
men, because she did not believe in the divine mission of
priests, because she would follow the Gospel literally?
" But let us draw the curtain over these scenes of
horror; they will never again sully this new continent,
destined by Heaven to be the asylum of liberty and
humanity. Every one worships God in his own way, at
Boston. Anabaptists, Methodists, Quakers, and Catho-
lics, profess openly their opinions, and all offices of gov-
88 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
ernment, places, and emoluments, are equally open to all
sects. Virtue and talents, and not religious opinions,
are the tests of public confidence.
" Since the ancient puritan austerity has disappeared,
you are no longer surprised to see a game of cards
introduced among these good Presbyterians. When the
mind is tranquil iu the enjoyment of competence and
peace, it is natural to occupy it in this way, especially in
a country where there is no theatre, when men make it
not a busiuess to pay court to the women, where they
read few books, and cultivate less the sciences. This
taste for cards is certainly unhappy in a republican state.
Happily it is not very considerable in Boston.
"^here is no coffee-house at Boston, ISTew Toi'k or
Philadelphia. One house in each town, that they call by
that name, serves as an Exchange. One of the principal
pleasures of the inhabitants of these towns, consists in
little parties for the country among families and fiiends.
In this, as in their whole manner of living, the Ameri-
cans resemble the English. Punch, warm and cold,
before diuner; excellent beef and Spanish and Bordeaux
wines, cover their tables, always solidly and abundantly
served. Spruce beer, excellent cyder, and Philadelphia
porter precede the wines. I have often found the Ameri-
can cheese equal to the best Cheshire of England, or the
Rocfort of Prance."
This writer tells us, that " The rum distilleries are on
the decline since the suppression of the slave trade, in
which their liquor was employed, and since the diminu-
tion of the use of strong spirits by the country people.
This is fortunate for the human race; and the American
industry will soon repair the small loss it sustains from
the decline of this fabrication of poisons." After giving
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 89
a very truthful account of the neighboring college, he
remarks, "In a free country every thing ought to bear
the stamp of patriotism. This patriotism, so happily
displayed in the foundation, endowment, and encourage-
ment of this university, appears every year in a solemn
feast celebrated at Cambridge in honor of the sciences.
This feast, which takes place once a year in all the col-
leges of America, is called the commencement: it resem-
bles the exercise and distribution of prizes in our
colleges. It is a day of joy for Boston- almost all its
inhabitants assemble in Cambridge. The most distin-
guished of the students display their talents in the
presence of the public; and these exercises, which are
generally on patriotic subjects, are terminated by a-feast,
where reign the freest gaiety, and the most cordial fra-
ternity."
One more extract, and we will leave this writer. "Let
us not," he says, "blame the Bostonians; they think of
the useful, before procuring to themselves the agreeable.
They have no brilliant monuments ; but they have neat
and commodious churches, but they have good houses,
but they have superb bridges [Charles Eiver, Maiden
and Essex Bridges had then been recently built], and
excellent ships. Their streets are well illuminated at
night; while many ancient cities of Europe, containing
proud monuments of art, have never yet thought of pre-
venting the fatal effects of nocturnal darkness."
It is with much reluctance that we leave this charm-
ing author, who, throughout his whole journal, gives
the most admirable descriptions in the purest spirit of
that liberty to which he so soon fell a martyr upon his
return to France; but the object for which these author-
ities were cited has been accomplished, that of giving
12
90 DESCKIPTION OF BOSTOK.
a glance at the old town, and its social condition, as
seen by strangers who were also cotemporaneous with
their own accounts. It now remains to proceed with
the contemplated object of these chapters.
CHAPTEE VI.
MAPS AKD PLANS OP BOSTON.
Bonner's Map, 1722, 1733, 1743, 1769 • • • Bnrgiss's Map, 1728 • • • German Map,
1763 and 1764 • • • London Magazine Map, 1774 • • • Romans's Map, 1774 • ■ •
Gentleman's Magazine Map, 1775 • • • Almon's Map, 1775 • • • Bunker Hill Map,
1778 • • • Pelham's Map, 1777 • • • Page's Map, ] 777 ■ • • Gazetteer Map, 1784 • ■ ■
Norman's Map, 1789 • ■ • Carleton's Map, 1795 • • • Carleton's Large Map, 1800
• ••Directory Map, 1809-1829 ■• -Hale's Map, 1814---Annln and Smith's
Map, 1824-1861 •••Bowen's Map, 1824 ••• Morse's Map, 1828-1839 ■• -Be-
wiclc Company's Map, 1835 • • ■ Annin's Small Map, 1835 • • • Morse & Tattle's
Map, 1838 - 1840 ■ • ■ English Map, 1842 • • • Mclntyre's Map, 1852 • • • Dripp's
Map, 1852 • ■ • Colton's Map, 1855 • • • Mitchell's Map, 1860 • • • Walling's Map,
1861 •• • City Engineer's Map, 1861-1867 ••• City Engineer's Annexation
Map, 1867 • ■ • City Engineer's New Map. 1868, 1869 • • • Insurance Maps, 1868
• • • Charts of the Harbor • • • William Gordon's Eevolutionary Map, 1788
• • • Maps of Boston and vicinity • • • Maps of Roxbury and Dorchester.
Before entering particularly upon the intended sub-
ject of these chapters, it will not be inappropriate to give
a brief account of some of the niost important printed
maps of Boston, almost all of which are accessible to per-
sons who have sufficient interest in the topography of
the place to search for them. Although outline maps of
the coast of ISTew England were very early made and
published, no printed map of the peninsula, giving
streets, sites of buildings and other landmarks, can be
found prior to the one so well known as "Bonner's Plan,"
which was not drawn until some time after the commence-
ment of the eighteenth century, and about ninety years
after the settlement of the town. Many manuscript
92 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
plans of small localities of much older date have been
preserved, and occasionally have proved of much value.
The following list of printed maps, prepared with great
care, after much investigation, comprises such as have
come to the writer's knowledge and observation, and is
believed to comprehend all of any considerable impor-
tance :
Bonner's Map : Drawn by Captain John Bonner,
and engraved and printed by Francis Dewing; first is-
sued by Captain John Bonner and William Price in
1722, and afterwards published by Price with additions
and emendations, in 1733, 1743, and 1769, and possibly
in other years, as the date of the map was sometimes put
upon it with writing-ink. The size of the plate is about
2 feet by 17 1-2 inches. An original impression from
the plate of 1722 is preserved in the archives of the Mas-
sachusetts Historical Society; and a copy of it was made
in 1835 by Stephen P. Puller, and engraved and pub-
lished by George G. Smith. The same map was reduced
somewhat more than one-half about the time of its first
publication, by Captain Cyprian Southack, a noted
maker of charts about 1715-1725, and published in Lon-
don about 1733, by I. Mount, T. Page, and W. Mount
(size, 11 1-2 by 7 inches). Abel Bowen also reduced it
to a smaller scale (6 1-4 by 4 inches) in 1825, for Snow's
History of Boston; and George W. Boynton engraved
it again, in 1852, on a plate measuring 10 by 6 inches,
for the Boston Almanac. This last mentioned plate has
been largely used by compilers and publishers.
Burgisss Map: Engraved by Thomas Johnson in
Boston, and dedicated to Governor "William Burnett in
1728 by Wmiam Burgiss. Size, 14 1-2 by 11 inches,
being on a scale of one-half that of Bonner's, of which
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 93
it is evidently a corrected and improved copy. Among
the important changes are the extension of the Neck
portion of the map, so as to include the South "Windmill,
the location of the Pond near the Great Tree, and the
correction of the spelling of names. It has upon it the
first division of the town into wards or companies de-
noted by dotted lines. The Garden near the foot of
Beacon Street is designated as "Bannister's Gardens."
The copy which has been preserved is in the possession
of the family of the late Dr. Warren; and, although it
has no date printed upon it, nevertheless bears positive
evidence that it was executed in 1728, — the only year
that Governor Burnett was actively the governor of
Massachusetts, and notliing bearing date later than
1723 being delineated on it. This ancient map has been
very accurately reproduced for this work.
Oerman Map : This small map, 9 by 6 1-2 inches,
including a small portion of Boston Harbor, was pub-
lished by Arkstee and Merkus in 1758, at Leipsic, with a
collection of voyages. The same map was published in
Paris in 1764 by Jacq. Nic. Bellin, engineer; engraved
by Arrivet. These were evidently copies of an early
English map.
London Magazine Map: In the London Magazine
for AprU, 1774, is published, engraved by J. Lodge,
"A Chart of the Coast of New England, from Bev-
erly to Scituate Harbor, including the Ports of Bos-
ton and Salem," the plate measuring 10 by 7 1-2 inches.
A neatly engraved "Plan of the Town of Boston"
occupies one corner of the plate, and measures 5 inches
from the Fortification on the Neck to 'Wianisimmet Fer-
ry-ways, and about 3 1-2 inches in the extreme breadth
of the town. Although the streets are laid out on this
94 TOPOGRAPHICAIi AND HESTOEICAL
map as they were at the time of makmg the plan, yet a
very few names of the topographical points of interest
only are noted on the plate. On the twenty-ninth of
!N'ovember, 1774, Thomas Jefferys, " Geographer to
His Eoyal Highness the Prince of "Wales," published
according to Act "A Map of the most Inhabited part of
l^ew England, containing the Provinces of Massachu-
sets Bay and 'New Hampshire, with the Colonies of
Conecticut and Rhode Island. Divided into Counties
and Townships. The whole composed from actual sur-
veys, and its situation adjusted by astronomical obser-
vations." This contains in one corner the London Mag-
azine Map enlarged (8 1-2 by 5 1-2 inches), and "a
plan of Boston Harbor from an accurate survey'' (5 3-4
by 5 1-2 inches) . It also has upon it an emblematic
vignette of the landing of the Plymouth Forefathers in
1620, wherein they are represented as being led on by a
female bearing a liberty cap upon a wand, and as being
received in a friendly manner by an Indian, who offers
them beaver. The same plan was copied for " The
American Atlas" by Mr. Thomas Jefferys, Geographer
to the King, and printed and sold in London by R.
Sayer and J. Bennett, in 1776. Another copy of the
same map was made in 1778 from the last described, and
published at Paris in " Atlas Ameriquain Septentrional"
as "Plan de Boston," the names being in English, and
the descriptive notes in French.
Romans' s Map: A small engraving, made under B.
Romans in 1774, measures 3 1-2 by 2 3-4 inches.
Gentleman^ s Magazine Map: A map 10 1-2 by 8
inches, designated as " A new and Correct Plan of the
Town of Boston," was published, without name of either
author or engraver, in the Gentleman's Magazine for
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 95
October, 1775. This Map includes a portion of " Charles-
town in ruins," and purports to have been " drawn upon
the spot," It is executed remarkably well, and exhibits
streets and topographical positions not on earlier plans
of the town. In the January number of the magazine
for the same year (1775) is a whole-sheet chart of the
harbor of Boston, 14 by 12 inches, including a plan of
the town done from an actual survey never before made
public, and entitled "A Plan of the Town and Chart of
the Harbour of Boston exhibiting a View of the Islands,
Castle, Forts, and Entrances into the said Harbour,'! and
bears date Feb. 1, 1775. It includes Chelsea on the
north, and Hingham on the south; and is chiefly valu-
able for the soundings, which are given with apparent
precision.
AlmovJs Map: PubHshed in the first volume of
Almon's Remembrancer, in 1775; size, 10 1-4 by 8 1-4
inches. This is a very rudely drawn map of the envi-
rons of Boston, and is very inaccurate in its details.
Except that it was drawn in June, 1775, and published
in London, Aug. 28, 1775, and that it gives the head-
quarters, camps, and lines, together with the principal
roads from Boston, it would be of very little value.
It takes in a portion of Chelsea on the north, Hog
Island on the east, Dorchester on the south, and Cam-
bridge Colleges on the west.
Bunker-hill Map: A plan, by an oflBicer present at
the battle of Bunker Hill, contains a map of Boston and
Charlestown, measuring 14 inches square; published in
London by E. Sayer and J. Bennett, 27th November,
1775.
PelJiam^sMap: Done in aquatinta by Francis Jukes,
from surveys made by Henry Pelham, half-brother of
96 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Copley, the artist, and published in London, June 2,
1777. It contains also some of the environs, with the
military works in 1775 and 1776. Size, 42 1-2 by 28
1-2 inches. Sometimes known as Urquahart's map.
Page's Map: Printed in London for WilHam Faden,
in 1777, from a drawing made by Lieutenant Page, of
the English Corps of Engineers, in 1775. This map
shows the military intrenchments of the town, and gives
names to several streets and passage-ways, differing
from Bonner's. Size 18 by 12 inches. Republished in
1849 in Frothingham's Siege of Boston.
Gazetteer Map : Engraved in 1784 for the contem-
plated "Gazetteer of the Towns of Massachusetts," and
published in the October number of the Boston Maga-
zine for that. year. It measures 9 by 6 J -4 inches, and
is a very creditable performance. It is styled "A ISTew
and Accurate Plan of the Town of Boston in Ifew
England," and, like the London Magazine map, and
Jefferys' maps, gives to the Great Elm on the Common the
name of "Liberty Tree." This map was re-engraved,
in 1849, for an edition of the narrative of the Boston
Massacre; and is interesting in some particulars which
are not on other plans of the town.
JVbrman's Map: Evidently copied in main from Bon-
ner's Map, on a small scale, about 9 1-2 by 7 inches;
engraved and pubhshed for the first Boston Du-ectory,
in 1789, by John JSTorman, a Boston engraver.
GarletoTi's Map: Drawn in 1795 from actual surveys
by Osgood Carleton; and engraved by Joseph Callender
for the second Boston Directory, published in 1796 by
John West. Size 14 1-2 by 9 inches.
Carleton' s Large Map: Called "A new Plan of Bos-
ton, from actual surveys by Osgood Carleton, with cor-
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 97
rections, additions, and improvements"; being a map of
the peninsular part of the town only. Issued in 1800.
Size 27 by 20 inches.
Directory Map : First printed in 1809 for the Boston
Directory, published by Edward Cotton; evidently a
new plate from Carleton's Map, with important additions
and alterations, and engraved by Callender. Size, about
15 by 9 1-2 inches. This map was continued in use
twenty years; when it was superseded in 1829 by a new
map, engraved by Hazen Morse.
Holes' s Mwp : Engraved in 1814 by T. Wightman,
jun., from drawing by J. G. Hales, giving the position
of houses and the bounds of the various estates. Size,
38 by 29 inches.
Annin and Smith's Map: Engraved in 1824 by
"William B. Annin and George G. Smith, and re-issued
every few years by Mr. Smith with additions. Size,
about 22 inches square. This map was used for many
years by the City Government for the Municipal Regis-
ter, and School Documents.
JBoiven's Map : A small map, measuring 6 1-2 by 4
inches, was engraved by Abel Bowen, in 1824, for Snow's
History of Boston.
Morse's Map: Engraved in 1828, for the Boston
Directory of 1829, by Hazen Morse. Size, 14 1-2 by 9
inches. This map was continued in use by the publisher,
Charles Stimpson, jun., until 1839.
Bewick Company's Map: Engraved in 1835, by
George "W. Boynton, from drawings made by Alonzo
Lewis. Size, 31 by 22 inches. Mr. Boynton engraved
in 1839 a similar map, 18 by 17 inches, for N"athaniel
Dearborn; which has since been pubhshed by E. P. Dut-
ton & Co., with alterations every year from 1860 to 1867.
13
98 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
He also engraved, in 1837 and 1839, maps, 5 1-2 by 5
inches, for the Boston Almanac; and in 1842 a map, 14
by 11 1-2 inches, to accompany Goodrich's Pictorial
Geography; and one of the peninsular part of Boston in
1844, measuring 11 1-2 by 9 inches, for Dickinson's
Boston Almanac; and finally one in 1850, 11 by 9 1-2,
also for the Almanac.
Annins Small Map of the peninsular part of Boston
only, 4 by 2 3-4 inches. Engraved in 1835 for the Bos-
ton Almanac.
Morse and Tuttl^s Map : Engraved in 1838 by Hazeu
Morse and J. W. Tuttle, and used in the Boston
Directory for the years 1839 and 1840. Size, 15 1-2 by
9 1-2 inches.
English Map : In August, 1842, the Society for the
Difiusion of Useful Knowledge published in London a
very nicely executed map of Boston, much after the plan
of Boynton's, taking in the peninsula of Charlestown.
Engraved by E,. B. Davies, of London, Size, 15 by 12
inches.
Mclntyre^s Map: Lithographed in Philadelphia in
1852, by Friend and Aub, from original surveys by H.
Mclntyre, and published in Boston. The sheet, which
contains also parts of the neighboring cities, has the
names of the principal residents, and views of buildings;
and measures 77 by 58 inches.
Dripps's Map : Surveyed and drawn by J. Slatter and
B. Callan, engineers ; and pubKshed in 1852 by M. Dripps,
New York, and L. IST. Ide, Boston. Size, 57 by 39 inches.
Lithographed and printed at Perd. Mayer's, ISTew York.
This map contains the peninsular part of Boston only,
with the estates and buildings marked out; and is exe-
cuted on much the largest scale of any map of Boston
DESCEIPTiOK OF BOSTON. 99
ever printed. The immense labor of altering the bounds
of estates, and positions of buildings, has thus far pre-
vented the issue of a new edition.
Colton^s Maj): Similar to Boynton's. Published by
J. H. Colton, E'ew York, in 1855. Size, 16 by 13 inches.
MitclieWs Map: Published by S. Augustus Mitchell,
jun., in 1860, in Philadelphia. Size, about 11 by 9 inches.
Walling' s Map: Engraved for the Map of Massachu-
setts, pubHshed by H. F. Walling, under sanction of the
Legislature, in 1861. Size, 18 by 17 inches.
City Engineer's Map: Bj James Slade, City Engi-
neer; drawn by H. M. Wightman, and engraved by C.
A. Swett, under the direction of the City Council of
Boston, 1861. Size, 40 by 28 inches. This map has
traced upon it the original water-hne, and is issued annu-
ally with such additions and emendations as changes
make necessary. It has recently (in 1862) been reduced
photographically, and printed in oil-colors by L. Prang
Sc Co., so as to measure 12 1-2 by 9 inches.
City Engineer's Annexation Map : This large plan
of Boston and Eoxbury was compiled in 1867, by !N".
Henry Crafts, City Engineer, by order of the Commis-
sioners on the annexation of Roxbury. It measures 53
by 31 inches, and contains what then constituted the
peninsular part of Boston, with portions of South Bos-
ton, Bast Boston and Charlestown, and the whole of the
city of Eoxbury.
City Engineer's New Map : On the union of Boston
and Roxbury, in 1868, Mr. Crafts prepared a more per-
fect map of the city (53 by 35 inches) , with the names of
the streets, after the necessary alterations had been made
by the Board of Aldermen. The same map was cor-
rected by Thomas W- Davis, City Surveyor, and printed
100 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
in 1869 for city purposes. The annexation of Dorches-
ter to Boston has made necessary a new map for 1870.
Insurance Maps : A series of sectional maps of Bos-
ton, in two folio volumes, for the use of underwriters,
was commenced in 1867, hy D. A. Sanborn, civil engi-
neer, 117 Broadway, iN". Y., and completed the next
year. They were eighty in number, on sheets measur-
ing 35 1-2 by 26 1-2 inches, and on a scale of fifty feet
to an inch. The various materials of which the build-
ings standing are constructed are represented by differ-
ent colors; and various particulars deserving of notice
are otherwise indicated. A third volume, containing
thirty plans, and giving Charlestown and large parts of
the Highland "Wards and of Cambridge, was also pub-
lished by the same engineer in 1868.
Several small maps, being compilations or reductions,
some engraved in metal and otiiers cut in wood, have
been published during the last twenty-five years by
^Nathaniel Dearborn and others, in books relating to
Boston. Valuable plans of parts of the city have also-
been printed for state and city documents during the
same time; and not many years ago enlarged plans of
various sections of the city, similar to the insurance
maps, were printed with special reference to their use
by underwriters.
The list given above does not include the maps of
Boston and vicinity, strictly so called, nor the Charts of
the Harbor; Among the principal of these should be
mentioned the following: — A map of the vicinity of
Boston, (3 ^ by 3 inches) published in ISTeal's History of
'Sem England in 1720; A chart of the Harbor without
date, measuring 21 by 17 inches, in the possession of
Charles Deane, Esq., entitled " A liTew Survey of the
DESCRIPTION or BOSTON. 101
Harbour of Boston in ISTew England, Done by Order of
the Principall Officers and Oomissioners of his Ma''" ISTa-
vy, and Sold by George Grierson at the two bibles in
Essex Street, Dublin," which bears evidence of great
age, as trees are denoted on nearly all of the islands,
and although the " out wharf," built about the year 1673,
is fully represented, the " long wharf," built between the
years 1710 and 1714, is not shown at all; a small chart
of the harbor published in "L'Atlas Maritime" at Paris
in 1757 by Bellin, and engraved on the corner of a
chart of New England, which measures only 8|^ by
6 1 inches, and is styled "Plan du Havre de Boston,"
"Winnisimmet being designated as "Yimsimit"; "A
Chart of the Harbour of Boston," without date, and
also without the names of publisher and engraver, (35
by 21 1-2 inches), — evidently issued about 1776, as the
ruins of Charlestown are indicated upon it; a curious
French "Carte du Port et Havre de Boston" (28 by 'J3
inches), engraved in 1776, and pubhshed by the Chev-
alier de Beaurain, containing in a vignette the earliest
known printed representation of the Pine-tree Banner;
Beaurain's map was also published in Germany ;
"Boston, its Environs ^nd Harbour, with the Rebel
Works raised agaiast that Town in 1775, from the ob-
servations of Lieutenant Page, of his Majesty's Corps of
Engineers, and from the plans of Captain Montressor,"
engraved by William Faden, and published in London 1
October, 1778. The "Atlantic Neptune," published at
London about the year 1780 to 1783, contains a Chart
of Boston Bay (39 by 30 1-2 inches), bearing date 1
December, 1781, compiled by J. F. W. DesBarres, sur-
veyor of the coast and harbors of North America; and
also a Plan of the Harbor and Coast from "Nachant" to
102 ' TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Weymouth Kiver (40 by 28 1-2 inches), accompanied
with a valuable series of copperplate views of the islands
and landmarks of the harbor. The Charts composed
and engraved by Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres
were from surveys taken by Samuel Holland, Esq., Sur-
veyor General of Lands, and by his assistants, who
were employed on that service as early as 1764. One
edition of his Chart of Massachusetts Bay bears date
in May 1774; one of the Boston Bay was published
l^ovember 13, 1776; and one of Boston Harbor, of much
interest, measuring 42 by 30 inches, August 5, 1775.
In 1788 William Gordon compiled a map, represent-
ing the seat of the revolutionary war in Massachusetts,
chiefly taken from Pelham's map for the country and Lt.
Page's for the harbor (13 by 9 1-4 inches) ; and this was
copied by Chief Justice Marshall (14 by 9 inches), for
his life of Washington in 1806, and later reduced to a
smaller scale for subsequent editions of the same work.
A map of Boston and Vicinity, from actual surveys by
John G. Hales (31 1-2 by 25 inches) , was engraved by
Edward Gillingham in 1820, and also published in 1829
and 1833 by IS^athan Hale, each edition containing the re-
quired alterations. Other maps of Boston and vicinity
may be mentioned, as: — Dearborn's Boston and Vicinity,
taken from the large State Map, 1841; Sidney's Map,
published by J. B. Shields, in 1852, from original surveys
by F. C. Sidney; Walling's large map of Boston and
its vicinity, published in 1857 and 1858, and in 1859
with emendations; Map of Boston and the country
adjacent, from actual surveys by H. F. Walling, first
issued by B. P. Button & Co. in 1860; Button's Har-
bor Map, 1861, taken from Walling's Map issued in
1860; Map of the City of Boston and its environs, from
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 103
actual surveys, and drawn by D. J. Lake, C. E., manu-
factured by "Walling & Gray, 'New York, 1866, and
known as Baker and Tilden's map; "Map of Boston (as
it should be) and the Country Adjacent, with Proposed
Harbor Improvements, etc.," according to the sugges-
tions of Thomas Lamb, Esq., published by E. P. Dutton
& Co., in 1866; and other maps compiled and reduced
from these. The City Engineer prepared for the Back-
bay Commissioners an elaborate plan of Boston and
vicinity, showing the drainage area of Stony Brook,
which is a valuable addition to this class of maps.
Besides the above-named, many plans relating to the
topography of Boston and its immediate vicinity can be
found in the valuable reports printed for the United
States Coast Survey, the Commonwealth, and the City
of Boston; and several of interest have been issued by
private individuals and corporations, as well as by the
publishers of historical sketches and guide-books.
Besides the various plans that have been made of
Eoxbury and Dorchester for maps of _" Boston and
vicinity," the following printed maps of these places
have come to the notice of the writer:
Map of the City of Eoxbury, surveyed in 1843, by
order of the town authorities, by Charles "Whitney, and
revised in 1849, and engraved on a scale of eighty
rods, or 1,320 feet to an inch, upon a plate measuring 34
by 25 inches ; and having upon it views of the city hall
and fifteen meeting-houses. In 1851, a small map of the
City of Eoxbury, measuring 9 by 5J inches, was pre-
pared by Charles H. Poole, and engraved by Edward A.
Teulon for the Eoxbury Directory for the year 1852.
This last has been revised from time to time, and pub-
lished with the directories until the union of Boston
104 . TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTOKICAL
and Roxbury in 1868. An exceedingly valuable manu-
script map of Roxbury, on a very large scale, was made
for the use of the assessors of that city, and is one of
the most interesting and useful heirlooms that has accrued
to Boston in consequence of its union with that munici-
pality.
"When the State Map was in contemplation, actual
surveys of the towns of Dorchester and MUton were
made by Edmund J. Baker, surveyor, under the direc-
tion of the committees of the two towns. These were
lithographed at Pendleton's Lithography, in Boston,
and published in 1831, on the scale of three miles to
an inch, the map of the two towns being printed on a
single sheet measuring 33 by 26 inches. In 1850 a
map of Dorchester was printed by Tappan & Bradford,
Lithographers, on a sheet measuring 36 by 28 inches,
from surveys made by Elbridge Whiting for S. Dwight
Eaton. This last-mentioned map contains the views of
nine meeting-houses and of Mattapan Bank. A manu-
script map of Dorchester, on a very large scale, was
made in 1869 by Thomas 'W. Davis, City Surveyor, for
the use of the commissioners on the annexation of
Boston and Dorchester, and is now preserved with the
maps in the city archives.
A small selection from the list above given wUl sup-
ply the general reader with all that will be required in
the way of maps to comprehend the changes that have
taken place in the topography of the town and city
since the foundation of Boston in 1630; viz: — Bonner's
Plan, of 1722, republished in 1835; Burgiss's Map, 1728,
reprodviced in 1869; Lt. Page's Map, 1775, reprinted in
Frothingham's Siege of Boston in 1849; Carleton's
Map, 1796; Directory Map by Morse, 1828 to 1839;
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 105
Annia and Smith's Map, 1824 to 1860 j the City Engi-
neer's Map, 1861-1869, and the 'New Map of Boston,
printed by the city ia 1868 and 1869. For harbor purposes
no better charts are needed than the old Chart of Boston
Harbor by Des Barres in 1775, which exhibits the face
of the country and the hills and bluffs of the islands, and
that of the United States Coast Siu'vey, and one recently
published under the superintendence of Capt. Eldridge.
The map of Henry Pelham, 1775, and that of "Boston
and its Environs in 1775 and 1776 " in Frothingham's
siege of Boston, will give the best idea of the fortifica-
tions around the town during the war of the Kevolution.
CHAPTEE VIL
POINTS, COVES, CREEK, OLD BRIDGES, AND BATTERIES.
Points and Headlands ■ • ■ Blaxton's Point • • • Barton's Point ■ • ■ Hudson's Point
■ ■ . Merry's Point • ■ • Fort or South Battery Point ■ • • Windmill or Wheeler's
Point • • • The Coves . • • Mill Cove, the Site of the Old Mill Pond ■ • ■ The Old
North Causeway ■ • • Grist Mills ■ ■ • Mill Creek, the Old Canal, now the Site
of Blackstone Street ••• Other Creeks •■• North and South Mills •■• Foot
Bridge • • • Windmill Walk • • • Saw Mill and Chocolate Mill • . • Mill Bridge,
Draw Bridge, Swing Bridge, and Mackrill Lane Bridge • • • Oliver's Dock • • •
Windmills ■ • • Great Cove • • • North and South Batteries • • • Sea Wall, Bar-
ricado, or Out-Wharves • • • Minot's and Brimmer's T • ■ • Island Wharves
• • . Atlantic Avenue laid out in 1868 • • • South Cove • • • Back Bay, or West
Cove • ■ • Public Garden.
Among the most noted of the landmarks of the old town
were its Points, or Headlands. The most distinguishable
of these were, Blaxton's Point, Barton's Point, Hudson's
Point, Merry's Point, Fort Point, and Windmill (or
"WTieeler's) Point.
Blaxton's (or Blackstone's) Point, so named on
account of the neighboring residence and spring of Rev.
William Blaxton, the earliest English resident upon the
peninsula, was situated in the neighborhood of West
Cedar Street, and between Cambridge and Pinckney
Streets, at a point which formerly bore the name of West
Hill. East of this was situated Mr. Blaxton's Garden,
and not far distant was the memorable spring which sup-
plied hina with water. The garden is designated on
Burgiss's map in 1728, as Bannister's Garden.
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 107
Barton's Point, which derived its name from James
Barton, a noted ropemaker of the olden time, was at
the north-west corner of the town, near the abutments
of Canal (or Cragie's) Bridge, and is only kept in
remembrance by Barton Street which was laid out in
its neighborhood soon after the removal of the Alms-
house in 1825, which had been built there in 1800.
Hudson's Point took its name from Francis Hudson,
a fisherman, who carried on the ferry from that point to
Charlestown. It was situated at the north end of the
town near the junction of Charter and Commercial
streets, a short distance east of Charles Eiver Bridge.
Merry's Point, since called IS'orth Battery Point, was
situated a very little to the southeast of the Winnisim-
met Ferryways, near where l^orth Battery Wharf is,
and owes its name first to Walter Merry, one of the
earliest shipwrights of the town, who had his wharf and
dwelling house there. Mr. Merry, who may have come
over in the Grriffin, in September, 1633, — for he was
admitted a member of the first church on the ninth of
the following February, — was drowned in the harbor
on the twenty-eighth of August, 1657; but not until his
wharf had been converted into a battery in 1646, and
the name of the Point changed.
Port Poiat was situated near Eowe's Wharf, east of
Fort Hall, and took its name from its proximity to the
first fort erected on the peninsula. It gave name to the
channel passing by it, which led from the bay just east
of Dover Street Bridge. This bay has at times been
known as Eoxbury Harbor, Gallows Bay, and more
recently as South Bay; while the channel has been
known as Fort Point Channel, although sometimes it
has been called erroneously Four Points or Fore Point
108 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AKD HISTORICAL
Channel. After the Sconce was built at this Point it
took the name of Sconce (or South Battery) Point.
"Windmill Point was at the southerly end of Sea
Street, now called Federal Street, at the site of the gas-
ometer; and was so called in .consequence of its being a
noted site for "Windmills from the first settlement of the
town until long after it became a city. Much of the
property at the south end of Sea Street falling into the
possession of Jonathan Wheeler and other members of
his family, the Point took the name of "Wheeler's Point,
and has been thus distinguished for at least seventy
years, certainly ever since the year 1796.
The great changes which have taken place in modem
times by filling in the various coves, and by the building
of commodious wharves, have almost entirely obliterated
the distinguishing features of these points ; nevertheless "
some of these local names are still retained in common
parlance, especially by the older inhabitants. But these
will soon disappear; as, unlike the streets and byways,
they have no written remembrancers in any of the
records, nor are they recognized in the printed direc-
tories of the city. Traditionary lore, and an occasional
mention by some antiquarian writer, wUl alone help to
perpetuate their remembrance.
Between the several Points, or Headlands, of the
town were the Coves, as they have been designated
from the fii'st -settlement of the peninsula, and which
were briefly alluded to in Chapter I.
At the north part of the town was situated the Mill
Cove, which might correctly have been called the iN'orth
Cove, being an indentation of that part of the peninsula
caused by the widening of the Charles Eiver at its
mouth. At the commencement of the present century,
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 109
this cove, for good reasons, which will appear in this
account, was known by the name of the Mill Pond; and
comprised the large space bounded by portions of Prince
and Endicott streets on the east, and Leverett street,
Tucker's Pasture and Bowling Green on the west; and
on the south it covered the whole space now occupied
by Haymarket Square. Most of the estates on Back
street (now the westerly part of Salem street) and on
Hawkins and Green streets originally extended to the
Mill Pond. Probably the location of the First and
Second Baptist meeting-houses, upon its southeastern
border, was selected for the convenience of using the
water of the pond for baptismal purposes, as was for-
merly done, when the water was next to their rear.
This cove was originally a salt marsh; and where Cause-
way street now is, it is said " that the Indians had a foot-
path over the highest part of the marsh or flats, which
was raised and widened by a Mr. Crabtree to retain the
water of the pond." This may have been the origin of
the old ^KTorth Causeway (now Causeway street), for
there was a joiner by the name of John Crabtree, a
townsman in 1638, who owned land, as early as the year
1641, which bordered upon the sea. This causeway,
however, must not be confounded with another cause-
way which will be mentioned hereafter, and which had
much to do with the formation of the Mill Creek. In
the latter part of the last century, the Mill Pond sup-
plied two grist-mills with water, for motive power.
On the thirty-first of July, 1643, a grant was made
to Henry Symons, George Burden (he who bought the
land of John Crabtree in 1641), John Button, and John
Hill, partners, of all this cove, on condition that they
would erect "vpon or neere some part of the premises
110 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
one or more eorn-miUs." After a long, lapse of years,
the successors of these original proprietors were incor-
porated as the Boston Mill Corporation on the ninth of
March, 1804, and on the fourteenth of the following May
obtained from the town permission to use the soil from
Beacon HUl and its neighborhood for filling up the Mill
Pond. The corporation, again on the twenty-fourth of
July, 1807, made an agreement with the town in reference
to the filling up of the pond, whereby the town was to have
one-eighth of the lots filled up within the space of twenty
years. The filling up of the pond, and grading of the
land has added about fifty acres to the area of Boston
available for building purposes, in a district of the city
which now contains many large and costly buildings, and
from which proceed all the railroads leading in a north-
erly direction.
This Mr. Symons appears to have been a man of con-
siderable enterprise, and his commencement in producing
good water-power might have led to other improvements
in the town, had he not been suddenly removed by death
in the September immediately following his mUl-dam
endeavor. When he and his associates obtained their
grant from the town, on the thirty-first of July, 1643,
among other rights they had the liberty " to dig one or
more trenches in the highways or waste grounds, so as
they make and maintain sufficient passable and safe ways
over the same for horse and cart." In the performance
of this, they dug the trench which wiU be remembered
by our old citizens as the Mill Creek, at the same time
making the smaller causeway above alluded to, and
which disappeared a long time ago. There was not
originally a real creek in the place of the- artificial Mill
Creek; yet the marshy land was so low in that region
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON HI
that in the highest spring tide it was overflowed, so as
occasionally to divide the town into two parts, generally
known then, as now, as the !N"orth and South Ends of
the town. Many persons who read these chapters may
not remember that the " old canal," or MUl Creek, ran
just east of the present Canal street, on the exact hne of
the Boston and Maine Railroad, from Causeway street
to Haymarket square ; thence through Blackstone street
to the present JS'orth street; thence on the southerly
edge of the same street, but chiefly on the estates on
the same side of the street, imtil it reached Clinton
street J thence into the Town Dock, which occupied
nearly all of I^orth Market street, for the fronts of aU
the stores on this street stand over the original site of
the old Town Dock. When the great improvement was
made by Mr. Quincy, the second mayor of the city, in
which he was largely assisted by the able advice and
practical skill and knowledge of the late Hon. Caleb
Eddy, in laying out iNTorth Market street, in 1826, the
easterly end of the Mill Creek was somewhat diverted
from its old direction, and made to run its course through
where Clinton street now is, and terminate at Commer-
cial street, just north of the old City "Wharf. The canal
having been filled up, Blackstone street was -laid out in
the year 1833, during the mayoralty of Hon. Charles
Wells; and although without any special reference to
the locality, took the name so well identified with the
first settlement of the town, the next year, through the
instrumentaUty of Hon. Charles Leighton, then an
Alderman, at the earnest solicitation of his old friend,
the late Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff, who had the greatest
veneration for the memory of the forefathers of the town.
This was not the only creek, it must be remembered.
112 rOPOGKAPHICAIi-AND HISTOEICAL
that flowed in the peninsula; for when Boston was first
settled there were many other low, marshy places that
obtained the name of creeks. For instance, the Town
Dock originally extended into Brattle square; another
similar creek ran up from Oliver's Dock, near Kilby
street, through Water street to the neighborhood of
Spring lane, in olden times called the" springate"; an-
other was where Congress street now is; another where
the lower parts of MUk and Federal streets now are;
and others were in the many low and marshy parts of the
old town.
It has been remarked above that there were formerly,
nearly a century ago, two gristmills which were supplied
with water for motive power from the Mill Pond, which
ia its turn was supplied from the sea. The causeway
formed at the time that the trench was dug by Mr.
Symons and his associates was at the easterly part of the
MUl Cove, and led to Charlestown. One of these mills,
called the l^Torth MUl, stood very near the angle in Endi-
cott street, close by where. Endicott place now is, at
the northerly bend of the street, a few paces beyond
Thacher street. The other, called the South MUl, had
its location in the southerly bend in Endicott street,
and was approached by Link alley, which was discon-
tinued in the spring of 1858. The old wheels of these
neglected mills (particularly the one in the lower work-
room of Deacon Samuel Beal's noted furniture ware-
house near the Mill Creek) are undoubtedly remembered
by many of those who now rejoice in being .called Iforth
End boys. In modern time, after the laying out of
Pond street (now Endicott street), there was a narrow
foot-bridge over the canal (known as- the Foot Bridge),
which connected the miU side with the street; and there
DESCRIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 113
was another approach, from Hanover street to the east-
erly end of Link alley (more recently known as North
Federal court), — a wooden platform projecting over the
side of the canal,. — known familiarly as Windmill walk,
which would almost lead to the belief that the South Mill
was sometimes moved by other power than that of the
waters of the Mill Pond. But be this as it may, both
of the Mills situated near the Mill Cove were, in the
natiu-e of the case, tidal, and both became inoperative
when the Old liTorth Causeway gave way; and the Mill
Pond was converted into a receptacle for oyster shells,
dry-dirt and the debris and street offal collected from all
parts of the peninsula.
Somewhat later in point of time, a saw mill and a
chocolate mill were erected in the neigborhood of the
pond, and were put in motion by its water. All of these,
however, lost their peculiar vocation long before the
water was cut off from the canal, in 1828.
The canal running transversely across the main
avenues that connected the If orth End with the other
parts of the town, there were besides the Foot Bridge
two other bridges which crossed it necessarily; the one
in Hanover sti;eet was immovable, and called the Mill
Bridge, on account of its proximity to the South Mill;
the other, which lifted like an old fashioned draw, and
therefore called Draw Bridge, was in Ann, now iSTorth
street. This last is the bridge that fell through (a sad
omen indeed) on the twenty-seventh of October, 1659, as
the ISTorthenders were returning home from witnessing the
execution of William Kobinson and Marmaduke Steven-
son, the two Quakers hung on the Common; and per-
haps heavy with grief and disappointment, because, at
that time, poor Mary Dyar, who had been let off, and
15
114 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
banished from the colony, after she had been obliged to
sit upon the ladder with her arms and legs bound and a
rope about her neck, was not hung also. Alas for the
philanthropy of our ancient townsmen! But the obsti-
nate woman returning to her loved home and family was
hung on the first day of the next June upon our delight-
ful Common, and perhaps from the great limb of the old
elm which was blasted by the gale of the twenty-ninth of
June, 1859, within one year of two centuries after her in-
human murder. Those persons who passed over the MiU
Bridge went in safety, because it had been recently
rebuilt in a substantial manner, and was not constructed
with a draw. In modern times, after Boston became a
city, other small bridges were placed across the canal;
one in Haymarket square, one in Market street, one in
Traverse street, and one in Causeway street.
Two other bridges obtained considerable note in the
old town. One, quite small, called the Swing Bridge,
crossed the Dock, and was in the street leading fi'om
Merchants row to Ann street, and was removed about,
one hundred years ago. The other was in the street
anciently known as Mackrill lane, now Ealby street, and
passed over Oliver's Dock. Remains of the old timbers
and buttresses of this dock, and perhaps of the bridge,
were exposed to view in December, 1864, while work-
men were employed in boxing out dampness from the
cellars of the stores in Kilby street. When the streets
of Boston were named, on the third of May, 1708, this
street, called " the way leading from Justice Dummer's
corner in King Street, passing over ye Bridge as far as
Mr. Dafforn's corner in Milk Street" was denominated
" Mackrill Lane." The water of the dock then extended
as far as Milk street, and a small wooden bridge was in
DESCRIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 115
later years (certainly as late as 1722) to be seen cross-
ing the street where Hawes street now opens into Lib-
erty square. The southerly portion of " MackrHl Lane "
was afterwards, at different times, called Cooper's alley,
MUler's lane and Adams street; and when, in modern
times, the street was straightened and widened, the
whole took the name of Kilby street. The bridge,
which was made more substantial in the year 1710,
disappeared when that portion of Oliver's Dock was
filled up.
Although the mills mentioned above were the chief
gristmills in the town, the inhabitants, not trusting en-
tirely to the tide waters for motive power, depended in a
great degree upon the windmills, which they placed on
every eminence and commanding point in the town.
They were, therefore, quite numerous in the olden time.
There had been mills in the earliest days of the town,
upon Copp's Hill, Fort Hill, Fox Hill, the hill on the
!N^eck, the rising ground north of Cambridge street, near
the foot of Pitts street, and at Windmill Point. There
are many now living who well remember the last two of
these, which were not removed until several years after
Boston became a city.
The number of coves was almost as numerous as the
number of creeks. The Mill Cove, or J^orth Cove,
already described as afterwards forming the MUl Pond,
the Great Cove, or East Cove, which extended north and
south of the present Long "Wharf, and the South Cove,
extending from Windmill Point to Boston I^eck, were
the ones most frequently mentioned in the old records.
The Gfreat Cove extended from Clark's, more re-
cently Hancock's and now Lewis Wharf, at the easterly
end of Fleet street on the north, to Rowe's Wharf on
116 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
the south. In its circuitous course it was bounded on
the west by the buUdings and wharves on what are now
called ISTorth street, Dock square, Merchants row, Kilby
street, the lower part of Milt street, and Batterymarch
street. Westerly it had two smaller coves or docks;
one called the Town Dock, extending from the easterly
end of the Quincy market to the westerly side of Dock
square; and the other, Oliver's Dock, extending from
the water at the head of Central "Wharf, through Liberty
square, across Kalby street, nearly to Congress street.
^ot far from the north and south termini of this
cove were the IS^orth and South Batteries. The first of
these was erected as early as the year 1646, to command
the harbor and the mouth of Charles River. The South
Battery, or the Sconce, as it was most frequently called,
was built at the foot of Fort Hill near the present situa-
tion of Rowe's Wharf about the year 1666. In regard to
these famous constructions of the olden time, we can
give a cotemporaneous description of them, in the form
of a report made to the General Court of Election, held
on the twenty-third of May, 1666. The report is as
follows :
"Wee, the subscribers, being appointed a comittee
by this honoured Court to vejw the batterjes lately
erected by Major Generall Jno. Leueret, with the aduice
of the comittee of militia in Boston, accordingly attended
that seruice, and vnder the conduct of the sajd taajor
generall, wee enf'ed a well contriued fort, called Boston
Sconce; the artillery therein is of good force & well
mounted, the gunner attending the same; the former
thereof suiteable to the place, so as to scower the har-
bour, to the full length of their shot, euery way; it is
spacious w^'^in, that the trauerse of one gunne will not
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 117
hinder the others course; and for defence, the founda-
tion is of stone, & well banked w* earth for dulling the
shott & hindering execution; fflnally, wee apphend it
to be the compleatest worke of that kind which hitherto
hath been erected in this country. "Wee also tooke sur-
vey of another worke on the north side of Boston, called
Merrjes Point, raysed with stones. The foundation is
defended from the violence of the sea w"" spyles and
plancks; the wall of a considerable thicknes, yet lesse
safe than the other, by the sharpe edges next the can-
non, & widenes of the ports w'^^'in, which being faced w*"*
strong timbers, as is intended, willbe much better.
" To conclude, wee judge the defence to be consider-
able, & the offence to be avajlable (by .God's blessing)
for the thing intended, for w* the actors & contrivers,
whereof Major Generall Leueritt hath beene the cheife,
both in contriving, acting, & disbursing, deserues the
thankes of this Court, & all due encouragement. Bos-
ton Sconce hath nine gunns mounted, & ffower more
intended, without seven at Merrjes Point. All w* wee
submit to the wisdome of this Court, & subscribe our-
selves, your servants,
George Coewin,
Wm. Hauthorn,
Francis Willoughby,
Petek Tiltok,
Tho. Bradbury,
Edward Johnson,
Timothy Wheeler."
For this excellent work of engineering, Major Gen-
eral John Leverett, who in 1673 was elected Governor
of the Colony, had a vote of thanks and a gratuity of
one hundred pounds.
118 TOPO&EAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Both of these batteries have long since disappeared,
and wharves for the accommodation of the largest mer-
chant ships have been built in their places. They were
both to be seen in 1784, and are delineated on a map
of the town engraved that year. They were certainly
kept in repair, and supplied with a proper complement
of men untU the termination of the war of the Revo-
lution.
Any person who examines the map published in
1784, or any of the older ones, will notice what appears
to be a marginal wharf, extending in nearly a straight
line from the present head of Lewis Wharf, across Long
"Wharf at the T, to Eowe's "Wharf; and will find it
designated as the Old "Wharf. This indicates the exact
portion of the Sea "Wall, Barricado, or Out "Wharves as
it was sometimes called, because it was formed of several
parts, separated by intervals left for the free passage of
vessels. This interesting construction, forming a line
of about 2,200 feet in length, was undertaken in the fall
of 1673 by a company of forty-one persons, the town
having declined the enterprise, who were severally to
buUd a portion of it, from twenty to one hundred and
twenty running feet measured in front. This was built
in a substantial manner, uniform in all its parts, and was
about fifteen feet in height, and twenty feet in breadth
at top, of sufficient strength to answer the purpose of
a breastwork and for heavy guns mounted " en barbette."
It was designed as a defence in case of any inimical har-
bor attack; and fortunately proved needless, as no
foreign enemy ever passed the Castle previous to the
revolutionary war. Being of no special value for mer-
cantile purposes it was allowed to go into decay by the
proprietors, who had been incorporated by an act passed
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTON. 119
by the General Court of the Colony on the eleventh of
May, 1681.
Yery little of the Barricado now remains, and what
does is so perfectly concealed by improvements, that it
would require a great stretch of credulity to point out a
vestige of this remarkable enterprise. Brimmer's T (or
Minot's T, as it was previously called) was a portion of
this structure 5 and at the north of this there used to
be a square wharf, called IN'orth Island Wharf, used fre-
quently as a storage for plaster of Paris and ballast, and
which was removed about the year 1830. Between this
wharf and the T was the north opening to the dock in
the rear of the Sea wall. On the south side of Long
Wharf was the other openings and the last vestige of
this portion of the Barricado was the South Island
Wharf, which was incorporated into Central Wharf
when it was built in 1816. In 1776, when Hem-y Pel-
ham made his remarkable map of the vicinity of Boston,
there were three of these island wharves north of Long
Wharf, and two south of it.
In about the same place, where the ancient Barricado
of 1681 was stretched from the ]N"orth Battery to the
South Battery, the City Council voted in December
1868 to lay out a marginal street called Atlantic avenue.
This great improvement extends from Broad street, at
Eowe's Wharf, to Commercial street at Eastern avenue.
The resolve and order for laying out the avenue and ap-
propriating therefor the sum of twelve hundred thousand
dollars was approved by the mayor on the eighteenth of
December, 1868. The dredging between India and Cen-
tral wharves commenced on the eleventh of March,
1869; the first pile was driven in the dock between these
wharves near India Wharf on the sixth of April, and the
120 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
first stone laid in the dock near Kowe's Wharf on the
ninth of April of the same year. The westerly part of
the building on Eastern avenue was taken down in Sep-
tember, 1869. The earth for constructing the avenue
is supplied from Fort Hill.
The great changes that took place when Faneuil Hall
was built in 1742 and 1743 very much changed the ap-
pearance of the westerly side of the Great Cove; and so
in modern times did the enlargement of the same build-
ing in 1805 or 1806, and the building of the new Market
House, which was commenced in 1824, the comer stone
having been laid with much ceremony on the twenty-sev-
enth of April of that year. This building was opened
for use on the twenty-sixth of August, 1826, two years
and six days after the land was first staked out.
The South Cove was bounded on the land side, com-
mencing on "Windmill Point, where the gasometer now
is, by the rear part of the estates on Essex street on the
northeast, Rainsford's lane and Beach street on the
north, and Orange street (now Washington street) on
the northwest. At the close of the war of the revolu-
tion, there were no streets running parallel with Essex
and Orange streets to their southeast, and only a few
short streets and lanes ran perpendicular from them to
the sea. Orange street, which split the neck lands, was
the only street south of Castle street; and very little, if
any improvement was noticeable in this part of the town
until the thirty-first of January, 1833, when the South
Cove Corporation received its charter from the Common-
wealth. The work of filling up the cove commenced on
the third of May, 1834; and before the close of the year
1837, seventy-seven acres were reclaimed from the sea
and the contiguous low lands. The laying out of Front
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 121
street in 1806 (the name of which was changed to Har-
rison avenue in 1841) to South Boston Bridge, which
had been incorporated on the sixth of March, 1804, and
the building on Sea street and the southerly part of
South street, had done much to improve this part of
the town; but it was almost entirely due to the grand
impetus given by the South Cove Corporation that so
great improvements were made in this region, and that
so large a tract of waste territory was made habitable.
That portion of the town lying west of the neck and
of the Common, and which for many years has been
known as the Back Bay, might well have been called
the West Cove. In 1784, this part of the town, now
making such rapid progress as the region of stylish and
comfortable private residences, was entirely destitute of
houses, and no streets had then been laid out west of
Pleasant street and the Common. The first improve-
ment in this direction may be said to have commenced
at the laying out of Cliarles street in 1803, and when the
Western avenue enterprise, incorporated on the fourteenth
of June, 1814, was undertaken, and the causeways and
dams running to Roxbury built and the water shut out of
the receiving basin. The removal of the ropewalks west
of the Common, in 1823, a,ided also in this great work.
Boylston street was soon afterwards extended west, and
on the twenty-sixth of October, 1837, the Public Garden
was laid out by the city. Soon after this, the extreme
South End began to look up. The rapid growth of this
district may be illustrated by the following fact : In ISTo-
vember, 1830, a gentleman of the old school, well known
in this community for his literary productions, the ema-
nation of a powerful mind drawn by an equally powerful
pen, was taking his customary ride to- his country seat,
16
122 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
and was, undoubtedly, pondering in his mind what new
theme he should next write upon, when his attention
was drawn, a short distance north of the Roxbury Une,
to a small assemblage of persons, and what, to his dis-
cerning eye appeared to be an auctioneer, in the form
of the well-remembered Stephen Brown. Curiosity,
a promiaent faculty of the gentleman, Lucius M. Sar-
gent, Esq., who was never afraid to have his name used
properly in an illustration, at once stopped his horse;
and making his way to the gathering, perceived that a
land sale was going on; and, beiag of a speculative dis-
position, when speculation is a reality, he joined in the
bidding, and to his siu-prise, and it will also be one to
the readers of this article, he became the purchaser of
three acres three quarters and eight rods of land, of
165,526 feet, formerly the property of the late Wilham
Payne and Christopher Gore, and situated between the
present Shawmut avenue and Tremont street, and all
this for the small sum of two hundred and sixty-nine
dollars and eighty cents. The rainy day, then, would
only allow ten persons to feel sufficient interest to attend
a sale at which acres of land in the now great south
ward could be bought at the very contemptible price of
about one null and one half per square foot. In the
short space of forty years, the neighborhood of this pur-
chase has become so much inhabited that the land would
now probably sell for three thousand fold the price given
in 1830. But it was not until quite recently that the
great change came over the Back Bay, when the Com-
monwealth ceded a portion of its land to the city, and
put other portions on sale, and when the Public Garden
was enlarged and permanently made a desirable and
beautiful place of resort for the public. The laying
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 123
out of the spacious parks and avenues on this once
dreary waste has largely added to the building area, as
well as to the taxable property of the city. When the
drainage and grading shall have been completed, and
the streets paved and sidewalks laid, it will be by far
the most pleasant and desirable place for private resi-
dences in this city.
CHAPTEE Yin.
DIVISIONS OF THE TOWN.
Divisions of the Town • • North End • • • South End • • • Common and Neck • • • '
Old Soubriquets •■• • New Boston, West Boston, or West End • • • The Hill,
etc. • • ■ South Boston • ■ • The New Laud • ■ • East Boston • • ■ South Cove ■ • ■
Back Bay, etc. . • • Mill-Dam Land • • ■ Mount Vernon • • • The Fields ■ ■ • The
Mill Field • • • The Fort Field • • • Neck Field, or Field towards Eoxbury • • •
Gentry Hill Field ■ • ■ The New Mill Field, or New Field • • • Boling or Bowl-
ing Green ■ • ■ Valley Acre • • • The Pastures,— Stanley's, Buttolph's, Tucker's,
Rowe's, Wheeler's, Atkinson's, Leverett's, Middlecott's, and others ■ • •
Blaxton's Garden • ■ ■ Watches and Wards • • • Military Districts ■ • • Overseers
of the Poor • • • Division of the Town into Eight Wards in 1715 • • • Names and
Boundaries of the Wards • • ■ Division into Twelve Wards • • • Numbers and
Boundaries of the Wards in 1736.
In the early days of Boston, the town was not divided
into wards as now ; nevertheless, it was not wholly desti-
tute of other divisions. The Mill Creek, or Canal,
separated one portion very distiactly from the remaining
part of the town; and this, being the north part of the
peninsula, early obtained the name of the North End,, as
the other part did that of the South End. Within the
memory of the oldest inhabitants, MlHi street was referred
to frequently as at the South End; and the third religious
society of Boston now occupies a meeting-house, which
though it was buUt much more than a century ago and
has survived the desecrating iofluenfces of a hostUe army,
stUl bears the name of the Old South. The Common
and ISTeck were necessarily a part of the South End;
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 125
and in days far from being ancient it was not very un-
common to hear of Hatters'-Sqnarers, Fort-Hillers and
Wlieeler's-Pointers, — epithets frequently appHed to the
pugnacious boys of former days, the residents of particu-
lar localities, — the Boston boys obtaining from the
neighboring towns the generic name of " Chucks."
When that part of the town which lies west of Sudbury
street was first used as a place of residence, it received
the name of "IS^ew Boston"; and this designation was
afterwards changed to "West Boston," and it is now
not unfrequently called the " West End." One portion
of this End gained the soubriquet of " The Hill," and
sometimes other appellatives not quite so euphonious.
In more modem times, when Dorchester E'eck and
Point were annexed to Boston by an act of the General
Court passed on the sixth of March, 1804, the territory
acquired by the town took the name of " South Boston."
The land which took the place of the Millpond, as it was
filled up, was known as the " ]S"ew Land," from the year
1804. Noddle's Island was called " East Boston " at the
time of the establishment of the company which laid it
out into lots, and which was incorporated on the twenty-
fifth of March, 1833. The land reclaimed from the har-
bor by the South Cove Company, incorporated on the
thirty-first of January of the same year. (1833), retained
the name of the " South Cove." The land at the west
of Charles street was distinguished as the "Back Bay
and Commonwealth Lands," and that on the northerly
side of the western avenue was styled the " Mill-Dam
Land," while that northwest of the State House was
designated as " Mount Yernon."
Yery early in the history of the town, the ungranted
land around Copp's Hill (or, as it was then called, Wind-
126 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
mill Hill or Snow Hill) was known as the "Mylne
Field" or "Mill Field"; that around Fort HiU, the "Fort
Field"; that at the :N'eek, the ":N'eck Field," or the Field
towards Eoxbury; that where Beacon HUl Place now is,
" Gentry Hill Field"; and that west of Lynde street, and
north of Cambridge street, the "JSTew Mill Field," or
shorter, the "l^ew Field." The land lying between
Sudbury and Gouch streets and Bowdoin square and
the Mill Gove was known very early as " Boling Green "
or " Bowling Green," a name which also was temporarily
given to a portion of the land upon Fort HOI, a little
more than a century ago. " Valley Acre " was situated
south of Howard street, on the northerly slope of that
portion of Beacon Hill known as Pemberton's Hill, and
extended westward nearly to Bowdoin street, and east-
ward not far from the comer of Tremont and Howard
streets.
Besides the fields there were many pastures, so
called: Ghristopher Stanley's was at the IN^orth End,
covering the region of I^orth Bennet street, between
Hanover and Salem street; Buttolph's was south of
Cambridge street; Tucker's, in the neighborhood of
Lyman street; Rowe's, east of Rowe street; Wheeler's,
where the southerly end of Chauncy street is; Atkin-
son's, where A.tkinson street was a few years ago,
and where Congress street now is; Leverett's, one,
where Leverett street is, and another, bounded by
"Winter and Tremont streets; Middlecott's, where the
northerly part of Bowdoin street is; Blaxton's Gar-
den, west of Louisburg square; and a very large
number of other great lots, most of which are kept
in remembrance by the streets which have been laid
out through them.
DESOEIPTION OF BOSTON. 127
Very soon after the establishment of the Massachu-
setts Colony, the different towns within the jurisdiction
were required to keep watches and wards; and con-
sequently in. these towns militaiy organizations were
commenced, and trainbands and companies of horse
raised. Boston, of course, complied with all the requi-
sitions of the General Court, and raised its troops and
armed its able-bodied men. After a while, as its popu-
lation increased, the number of its military companies
also increased. These were organized according to
districts, which were in reality the miUtary wards,
where the watches were kept. Wherever there was one
of these trainbands, there was also a constable and one
or more tithing-men; and to these were entrusted many
details, which the townsmen did not require to be per-
formed personally by " the men chosen to manage the
town's affairs, " — the selectmen of a little later date.
Thus was demonstrated the necessity of dividing the
town into fixed districts, which, when accomplished,
took the name of wards, — a name which they continue
to hold to the present day. In the year 1662, there were
evidently five of these divisions and five constables ; and
in 1676, the same number; but in 1686, there were eight
captains of companies and as many tithing-men.
In this way matters went along very well, the con-
stables distributing among the poor the money levied by
rates, which in October, 1690, amounted to £412 4s. 6d.
On the ninth of March, 1690-91, the townsmen voted,
" that Mr. l^athaniell WilHams, Mr. Benjamine "Walker,
Mr. William Coleman, and Mr. Symeon Stoddard be
Overseers of the Poore of this Towne for the yeare en-
sueing"; and thus originated in name the first Board of
Overseers of the Poor in Boston. On the day of their
128 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AJSD HISTOEICAL
election, " the foure overseers, together with the Towns
TreasTir' are desired and apoynted a coiiiittee to drawe
vp and present vnto the Generall Court, such proposalls,
as they shall aprehend needfuU for the orderinge and
improveing of them to imply and set the poore aworke ";
by which it appears that though the poor were provided
for by the town, nevertheless the town could get no
return in the way of labor from those whom it had ma-
terially befriended. The overseers faithfully attended to
the " desire " of the townsmen, and obtained an act which
was passed by the General Court in the fourth year of the
reign of William and Mary, being by common computa-
tion on the sixteenth of !N"ovember, 1692. This act
forms part of an act for regulating of townships and
town-officers and setting forth their power. It gives
power to the freeholders, and other inhabitants of towns
ratable at twenty pounds estate, to assemble yearly in
March and choose, among other town officers. Overseers
of the Poor, who shall be " able and discreet, of good
conversation, inhabiting within said town." These
Overseers, or the Selectmen of the towns where no over-
seers are chosen, were "improved and ordered to take
effectual Care that all Children, Youth, and other persons
of able Body, living within the same Town or Precincts
thereof (not having Estates otherwise to maintain them-
selves) do not Hve idly, or mispend their time in loitering;
but that they be brought up or imployed in some honest
Calling, which may be profitable to themselves, and the
Publick." It also fully provides for binding out poor
children as apprentices, the boys until they arrive at the
age of twenty-one years, and the girls until the age of
eighteen years or time of marriage. In the year 1720, a
supplementary act was passed requiring that the boys
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 129
should be taught to read and write, and the girls to read,
" as they respectively may be able," and the overseers
were required also to inquire into the usage of the chil-
dren bound out, and endeavor to defend them from any
wrongs or injuries.
So matters went on, and the town annually chose
seven Overseers of the Poor, that number corresponding
as nearly as possible with that of the trainbands, until
the year 1713, when for good reasons a more permanent
division of the town was desired for carrying on its
prudential concerns j and the townsmen took the initia-
tive in causing the town to be set off into definite pre-
cincts or wards, as will be seen by what follows.
At a public town meeting of the freeholders and other
inhabitants of the town duly qualified, held on the thir-
teenth of May, 1713, it was voted " That there be Eight
Scavengers for eight several parts of the Town, and their
perticular. distinct Precinct be under the Regulation of
the Selectmen." This vote of the townsmen was carried
out by the selectmen at a meeting held on the eleventh of
August, as is evident from the following record made by
them: "Pursuant to the vote of the Inhabit*' of ye
Town of Boston on the 13th of May last past. The s**
Selectmen have now agreed upon a distribution of the
town into distinct Wards or Precincts, as set forth in a
Scheme or draught thereof in writing attested by y"
Town Clerk, and lying on file with the Records of this
Town." What this was does not exactly appear from
any record j but the following votes of the Justices of
the Peace, Overseers of the Poor, and the Board of
Selectmen, passed February 1, 1714-15, shows that the
town was not particularly divided until the year 1715 : —
" Yoted, That there be a division made of this Town into
17
130 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Eight distinct Wards, in order to their inspecting each
respective Ward." Also, " Voted, That it be left with
the Selectmen to make such Division sutable to that
occasion." The division made in accordance with the
votes was reported to the same parties and agreed upon
on the eighth of the same month, to wit: —
"No. 1. IS'orth Ward. Bounded I^ortherly by
Charles Kiver, and South by the North sides of Fleet
Street & Bennet Street.
" 2. Fleet- Ward. Bounded Northerly by the South
side of Fleet Street and Bennet Street, and Southerly by
Wood & Beer Lanes [Richmond street] .
"3. Bridge-Ward. Bounded Northerly by Wood
& Beer Lanes, and Southerly by the Mill Creek.
" 4. Creek-Ward. Bounded Northerly by the Mill
Creek, and Southerly by the North side of Wmg's Lane
[Elm street] , & from the uper end thereof, the North
side of Hanover Street to the Orange Tree [a noted
landmark at the head of Hanover street at the corner of
Court street,] and the North-East side of Cambridge
Street [now the northerly end of Court street] .
"5. Kings-Ward. Bounded Northerly by the
South side of Wings lane, from the Uper end thereof
the South side of Hannover Street, and the South- West-
erly side of Cambridge Street, and Southerly by ye
North side of King & Queens Streets [State and Court
streets] to the Southward of the Writeing School House,
Mr. Cotton's House the Southermost House.
"6. Change-Ward. Bounded Northerly by the
South sides of Kings and Queens streets, and Southerly
by the North side of Milk Street, thence the West side
of Malbrough street [part of Washington street between
Milk and Summer streets] as far as Eawson's Lane
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 131
[Bromfield street], the l^ortli side thereof, and the
J^orth side of the Cofaon.
"7. Pond-Ward. Bounded by the South-side of
Milk Street, thence the East side of Malbrough Street
as far as Kawson's Lane, the South side thereof, South-
erly by the JS'orth side of West & Pond [the west end
of Bedford street] Streets, Blind Lane [the east end of
Bedford street], and thence the ]!^orth side of Slimmer
street.
"8. South-Ward.. Bounded ISTortherly by the
South side of Summer Street, as far down as Church
Green, the South side of Blind Lane, of Pond & West
Streets, and Southerly by the Townes Southern bounds."
Burgiss's Map, engraved in 1728, substantially shows
these divisions by dotted lines.
In this way things proceeded with eight wards, the
town choosing eight and subsequently nine Overseers
of the Poor, and conducting its affairs in the best man-
ner possible, with its simple machinery. But after a
whUe the town having increased much in point of popu-
lation, the passage of an act of the General Court of the
Province was obtained on the twenty-eighth of May,
1735, empowering the town of Boston to choose twelve
Overseers of the Poor and divide the peninsula into
twelve wards. The Overseers were thereby empowered
to erect a work-house for the poor, regulate the same,
and receive donations for endowing it to the amount of
three thousand pounds. The overseers were also to
send idle and indigent persons to the work-house; to
bind out the children of such as were not rated for their
personal estate, and to warn intruders not inhabitants
out of the town. It was further enacted by this act,
" That where Persons bring up their children in such
132 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
gross Ignorance, that they do not know, or are not able
to distinguish the alphabet or twenty-four Letters at the
age of si.f years, in such case the Overseers of the Poor
are hereby impowered and directed to put or bind out
into good Families, such Children, for a decent and
Christian Education, as when Parents are indigent and
rated nothing to the publick Taxes; unless the Children
are judged uncapable, through some inevitable infirmity."
After the passage of the above described act, the
Overseers of the Poor, nine in number, were requested
to attend an adjourned meeting of the townsmen held on
the eighth of March, 1735-6, to give their opinion with
respect to dividing the town into twelve wards. They
attended in the afternoon, and " Jacob Wendell, Esq., in
the name of the Overseers of the Poor Reported to the
Town, That 'twas their opinion, It would be much for
the Service of the said Town that it be divided into
Twelve "Wards, and Proposed the MUitary Division of
the Town, to their consideration." Whereupon it was
" Yoted, That the gentlemen the Overseers of the Poor
be a Committee to project a Division of the Town into
Twelve Wards, and to make their Report thereof To-
morrow, in order to the Towns proceeding thereon."
On the next day Mr. Wendell reported as follows:
" Pursuant to a Yote of the Town on the 8th Instant,
Desiring the Overseers of the Poor to Divide the Town
into Twelve Wards, They have accordingly attended
that Service — and are of Opinion That the following
Division will best serve the same — and Propose to be-
gin with —
" No. 1. From Charlestown Ferry on both sides of
Prince Street to Gee's Comer, and the Westerly Side of
Salem street, crossing over and taking in the Westerly
DESCBIPTIOK OF BOSTOJST. 133
side of Henchman's Lane to the Water side, and round
the Beech to the Ferry Place again.
" 2. From the lower end of Henchman's Lane, up
the South Side thereof, crossing over to Elder Baker's
corner down Salem Street as far as the Reverend Doctor
Cutler's and thence down Love Street [Tileston Street]
and Foster Lane [Clark Street] the ISTorth Sides into
Ship Street [ISTorth Street] including both sides thereof,
as far as Henchman's Lane, To which Rumney Marsh
[Chelsea] is annex'd.
" 3. From the North East corner of Love Street,
runing up the South Side of it thro', by the Reverend
Doctor Cutler's and down Salem Street to Peirce's Corner
and up Prince Street on the ll^^orth side, crossing over
thro' Bell Alley [East part of Prince Street] on both
sides as far as Foster Lane, including the south side of
said Lane.
" 4. From the North East Corner of Prince Street,
running down the South Side as [far as] Boucher's cor-
ner, and then on both sides of the way to the Mill-bridge,
and from thence on the "West side of Middle Street
[middle portion of Hanover Street] to Prince Street, tak-
ing in the Square from Cop's corner down the North Side
of -Wood Lane [Richmond Street] thro' Bell Alley to
Capt. Wads worth's.
" 5. From the North East corner of Wood Lane on
the South Side into Middle Street, running on the North
Side to the Mill Bridge, and then beginning at Byles's
comer in Anne Sti-eet on both sides the way including
the Dock and thro' Fish Street on both sides the way, as
far as the Red Lion Wharf.
" 6. From the Mill Bridge on both sides of Hanover
street to Bradford's comer, crossing over to Cold Lane
134 TOPOGRAPHICAL ATSTD HISTORICAL
[Portland street] and thence running to Jackson's Still
House, Returning thro' Kneeland's Lane into Sudbury
Street taking in the Easterly side as far as the Orange
Tree, and then running down Hanover Street on the
Westerly side as far as Bradford's corner and thence on
the IS'orth side of Wing's Lane into Union street on both
sides to the Mill Creek.
"7. From Barton's Point, thro' Leverett's street
and Green Lane and Cambridge Street on both sides,
talring in the Southerly side of Hawkins' Lane and
round into Sudbury Street the Westerly side, crossing
into Southack's Court [Howard Street] and thence cross-
ing the Hill to the Water side.
" 8. From the South East corner of Wing's Lane
running upon the Southerly side of it, and so on the
easterly side of Hanover street and then running down
on the Westerly side of Queen and King Street on the
Long Wharf, and thro' Merchants' Eow to Mr. Jackson
(the Brasier's) Shop, taking in Dock Square.
" 9. From Mr. Bowdoin's corner in Treamount Street,
taldng in the Westerly side of Beacon Street down to
the bottom of the Common, then taking the IsTorth side
of School and Milk Street, as far as Horn Lane [Bath
Street], thro' Water Street to Oliver's Dock, running
thro' Mackarel Lane [Kilby Street] , and then including
the south sides of King and Queen Streets.
" 10. From Mr. Secretary Willard's running down
on the I^orth side of Rawson's Lane crossing over to
Penniman's comer running down on the N^ortherly side
of Summer Street as far as Cow Lane [High Street] , and
so over the Hill as far as the N"ortherly side of Mr.
Hubbard's Land, and then round by Hallowell's Ship-
yard to Milk Street, thence running on the Southerly
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 135
side, including the South Meeting House Square, and
then taking in the South side of School Street.
" 11. From the South corner of Rawson's Lane
down the Common, as far as West Street, thence run-
ning down the Il^orth side of Pond street and Blind
Lane into Summer Street, thro' Barton's Rope Walk as
far as Mr. Hubbard's thence up the Hill, and then down
Cow Lane, the South East side into Summer Street,
and then the Southerly side of Summer street, thence
crossing over and taking the Westerly side of Marl-
borough Street as far as Rawson's Lane, including the
South side of said Lane.
" 12. From the School House in the Common down
the South side of Pond Lane as far as the Bull Wharf
[end of Summer street], including the Whole of the
South-Ward.
" All which is Humbly Submitted by
"Your Humble Servants,
"Jacob Wendell,
"William Tyler,
" Jeffert Bedgood,
" John Hill,
" Thomas Hubbard.
"Boston, 19th Mar. 1735."
Whereupon it was " Voted, That the Report of the
said Committee be accepted, and that the Town of Bos-
ton be, and hereby is Divided into Twelve Wards or
Districts according to the said Report; And that it so
remain and continue, until the Town shall see cause to
alter the same."
In the above manner this division of Boston into
twelve wards was brought about, a number which has
136 DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON.
been strictly adhered to, although the boundaries hare
been different at various times, for a hundred and thirty
three years. In the year 1868, however, the addition of
the territory of Eosbury made it imperative to increase
the number to fifteen; and hi 1870 it became necessary
to add the sixteenth, in consequence of the annexation of
Dorchester.
CHAPTER IX.
DIVISIONS OP THE TOWN, AND RIVERS.
Divisions of tlie Town, continued • • ■ Names and Relaiive Position of tlie
Wards • • ■ Dimensions of the Natural Divisions, and the Number of Houses
in each in 1784 ■ • • The Old Fortification • • ■ Old Causeway • • -May's Grant in
1785 • • • Curious Bend in the South End Streets • • • The Green Stores • • -The
Gallows • • • Old Windmill • • • Native Trees • • • Pavement • • ■ Charter Pro-
vision for Dividing the City into Wards, and for Changing the Boundaries
once in Ten Years • • • East Boston as a Ward • • • South Boston as a Ward
■ ■ • Act of Legislature for re-establishing Wards • • • The last Division of
Wards • ■ • Commencement of the Municipal Year . ■ ■ Places and Manner of
Voting • • • Choice of Selectmen and Ward Officers • • • Source of the Charles
River, the Northern and Western Boundary of Boston ■ • ■ Neponset
River • ■ • Mother Brook • ■ • Muddy Brook • • • Stony Brook.
Ijs" the last chapter it was shown that in the early
days of the town, the Military and Civil Divisions were
identical. This remained to be the case until necessity
required a larger number of wards than of military com-
panies. In the two early divisions given, it appears that
the names of the wards were selected from something
notable connected with them, chiefly from their principal
street or their position. For instance, in the first division
of 1715, the North and South Wards were the most north-
erly and southerly in the town; Fleet Ward had in it
Fleet street, and Bang's Ward had King street; Bridge,
Creek, Change and Pond wards had severally the bridges
over the Mill Creek and the dock, the Mill Creek, the
"change," and the "town's watering place," — the last
18
138 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
more frequently known as "Wheeler's Pond," or the
" Town Pond," which was situated at the south part of
the town, as wiU be related hereafter. In the division
of 1736, the wards were named: 1 — Charter Street
"Ward; 2 — North Street Ward; 3 —Fleet Street Ward;
4 — Pond Ward (after the MUl Pond, instead of the
Watering Place) ; 5 — Ann Street Ward; 6 — Hanover
Streetward; 7 — Cambridge Street Ward; 8 — Bong
Street Ward; 9 — Comhill Ward; 10 — Marlborough
Street Ward; 11 — Summer Street Ward; and 12 —
Orange Street Ward. Pour of these, and a large part
of the fifth, were comprised in the IsTorth End, north
of the MUl Creek; the sixth and eighth east of Sud-
bury street and north of Court and State streets; the
seventh north of Beacon HiU and west of Sudbury
street; and the others south of a line running through
Long Wharf, State and Court streets, across the hUls to
West Hill which was a short distance from the westerly
end of Cambridge street.
It may not be uninteresting to know, that, in the
year 1784, just as the town was beginning to recover
from the effects of the war of the Revolution, about
four years after the adoption of the constitution of the
Commonwealth, and about as many before the ratification
of the Federal constitution, the ISTorth End contained
about six hundred and eighty dwelling-houses and tene-
ments, and six meeting-houses. Though it had formerly
been the court end of the town, even at the above-named
period it had begun to lose its former prestige, and gave
unquestionable evidence of decay and unpopularity.
From the Mill Bridge to Winnisimmet Ferryways, it
measured albout eight hundred and three yards, while its
breadth fi-om Charles River Bridge to the water .side,
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 139
near the present Commercial Wharf, was about seven
hundred and twenty-six yards.
I^ew Boston, the West End, contained at the same
period one meeting-house and about one hundred and
seventy dwelling-houses and tenements j and, although
the smallest and least populous of the divisions, was
regarded then as a very pleasant and healthy part of the
town, on account of its westerly situation, where it had
plenty of agreeable inland breezes, and was compara-
tively sheltered from the easterly winds.
The South End was by far the most extensive in point
of territory of all the natural divisions of the town, being
in length from the fortification on the neck to the Mill
Bridge about one mile and seven hundred and sixteen
yards, with a breadth of about eleven hundred and fifty
yards. It contained all the public buildings, except the
Powder House, which at that time was near Cambridge
street, ten meeting-houses, and about twelve hundred
and fiLfty dwelling-houses. Being the seat of business, it
was the most flourishing part of the town, and contained
the principal shops and warehouses. Some of the man-
sion houses of this part would now be considered mag-
nificent j and the common, though perhaps not so artis-
tically laid out with paths and malls as now, was as
delightful as a training ground and public walk as at
the present time.
The portion of the South End situated south of
Dover street had so few inhabitants before the Revo-
lution that it was seldom taken into account in describ-
ing the town. This part of Boston has so increased in
population and in business the last decade of years that
it has completely thrown the city from its old balance,
and has now really become the only true South End of
140 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
the city. One road, or highway, ran through it from
Dover street to the Eoxbury line in old times, and it was
then generally known as the ]S"eek Field, or the Field
towards Eoxbury. Yery early after the settlement of
the town, a fortification was buUt at the northerly end of
this highway. It was chiefly of brick, with embrasures
in front and places for cannon on its flanks, and a deep
ditch on its south side. It was erected as a fortification
against any sudden attack by the Indians, and had two
gates, one for carriages and teams, and another for per-
sons on foot. Regular watches and wards were kept
near it, not only in compliance with the orders of the
General Court of the Colony, but also as a prudential
act of the town; and such was the observance of this
duty that the townsmen felt perfectly secure within the
town. A little to the south of this had been placed in
earlier times a row of palisades. After the disappearance
of the hostile Indians, there being no necessity for the
protection, the whole fortification fell to decay; and it
was not until the year 1710 that another of regular con-
struction was established at the N"eck, a few feet south
of the present Dover street. This was more substantial
than that which had preceded it, as it was thoroughly
built of stone and brick, with a breastwork of earth and
proper gates. Dams also extended for some distance,
each side of the Neck near the fortification, and these
were kept in good repair by the town, as is manifest by
the votes occasionally to be found in the town records.
About the twenty-ninth of March, 1860, as workmen were
engaged in removing the earth in the neighborhood of
these old works, for the purpose of laying a drain, the
stone foundations of the old fortification were discovered,
and to a considerable extent exposed to view. The exact
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTON. 141
position was ascertained to be precisely in front of the
southwest corner of the Williams Market House. For
a long distance fextending south of Dover street, and on
the westerly side of Washington street, reaching as far
as Union Park street, there was also a causeway built of
stone ; parts of which, in the neighborhood of the gas-
ometer, north of Waltham street, and also farther south,
near the Unitarian meeting-house on Union Park street,
were to be seen as late as the year 1868.
Old plans, made many years ago, show that, previous
to the year 1785, there stood on the westerly side of the
highway above mentioned, and extending from the forti-
fication to a point opposite where Maiden street now is,
a few rods south of Union Park street, a picket fence;
which, in the year above alluded to, gave way to the
stone causeway, a grant having been made that year by
the town to Stephen Gore, John May, and others, of a
tract of land and flats bounded by the present JMalden
street on the south about nine hundred feet, thence run-
ning north on a well-remembered causeway fourteen
hundred feet long, to a point within one hundred and
twenty-five feet of Dover street, thence west on a line
about parallel to Dover street one hundred and thirty-
two feet six inches, till it reached the highway. A strip
of land two hundred feet wide, of the same length (1,400
feet) on the west side of the highway was included in
the same grant, the highway being eighty feet in width,
the grant embracing all east of the highway to low-
water mark. To this grant a condition was attached,
that barriers should be erected for excluding the
tide waters. This gave origin to the old cause-
way which formerly stood east of Washington and
south of Dover streets. This large tract of land was
142 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL.
subsequently divided into fourteen lots, one hundred feet
wide, and extending from the eastern to the western
boundaries, the highway dividing each of the lots into
two by aii angular line; but to avoid this bevel towards
the street, a bend was made, so that the estates present
right angles to the street, and a bend a short distance
from it. This bend, which may be noticed, extending
from Dover street to Maiden street, shows the high-
water mark, on the easterly side, the bevelled line run-
ning east to low-water mark or the channel of the South
Bay, or Eoxbury Bay, sometimes also called Gallows
Bay in ancient writiags. On a portion of this land
stood the old stores of the late John D. Williams, Esq.,
noted landmarks of former days, under the name of the
" Green Stores," on account of the peculiar fancy which
the owner had to that color.
It may be interesting to some to know that, on the
city lands just south of the above-mentioned ground,
and east of the highway, near Maiden street, used to
stand the gallows in times of execution. It is said
that one of the posts of this old landmark formed a
boundary mark for Col. May's lot, and that a painted
sign upon it gave information to that effect. In later
times culprits were hung further south, not far from the
rear of the present burial-ground on the Neck; but now
this dreadful work is performed with proper privacy in
the jail-yard. Further south, on the way to Koxbury,
stood the old windmill, which was blown down during
the great gale that did so much damage, on the twenty-
third of October, 1761.
In 1784, there were no buildiags below the fortifica-
tion except a few stores. A portion of the land was cov-
ered with trees of native growth; and from time to time,
DESCRIPTION OE BOSTON. 143
after the highway was laid out, trees were set out on the
sides of the road. In the year 1758, the towns-people
began to pave the street leading to the neck, partly at
the expense of the town, and partly by private subscrip-
tion.
The second section of the city charter made it the
duty of the Selectmen, as soon as might be after the
passing of the act, to cause a new di^sion of the town
to be made into twelve wards, each of which should as
nearly as possible ' contain the same number of inhabi-
tants, the basis for the computation being the last pre-
vious census of the United States. This division being
somewhat objectionable, an amendment was procured in
1850, so that the number of legal voters should form the
basis of the division, instead of the number of the inhab-
itants. The City Council was also empowered to alter
such division once in ten years; which authority it has
exercised three times, in the years 1838, 1850 and 1866.
The new city charter which was adopted by the citizens
on the thirteenth of IS'ovember, 1854, provided for a new
division of the city during the year 1860; but this did not
then take place, in consequence of a provision of the
General Statutes of the Commonwealth, that " no new
division of wards shall be made in the city of Boston
previous to the next apportionment of senators and repre-
sentatives," which occurred subsequently in 1865. "When
this new arrangement was made, the wards were neces-
sarily very much changed, in consequence of the very
rapid growth of several parts of the city, while other
parts have been comparatively stationary. To enumer-
ate all the changes that have been made in the twelve
wards since their first estabhshment in 1736 would be
needless ; yet it may not be out of place here to mention.
144 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
that when Dorchester I^eck and Point were annexed to
the town, they hecame part of the twelfth ward; and it
was not until the new districting of the city by an ordi-
nance passed the twentieth of September, 1838, that
Soutli Boston became a ward of itself under the name
of Ward XII. This ward became so large at the new
re-division in 1865, that it was found necessary to assign
part of it to Ward YTI.
The islands in Boston Harbor at different times
belonged to different wards. At the time of the adop-
tion of the city charter in 1822, they were included in
Ward rV. ; and consequently INToddle's Island, which in
1833 took the name of Bast Boston, was part of this ward,
untU by a City ordinance, passed on the twenty-fourth
of June, 1850, to take effect on and after the second
Monday of the following December, Bast Boston and
the Islands were made a ward by themselves, called
Ward II. By the re-division in 1865 the Island Ward,
together with the islands, was designated as Ward I.
At the present day it would be almost preposterous
for any one to state that when South Boston became
part of the city in 1804, it had only ten families on its
five hundred and sixty acres of territory, and that in
1833 there was only about one-tenth as many inhabitants
upon Bast Boston; both of which facts are equally true,
as they are equally astonishing to modern wonderers.
By an act of the legislature of the commonwealth,
approved on the sixth of February, 1865, the several
cities in Massachusetts were empowered to make a new
division of their wards, not, however, to go into effect
before the tenth day of ]S^ovember in any year in which
said new division shall be made. Consequently the years
1865, 1875, 1885, etc., will be the years for this purpose.
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 145
On the tenth of November, 1865, the mayor approved
an ordinance providing for a new division of the wards,
based upon the number of voters, which took effect on
the eighteenth of ISTovember of the same year. By this
ordinance the old number of twelve wards was retained,
although the boundaries were much changed. On the
sixth of January, 1868, the city of Koxbury became by
annexation a part of Boston, and at the suggestion of
the mayor was designated as the Boston Highlands.
By the act of annexation of the two municipalities, the
Roxbury portion, which had constituted five wards, was
newly districted by an ordinance approved on the eighth
of iNovember, 1867, dividing that part of the city into
three wards, numbered thirteen, fourteen and fifteen.
By an act of the legislature on the annexation of Dor-
chester, its territory became the sixteenth ward of Boston
on the third of January, 1870. The division of the city
into sixteen wards is as follows :
'No. 1. — All that part of the city called East Boston,
and all the Islands in the harbor.
I^o. 2. — Beginning at the water at Warren Bridge;
thence by the centre of the avenue leading from "Warren
Bridge to Causeway street; thence by the centre of
Causeway street to Haverhill street; thence through the
centre of Haverhill street to Haymarket square; thence
across Haymarket square to the centre of Blackstone
street; thence by the centre of Blackstone street to
Clinton street; thence by the centre of Clinton street,
and by a line in the same direction with Clinton street
to the water; thence by the water to the point of begin-
ning.
JN^-Q. 3. — Beginning at the water at the easterly end
of Cambridge Bridge; thence by the centre of Cambridge
19
146 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAI
street to Staniford street- thence by the centre of Stani-
ford street to Green street; thence by the centre of
Green street to Leverett street; thence by the centre of
Leverett street to Causeway street; thence by the centre
of Causeway street to a line on the northerly side of the
Fitchburg depot to the water, and thence by the water
to the point of beginning.
"No. 4. — Beginning at the water at the end of Clinton
street; thence by the centre of Clinton street to Black-
stone street; thence by the centre of Blackstone street to
Haymarket square; thence across Haymarket square to
Haverhill street; thence by the centre of Haverhill street
to Causeway street; thence by the centre of Causeway
street to Leverett street; thence by the centre of Lever-
ett street to Green street; thence by the centre of Green
street to Staniford street; thence by the centre of Stani-
ford street to Cambridge street; thence by the centre of
Cambridge street to Temple street; thence by the centre
of Temple street and Mount Vernon street to Park street;
thence by the centre of Park street to Tremont street;
thence by the centre of Tremont street to Winter street;
thence by the centre of "Winter street to Washington
street, thence by the centre of Washington street to
Milk street; thence by the centre of Milk street to India
street; thence across India street by a straight line to
the water on the south side of Central wharf; thence
by the water to the point of beginning.
No. 5. — Beginning at the water on the south side of
Central wharf; thence across India street by a straight
line to Milk street; thence by the centre of Mjlk street
to Washington street; thence by the centre of Washing-
ton street to Winter street; thence by the centre of
Winter street to Tremont street; thence by the centre
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 147
of Tremont street to Boylston street; thence by the cen-
tre of Boylston street to Washington street; thence by
the centre of Washington street to Beach street; thence
by the centre of Beach street to Federal street; thence
by the centre of Federal street to Mount Washington
avenue ; thence by the northerly side of Mount Washing-
ton avenue to the water; thence by the water to the
point of beginning.
l^o. 6. — Beginning at the water at the easterly end
of Cambridge Bridge; thence by the centre of Cam-
bridge street to Temple street; thence by the centre of
Temple and Mount Vernon streets to Park street;
thence by the centre of Park street to Tremont street;
thence by the centre of Tremont street to Boylston
street; thence by the centre of Boylston street to Ar-
lington street; thence by the centre of Arlington street
to Commonwealth avenue; thence by the centre of
Commonwealth avenue to the boundary line between
Boston and Eoxbury; thence by said boundary line in a
northerly direction to the water; thence by the water to
the point of beginning.
N^o. 7. — Beginning at the northerly side of Mount
Washington avenue; thence by the northerly side of
Mount Washington avenue to the centre of Federal
street; thence by the centre of Federal street to Beach
street; thence by the centre of Beach street to Albany
street; thence by the centre of Albany street to Curve
street; thence by the centre of Curve street to Harrison
avenue; thence by the centre of Harrison avenue to
Dover street; thence by the southerly side of Dover
street Bridge to the water line of South Boston (so
called) ; thence by water line to the Old Colony and
Newport Eailroad track at the crossing in Dorchester
148 TOPOGEAPHICAX AND HISTORICAL
avenue; thence by the track of the Old Colony and
^Newport Railroad to E street; thence by the centre of
E street to the water; and thence by the water line, in-
cluding the property known as Boston Wharf, to the
point of beginning.
'No. 8. — Beginning at the centre of Boylston street
at its junction with Carver street; thence by the centre
of Boylston street to Washington street; thence by the
centre of Washington street to Beach street; thence by
the centre of Beach street to Albany street; thence by
the centre of Albany street to Curve street; thence by
the centre of Curve street to Harrison avenue; thence
by the centre of Harrison avenue to Indiana street;
thence by the centre of Indiana street to Washington
street; thence by the centre of Washington street to
Pleasant street; thence by the centre of Pleasant street
to Carver street; thence by the centre of Carver street
to the point of beginning.
No. 9. — Beginning at the centre of Carver street at
its junction with Boylston street; thence by the centre
of Carver street to Pleasant street; thence by the centre
of Pleasant street to Washington street; thence by the
centre of Washington street to Indiana street; thence
by the centre of Indiana street to Harrison avenue;
thence by the centre of Hari'ison avenue to Florence
street; thence by the centre of Florence street, crossing
Washington street, to Chapman street; thence by the
centre of Chapman street to Tremont street; thence by
the centre of Tremont street, crossing Berkeley street,
to Warren avenue; thence by the centre of Warren
avenue, crossing Columbus avenue, to [ffewton street;
thence by the centre of I^ewton street to the track of
the Boston and Providence Railroad; thence by the
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTOK. 149
track of the Boston and Providence Railroad to the
boundary line between Boston and Koxburyj thence by
the boundary line between Boston and Roxbury to its
junction with Commonwealth avenue; thence by the
centre of Commonwealth avenue to Arlington street;
thence by the centre of Arlington street to Boylston
street; and thence by the centre of Boylston street to
the point of beginning.
No. 10. — Beginning at the junction of Florence
street with Harrison avenue; thence by the centre of
Florence street, crossing Washington sti^eet, to Chap-
man street; thence by the centre of Chapman street to
Tremont street; thence by the centre of Tremont street
crossing Berkeley street, to Warren avenue ;• thence by
the centre of "Warren avenue to BrooMine street; thence
by the centre of Brookline street, crossing Albany street
in a direct line to the water; thence by the water line to
the northerly side of Dover street Bridge; thence by
the centre of Harrison avenue to the point of beginning.
'No. ]1. — Beginning at the boundary line between
Boston and Roxbury on the Boston and Providence
Railroad; thence by the centre of the track of the Bos-
ton and Providence Railroad to ^Newton street; thence
by the centre of !N"ewton street, crossing Columbus av-
enue, to Warren avenue; thence by the centre of War-
ren avenue to Brookline street; thence by the centre of
Brookline street, crossing Albany street in a direct line
to the water; thence by the water to the boundary line
between Boston and Roxbury; thence by said boundary
line to the point of beginning.
No. 12. — All that section of the city now known as
South Boston, lying south of the centre of E street and
south and southwest of the track of the Old Colony and
150 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Newport Railroad from its crossing at Dorchester
avenue.
iN'o. 13. — Beginning at the centre of "Washington
street at the hne heretofore existing between Boston and
Eoxbury; thence by the centre of said street to Guild
row 5 thence by the centre of Guild row to Dudley street;
thence by the centre of Dudley street to Eustis [now
Dudley] street; thence by the centre of Eustis [now
Dudley] street to the boundary line between Eoxbury
and Dorchester; thence on said boundary -line to the
boundary line heretofore existing between Boston and
Eoxbury; thence on said boundary line between Boston
and Eoxbury to the point of beginning.
l^o. 14. — Beginning at the centre of "Washington
street at the boundary line heretofore existing between
Boston and Eoxbury; thence by the centre of said street
to Guild row; thence by the centre of GuUd row to Dud-
ley street; thence by the centre of Dudley street to
Eustis [now Dudley] street; thence by the centre of
Eustis [now Dudley] street to the boundary line between
Eoxbury and Dorchester; thence on said boundary liae
to the boundary line between "West Eoxbury and Eox-
bury ; thence on said boundary line between "West Eox-
bury and Eoxbury to the centre of Shawmut avenue, at
the point where it crosses said line ; thence by the centre
of Shawmut avenue to Bartlett street; thence by the
centre of Bartlett street to Dudley street; thence by the
centre of Dudley street to Putnam street; thence by the
centre of Putnam street to Shailer avenue, so called;
thence by the centre of Shailer avenue, so called, to
Cabot street; thence by the centre of Cabot street to
Culvert street; thence by the centre of Culvert street to
Tremont street; thence by the centre of Tremont street
DESCEIPTIOK OP BOSTOK. 151
to the boundary line hitherto existing between Boston
and Roxbury; thence by said boundary line between
Boston and Eoxbury to the point of beginning.
1^0. 15. — Beginning at the centre of Tremont street,
at the boundary line heretofore existing between Boston
and Eoxbury; thence by the centre of Tremont street
to Culvert street; thence 'by the centre of Culvert street
to Cabot street; thence by the centre of Cabot street to
Shailer avenue, so called; thence by the centre of Shailer
avenue, so called, to Putnam sti'eet; thence by the centre
of Putnam street to Dudley street; thence by the centre
of Dudley street to Bartlett street; thence by the centre
of Bartlett street to Shawmiit avenue; thence by the
centre of Shawmut avenue to the boundary line between
West Koxbury and Eoxbury ; thence on said line between
West Koxbury and Eoxbury to the boundary line between
BrooMine and Roxbury; thence on said boimdary line
between BrooMine and Roxbury to the boundary line
heretofore existing between Boston and Roxbury; thence
on said boundary line between Boston and Roxbury to
the point of beginning.
^o. 16. — All that part of the city which formerly
constituted the town of Dorchester.
Before leaving the wards of the town, it may be well
to notice the fact, that in the olden time the practice was
to choose the town officers in the month of March, which
accordiag to the Old Style of reckoning time was consid-
ered the First Month, the civil year commencing on the
twenty-fifth day. As the election took place during the
early part of the month, it would be almost impossible to
decide what year was intended by records, were it not
for the custom of our forefathers to double date, — a
plan which the readers of these chapters must have fre-
152 TOPOGEA.PHI0AL AND HISTOEICAL
quently noticed, as many quotations have been given
from the old records which required such a distinction.
In 1752 the 'New Style came into use in Great Britaia
and its Provinces ; and consequently on that year the
civil, as well as the historical year began on the first day
of January, and the necessity for double-datiag became
unnecessary. On the adoption of the city charter on the
fourth of March, 1822, the day for the municipal election
was fixed to be the second Monday of April; and this
time continued in use for that purpose tmtU the year
1825, when the second Monday of December was adopted
by legislative consent, so that the city officers could com-
mence their term of service on the first Monday of Janu-
ary after their election. A revised city charter continu-
ing this amendment was adopted on the thirteenth of
l^ovember, 1854, by a vote of 9,166 against 990.
Previous to the adoption of the city charter, the town
elections were held at the town house, until the year
1743, when they took place in Paneuil Hall, which
was first opened for public use on the fourteenth of
March, 1742-3, for the purpose of paying a tribute of
respect to the "memory of the generous donor, Peter
Faneuil, Esq., who had died on the third day of the
same month.
Voting was performed in the olden time ia various
ways ; sometimes in the manner called " viva voce," and
sometimes by " uplifted hands." Yery early the ballot
was taken with corn and beans, the former being for the
aflSrmative. Written ballots were used very strictly
until the year 1830, when Hon. David Henshaw intro-
duced printed tickets at the polls, and was sustained in
the use of them by a decision of the Supreme Court,
made at the March term of that year.
DESCEIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 153
On the first settlement of the town, the good people
were accustomed to delegate the minor details of town
prudentials to ten men, who we are told were chosen " to
manage the townes affaires." These were to all intents
just what the Selectmen of towns are at the present
day; and, indeed, in the year 1642, we find this appella-
tion applied to them. The number ten was not always
adhered to; for sometimes, it appears, seven, eight and
nine only were chosen, nine being the favorite number,
which after a while became permanent. The old act of
1692 provided that each town in the Province should
sometime in March choose three, five, seven, or nine per-
sons, "able and discreet, of good conversation," to be
Selectmen; an older act, passed in 1670, in colony times,
provided for the election of Selectmen, the number not
exceeding niae. It is probable that these acts were
strictly followed by our forefathers; and that conse-
quently, after the passage of the acts, they restricted
themselves to the number nine. The old records show
that besides the nine Selectmen, there were chosen at the
same time a Town Clerk and Treasurer, and after the
division of the town into twelve wards, twelve Overseers
of the Poor, whose powers and duties were defined by
acts of the Legislature passed ia 1735, 1785, and 1794, a
due number of Tithing-men and Assessors, who in 1801
were formed into a regular Board, consisting of three
Permanent Assessors and twenty-four Assistant Assess-
ors. The number twelve soon began to be popular, and
after a while there were twelve Pirewards, twelve Clerks
of the Market, twelve Constables, twelve Scavengers,
twelve members of the Board of Health, and, in 1789,
twelve members of the School Committee. Previous to
that time the Selectmen, with the assistance of " learned
20
154: TOPOGRAPHICAL AJS^D HISTORICAL
men" as advisers, performed the duty satisfactorily, as
did the first Board of Aldermen for many years, with
the advice of twelve persons chosen in the several
wards.
All may not know that the Charles River, which
makes the northern and western boundary of the town,
has its principal source in a pond lying in Milford called
Cedar Swamp Pond, which is supplied by Deer Brook
and other brooks running from Hopkinton, Holliston and
Milford. In its course, running through Centre Village
and Factory Village in Bellingham, it receives additional
strength from Beaver Pond in that town; then running
in an easterly direction between Medway and FranHin, it
receives tribute from Hoppin Brook and Chicken Brook
coming from Holliston on the north, and from Mine
Brook and Shepard's Brook from Franklin on the south,
and from Mill Kiver leading from Wallamonopogue
Pond and Archer's Pond in Wrentham on the south.
Pursuing a northerly course between Medway and Sher-
born on the west (where it receives an additional supply
of water from Boggistere Brook, which in its turn is
formed by the confluence of Town Brook from Winthrop
Pond, Dapping Brook and Dirty Meadow Brook rising
in Holliston and Sherborn), and Medfield and Dover on
the east (with another supply from Stop River), passing
through Wrentham, Walpole and Medfield, it passes
through South ]S"atick, and takes an easterly direction.
Leaving l^atick, it passes between ]S"eedham on the
north, and Dover and Dedham on the south, taking in
water from West !N"eedham Pond, and from Trout Brook,
ISToanett's Brook in Dover, and a small stream from Ded-
ham. In Dedham the river takes a strange freak; it
sends off a small stream, called Mother Brook, to the
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 155
Neponset River, and then taMng a somewhat sudden turn
to the northwest, it leaves Needham on the southwest
and West Eoxbury and I^I^ewton on the northeast, gain-
ing a little strength from small streams on both sides.
Havrag reached "Weston, it takes a northerly direction
between Weston on the west, and Newton on the east,
and again changes its direction to the east, leaving
Waltham, Watertown, Cambridge and Charlestown on
the north, and !N'ewton, Brighton, BrooHine and Eox-
bury on the south; and bounding Boston on the west
and north, passes into Boston Harbor.
By the annexation of Dorchester to Boston, the ISTe-
ponset River becomes the southern boundary of the city.
This river takes its rise in the lowlands and meadows
of the northerly part of Foxborough, in the county of
l^orfolk; and, running northwardly through the centre
of Walpole, it receives from Sharon, on the east, a slight
increase of fresh water from Diamond Brook, and from
Medfield, on the northwest, a more considerable aug-
mentation from the waters of Mill Brook, which gets its
main supply from the Great Spring in Dover, on the
north, through Tubreck Brook. After entering Dedham
in its northerly course, it has an addition on the west
from Bubbling Brook, which, arising also in Dover, has
supplies from brooks running from Walpole and Ded-
ham, and from the considerable stream that forms the
outlet for Buckminster's Pond, in Dedham; and all of
these, uniting their waters, pass as Bubbling Brook
through Hawes Brook into the l^eponset, at the south-
erly part of South Dedham, just before meandering into
Sharon, and then turning north, to form a tortuous boun-
dary between Dedham and Hyde Park on the west and
Canton and Milton on the east. Before, however, leav-
156 TOPOaRAPHICAIi AND HISTOKIOAL
ing South Dedham, it receives additional supply through
Puflfer's Brook, and from Massapoag Pond, which dis-
charges itself through a brook bearing the same name,
both streams collecting their waters from the meadows
of Sharon, and the latter gaining sufficient from Steep
Brook, rising in Sharon, and Beaver Brook, and the
waters of York Brook and Reservoir Pond, in Canton,
to gain for this stream the name of the Eastern Branch
of the IN^eponset Eiver. On this stream was established,
in the year 1801, the foundry of the late Colonel Paul
Revere, who cast so many church-bells and artillery-
guns at the commencement of the present century, and
whose rudely-engraved pictures and paper money are so
well known to the lovers of revolutionary relics and
memorials of the last century. Upon the stream that
leads from Reservoir Pond, also in Canton, was the
homestead of the celebrated Roger Sherman, who was
so distinguished in the days of the American Revolution.
After receiving on its easterly side the waters of Punka-
paug Lake, which are conducted through the northerly
part of Canton by a brook of the same name, the l!^epon-
set runs to the southern boundary line of Hyde Park,
and thence receives on the west the waters of Mother
Brook. Thence this river, assuming size and additional
importance, runs in a northeasterly course to Dorches-
ter Bay, between Commercial Point and Squantum, sep-
arating Boston from Milton and Quincy, and receiving
in its course tributes from a few small brooks on both
sides, and the more important Pine Tree Brook, in Mil-
ton, and Sagamore Creek, in Quincy. This river, which
has been of great importance at all periods of the his-
tory of l!^ew England, and which is about thirty miles in
length from its source in Poxborough to Boston Harbor,
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 157
is navigable as far as Granite Bridge. Formerly, small
vessels were accustomed to reach the Lower Mills, about
three and a half miles, in a crooked course, from Com-
mercial Point.
The curious connection between Charles River and
Neponset River, by means of Mother Brook, which sep-
arates a smaU portion of Dedham near West Roxbury
from the rest of the town, forms literally a large island
territory, consisting of Brookline, Brighton, Newton, a
small portion of Dedham, Dorchester, "West Roxbury,
Roxbury and Boston. In its course the river is inter-
rupted by several dams, producing, with the neighbor-
ing scenery, picturesque falls, and giving power to many
mUls and manufactories built upon its borders. From
the mouth of the river back to the lower mill, it exple-
riences all the changes consequent to the tides, and its
waters are salt; but above this point, being supplied by
brooks running from ponds, its waters are fresh.
There are two other streams of water of considerable
interest to Boston, known as Stony Brook and Muddy
Brook. The first of these takes its rise from various
points in the southwesterly part of West Roxbury; and
its streamlets uniting about the centre of the town, the
brook runs through the low parts of the town and Bos-
ton Highlands, until it is emptied into the Back Bay, its
waters finding their way to the harbor through Charles
River. Muddy Brook, which forms the outlet for Ja-
maica Pond and Ward's Pond, in West Roxbury, unites
with another branch of brooklets from the central part
of Brookline, and flowing in a very tortuous manner to
the Back Bay, where it empties itself, forms the boun-
dary line between Boston and Brookline.
CHAPTEE X.
•THE THESE HIl^LS OI" BOSTON.
The Three Hills, Copp's, Fort and Beacon Hills • • • Appearance of the Hills on
approaching the Town • • • Copp's HUl, and its earlier Names • . • The Old
Windmill • • • Stanley's Pasture • ■ • Stanley's Gift to the Free School • • • An-
cient Redoubt • • • Claim of the Artillery Company • • • Prospect from Copp's
HUl • • ■ Burial Ground • • • Fort Hill, its Position and Early Name • • • Streets
Leading to the Fort • • • Fort Field • • • Fortification on Fort Hill • • • Widow
Tuthill's Windmill • • ■ The Mill Lane • • • Elder James Penn's Land on the
HUl • • • Seizure of Andros • • • Charity School • • • Views of the Hill and Fort
• . • Changes in the Neighborhood of Fort HiU.
To Awz one approaching the old town of Boston, as
it appeared at the time of its first settlement by Euro-
peans in 1630, its most distinguislaing feature consisted
in its several Mils, three of which, particularly prominent
to the sight, were noticeable from all points of view,
whether from the land or the sea. The most northerly of
these, situated at the extreme north end of the town,
between Hudson's and Merry's Points, has at various
times been known as Windmill HjU, Snow Hill, and
Copp's HUl, the last of which designations is most
familiar to Bostonians. The most easterly, situated be-
tween the Great and South Coves, and near the Port
Point, bore at times the names Corn Hill and Fort HUl.
But the largest, and by far the most remarkable of the
three, was in the more westerly part of the peninsula,
although some of its eminences, for it had many, ex-
tended easterly almost to the most central portion of the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 159
town, and was early known as Treamount, and after-
wards as Beacon Hill, with several names for its many
peats and eminences.
In the olden time, before the hand of modern civiliza-
tion had reached these old landmarks — the familiar holi-
day resorts of the forefathers of the town — the first
objects that met the eye of the stranger who ventured
to approach the capital of the Massachusetts Colony
were the ancient windwill and its busy wings, the lone
tenant of the north hill, grinding out the rich yellow
corn of Indian origin, raised on nearly every garden lot
on the peninsula J and the tall and sturdy beacon pole
on the loftiest eminence of Treamount, sometimes topped
with a blazing bonfire, the warning to the neighboring
villagers that ganger was at handj and the old, but for-
midable wooden breastwork, upon the Fort Hill, a safe
reliance when the danger should come.
Copp's Hill, though not very lofty, being only about
fifty feet in height, rose with a gentle ascent from Hud-
son's Point, whence the ferry boat of honest Francis
Hudson, the fisTierman, started for Oharlestown. On its
northerly side, fronting Charlestown, it presented some-
what of an abrupt face, hke many of the bluffs, or heads
of islands in the harbor; while the three sides, bounded
by the streets now known as Charter, Prince and Salem
streets, were of a gradual and easy slope. Upon the
summit of this hUl there was a level plain, which in early
days had been the site of a noted windmill, and from
which the hill itself had taken its earliest remembered
name " Windmill Hill," and the contiguous land around
it that of the "Mylne Field," or "Mill Field," by which
appellation it was most frequently known in the record
of grants and conveyances of land made in that neigh-
160 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
borhood in the olden time. The old -windmill had for-
merly performed the accustomed work at a place some
miles distant; for Governor Winthrop in his valuable
journal informs us on the fourteenth of August, 1632, that
" the windmill was brought downe to Boston, because
(where it stoode neere If-town) [l^^ewton, perhaps a
part of Cambridge], it would not grind but with a west-
erly winde." In later days the same hill obtained the
name of Snow Hill, a cognomen only kept in remem-
brance by Snow Hill street, which in early times was
content with a position on its northwesterly side, though
it now, disturbing the earthly resting-place of the for-
mer residents of the Korth End, sacrilegiously passes
over the edge of the old bluff, extending itself in a
northerly direction to Charter street on the northeast-
erly side. Commercial street also has interposed itself
between the hill and the water side, and HuU street has
contracted its limits by separating it from its old western
boundary. Prince street. After a lapse of time, the hill
took another and more permanent name, which it now
bears, Copp's Hill, probably after William Copp, an in-
dustrious cobbler, who dwelt hard by on his half-acre, and
owned a homestead there ; and who died in March 1670,
aged sixty-one years, and was buried, as his family were,
in the graveyard that was a few years earlier located on
the brow of the hill. On the southerly slope of this hill
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.
This individual was a tailor, if old records can be be-
lieved, and dwelt near his pasture at the North End;
he died not far from March 1646, at the age of forty-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 161
three years, a fit person to be remembered by Bosto-
Bians, as the first who devised property to the town for
the support of public schools; for in his will dated the
twenty-seventh of March, 1646, we find the following,
" It™, I give to the maintenance of the free-schoole at
Boston a p'cell of land lying neere to the waterside &
foure roads in length backward."
During the siege of Boston in revolutionary times
the British threw up a redoubt upon this hill, the para-
pets of which were constructed of barrels filled with the
natural soil of the place. At the battle of Bunker Hill
on the seventeenth of June, 1775, the battery on Copp's
Hill consisted of about six heavy guns and howitzers,
three of which pieces, twenty-four pounders, were found,
on the re-occupation of the town after its evacuation
by the British on the seventeenth of March, 1776, spiked
and clogged, so as to prevent their immediate use by the
provincials. The vestiges of these works remained upon
the hill — near the southwest corner of the old burial-
ground — for many years after they were used by the
British, and were a favorite playground for the ^orth
End boys, until improvements to the neighborhood re-
quired their removal. The Ancient and Honorable Artil-
lery Company a long time ago claimed the ownership
of a part of this hill, and is said to have occupied it on
one occasion for parade and drUl during the war of the
revolution, in consequence of being refused admittance
to the Common, the place to which they had prescrip-
tive right by their charter. After the British soldiery
left Boston, the company made claim to it again by
right of an old mortgage, which had run out without
the redemption of the land; but this was subsequently
discharged.
21
162 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Although the location of this eminence was such that
it did not command a prospect of any considerable part
of the town, even before the high and capacious build-
ings of the present century were erected, nevertheless
it afforded a good opportunity for viewing the towns of
Charlestown and Chelsea, and a large part of the harbor
and its pleasantly situated islands. In late years an
agreeable number of thrifty trees have been transplanted
on its summit by direction of the city authorities; and
the spot has again become the holiday resort of the in-
habitants residing in its neighborhood, who are wont on
Sundays, and the evenings of the sultry days of summer,
to refresh themselves with the breezes which still con-
tinue to visit the old hill, though the wings of the wind-
mill have long since ceased to move, and the grinder to
garner in his toll from the scanty produce of the neigh-
boring fields and garden plots. Many memories of the
past, however, cling to this well known spot, and no old
Bostonian visits the ancient monuments which tell of
other days without a pious thought of the years that
have passed away forever, and without recalling well
remembered incidents and many recollections and asso-
ciations of the pleasantest period of life. A description
of the ancient burial-ground will be given hereafter when
treating of the town cemeteries.
Fort Hill, the second of the three great hills of Bos-
ton, was situated at the easterly part of the town, on the
promontory that projected easterly between the Great
Cove at its north and the South Cove at its south. It
was estimated, before any alteration had taken place in
the contour of its summit, to be about eighty feet in
height, and was quite extensive at its base, originally
including under its name all that part of the town now
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON 163
lying between the water on the northeast, east and
south, Atkinson's Pasture (the region between the pre-
sent Federal and Pearl streets, but which were anciently
known as Long Lane and Hutchinson's street) on the
west, and on the northwest was a creek which in days
long past ran through a marsh that occupied the space
known as the lower part of Milk street, Kilby street and
Liberty square, till it reached Oliver's Dock, at the north-
erly part of Broad street, where it is crossed by Central
street. On its northerly and easterly sides it presented
rugged bluJffs, difficult of ascent, and consequently afford-
ing good defences for the town, which were early made
available ; while on its other sides its gradual slopes made
it easily accessible from the other parts of the town.
The hill was anciently approached by two ways, the first
of which led from Governor "Winthrop's house on " the
High Street " (where now the South Block is on "Wash-
ington street), opposite the School street, by "the Fort
Street" (now Milk street) and Oliver's street; the second,
also, from the same High street, but farther south, by
passing through either the way leading by " the town's
watering place," now Bedford street, or through "the
Mill Lane" (now Summer street), and then through
" Cow Lane " (now High street) , to its foot.
The land immediately around- this hill was designated,
in the early days of the town, the Fort Field, and was
used so extensively at first for the cultivation of corn
that the eminence had previously obtained the name of
Corn Hill, an appellation which it soon lost in conse-
quence of the fortification which was so early erected
there by the forefathers of the town. An attempt was
made early in the last century to call this hill Bowling
Green, and still later, after the honored name of Wash-
164: TOPOGKAPHICAIi AND HISTOEICAL
ingtonj but the former failed entirely, and the latter suc-
ceeded no farther than naming the empty square space
which surrounded the top of the hill and which was
afterwards, and until quite recently, encircled with an
iron fence.
After the Governor and the Company of the Massa-
chusetts Bay, while in England, had resolved to remove
with their charter to ISTew England, among their earliest
considerations they took counsel about matters of defence
in the new country, by whom they should be erected,
and how they should be maintained j and came to the
conclusion, that the Company should be at one-half the
expense and the planters at the other half, and that all
men should be employed in the building thereof in equal
proportion until the works should be completed. The
first place selected for raising fortifications was Boston,
and the place may be inferred from the following extracts
taken from Governor Winthrop's often quoted journal:
24 May, 1632, " The fortification vpon the Corne Hill
at Boston was begun:" 25. " Charlestowne men came &
wrought vpon the fortificane; Roxbury the next, and
Dorchester the next." Again, on the third of August,
163.3, the Governor being asked by the Deputy-Governor
by what authority he had removed certain ordnance and
erected a fort at Boston, replied, " that the ordnance
lying vpon the beach in danger of spoiling, & having
often complayned of it in the Court, & nothing done
with the helpe of divers of the Assistants, they were
mounted vpon their carriages, removed where they
might be of some vse: & for the forte, it had been agreed,
above a year before, that it should be erected there :
«fe all this was done without any peny chai'ge to the
publ." These extracts clearly show that Governor Win-
• DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 165
throp originated the project of erecting the fortifications
upon the hill, and actually accomplished the undertaking,
in which he was opposed by Mr. Dudley the Deputy-
Governor. The first mention made of these fortifications
in the Colonial Records of Massachusetts is under the
date of the twenty-ninth of May, 1633, when it was or-
dered by the General Court " that the fibrt att Boston
shalbe finished with what convenient speede may be, att
the publique charg." In September of the same year all
hands, except magistrates and ministers, were ordered
to afibrd their help to the finishing of this fort until it
should be completed; and on the first day of the sub-
sequent October, Sergeant Perkins is ordered to carty
forty turfs to the fort, as a punishment for drunkenness..
On the third of September, 1634, the same records show
that " Mr. John Samford is chosen canoneere for the fibrt
att Boston; & itt is ordered, that for two yeares ser-
vice that hee hath alrea;dy done att the said fibrt, & for
one yeare more hee shall doe, to be accompted from this
day, hee shall have allowed him out of the treasury the
sum of XX?." By these extracts it is evident that the
construction of the fort was commenced in May 1632,
more than two years before the earliest town record
now extant.
After this date, the town records abound in orders
passed with reference to the building of the fortifications
upon Fort Hill, and petitions are frequently mentioned
as having been presented by persons who wished to
be relieved from working upon the same.
The following extract from the town records shows
what passed at a general town meeting, and contains
much information; it bears date the twenty-third of
January, 1635-6:
160 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
" Item, it was likewise agreed, y* for y" rayseiag of
a newe worke or fortification vpon y" ffbrthill, about
y* w* is there alreaddy begune, the whole towne would
bestowe fourteene dayes worke by equall pr'portion, &
for this s" M' Deputie, M' Henry Yane, M"" John
Winthrop, Sen., M'' Will" Coddington, M' John "Win-
throp, ju., Captaine John Underhill, & M" Will" Bren-
.ton, were authorized as commissioners, y' they, or y*
greater part of them, should sett downe how many dayes
worke be equall for each man to doe, & what money
such should contribute beside their worke, as mene of
greater abilities, & had fewer servants, that therewith
pr'vision of tooles & other necessaryes might be
made, and some recompence given to such of y" poorer
sort as should be found to bee overburdened w''' their
fourteene dayes worke; & M"' John Cogan is chosen
treasurer, & M"" Will" Dyer, clerks, for y'' furtherance
of this worke; the worke also is to be put in hand w"',
soe soone as weather will p'mitt, in regard y' y" ingineer,
M' Lyon Garner [Gardner], who doth soe freely ofier
his help therevnto, hath but a short time to stay."
From this time the work on the fortifications seems to
have progressed reasonably well, although they were not
immediately completed. On the thirty-first of October,
1642,' " there is liberty granted vnto Widdow Tu thill to
remove her windmill into the Fort there to place it at the
appointm' of Capt. Gibones." In December 1642, " It is
ordered that the highway begun from Widdow Tuthills
windmill to the Fort, 20 feet in width, shall be laid out
by W" Colbron and Jacob Ehot," and in March 1643,
the same persons were appointed to lay out a cartway
near the Widow Tuthill's Windmill, and on the fifteenth
of September, 1645, the same Mr. Colbron with James
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 167
Penn are directed to lay out the way through the gar-
dens to the south windmill, passing between the house
of ^Nicholas Parker (at the southwest corner of the
present Winter street), and the garden of Robert
Kenolds, which was situated east of the present site of
Trinity Church. This way (now Summer street) is the
old Mill Lane that led to the Widow Tuthill's Windmill
on Fort HiU. The other lane (Bedford street), leading
to the Fort passing by the town's watering place, was laid
out by vote passed the thirty-first of January, 1644-5,
and was to pass between Thomas Wheeler's garden, at
the northwest corner of Bedford street, and Robert
Woodward's garden at the southwest comer.
From the following record it appears that the land
taken on Corn Hill for the fort must have belonged to
James Penn, a person of much note in the early days of
the town, having been the beadle, then the marshal, and
finally the ruling elder of the First Church: — December
30, 1644. " There are two acres of ground added to
James Penn his former grant of 26* 6""" 44, for more
full satisfaction for his land taken on y" fort hill, taken
to the use of the fortification " ; and afterwards three
act-es " neare Rockbury gate " are granted to him for the
same purpose.
Fort Hill has been quite noted in the early history
of the townj and among the most noted events was the
seizure of Sir Edmond Andros, who sought shelter
within the fort, on the tenth of April, 1689, a daring
act on the part of Bostonians, which might have made
many of them lose their heads had it not been for the
lucky occurrence of the great English revolution that
elevated the Prince of Orange to the throne. The fol-
lowing vote, passed the ninth of March, 1712-13, shows
168 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
that Boston was not altogether wanting in good acts and
charities :
" Yoted, That the Selectmen be desired to view the
House and ground on Fort Hill or elsewhere at the
Request of y^ Gentlemen that are about to erect a Charity
School, or Hospital for such children, and that they lay
out what ground may be thought convenient for the s^
Intention, and make Report at the next Greneral Town
Meeting for the Townes confirmation of the same, to be
contimied and appropriated for that use so long as such
school shall be upheld there."
Many engravings have been made representing the
hill and the fort on its summit. On Bonner's plan of the
town, published in 1722, it appears like a quadrangular
stockade ; but in a later map, published in 1775, it has
the appearance of a regular fort; and agaia the plates
connected with Des Barres's charts give it simply the
resemblance of a common board fence. A view of the
town taken in 1743, and published by William Price, and
republished a century afterwards, exhibits a good view
of Fort Hill from an easterly point of view; as also does
another ancient engraving made in 1774, and published
with the Royal American Magazine. In the Columbian
Magazine for December 1787, and the Massachusetts
Magazine for June 1791, are other views of this locality.
There is no evidence on record, nor is there any creditable
tradition that the town ever parted with its right to Fort
Hill. From the earliest days of the town to the close
of the war of the Revolution, the hill was chiefly used
for military purposes ; since then, the fortifications have
been suffered to decay, until not a vestige of them
remained to be seen at the time Boston became a city,
in 1822.
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 169
Great changes have taken place in the appearance of
Fort Hill. As late as the year 1784 no street was nearer
its summit than Batterymarch, Purchase, and Ohver
streets, at which time it had visible remains of the old
fortifications enclosed with a wooden fence. A very
creditable engraving, published in 1781, with the charts
of Des Barres, a noted hydrographer, exhibits the ap-
pearance of the hill at the time of the American Revolu-
tionary war. Since this time, the hUl has been nearly
covered with private houses and one or more public
buildings; and a circular plat of ground, surrounded by
a wide street forming a square, has alone been retained
as a breathing place for its numerous inhabitants. Be-
fore the buildings were erected upon the lull, an excellent
view of the harbor and of the towns lying southerly,
Dorchester and Roxbury, and the Blue Hills of Milton,
could be obtained from its top. 'Now, alas ! there is very
little remaining about it that can interest the visitor. A
project of removing the soil and reducing the hill to a
much lower grade was sanctioned by the city council by
a resolve and order approved on the sixth of September,
1865 J and which will be fully carried out, as an order
appropriating the large sum of twelve hundred and fifty
thousand dollars for the purpose was approved by the
mayor on the twenty-third of July, 1869. This improve-
ment will give much valuable room to the business part
of the city, and mate a large increase in its taxable prop-
erty, and at the same time remove many of the noted
places of filth and siclaiess which are now found in its
immediate neighborhood.
CHAPTEE XI.
BEACON HILL AND ITS EMINENCES, BEACON POLE AND MONUMENT.
Beacon Hill, anciently called Treamount • • • Its many Eminences and their
Names • • • Beacon Hill proper • • • Copley's Hill, Monnt Vernon • • • Cotton's
Hill, Pemberton's Hill • • • West Hill • • ■ Height of Highest Summit • • ■
Early Mansion Houses • • • Hancock House, and its Stable, etc • ■ • The Han-
cock Cow Pasture, now the site of the State House • ■ ■ Changes in the
Vicinity of Beacon Hill • • • The Beacon Pole and its History • • • British
Port • • ■ Centry Street ■ • ■ Thurston's House • • • Approach to the Hill • • •
Beacon Hill Monument, and its Inscriptions • • ■ The Tablets and Gilded
Eagle ■ ■ • Exact Site of the Old Monument • • ■ Sale of the Land and Remo-
val of the Monument • • • Temple Street laid out • • • House of Daniel D.
Rogers • ■ • Present Condition of Treamount.
Beacon Hill, early known as Treamount, or Tramont,
and sometimes called Tremont, was the third of the
three great hUls of Boston, and presented to the sight
the most prominent object of the town when it was
viewed at any considerable distance. It was not only
conspicuous on account of its loftiness, but was also a
distinguishing feature of the peninsula, in consequence
of the peculiar shape of its summit, which exhibited
three emiaences that were particularly noticeable from
the neighboring town of Charlestown, and which gave
to it its first name " Treamount," to the town the first
English designation " Ti imountaine," and to a principal
street, one of the oldest and most noted, the name
" Tremont," by which alone is preserved the remembrance
of a peculiarity now lost to the sight forever. One of
DBSCBIPTIOK OP BOSTON. 171
these eminences was situated behind where the State
House now stands, and was anciently known as Gentry
Hill, and was the site of the ancient beacon pole; at
the west of this was a lesser elevation, sometime called
Copley's Hill, and later, Mount Yernon; and at the east
was a summit known as Cotton's Hill, and Pemberton's
Hill, that consisted of threfe more humble risings upon a
lofty eminence, which in recent times were occupied as
the gardens of the late Lieutenant-Governor William
Phillips, Gardiner Greene, Esq., and Dr. James Lloyd.
Another portion of the ancient Treamount stretched
nearly to the present line of West Cedar street, where it
terminated in a high bluff called West Hill — a portion
of the ridge enjoying names which it would be much
better to forget than to continue in remembrance with
the unpleasant associations of the past with which they
are inseparably connected.
The loftiest of these eminences was about one hun-
dred and thirty-eight feet above the level of the sea, and
afforded the best >dew of the neighboring towns and
harbor that could be obtained within the limits of the
peninsula. This cluster of elevated points extended
from the head, or westerly end of Hanover street on
the east to the water on the west, and from Cambridge
street on the north to the Common on the south. On
the easterly slope, the site of the present Tremont row,
were, in the olden time, many of the principal mansion
houses of the town; but upon the more westerly part
there were scarcely any buildings until Mr. Thomas
Hancock, a princely merchant, erected on the southerly
slope his sightly stone house, in 1737, afterwards the
aristocratic mansion of his nephew. Governor Hancock,
which was taken down in 1863, to give room for the two
172 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
magnificent houses of Messrs. Beebe and Brewer. On
the west of the Hancock house were the carriage house
and stable, about the last use of which was for the ex-
hibition of caravans of wild animals; and on the east
was the cow pasture, which was bought by the town and
given conditionally to the State for the erection of the
present State House, the corner stone of which was laid
by the Grand Lodge , of Freemasons of Massachusetts
on the fourth of July, 1795, in the presence of Governor
Samuel Adams, who made a most appropriate speech on
the occasion, which probably took him less than five
minutes to deliver.
The changes in the vicinity of Beacon Hill have been
numerous in modern years ; and the various eminences
have been removed and many streets laid out upon their
surface, much of the soil having been used to raise the
low land in the neighborhood of Charles street, and a
portion to fill up the old millpond north of the present
Haymarket square. The last of the beacon poles, from
which alarms had been given in former days, was blown
down in !N"ovember 1789, and a monument erected in its
place in 1790; and this last was taken down in the year
1811 to make way for dwelling-houses ; and on a portion
of the site of the principal eminence is the stone reser-
voir, which sides upon Temple, Derne and Hancock
streets.
The origin of the beacon pole dates back to the fol-
lowing order, passed on the fourth of March, 1634-5, by
the General Court of the Colony :
" It is ordered, that there shalbe forth with a beacon
sett on the centry hill at Boston, to give notice to the
country of any danger, & that there shalbe a ward of
one pson kept there from the first of April to the last
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 173
of Sepf., & that upon the discov'y of any danger, the
beacon shalbe fired, an allarum given, as also messengers
presently sent by that towne where the danger is dis-
eov'ed, to all other townes within their jurisdicwn."
This beacon pole was a tall and conspicuous staff,
having foot sticks on its sides to give aid in ascending
to the crane which surmounted its top, and to which was
suspended an iron skillet that, in colonial times, was
generally kept full of combustibles, ready prepared for .
ignition in case of the necessity of an alarm.
In some shape the beacon pole, erected in accordance
with the vote of the General Court, was kept standing,
being occasionally replaced by a new one, until the year
1775, when it was taken down by the British troops, and
a small square fort erected in its stead. After the retire-
ment of these troops in 1776, the beacon pole, which
remained until it was blown down just previous to the
erection of the monument, was placed in the old position
by the town. The one which was taken down by the
British had been erected by the Selectmen of the town
in 1768, very much to the displeasure of the governor
of the province ; and, in consequence of apprehension of
oppression by the troops, unknown persons, on the tenth
of September of that year, placed an empty turpentine,
barrel in the skillet, undoubtedly with a view of raising
the country to oppose the troops if necessary. This
gave great alarm to the royalists, especially to Governor
Bernard, and the Selectmen were desired to remove the
same; but declining to do so, the obnoxious barrel was
taken down by Mr. Greenleaf, the high sheriff, on the six-
teenth, by direction of the Governor, and the pole subse-
.quently taken away, and the fort erected. The removal
of the barrel created quite a prolonged discussion
174 TOPOGRAPHICAL AKD HISTORICAL
through the papers, certain parties being very desirous
to propagate the idea that the barrel was not one which
had been used for turpentine, and consequently was not
of an inflammable nature.
The street which led to the Gentry Hill was laid out by
an order of the Selectmen passed the thirtieth of March,
1640, the portion of Temple street extending over the
site of the lull from Mount Yernon street to Derne street
not being constructed until years after the summer of
1811, when the monument was taken down, and the hill
dug away. 'Not a few of the older iuhabitants who were
hving at the commencement of the present century re-
member well the lofty mansion house of WUliam Thurs-
ton, Esq., as it presented itself to the sight of all in the
days of its magnificence, from its towering eminence
just east of the monument; and many will undoubtedly,
never forget the same building shorn of its pristine glory,
standing upon the high precipice formed by the removal
of the greater part of the soil of the same hill, overtop-
ping the chimneys of the neighboring houses. The sum-
mit of the hill, about six rods square, was approached
from the north and from the south by means of steps,
rather steep in their ascent. Five lithograpliic views
•printed some years ago by Mr. George G. Smith, of this
city, recall to memory very vividly the appearance of the
hill about the time of the removal of the monument.
The last contemporary notice of the beacon pole is
to be found in the Independent Chronicle, under date of
Thursday, December 3, 1789, in the following words : —
" 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, of course, was on the twenty-
BESCBIPTION OP BOSTOK. 175
sixth of [November. Immediately after this occurrence,
a project was set on foot for erecting a monimient upon
the site of this noted and heretofore useful pole; and a
plan was procured of Charles Bulfinch, Esq., a worthy-
townsman, who had made architecture a special study.
The erection of the monument was commenced in
the year 1790, but was not completed until the spring
of the next year. Its base was about one hundred and
thirty-eight feet above the level of the sea, being about
twenty feet higher than the floor of the present State
House. It was a plain Doric column, of the Roman style,
with a well proportioned base and pedestal, and built in
the most substantial manner of brick and stone incrusted
with white cement; and surmounted by a large gilt
eagle with the American segis upon its breast, standing
upon a globe. The whole height of the monument,
including pedestal and eagle, was sixty feet; the diame-
ter of the column being four feet, and the width of the
pedestal eight. The four sides of the pedestal contained
panels, in which were engraved the following inscrip-
tions designed to commemorate the leading events of
the American Revolution.
On the South side :
TO • COMMEMORATE
THAT • TRAIN • OF • EVENTS
WHICH • LED
TO • THE • AMERICAN • REVOLUTION
AND • FINALLY • SECURED
LIBERTY • AND • INDEPENDENCE
TO • THE ■ UNITED ■ STATES •
THIS • COLUMN • IS • ERECTED
BY • THE • VOLUNTARY ■ CONTRIBUTIONS
OF -THE -CITIZENS
OP • BOSTON
MDCCXC.
176 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
On the West side :
stamp act passed 1765. repealed 1766.
Board of customs established 1767.
British troops fired on the inhabitants of Boston
March 6. 1770.
Tea act passed 1773.
Tea destroyed in Boston Decern: 16.
Port of Boston shut and guarded June 1. 1774.
General Congress at Philadelphia Sept : 4.
Provincial Congress at Concord Oct: 11.
Battle of Lexington April 19. 1775.
Battle of Bunker Hill June 17.
Washington took command of the army July 2.
Boston evacuated March 17. 1776.
Independence declared by Congress July 4. 1776.
Hancock President.
On the IN'orth side:
Capture of Hessians at Trenton Dec: 26. 1776.
Capture of Hessians at Bennington. Aug: 16. 1777.
Capture of British army at Saratoga Oct: 17.
Alliance with Prance Feb: 6. 1778.
Confederation of United States formed July 9.
Constitution of Massachusetts formed 1780.
Bowdoin President of Convention.
Capture of British army at York Oct: 19. 1781.
Prelimenaries of Peace Nov: 30. 1782.
Definitive Treaty of Peace Sept: 10. 1783.
Federal Constitution formed Sept: 17. 1787,
and ratified by the United States 1787. to. 1790.
New Congress assembled at New York April. 6. 1789.
Washington inaugurated President April 30.
Public debts funded Aug: 4. 1790.
On the East side :
■AMERICANS-
WHILE ■ EROM • THIS • EMINENCE
SCENES • OF • LUXURIANT • FERTILITY
OF • FLOURISHING • COMMERCE
& • THE • ABODES • OF • SOCIAL • HAPPINESS
MEET -YOUR -VIEW
FORGET • NOT • THOSE
WHO • BY • THEIR • EXERTIONS
HAVE • SECURED • TO • YOU
THESE ■ BLESSINGS.
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 177
Hon. Thomas Dawes, the well remembered judge of
the late Municipal Court, who was born in Boston in
the year 1757, graduated at Harvard College in 1777,
and died 22 July, 1825, had the reputation of being the
author of these very judicious inscriptions. If he did
not write them, it is desirable to know who did. "When
the monument was taken down in 1811, to make way
for improvements, the tablets were placed in a back
passageway of the State House, at the foot of the old
flight of stairs which led to the rooms in the entresol
beneath the Senate Chamber, and the gilded eagle was
placed over the entrance door of the Doric Hall, imme-
diately beneath the Representatives' Hall; and subse-
quently, about fifteen years ago, removed to the last
mentioned hall and suspended over the Speaker's Chair.
On the twenty-first of February, 1861, in accordance
with an order of the Legislature, these tablets were
securely attached to the easterly wall of the Doric Hall
of the State House, there to be retained and preserved,
not only to commemorate the important events thereon
recorded, but to serve as a memorial of the patriotic
feelings of our predecessors, and as a testimony of our
appreciation of their good works. In arranging in 1867
the colors borne by the Massachusetts regiments it
became necessary to remove this venerable tablet to the
easterly corridor at the right of the Doric Hall. An act
has been passed empowering the Bunker Hill Monument
Association to re-construct the Beacon Hill Monument.
If the tablets should ever be removed, a place would be
afforded for another set of marbles, on which can be
chronicled the patriotic acts and heroic sacrifices of the
noble sons of Massachusetts, who so recently have given
themselves to their country in its greatest need and peril.
23
178 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
The site of Beacon Hill Monument is one that can
now be pointed out with exactness, and with such a
degree of precision that any one can identify the spot
without hesitation. It has already been stated that a
portion of the summit of Gentry Hill was reserved for
the Beacon Pole very early after the settlement of the
town. The monument area seems to have been a por-
tion of the summit of the hill six rods, or niBcty-nine
feet, square. Old deeds of neighboring estates men-
tion this lot and it seems to have been surrounded, at
one time, by the land of Robert Turner, two himdred
years ago, leaving only a passage .to it from the Com-
mon about thirty feet wide. The neighboring estates
passed by inheritance and sale, untU they became vested
in Thomas Hancock, the uncle of Governor John Han-
cock, in 1752, and in others, among whom was John
Alford, of Charlestown. The Alford property was sold
'u 1760 to Wilham Molineaux, and subsequently by con-
fiscation became vested in Daniel Dennison Eogers.
The Rogers' estate extended from the present Beacon
street to the top of Beacon Hill, and was bounded on
the east side by the present Bowdoin street, and on the
west by the passageway to the monument, and by the
monument lot. The most northerly part of this land,
being about eighty feet of the depth of the garden of
Mr. Rogers, was sold by him, on the ninth of ^N^ovember,
1802, to William Thurston, Esq., and was the site of the
house built there in 1804, and which will be remembered
on account of its high flight of steps, and as standing
in the air after the digging down of Monument Hill,
as before alluded to. The exact site of this noted house
was the northwest part of the estate, which covered the
ground now occupied by the three houses in Beacon
DESCRIPTION OS" BOSTON. 179
Hill Place, and the one just north of them extending
on Bowdoin street to the passageway. The back of
this estate, on the westerly side, bounded on the monu-
ment lot.
In the spring of 1811 the old town began to feel
poor, as grievous debts pressed heavily upon the inhabi-
tants ; and an effort was made to obtain relief by selling
the public land, in order to raise money to lessen the
town's debt. A committee of twelve respectable men,
one from each ward, was appointed to take the subject
into consideration; and on the twenty-seventh of May a
report was submitted to the townsmen, recommending
the sale of land belonging to the town on Beacon Hill,
of the lot opposite to the mall, and other land. The
recommendation was adopted, and- on motion of John
Lowell, Esq., then an active inhabitant of the town, an
order was passed for that purpose. The land was sold
at public auction on the twentieth day of the succeeding
June, that opposite the Tremont street mall being soon
built upon as a portion of Colonnade row; and of the
monument lot two-thirds fell to John Hancock, and one-
third to Samuel Spear. It was then that the monument
was taken down and its eagle and tablets saved, for the
purchasers began removing the soil from the hill in July,
although they did not receive their title-deed to the land
until the sixth of August following. Although this
great digging commenced in 1811, it was not until the
twenty-ninth of July, 1824, during the mayoralty of
the elder Quincy, that Temple street was laid out
through it and accepted by the city. This occurrence
being of so late a date has led many to think that the
monument could not have been removed as early as 1811,
while others insist upon it, that it was taken down
180 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
several years sooner. But it is well kuown that it was
standing in its lot in the sprmg of 1811, and that it was
not there in jSTovember of the same year. The fonr
boundary lines of this lot, six rods square, are: The
south line, sixty feet from Mt. Vernon street; the north
Une, consequently one hundred and j&fty-nine feet from
the same street; the east line, that already mentioned as
the boundary of Mr. Thurston's estate; and the west
line, about twelve feet west of the westerly line of Tem-
ple street. The site of the monument, being in the
centre of this lot, was just east of the easterly side of
Temple street, in the front part of^ the lot of the second
house in this street numbering from Mt. Yemon street,
now numbered 80.
The house well remembered by so many, as standing
in a somewhat similar condition as did Mr. Thurston's,
was the house of the late Daniel Dennison Rogers, and
was situated on the estate just south of the present
Beacon Hill Place. It was a large double house, and
was built on the Em'opean plan, with a stable and wood-
house in front, and the main entrance approached from
between these, over a long flight of stone steps which
led to it and its spacious front garden. Mrs. Elizabeth,
widow of Mr. Rogers, died on the fifth of May, 1833,
aged sixty-nine years ; and the estate was sold at auction
in the subsequent June, and the house was taken down
soon after, and the present block built and occupied in
1835.
Within the memories of the older inhabitants of
Boston, great changes have taken place in the territory
once occupied by Treamount. The hills have been
removed to fill up valleys and waste places; streets,
vying with each other in their comfortable and sightly
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 181
mansion houses, have been laid out; and the dreary part
of the old town, which had very little of early historical
interest, except in the garden, oi'chard and spring of
Blaxton, and in the Beacon Pole, upon which the warn-
ing light had so often blazed, has become now the most
populous, as well as the most comfortable part of the
city.
CHAPTER Xn.
CEMETEKIES — CHAPEL BUEYING-GEOUND.
Cemeteries in Boston • • • The Old Burying-Ground, or Chapel Burying-Ground,
in Tremont street • • • Death of Mr. Isaac Johnson, in Charlesto wn ■ • • Burial
of Captain Eobert Welden, the first known interment on the Peninsula ■ • ■
Lady Arbella Johnson buried in Salem ■ ■ • Form and Boundaries of the
Chapel Burying-Ground ■ • • Number of its Tombs and when built • • •
Wooden, Brick, Stone and Iron Fences • • ■ The Ground let to Captain
Savage • • ■ Burials discontinued for a time • • • Description of the Cemetery
• • • Strange Freak of an-old Superintendent of Burials in placing the Grave-
stones in Rows • • • Kinds of Memorials and their Material • • • Monument of
Col. Dawes • • • The Winslow Tomb • • • Leverett Tomb • • • Governor Win-
throp's Tomb • • • Elder Thomas Oliver's Tomb • • • The Early Pastors of the
First Church • • • Graves of Mrs. Mather and Mrs. Davenport • • • Inscrip-
tion on Tomb of Jacob Sheafe • • • Brattle and Bromfleld Tombs • • • Remains
of Lady Andros • ■ • Gravestones of Deacon William Paddy and Captain
Roger Clap • • ■ Tomb of Major Thomas Savage • • ■ King's Chapel • • • Old
Passageways discontinued.
Peevious to the establishment, on the twenty-fourth of
September, 1831, of the Mount Auburn Cemetery on
the borders of Cambridge and Watertown, there had
been eleven burial-places on the peninsula, — the Chapel
Burying-Gi'ound, the oldest in Boston; the several con-
nected grounds on Copp's Hill; the Granary Burying-
Ground on Tremont street; the Burying-Ground in the
rear of Congress street, belonging to the Society of
Friends; the Boylston street Burying-Ground; and the
"Washington street or South End Burying-Ground; and
the cemeteries under the following named religious edi-
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 183
fices, King's Chapel, Christ Church, Trinity Church, St.
Paul's Church and Part street Meeting-House. There
have been, also, in South Boston, five cemeteries: the
Hawes Burying Ground, the Lower Burying-Grround,
now discontinued, and its former deposits removed; a
private ground adjacent to the Hawes Ground, called
the Union Burying- Ground; St. Augustine-Bury ing-
Ground, for Roman Catholics, and the cemetery under
St. Matthew's Church. In East Boston there have been
two only, one for Protestants and the other for Israel-
ites. Since the ordinance against interments in graves
in Boston, no burials have been made on the peninsula
except in tombs, and none in South Boston, except in the
St. Augustine Burying-Ground on Dorchester street.
Burials in graves are as yet allowed in East Boston.
The cemetery under the Park street Meeting-House was
discontinued in 1862, and the remains which had been
deposited in its tombs were removed to a burial lot on
Central Square in Mount Auburn Cemetery. The use
of the tombs under St. Matthew's Church in South Bos-
ton has also been terminated. The number of inter-
ments in the city proper has become quite small, as a
very large part of the burials now take place in the
suburban cemeteries.
Soon after the settlement of Boston, our fathers be-
thought themselves about establishing a place of burial,
and selected for that purpose the lot situated at the cor-
ner of Tremont and School streets, where the first burials
in the town were made. The exact time when this cem-
etery was first set apart and devoted to its present use
can never be accurately determined, although uncertain
tradition connects its origin with the death of Mr. Isaac
Johnson, which occurred several weeks before the actual
184 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
settlement of the town, notwithstanding an earlier reso-
lution of the colonists had been taken to make the
peninsula their chief town in the Massachusetts settle-
ment. Mr. Johnson died in Charlestown on the thirtieth
of September, 1630, and the place of his interment is
nowhere mentioned by his cotemporaries. Mr. Samuel
Sewall, the noted Chief Justice, who did not commence
his diary until nearly fifty years after this event, writes,
that Mr. Johnson was buried in Boston in his lot, and
that others at their request were on their death buried near
him, and hence the spot became the site of the old burial-
ground. This tradition, which has been perpetuated by
Governor Hutchinson in a note to his valuable history,
may have arisen from the fact that, before Mr. Johnson
came to America, he made a wUl, requesting to be buried
in the church-yard in Boston in old England j and it is
reasonable to suppose that in this expression the story had
its origin. But, be this as it may, and it is pleasant to
believe such a relation, it is certain that the first known
burial in Boston took place some months later. The
occurrence is thus mentioned by Governor Winthrop,
under date of the eighteenth of February, 1630: ' —
" Capt. Welden, a hopeful younge gent, & an experi-
enced soldier, dyed at Charlestowne of a consumption,
and was buryed at Boston w*'' a military funeral." The
death of this young man occurred two days previous,
on the sixteenth, and, we are told by Governor Dudley,
in his instructive letter to the Countess of Lincoln, that
he " was buryed as a souldier with three volleys of
shott." Here, then, are two important writers, who
record the death and burial of Captain Robert Welden;
and no one records the burial of Mr. Johnson, who was
the most important man of the colony, with the excep-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 185
tion, perhaps, of John Winthrop, the Governor. As
there is no evidence of any kind that Mr. Johnson had
land in Boston, either by grant or purchase, and as his
heirs made no conveyance of land on the peninsula, he
could not have been buried in his own lot, though he
may have been brought over to the place selected by his
associates for future settlement, before the removal of
the colonists from Charlestown. One other fact, may
have given some slight degree of credibility to the
tradition of Mr. Johnson's interment in the old burying-
place near the present King's Chapel, namely, that not
long ago, when the old brick wall of the cemetery was
standing, a gravestone, which was said to be that of
Mr. Johnson, was to be seen at the southeast corner of
the yard, partly imbedded in the wall. This was noth-
ing but a thin slate stone, such as was used much later
in the order of time — the older ones being of a por-
phyritic greenstone — and, besides being in the most
modem part of the yard, would not have been the kind
that would have been selected to mark the last earthly
resting-place of the most valued man among the first
settlers — "the idol of the people." Although it is un-
pleasant to throw doubt upon a tradition so harmless as
the one alluded to, it would not be unreasonable to infer
that Mr. Johnson, if not buried in Charlestown, was
carried to Salem; for it would be much more in accord-
ance with his kind and affectionate nature for him to
have required his body to be deposited near his beloved
wife, the Lady Arbella, — whose death had occurred
only a month previous, while the colonists were at
Salem, where she is said by good authority to have
been buried, — than to be carried to a place as yet un-
settled.
24
186 TOPOGKAPHIOAL AOT) HISTOKICAL
In form, the King's Chapel Burial-Ground, as the old
burying-ground is now called, is almost square, and is
situated very nearly in the centre of the peninsula. It
is bounded on the west by Tremont street, which it
fronts; by the buildings of the Massachusetts Historical
Society on the north; and by the lot on which the City
Hall stands, on the east; and it is separated from School
street on the south by King's Chapel. Its principal
entrance is from Tremont street, through an iron gate-
way ; although in School street, at the southeasterly cor-
ner, near the City Hall lot, there is a gate which is
chiefly used as an approach to the twenty-one vaidts
beneath the chapel. Exclusive of these there are, ia-
cluding the charnel house, about seventy-nine tombs
within the yard, making about one hundred connected
with the cemetery. Twenty-two of these border upon
Tremont street, twenty-four on the easterly edge of the
yard near the City Hall lot, and thirty-two with the
charnel hoiise in the middle of the ground. The tombs
on the Tremont street side were built in the year 1738,
at the same time the old brick wall was erected, which
so many persons can remember; those on the easterly
side being of a little earlier date (before 1715) ; while
those in the area are the most ancient. The earliest
fence of which we have any knowledge, which preceded
the brick wall nearly a century, may have been the first
that was erected to protect the spot. It had its origin in
consequence of the following order, passed 1642 : " It
is ordered, that the constables shall, with all convenient
speed, take care for fencing in the burying place." The
old brick wall of 1738 remained standing until the year
1830, when it was removed, and a fine hammered granite
stone wall erected in its place by Mr. Daniel Copeland,
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 187
/ Jr., in accordance with plans furnished by Isaiah Rogers,
a well-known architect of that time. In 1854, the
Quincy granite wall was removed, and the present neat
, iron fence put up in its stead by Smith, Lovett & Co., in
I both cases the expense being chiefly defrayed by money
I obtained by subscription.
The old fathers of the town were so prudent in their
affairs that they undoubtedly received an income from
the land other than that derived from the uses to which
it was intended to be put; for, on the thirtieth of 'No-
vember, 1657, the ground was let to Capt. Savage for a
period of twenty years, he promising to preserve the
fence. This lease ■ was terminated on the twentieth of
August, 1660, by a vote, that the old burying-place
should not be broken up without leave, and by another
vote, passed on the fifth of I^ovember following, that it
should be deserted for a convenient season, and the new
places appointed for burying made use of.
This old yard teems with many interesting associa-
tions of the past. During the first thirty years of the
town, it was the sole repository of the dead in Boston;
for it was not until about the year 1660 that two new
cemeteries, the North Burial-Ground on Copp's Hill, and
the South, more generally known as the Granary Burial-
Ground, on the westerly side of Tremont street, were
laid out for use. To a stranger who visits this old hab-
itation of the dead, beside the most frequented street in
the city, the feelings of reverence are at once awakened ;
and the strange looking old stones with their quaint
inscriptions idealize the past, as, winding along among
these hallowed relics, one reads the brief history of a
spent life in the simple name and age of the lone tenant
beneath each of them, cut with the sculptor's chisel in
188 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
the cold, gray slate. To the old Bostonian, associations
of a dearer character rush through the mind, as the his-
tory of times long past involuntarily comes up, while
perusing the names of the well-known active townsmen
of the days that have passed away forever. A walk
through this silent habitation may not be wholly unin-
teresting. On passing the principal gateway of this
sacred enclosure in Tremont street, the visitor is forcibly
struck with the peculiar arrangement of the gravestones
which first meet his eye. He notices rows of these
memorials of the deceased hning all the avenues and
bypaths of the ground, arranged as fences, — the curious
freak of a noted superintendent of burials, who unwit-
tingly removed these testimonials of love and respect
from the spot where they had been placed in pious
memory of deceased relatives and friends, — so that they
now serve only as a record of the past, without giving
the hallowed associations for which they were origin-
ally raised.
The memorials which present themselves to view are
of various Muds. The most ancient are constructed of
a very durable species of stone — porphyritic green
stone, smoothed on one or two faces, and bear iascrip-
tions in plain Roman capitals; although in the old-
est, some of the letters are blended together as
logotypes: and they are destitute of all sepulchral
ornaments and devices whatever. The second in
order of time were imported from England, and are of
very substantial slate stone; they are enriched with
sculptured borders, and decorated with death's heads,
hour glasses and cherubim. The gravestones next in
antiquity are of home origin, and are constructed of
American slate or marble, having frequently rude
DESOKIPTION OP BOSTON. 189
carvings. Not unfrequently will be found a more costly-
marble, from a foreign quarry, but shaped and lettered
in this country. The tombs in the middle of the yard
are designated by horizontal monumental slabs, sup-
ported either by columns or by solid rectangular con-
structions of brick or stone; while those on the sides of
the enclosure generally have square tablets, resting im-
mediately upon the soil which covers the tombs. Some
of these slabs and tablets exhibit well-cut armorial de-
vices. The oldest slabs are of sandstone, and conse-
quently, from the effect of -the pelting rain storms on
their soft and perishable faces, their inscriptions have
become somewhat illegible, if not altogether obliterated.
The old native greenstone and the English slate stone
have best performed their allotted tasks. One of the
most prominent objects in this abode of the dead is a
white marble monument, exactly in the centre of the
yard, erected to the memory of a venerable and useful
citizen, Hon. Thomas Dawes, better known as Col.
Dawes, who was for many years identified with the me-
chanical interests of the town, and who, as the inscrip-
tion relates, died Jan'y 2, 1809, aet, 78. Yery near to
this, a few steps to the northwest, is the tomb of the
Boston branch of the pilgrim family of "Winslow, desig-
nated by a horizontal tablet supported by mason work,
and exhibiting on one side a shield with lozenges on a
bend, the well-known heraldic arms of the ancient fam-
ily, bearing the name; and in the vault beneath were
deposited the remains of John "Winslow, in 1674, and of
Mary, his wife; the famous Mary Chilton, who in her
girlish sport was the first woman to leap on shore at
Cape Cod from the renowned May Flower, of ever-
blessed memory, and who died in 1679. A short dis-
190 TOPOGRAPHICAL AJSTD HISTORICAL,
tance further on is the tomb of Governor John Leverett,
one of the best and most humble of the old colonial dig-
nitaries, who, after performing well his part, died on the
sixteenth of March, 1678-9, in the sixty-third year of his
age; and perhaps there is reposing iu the same vault the
dust of his excellent father, the venerable elder of the
First Church, who died on the third of April, 1650. The
Leverett tablet contains a long inscription in the Latin
language, which is too far obliterated to be thoroughly
copied.
!N^ot far from this last are situated, side by side, the
tombs of the Winthrops and the Ohvers. Within the
first have laid the ashes of three very distinguished
individuals, — father, son, and grandson, each in his turn
well known in our historical annals as Governor John
Winthrop, — John "Winthrop, Sen., Governor of the
Massachusetts Colony, who died on the twenty-sixth of
March, 1649, aged sixty-one years ; John "Winthrop, Jr.,
Governor of Connecticut Colony, who died on Ihe fifth
of April, 1676, aged seventy years; and Pitz-John
Winthrop, Governor of the United Colonies of Con-
necticut, who died on the twenty-seventh IS^ovember,
1707, in his sixty-eighth year. These three individuals,
although holding the ofiice of Governor over three dif-
ferent jurisdictions at the respective times of their
decease, died in Boston, and became tenants of the
same tomb.
The tomb of Elder Thomas Oliver, of the First
Church, subsequently became the property of the church
that he had faithfully served as the Ruling Elder until
his decease, which occurred on the first of June, 1658,
he being about ninety years old. A large tablet stand-
ing near this tomb contains an inscription relating to
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 191
the decease of four of the early pastors of the church in
the following words:
HEKE LYES
INTOMBED THE BODTES
or THE FAMOUS REVEREND
AND LEARNED PASTORS OF THE FIRST
CHURCH OF CHRIST IN BOSTON
VIZ:
MR. JOHN COTTON, AGED 67 YEARS,
DEC'D DECEMBER THE 2.3d, 1652;
MR. JOHN DAVENPORT, AGED 72 YEARS,
DEC'D MARCH THE 15th, 1670;
MR JOHN OXENBRIDGE, AGED 66 YEARS,
DEC'D DECEMBER THE 28th, 1674;
MR. THOMAS BRIDGE, AGED 58 YEARS,
DEC'D SEPTEMBER THE 26, 1715.
A little aside from this conspicuous memorial of the
four humble pastors are the very modest and now ob-
scure gravestones of Sarah, the widow of the beloved
John Cotton and excellent Richard Mather, and of Eliz-
abeth, the widow of John Davenport; the former of
whom died on the twenty-seventh of May, 1676, aged
seventy-five years, and the latter on the fifteenth of the
next September, aged seventy-six years. So great was
the veneration of those who had held office in the man-
agement of the church towards their pastors, that many
of them were buried in this immediate neighborhood, as
is made evident by their gravestones, some of which
have happily escaped removal from their original loca-
tions.
JiTearly in the northwest corner of the yard is a clus-
ter of the most ancient tombs in Boston; the second
oldest in the ground, as far as the inscription reads, is
very near the middle of the northerly side, near the His-
torical Society's building. It is that of Jacob Sheafe,
192 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
an opulent merchant of his day, and bears the following
inscription cut upon a horizontal tablet;
Here lteth Tntekd the
Body or Iacob Sheafe of
Boston who fob svme
TIME LIVED AT CeAMBEOCK
IN" Kent in ovld Ingland
Hee Deceased the 22th of
' March 1658 Aged 58 Yeaes.
The widow of Mr. Sheafe (Margaret, daughter of
Henry Webb, a wealthy Boston merchant, who gave
the estate in Washington street to Harvard College in
1660), not long after the decease of her husband
married Rev. Thomas Thacher, the first pastor of the
Old South Church; and at her decease on the twenty-
third of February, 1693-4, at the age. of sixty-eight
years, was interred in the same vault, as undoubtedly
her second husband was, who died on the fifteenth of
October, 1678, aged fifty-eight years and five months.
l^ear the Sheafe tomb is a cluster of horizontal
tablets, raised over sepulchral vaults of ancient date,
among which is that of Thomas Brattle, probably the
wealthiest 'New England merchant of his day, who died
on the fifth of April, 1683, in the sixtieth year of his
age, leaving, besides his other treasures, his son Thomas
to be the principal founder of the church which bears
his name, and to be the great friend as well as Treasurer
of Harvard College; and also another son, William, the
learned and pious minister of the First Church in
Cambridge.
A little to the south of these last-mentioned tombs,
and in the same cluster, are those of the Leverett and
Bromfield families. In the first mentioned, bearing the
DESCfilPTION OF BOSTON. 193
number 30, were buried the Governor and the members
of his immediate family, the famous Secretary Isaac
Addington, and many other persons of note; and in
the last-named were buried Mr. Edward Bromfield and
his descendants, among whom were the Phillips's (of
the family of Lt.-Governor William) , and also some of
the family of the late Daniel Dennison Rogers. Just
east of these is the tomb of Dr. Benjamin Church — he
who acted so queerly in the time of the war of the
revolution — which became subsequently the property
of the late Turner Phillips, over which, in the year
1857, a tall white marble monument was erected. In
this vault were deposited in February 1688, the remains
of Lady Anne Andross, wife of the notorious Sir Ed-
mund, who set up a claim to be Governor of !N^ew
England, and very much abused the good people of the
town about three years, until he was seized by Dr.
Elisha Cooke and others, and subsequently sent home
to England, to the great joy of the people.
In the northeast comer of the burial-ground is a
spacious vault, long used as a charnel house, but which
in 1833 was repaired and fitted as a place of deposit
for deceased children. Just at the south side of the
entrance to this may be seen standing the gravestone
which affection had more than two centuries ago placed
over the remains of Deacon WUliam Paddy, one of the
most useful of the townsmen of his day. He was one of
the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony, being there as
early as 1635, where he served the town and colony in
various capacities until he removed to Boston. This
relic of early times is of native greenstone, and is the
oldest upright tablet in the yard. Like many others of
the old gravestones, it was furtively removed from its
25
194 TOPOGEAPHICAL AST) HISTOBICAL
original position many years ago; and in 1830, while
workmen were removing earth from the north side of
the old building at the head of State street, known as
the Old State House, it was found several feet below the
surface of the street. Near the stone were found sev-
eral small bones and pieces of wood, which the incredu-
lous readily believed to be remnants of the skeleton and
coffin of the deacon; but the bones did not prove on
examination to be human relics. The stone very prop-
erly was restored to the Chapel Burial-Ground, where
it is very evident that it belonged, as the gravestones
of his last wife and several of his children are to be
found in the same yard. Too many of the old stones
have been removed from their proper places, and used
for covering drains, paving the floors of tombs, and
closing their mouths. The inscription on Deacon
Paddy's gravestone is as follows:
HEEE:LYETH
THE : BODY : OF : Me
"WILLIAM: PADDY : AGED
68 YEARS : DEPARTED
THIS: LIFE : AUGUST: THE [28]
1658
On the back of the slab are the following lines:
HEAE . SLEAPS . THAT
BLESED . ONE . "WHOES . LIEF
GOD . HELP . VS . ALL . TO . LIVE
THAT . SO . WHEN . TIEM . SHALL . BE
THAT . WE . THIS . WOELD . MUST . LIUE
WE . ETEE . MAT . BE . HAPPT
WITH BLESSED . WILLIAM . PADDY
!N'ear the southeasterly part of the yard, although
not where it should be, is placed the gravestone of
Capt. Koger Clap, another of the old worthies, who was
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 195
for twenty-OBe years Captain of the Castle in Boston
Harbor. It bears the following inscription:
HEHE LYETH BUEIED
YE BODY OF CAPT.
BOGEK CLAP
AGED 82 YEARS
DECEASED YE 2 OF
EEBKTJAEY 1690-1.
Pursuing the walk around the edge of the burial-
ground, and passing by the large number of gravestones
placed in rows, like those which first met the eye on en-
trance, the visitor will notice a few more horizontal slabs,
more sparsely scattered, on the east and south sides, al-
most the last of which, near the southwestern corner, is
over the tomb of Major Thomas Savage, one of the noted
men of the first years of the town, and a gallant com-
mander in King Philip's war in the year 1675, and who
died on the fifteenth of February, 1681-2, aged seventy-
five years, if the inscription which difi'ers slightly from
other authorities (as gravestones are very wont to do)
can be believed. The original building known as King's
Chapel, which separated this burial-ground from School
street, was erected of wood in 1688, and gave way for
the present Stone Chapel in 1749, built of hammered
granite from the Quincy quarry. In 1833 permission
was given to the wardens of the chapel to. enlarge their
vestry and extend it over the burial-ground towards the
east 5 and the wooden building erected at that time has
been followed within a few years by one of granite.
Previous to the erection of the present building belong-
ing to the Massachusetts Historical Society, in 1832, a
passageway extended from Tremont street to Court
square on the northern boundary of the burial-ground;
196 DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON.
and until the taking down of the old City Hall, in 1863,
there was also a passageway leading from the City Hall
yard to the same square, bounded partly by the easterly
side of the ground. The discontinuance of these ave-
nues has been beneficial to the cemetery.
CHAPTEK Xm.
NOBTH BXTEYING-GEOUND.
Old North Buiying-Ground, on Copp's Hill ■ • • Consists of Several Cemeteries,
having Distinctive Names • • ■ Its Extent and Boundaries • • ■ Old Ground, and
its Purchase in 1660 and Bounds • ■ • Oldest Inscription • • • The Sewall Pur-
chase in 1709 by Gee, and Addition by the Town in 1711 • • • Wishing Kock • • ■
Hull Street Cemetery Established in 1832, Discontinued in 1853, and its
Tenants Removed in 1861 • • • New North Burying-Ground, 1810, and the First
Burial in it • • • Tombs Built in it by Hon. Charles Wells and Edward Bell in
1814 • • • Charter Street Burial-Ground, Tombs Built by Mr. Wells in 1819 • ■ •
Uncertainty of the Origin of Name of the Burying-Ground • • ■ William
Copp, and his Son David • • • Number of Tombs ■ ■ • Trees first Planted in
1833 • • • Avenues and Paths • • • Disarrangement of Gravestones ; Mutila-
tion of Inscriptions • • • Sacrilegious Act of British Soldiers, during the Eev-
olution ■ ■ • Armorial Devices of Distinguished Families • ■ • Monuments • • •
Ancient Tombs • ■ • Dates of Building ■ • • Infants' Tomb • • • Tool House • • ■
Thomas Hutchinson and Others • ■ -Ingratitude to a Public Benefactor and
Desecration of his Tomb ■ • • Mather Tomb • • • The Worthylakes • • ■ The Sis-
ter of Sarah Lucas • ■ • The Graves of the Darlings • • ■ Hannah Langford • • •
Peter Oilman • ■ • Jerusha Caddall • • • The Silversmith's Wife • • • Captain
Daniel Malcom and his Remarkable Grave • • • Mary Boutcher.
In point of age the old IN'orth Burying-Grround, upon
Copp's Hill, comes next to the King's Chapel Burying-
Ground in Tremont street, although it is about coeval
with that now generally known as the Granary
Burying-Ground, also bounded upon Tremont street, or
rather upon Paddock's Mall, which intervenes to sepa-
rate the burial-ground from the highway.
This ancient cemetery is by no "means an unit, al-
though it may appear so to the modern visitor. It is a
congeries of several parcels of land purchased at vari-
198 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
ous times; and, strange to say, has to knowing ones
distinct names for its different parts. As a whole, it is
bounded on the southwest about three hundred and
thirty feet by Hull street; on the northwest by Snowhill
street about three hundred and twenty-four feet; on the
northeast about three hundred and fourteen feet by
Charter street; on the southeast about one hundred and
twenty feet by private property; on the northeast, again,
about one hundred and twenty-eight feet, also by private
property; and lastly on the southeast, again, by private
land about one hundred and twenty feet. The oldest
portion, that which has been generally called the ISTorth
Burying-Ground, is situated at the northeasterly part of
the present enclosure, and is bounded two hundred and
ninety-four feet on Charter street, and one hundred and
fifty-four on Snowhill street; and was purchased of
John Baker and Daniel Turell by deed dated the twen-
tieth of February, 1659-60, which instrument was not
recorded until seventy-six years afterwards, in the fifty-
third volume of the records of conveyances. The
southeasterly portion of this part was that chiefly used
for burial of the towns-people,, while that near Snowhill
street served for the last resting-place of the slaves and
freed persons. Undoubtedly it was first used for inter-
ments about November 1660, the time that the order
was passed by the townsmen of Boston, that the Old
Burying-Ground should be " wholly deserted for some
convenient season, and the new places appointed for
burying only made use of." ^o older inscription has
been found than that which records the decease of Mary,
the daughter of Arthur and Jane Kind, who died on
the fifteenth of August, 1662, although the stone was
not erected until several years later, as an inscription of
DESOEIPTION 01" BOSTON. 199
"William, another child of the same parents, is on the
top of the same stone, bearing as the date of death the
fourteenth of February, 1666. There may, however, be
older memorials in the yard, hidden, as this was, until a
few years ago, at the bottom of one of the ancient
vaults, as a portion of its floor. The only entrance to
the enclosure was then from Charter street, for to the
southwest of it was situated the pasture of Judge
Samuel Sewall, which really belonged to his wife Han-
nah, as part of her inheritance from her father, the noted
John Hull, the mint master when the "New England
shillings were coined, more than two centuries ago, —
she who is said to have had for her marriage portion her
weight in silver shilling pieces struck from the I^. E.
die. On the seventh of January, 1708-9, Judge Sewall
and his wife Hannah conveyed to Joshua Gee, the father
of the distinguished clergyman who was from 1723
to 1748 the colleague and successor of the famous Cot-
ton Mather, a small portion of this pasture, " one rodd
square, in which Mrs. Mary Thacher now lyeth buried,"
bounded by, and on the northeast adjoining to the
burying-ground, " with no right of way except through
the old burying place." This Mrs. Thacher was the wife
of Judah Thacher, of Yarmouth, and died on the thir-
tieth of JSTovember, 1708, in the sixty-eighth year of her
age, as her gravestone, now standing in the yard, dis-
tinctly indicates. On the ninth of May, 1711, the inhabi-
tants of Boston determined to enlarge this graveyard,
and consequently the Selectmen bought of Judge Sewall
and wife a large part of the remainder of their pasture,
measuring, according to the deed of conveyance, passed
the seventeenth of December, 1711, one hundred and
seventy feet on Snowhill street, one hundred and eighty
200 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
feet on Hull street, one hundred and forty feet south-
easterly on private property, and two hundred and fifty
! feet upon the old burial-ground. These purchases com-
prise what is now styled the Old l^orth Burying-Ground.
The northwesterly side formerly communicated with
Lynn street by a steep and very abrupt bank, which will
' be well remembered by the boys of fifty years ago, who
used to claim that territory for their play-ground j and
perhaps the memory of some may extend back to the
time when the wishing rock stood conspicuously there in
its popularity. The portion of SnowhUl street, now lead-
ing from Hull to Charter streets, was scarcely more than
a myth, xintU quite recently, being little more than a
private passage-way between the two streets j in the
year 1832, however, Mr. Jacob Hall and others purchased
a portion of land bordering on the northwest side of
the old ground, and by permission of the city authorities
established a cemetery called the " Hull Street Ceme-
tery," and erected rows of tombs, at the same time re-
Hnquishing their right to the above-named portion of
Snowhill street, and making an arrangement with the
city that the street should be a public walk or mall thir-
ty-three feet in width. This cemetery was discontinued
in 1853, and the remains removed to Moimt Hope
Cemetery in February 1861.
In 1810 the '"l^ew !N'orth Burying-Ground" was
established, the land for the purpose having been
purchased on the eighteenth of December, 1809, of Ben-
jamin Weld. It was bounded on Hull street one hun-
dred and twenty-six feet; on the old ground about one
hundred and thirty-eight feet; and on its southerly side
and fronting upon Hull street stood the old gun-house
of the Columbian Artillery Company. Fifty-two tombs
DESCRIPTION or BOSTON. 201
were built around the sides of this new enclosure by
Hon. Charles Wells, in 1814; and after the gun-house
was removed, fifteen tombs were built on its site in the
fall of 1827, by Edward Bell. This yard was arranged
so that its area should be used for burials in graves,
which were laid out in ranges, and several deposits were
allowed to be made in the same grave. The first person
interred in this small yard was John Richardson, on the
sixth of July, 1810, who was drowned a few days be-
fore. The lot occupied by this burial-ground was for-
merly known as Merry's pasture, Jonathan Merry having |
long possessed it before he sold it to Mr. "Weld, who con- i
veyed it to the town. The old gun-house was moved,
by vote of the town, to this lot in 1810, soon after the ;
purchase of the estate; and was not removed to its last
position until the necessity arose for the tombs after-
wards buUt by Mr. Bell.
In 1819 Hon. Charles Wells was allowed to build
tombs, thirty-four in number, in a small graveyard
bounded twenty feet on Charter street, one hundred and
twenty feet on the Old Burying-Ground, twenty-eight
feet southwesterly on the New Burying-Ground, on
Hull street, and southeasterly on private property. This
very small yard was fenced in, and was usually styled
the " Charter Street Burying Ground." But now it has
become to all appearance part of the old cemetery, the
division fence having been removed several years ago.
It was purchased on the third of June, 1819, of John
Bishop, of Medford, and had formerly belonged to
]N'athaniel Holmes.
How, and exactly when, the burial-ground took the
name of " Copp's HUl Burying-Ground " is not known.
Old Mr. WUliam Copp, the cordwainer of the early days
26
202 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
of the town, indeed dwelt on the northwestern part of
the extreme lunits of the hill, well on towards Prince
street; but he did not die untU ten years after the es-
tablishment of the cemetery, and his son David, the
Elder, an important man at the North End, lived untU
the twentieth of liTovember, 1713, when he died at the
good old age of seventy-eight years. Most of the maps
made about the time of the American Revolution, and a
few years later, have the name of Copp's Hill attached
to the portion of the hill lying northwest of SnowhUl
street, on a part of which the honest old cobbler dwelt.
There are within the enclosure two hundred and
twenty-six tombs, two of which belonged to the city,
one being fitted and prepared for children in June 1833.
On the twenty-seventh of May, 1833, fifty dollars were
appropriated by the city authorities towards purchasing
trees for ornamenting the grounds; and from this date
the whole appearance of the hill began to change, and
the place soon resumed its ancient popularity. .Almost
all of these trees have been removed, and others of a
more appropriate character have taken their places,
which gives to the hill a very agreeable shade on sultry
days. Near the Ellis monument is a weeping willow
raised from a slip taken in 1840 from the tree which
gtew over the grave of Napoleon at St. Helena.
None of the burial-grounds in Boston possess more
interest than does this old cemetery at the North End.
During the most of the year its gates are flung open,
and its walks are frequented by visitors, not only from
among the neighboring residents, but also by persons
frgm all parts of the city. Within a few years many
avenues and by-paths have been laid out, gravestones
having been removed for this pxu^pose, affording oppor-
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 203
tunities for pleasant promenades, which are by no means
neglected. The effects of the same busy hands, which
so ridiculously arranged, or rather disarranged, the
gravestones, in the Chapel Burying-Ground, are also
visible on Copp's Hill; and perhaps the same mischiev-
ous hand which altered the date on the gravestone of
Mr. John Thwing in the former burial enclosure, so as
to .have it appear that he died on the sixth of Septem-
ber, 1620, three months before the pilgrims landed at
Plymouth, instead of 1690, may also have perpetrated
the same folly upon the memorial stone erected to the
memory of Goodwife Grace Berry, who died on the
seventeenth of May, 1695, and not in 1625, more than
five years before the settlement of Boston, as the rude
jack-knife sculptor would make the unwary believe.
Several other inscriptions have been similarly mutilated.
This sacrilegious act is not peculiar to the Boston grave-
yards ; in the venerable old cemetery upon Burying Hill
in Plymouth, where so many of the forefathers of IsTew
England ar^ reposing from their labors, and in the old
graveyard in the City of Charlestown, similar ruthless
hands have also -been mischievously busy. During the
siege of Boston, in the early days of the Revolutionary
"War, the British soldiers amused themselves by firing
bullets against the gravestones, many proofs of which
can be seen at the present day, on careful inspection of
the memorials of noted persons in this and other burial
enclosures.
The visitor to Copp's Hill can almost always find the
gates on Charter and Hull streets open, and an attentive
and respectable person present to point out the objects
of interest in the yard. He will notice there many monu-
mental slabs having araiorial devices cut upon them in
204 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
the most exquisite style. Among the most remarkable
of these may be mentioned that of Dr. John Clark, one
of the noted family which gave seven generations of
physicians in a direct line, bearing the same name, and
that of Hon. William Clarke, both remarkable as works
of art. The carved tablets over the tombs of the dis-
tinguished families of Hutchinson, Mountfort, Gee, Lee,
Martyn and others are well executed, and attract the
attention very forcibly.
Copp's Hill is not famous for its monuments, there
being only a few erected within the enclosure. Of these,
the principal ones are that erected to the memory of
Dr. Charles Jarvis, a noted politician, who died on the
fifteenth November, 1807, aged fifty-nine years, and
those over the tombs of the well-known families of Ellis,
Goodrich, Greenwood, Grant, Shaw, and a few others.
The most ancient of the tombs were built on the
Hull street side not long after the purchase of the Sewall
Pasture in 1711 ; those on Snowhill street in 1805, and
those on the Charter street side in 1807. An infants'
tomb has been built by the city authorities near the
westerly corner of the yard, and near it is the mariners'
tomb, a spacious vault diverted to its present purpose
not many years ago.
Kear the centre of the enclosure is a conspicuous
building, erected a few years since as a chapel, but now
used as a tool house. Just east of this, and running
parallel to Charter street is the principal path on the hill.
This indicates very well the line which separates the
oi*iginal purchase of 1660 from the more modern pur-
chase of 1711. It may be a matter of interest to some
to know that the town was desirous 'of enlarging this
burial-ground some time before it was effected, and
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 205
chose a committee for the purpose; but nothing being
done, the committee was discharged and another, con-
sisting of Timothy Thornton, Hon. Thomas Hutchin-
son, and Edward Martyn, was appointed, and the duty-
was speedily performed. About this time the Hutchin-
son tomb was built, wherein were gathered the father
and grandfather of Governor Hutchinson, two of the
most public-spirited inhabitants of the town, to the for-
mer of whom, Hon. Thomas Hutchinson, the North End
is indebted for its first school-house, for he first proposed
the idea, then managed the business in town meetings,
and finally paid for the buUding from his own funds.
How ungrateful are republics ! the house now erected on
the same lot is called the Eliot School, in honor of an
excellent former pastor of the Kew ISTorth Church,
though Mr. Hutchinson died on the third of December,
1739, a very long time before his unhappy son, the
faithful historian of Massachusetts, became a tory gov-
ernor, and fled his country to avoid the wrath to come.
This tomb had upon it a slab which contained a most
exquisitely chiselled coat of arms of the family; but the
stranger looks for it almost in vain, for no one would sup-
pose that any one would cut out the Hutchinson name,
and insert another, that of one who could scatter the
dust of the honored dead to the four winds of heaven,
and occupy the confiscated relic as a last place of re-
pose, if the dead can rest with such a wrong unrighted.
In the southeast corner of the enclosure, within an
iron fence, may be seen the tomb of the Mathers — In-
crease, Cotton and Samuel — three distinguished doctors
of theology, and preachers to the iJ^orthenders of the
olden time. The inscription on the horizontal slab is as
follows :
206 TOPOGKAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
The Eeverend Doctors
INCREASE, COTTON,
& SAMUEL MATHER
were interred in this vault.
'Tis the Tomb of our Fathers,
MATHER CROCKER'S.
I. died AUGt. 27th, 1723, ^ 84.
C. died FEB. 13th, 1727, M 65.
S. died JUNE 27th, 1785, ^ 79.
In the centre of the burial-ground, a few feet south
of the tool-house, may also be seen the large triple
gravestone of the three "Worthylakes, George in his
forty-fifth year, his wife Ann ia her fortieth, and their
daughter Ruth. Mr. Worthylake was the first keeper
of the Boston Lighthouse, known as the Outer Light.
Coming up to town on Monday, the third of I^ovember,
1718, the three were drowned, the sad event giving an
opportunity to the youthful Franklia to write a ballad,
which he designated as the " Lighthouse Tragedy," and
which he printed and sold about the streets, his earhest
poetic efiusion. Not a word of this ballad is remembered ;
but it was undoubtedly in a different strain fi;'om that
which may be seen on the gravestone of Mrs. Hunt:
Here lyes Ye Body of
Mrs. Ammey Hunt Wife of
Mr. Benjamiit Hunt
Who died Nov. 26, 1769.
Aged 40 Years.
A Sister of Sarah Lucus lieth here,
Whom I did Love most Dear,
And now her Soul hath took its Flight
And bid her Spightful Foes good Night.
l!^'obody now knows the point of these lines, but
many persons ask for the reason of spelling the word
"spightful" so strongly. The putative author, Mrs.
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. ' 207
Sarah Lucas, wife of Captain Roger, survived her sister
two and a half years, and was buried near her, but with-
out any rhymes. Another affectionate inscription is
worth preserving in print. It tells its own story:
In memory of
BETSEY,
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 Sext07is
please to leave a clear hirthfor me
near by this Stone.
Mr. Darling was sexton of the North Church and
dwelt in Salem street; he died on the tenth of Septem-
ber, 1820, and his wishes were disregarded, as he was
buried in a tomb in the same yard, and no one raised a
memorial to his memory.
The following pathetic lines are appended to an in-
scription which tells the passer by that Miss Hannah
Langford died on the nineteenth of lifovember, 1796,
aged fifteen years and six months:
Nor youth, nor innocence could save
Hannah from the insatiate grave ;
But cease our tears, no longer weep ;
The little maid doth only sleep.
Anon she'll wake and rise again,
And in her Saviour's arms remain.
Mr. Peter Gilman, who died within the present cen-
tury, allows us to read the following brief lecture :
Stop, my friends, and in a mirror see
What you, though e'er so healthy, soon must be,
Beauty, with all her rosebuds, paints each face;
Approaching death will strip you of e'ach grace.
208 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
Poor Kobert Caddall, who lost his wife Jerusha on
the fourteenth of ]S"ovember, 1771, in her thirtieth year,
thus laments and consoles himself.
O cruel Death, that would not to us spare
A loving wife, a kind companion dear;
Great grief it is to friends that's left behind,
But she, we hope, eternal joys did find.
The following inscription, of much more happy con-
ception, is on the gravestone of the wife of a well-
known Boston silversmith:
Death with his dart hath pierced my heart,
While I was in my prime ;
When this you see, grieve not for me,
'Twas God's appointed time.
The gravestone which attracts the greatest attention
of visitors is that of Captain Daniel Malcom, a mer-
chant, who made himself quite noted for his opposition
to the unjust and oppressive revenue acts of the Eng-
lish government. In February 1768, he had a schooner
arrive in the harbor laden with a valuable cargo of
wines, which he was determined should escape the un-
popular duties. Consequently, the vessel was detained
and anchored about five miles from the town, among the
islands in the harbor, and the wine, contained in about
sixty casks, was brought up under the cover of night,
guarded by parties of men armed with clubs, and
deposited in various parts of the town. A meeting of
the merchants and traders was subsequently held, at
which the captain presided, and it was determined by
them not to import any English commodities, except
such as should be required for the fisheries, for eighteen
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 209
months. This incensed the officers and menials of the
government very much; but it was persisted in, and
hence the remarkable inscription which was placed a
httle over a year afterwards upon the large memorial
stone erected over his grave. This stone particularly
attracted the attention of the British soldiery, and the
marks of their bullets are very perceptible on its face.
The inscription is as follows :
Here lies buried in a
Stone Grave 10 feet deep
Capt DANIEL MALCOM Mercht
Who departed tMs Life
October 23d 1769
Aged 44 Tears.
a true son of Liberty
a Friend to the Publick an
Enemy to oppression and
one of the foremost in
opposing the Bevenue Acts
on America.
"When the grave was repaired a short time ago, the
stone grave turned out to be built of brick. Its mouth
was sealed and closed, probably forever. Perhaps if
Deacon Boutcher had written the epitaph, he would
have said something like what he did on the death of
his daughter Mary, in 1767:
Some hearty friend may drop a tear,
On these dry bones and say,
These limbs were active once like thine,
But thine must be as they.
27
CHAPTER XIV.
GRANARY BURYING-GROUND.
Granary Burying-Ground, formerly the South Burying-Gronnd, and sometimes
the Common (or Middle) Burying-Ground • • • Burial Districts • • • Bounda-
ries of the Granary Burying-Ground • • • Established in 1660 • • • Enlarged on
the South and East • ■ ■ Date of the Tombs • • ■ Hancock Tomb • • • Surround-
ing Streets • • ■ Unfortunate Selection of the Lot • ■ • Governor Bellingham,
and his Tomb and Young Wife • ■ • Drains ■ ■ • Great Number of Burials • • ■
Trees and Palhs • • ■ Pranklin Obelisk • ■ ■ Franklin's Parents, and Uncle Ben-
jamin • • • Oldest Gravestone •• • Heraldic Devices, and Monuments • • ■ Elisha
Brown's Gravestone • • • Grave oT Benjamin Woodbridge • • • French Protes-
tants, and their First Minister, Peter Daill6 • • • Noted Burials • ■ • Victims
to the Boston Massacre • • • Joseph Warren • • . The Oldest Tombstone - • •
Verses on the Tomb of Mrs. Hannah Allen.
The Granary Burying-Ground, situated west of Tre-
mont street, is the third place of burial that was estab-
lished in Boston, and bears date as early as the year
1660. It owes its origia to the scanty provision that
had originally been made in selecting the site of the
first cemetery, King's Ohapel Burying-Ground, and
because the population of the peninsula had begun to
increase quite sensibly at what was then known as the
southerly part of the town. In its earlier years, this
graveyard was known as the South Burying-Ground, a
name which it retained until about the year 1737, when
it began to be called the Granary Burying-Ground,
because the old Granary building, which had before that
time stood near the head of Park street, had been
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTOK. 211
removed that year to the present site of Park street
meeting-house. From that date, the cemetery bore both
names, and at a later period, after the establishment of
that upon Boylston street, it was sometimes called the
Common Burying-Ground, and sometimes the Middle
Burying-Ground, because it was situated in what was
designated the Middle Burial District, Copp's Hill yard
forming the !N^orth, and the Boylston Street (or Com-
mon) Burying-Ground the South. In May 1830, when
the trees were set out, which so much improve its pres-
ent appearance, an attempt was made to give this old
yard the name " Franklin Cemetery." But the project
failed, and the Burying-Ground was allowed to com-
memorate one of the active benevolences of our philan-
thropic predecessors, the Granary
The Granary Burying-Ground was originally part
of the Common, which extended north as far as Beacon
street, embracing the whole square now bounded by j
Tremont, Beacon, and Park streets. About the year
1660, the graveyard was established; and in 1662 the
portion of land southwest of it was taken for the public
buildings that were subsequently erected there, and
which were known as the Bridewell, Almshouse, House
of Correction and Granary; and the land at the north
and northwest of it was early granted for household
accommodations. The burying-ground is now bounded
about three hundred and twenty-seven feet southeasterly
on Tremont street; about two hundred and ninety-
seven feet southwesterly on the rear of the houses front-
ing on Park street; about two hundred and ten feet
northwesterly on the Athenaeum and the estates front-
ing on Beacon street; and about two hundred and six-
ty-two feet on its northeastern side. The small garden
212 TOPOGKAPHICAIi AJSTD HISTOKICAL
bfelonging to the Tremont House makes a boundary at
its northeast corner of thii'ty-seven feet on the easterly
side and twenty feet on the northerly side, near Tremont
street.
Originally the graves were only made at the wes-
terly and northerly part of the yard, and the approaches
to the enclosure, after the fence was erected, were by
two gates, one at the extreme southerly comer near the
meeting-house, and the other about 40 feet south of the
I Tremont House garden. The oldest tombs were built
near the back part of the yard, and with the contiguous
graves occupy about one-quarter of the burial-ground.
On the fifteenth of May, 1717, a vote was passed by
the townsmen " to enlarge the South Burying Ground
by taking in part of the highway on the easterly side
thereof, so as that thereby y^ said Highway be not
thereby too much straitened," leaving the details of
the matter to the discretion of the Selectmen; and on
the nineteenth of April, 1719, it was " ordered, that the
South Burying Place should be enlarged next the Com-
mon or Training Field." This last vote was carried out
in 1720, and fifteen tombs were buUt, which the next
year were assigned to Jonathan Belcher, Thomas Gush-
ing, James Bowdoin, George Bethune, Adino Bulfinch,
Joshua Henshaw and others. These were near the ex-
treme southwest corner of the yard, and extended in a
line on the south side. In 1722 six tombs were built on
the same line, extending easterly; the first of which
(numbered 16) , became the property of Hon. Thomas
Hancock, and is the place of deposit of the remains of
his distinguished nephew, John, the first governor
of the Commonwealth under the Constitution, and the
writer of the remarkable autograph first penned upon
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTOK 213
the Declaration of Independence. Ko monument has
been erected to the memory of these worthies, a white
marble slab with the simple inscription, " IN'o. 16. tomb
OF HANCOCK," only indicating the family tomb, although
a small stone in the yard informs us that " Frank, ser-
vant to John Hancock, Esq., lies interred here, who died
23d Jan'y, 1771, aetatis 8." Hon. Thomas Hancock, the
uncle, died on the first of August, 1764, aged sixty-two
years, and John, the nephew and governor, died on the
eighth of October, 1793, aged fifty-six years. The
other tombs on the southerly side, fifteen in number,
were built during the years 1723, 1724 and 1725; the
first thirty on the easterly side, in the years 1726, 1727
and 1728, and the northerly thirteen in 1736; of those
on the northerly side, the first five in 1738, and the re-
maining twenty-six in 1810; and twenty-six on the
westerly side, during the same and next three. years.
There are sixty other tombs within the yard, which do
not border upon either of its sides, one of which, be-
longing to the city, has been appropriated for children.
The Highway, as it was anciently called (although
a century ago it bore the name of Long Acre, and
more recently has at times been known as Common
street and Tremount street, and has finally taken the name
of Tremont street), was always open ground to our
fathers. The portion of Beacon street at the north of
the Tremont House was laid out by an order of the
townsmen passed the thirtieth of March, 1640; and the
street now known as Park street, but formerly as Gentry
(or Sentry) street and sometimes misspelled Century
street, is of comparatively modem origin, not being de-
lineated on any of the maps more than eighty years old,
and first appearing on Norman's Map, printed in 1789.
214 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
In one respect the selection of the site for this ceme-
tery was particularly unfortunate. The soil was springy
and exceedingly damp, and therefore required drainage.
It is said that when Judge Sullivan, at the close of the
last century, repaired the Bellingham tomb, near the west-
erly wall, he found the cofSn and remains of the old Grov-
ernor — who died on the seventh of December, 1672, in
the eighty-first year of his age — floating around in the
ancient vault. One hundred and ten years form a long
period for such a kind of navigation; but when we re-
member that the Governor outlived all the other original
Patentees under the First, or Colonial Charter, and was
almost an exception to all rules in his day and genera-
tion, some credit may be given to the story. Mr. Bell-
ingham was a queer man, as the following incident in his
life will exemplify. The record comes from Governor
Winthrop's Journal, and was written when Bellingham
was Governor, and the writer senior member of the
Board of Assistants. 'Nov. 9, 1641. "■ The Govemour,
Mr. Bellingham, was married, (I would not mention
such ordinary matters in our history, but by occasion of
some remarkable accidents.) The young gentlewoman
was ready to be contracted to a friend of his, who lodged
in his house, and by his consent had proceeded so far
with her, when on the sudden the Governour treated
with her, and obtained her for himself. He excused it
by strength of his affection, and that she was not abso-
lutely promised to the other gentleman. Two errors
more he committed upon it. 1. That he would not have
his contract published where he dwelt, contrary to an
order of Court. 2. That he married himself contrary
to the common practice of the country. The great in-
quest presented him for breach of the order of Court
DESOfllPTION OF BOSTOISr, 215
and at the Court following, in the 4th month, the Sec-
retary called him to answer the prosecution. But he not
going off the bench, as the manner was, and but few of
the magistrates present, he put it off to another time,
intending to speak with him privately, and with the rest
of the magistrates about the case, and accordingly he
told him the reason why he did not proceed, viz., being
unwilling to command him publicly to go off the bench,
and yet not thiuMng it fit he should sit as a judge, when
he was by law to answer as an offender. This he took
ill, and said he would not go off the bench, except he
were commanded." And so the matter was dropped.
The young lady was Penelope, sister of Herbert Pel-
ham, one of the most influential of the early settlers of
the Massachusetts colony. She was twenty-two years
old, and the Governor fifty, when they were married;
and she survived him about thirty years, and died on
the twenty-eighth of May, 1702, aged eighty-three years.
On the removal of the Granary Building to its new
position, in 1737, the drain which had formerly been dis-
charged upon the Common was stopped, and the tombs
thereby filled with water; and a new drain was laid com-
municating with the common sewer, which emptied itself
at the dock near the head of Bull's Wharf; and conse-
quently the tombs were in a degree relieved from the
excessive accumulation of water. In the summer of
1868, when workmen were engaged digging for the
foundation for the Brewer fountain, remains of the old
drain were discovered and laid open to view. Water
was first played from this beautiful fountain on the third
of June, 1868.
In 1740, " a petition of John Chambers and others,
gravediggers, presented to the selectmen, representing
216 TOPOGKAPHIOAL AND HISTORICAL
that the old and South Burying Places are so filled with
Dead Bodies, they are obliged oft times to bury them
four deep, praying it may be laid before the Town, for
their consideration," was referred to the selectmen, and
resulted in 1756 in the establishment of the burial-
ground on Boylston street.
The trees in the grounds were set out in the spring
of 1830, chiefly obtained by subscription; and the iron
fence on Tremont street ia 1840, the cost being about
$5,000, half of the expense of which was defrayed by the
city. The paths have mostly been laid out since the last
date; and an addition is made from time to time to the
trees and shrubs which shade and ornament them. Every
Sunday afternoon, a few hours before sunset, the gate is
opened and the public are admitted to the-enclosure.
The old trees of Paddock's Mall, with their thickly
set leaves, produce a most grateful shade iri front of
this old grave-yard; and, while they protect from the
burning summer's sun the passenger, who stops awhUe
to survey the quaint old gravestones and the more
pretentious sculptured tablets that designate the pro-
prietors of the tombs, add much to the picturesque
appearance of the spot.
This old burying-ground is rich with memories of
the past; and has connected with it historical reminis-
cences inferior in point of interest to that of no other
cemetery in Massachusetts. Within the walls of this
enclosure lie many of the most notable of the worthies
of Boston. ISTo yard here has given rest to the mortal
remains of more distinguished persons than tliis. One
caimot pass around its modern walks — laid out with
the same disregard to ancient memorials as are those
of the other burial-grounds on the peninsula — without
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON 217
noticing the names of persons noted for the well-re-
membered parts they have taken in the affairs of the
town, commonwealth and country. The mention of a
few of these memorials may awaken recollections of the
past, and point out to some future pilgrim objects which
in a few short years may be forgotten.
On entering the cemetery by the main gate which
fronts Bromfield street, the visitor first notices a neat
granite obelisk, standing nearly in the centre of the yard.
This is the monument raised over the tomb in which re-
pose the parents and other relatives of Franklin. It
was erected in 1827 by a few citizens of Boston, to ren-
der more conspicuous a much revered spot. The corner-
stone of the structure was laid by Hon. Charles Wells,
with an appropriate address and becoming ceremonies,
on the fifteenth of June, in the presence of the Governor
of the Commonwealth and the oflScers and members of
the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. The
obelisk is constructed of five massive ashlers of Quincy
granite, taken from the Bunker Hill Monument quarry;
and is twenty-one feet in height, and stands upon a
rectangular base two feet high, and measuring seven
feet on each of its four sides. On the easterly side of
the monument the name of Franklin is cut in bold re-
lief in large letters, and a short space beneath this is a
bronze tablet, about thirty-two inches long and sixteen
wide, set into the stone, and containing, in the following
words, the original inscription, composed by Franklin,
with an additional paragraph by the liberal citizens who,
out of profound regard and veneration for the memory
of the illustrious son, and desirous of reminding suc-
ceeding generations that he was of Boston birth and
origin, erected the obelisk in its present excellent and
28
218 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
penuaneut form, and laid beneath it the original tablet
which had been placed there in filial duty:
"JOSIAH FEAISTKLIN AND ABIAH HIS WIFE
LIE HERE INTERRED.
THEY LIVED LOVINGLY TOGETHER IN WED-
LOCK FIFTY-EIVE YEARS, AND WITHOUT AN
ESTATE, OR ANY GAINFUL EMPLOY'MENT, 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 DISCREET AND VIRTUOUS WOMAN.
THEIR YOUNGEST SON,
IN FILIAL REGARD TO THEIR MEMORY,
PLACES THIS STONE.
J. F. BORN 1655 — DIED 1744,—^. 89.
A. F. 1667 1752,-^.85.
THE ORIGINAL INSCRIPTION
HAVING BEEN NEARLY OBLITERATED,
A NUMBER OF CITIZENS
ERECTED
THIS MONUMENT AS A MARK OF RESPECT
FOR THE
ILLUSTRIOUS AUTHOR,
MDCCCXXVIL"
Josiah, the father of Dr. FranMin, was born at Ec-
ton, ]!l^'orthainptonshire, England, on the twenty-third of
December, 1657, and died in Boston on the sixteenth
of January, 1744-45, aged eighty-seven years; so we
find that even the epitaph of the philosopher's father
sustains the old proverb, that gravestones will lie. The
following excellent tribute to the old man's memory
appeared in the Boston JSTews-Letter on the morning
after his death:
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 219
"Boston, Jany. 17, 1744-5. Last night died Mr.
Josiah Franklin, tallow-chandler and soapmaker: By
the force of a steady Temperance he had made a con-
stitution, none of the strongest, last with comfort to the
age of Eighty-seven years; and by an entire Depen-
dence on his Redeeirier, and a constant course of the
strictest Piety and virtue, he was enabled to die, as he
lived, with cheerfulness, leaving a numerous posterity
the honor of being descended from a person, who thro'
a long life supported the character of an honest man."
^ot far from the Franklin tomb is the gravestone of
Franklin's uncle Benjamin, a silk-dyer by trade, but a
poet by genius. He came to this country when the
future philosopher was only nine years old, and dwelt
with Josiah four j'^ears, that he might be constantly with
his much loved nephew, in whose education he took an
especial interest. The inscription is as foUows :
HEBE LYES YE BODY
OP ME. BENJAMEN
EKANKLIN AGED 76
YEARS DECd march
Ye 17 17 27.
A short distance west of these memorials now stands
the gravestone that bears the following inscription, the
oldest in the yard :
HERE LIES Ye BODY OF
JOHN WAKEFIELD
AGED 52 YEARS
DECd JUNE Ye 18
16 6 7.
It follows, of course, that either the burials must
have been very infrequent, or else the graves were not
marked with stones; for the burial-ground was laid out
220 TOPOGRAPHIC AI. AND HISTORICAL
certainly seven years previous to the date of Mr. Wake-
field's decease.
Heraldic devices, most excellently cut in English
slatestone are very numerous in the Granary Burying-
Groundj but monuments, if the hoiizontal tombstones
are excepted, are very rare. These were erected to the
memory of Governor Increase Sumner, Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor Thomas Gushing, and a few others. Some of the
tablets have elaborate inscriptions, written in good taste,
commemorating the excellent qualities possessed by the
deceased; but the poetic effusions are not so numerous
as can be found in the Burying-Ground upon Copp's
Hill.
The central situation of this cemetery, and its promi-
nent position, facing upon one of the most travelled
streets of the city, the great thoroughfare that connects
the capitol of the State with the neighboring N^orth-
western and Southern counties, would indicate it as
an eminently proper site for sephulcral monuments of
Boston's distinguished dead, so many of whom lie be-
neath the sods of this sacred enclosure.
One of the most remarkable inscriptions can be read
on the tablet standing over the grave of Mr. Elisha
Brown, who died in August 1785, at the age of sixty-
five years. This person was an inhabitant of the
southerly part of Boston, and became quite noted in
consequence of coming into collision with the British
troops in 1769, when they held possession of the town.
It appears that his house, a very commodious mansion,
was selected as being well adapted for the purpose of
barracks, and accordingly he was ordered to vacate the
premises for the use of soldiers. Whereupon he refused
to comply, and the house was surrounded by the troops,
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 221
and kept in a state of siege. For seventeen days Mr.
Brown kept possession of his house, having barred the
witidows and doors, being sustained by the family stores
and what he could obtain from his friends from without.
By this method he completely thwarted the designs of
the enemy. The inscription is as follows:
ELISHA BKOWN
0/ BOSTON.
who in Octr 1769, during 17 days
inspired with
a generous Zeal for the LAWS
bravely and successfully
opposed a whole British Begt
in their violent attempt
to FOECE him from his
legal Habitation.
Happy Citizen when caU'd singley
to be a Barrier to the Liberties
of a Continent.
Another stone, which may be seen from the sidewalk
outside of the yard, recalls a sad story. This stone was
the last humble memorial which a disappointed and
heartstricken family had placed over the remains of one
who in an unlucky and unguarded moment had been
untimely hurried from this life by the rash and melan-
choly act of a companion; and which, as all such acts
are sure to do, caused immeasurable grief and pain to
worthy relatives, and remorse and bitter repining to the
repentant and short-lived author of the calamity. It
stands, as when first erected, over the grave of poor
Woodbridge, whose tragical end has found an able
remembrancer m the person of the Sexton of the Old
School.
There are but few who pass by this unostentatious
slab of unpretending slate who know the brief history
222 TOPOGBAPHICAIi AST) HISTOKICAL
of Benjamin Woodbridge. AH, however, may read the
following inscription:
-HEKE LIES INTEBEED
THE BODY OF MR.
BENJAMrU -WOODBEIDGE,
SON OF THE HONORABLE
DTTDLET WOODBRIDGE ESQ'B
WHO DEC'D JULY YE 3d,
1728, EST YE 20 TH
YEAR OF HIS AGE.
The story of young "Woodbridge is soon told; for be-
fore he had completed his twentieth year he fell a victim
of a duel, the first fought in Boston. The parties to this
sad transaction were himself, a young merchant of great
promise, who had just completed his education, having
been sent to Boston from a distant abode for the pur-
pose, and who had recently been admitted to business as
a partner with Mr. Jonathan Sewall, one of the most
active merchants of the place; and his antagonist, Mr.
Henry Phillips, then a young graduate of the College at
Cambridge, who had lately been associated with his
brother Gillam, who had recently succeeded his father,
Samuel Phillips, in the business of bookselling. Phillips
was also young; yet he was about four years older than
"Woodbridge; for at the time of the melancholy alfair
he had but just completed his twenty-third year. The
social position of both was eminently respectable; for
each was related to the best families in the Province,
both by descent and by family alliances. It is not gener-
ally known, even by those who are familiar with the gen-
eral facts, that Woodbridge was son of a gentleman of
some distinction in Barbadoes, one of the magistrates
there, who had formerly been settled in the ministry as
pastor of the church in Groton, Connecticut.
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 223
The cause of the difficulty between the young gen-
tlemen was a dispute at a card-table. The place of
meeting was on the rising ground of the Common, not
far from the Great Elm, near where in the olden times a
powder house stood, but where until quite recently on
gala occasions floated the flag of our Union. The weap-
ons on the occasion were small swords. The combat
was in the evening, and the parties were unattended.
Woodbridge fell mortally wounded by a thrust through
the body, and died on the spot before the next morning.
Philhps was slightly wounded and, at midnight, by the
aid of his brother Gillam, and Peter Faneuil, of famous
memory, made his escape, and being received on board
the Sheerness, a British man-of-war then lying in the
harbor, was on his way to France before the sun of
the next morning had fully discovered to interested
friends the miserable result of the unfortunate meeting.
Within a twelvemonth young Phillips died at Ro-
chelle, in Prance, of grief and a broken heart. What
a lesson does that silent gravestone perpetually teach!
In a portion of the Granary Burying- Ground, south-
west of the Franklin Obelisk, is the burial spot selected
by most of the French Protestants who sought protec-
tion in Boston after the revocation of the edict of IS^antes.
Many of the gravestones of these worthy people can be
now seen standing in their places. For a long time the
grave of Pierre Daille, the beloved minister of their
church established here, had been an object of search by
those who held the name and memory of this excellent
man in high respect. In May 1860, after much explo-
ration, the humble foot-stone, which in part served to
denote the last resting-place of this estimable pastor,
was accidentally discovered in the Granary Burial-
224 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Ground, where for many years it had been entirely hid-
den from view, being covered by the soU and sods of
that sacred enclosure. It has been restored to public
view, and placed scarcely two rods from the entrance
gate to the cemetery, at one of the corners formed by
one of the numerous by-paths and the main avenue of
the yard. The headstone could not be found in the
yard; but another accident a few weeks later disclosed
the hiding-place of the much sought for memorial, which
the friends of the deceased had placed at his grave to
designate the exact spot of his interment. Wbile labor-
ers were employed in excavating a cellar on an old
estate in Pleasant street, they suddenly struck upon
the stone, which for some unknown reason had been
removed years ago to that remote place. The inscrip-
tion, cut in the slatestone slab, is as foUows :
HERE LYES YE BODY OF YE
BETEBEND MB PETER
DAILLE MINISTEB OF YE
FEENCH CHTJECH IN
BOSTON DIED THE
2 1 ST OF MAY 1715
IN THE 6 7 YEAB
OF HIS AGE.
It wUl be seen by the following extract taken from
the Boston !N^ews-Letter that the date of decease given
on the stone differs from that generally quoted by
biographers :
" Boston, May 23, 1715. On Friday morning last,
the 20th current, Dyed here the Reverend Mr. Peter
Daille, Pastor of the French Congregation, aged about
66 years. He was a Person of great Piety, Charity,
affable and courteous Behaviour, and of an exemplary
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 225
Life and Conversation, mucli Lamented, especially by
his Flock; and was Decently Interr'd on the Lord's
Day Evening, the 22d Instant."
Monsieur Daille, while a resident of Boston, had
buried two wives, — Esther-Latonice, who died on the
fourteenth of December, 1696, and Seike, who died on
the thirty-first of August, 1713. He left a widow named
Mai'tha. In his will he directed his executor (the father
of Governor Bowdoin) to see that his body was " decently
interred," and, in his own words, " with this restriction,
that there be no wine at my funeral, and none of my
wife's relations have any mourning clothes furnished
them except gloves." All the clergy of the town, how-
ever, were presented with gloves and scarfs. The stone
has been placed in the Granary yard, near its foot-stone.
Among the noted persons buried in this enclosure, it
may not be improper nor invidious to mention Richard
Bellingham, a Colonial Governor; WUliam Dummer, an
acting Provincial Governor; and Governors Hancock,
Bowdoin, Adams, Sumner, Sullivan, Gore and Eustis,
who held office after the adoption of the Constitution;
Robert Treat Paine, signer of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence; John Hull, the famous mint master of 1652;
Judge Samuel Sewall, of noted memory; and in a brick
grave near the Tremont House, Edward Eawson, Secre-
tary of the Colony; Josiah Willard, Secretary of the
Province; Peter Faneuil, of blessed memory; Hon. John
Phillips, the first mayor of the city; Rev. Thomas Prince,
the annalist; Rev. Doctors Belknap, Lathrop, Eckley,
Stillman and Baldwin; and Paul Revere, the famous
mechanic, and a long list of other notables sleep within
this sacred and hallowed graveyard. ISTor should it be
forgotten, that under the larch tree, about sixty feet
29
226 DESCEIPTION OK BOSTON.
from the north wall, and about twenty feet from the
front fence, quietly moulder the ashes of the victims
of the Boston Massacre of the ever memorable fifth of
March, 1770; and in the Minot tomb, near Park street
MeetingrHouse, were first deposited the remains of Gen.
Joseph Warren, after they were reclaimed from their
first grave in Charlestown.
The oldest inscription on a horizontal slab is that
recording the death of Mrs. Hannah Allen, wife to Kev.
James Allen, Pastor of the First Church. She died on
twenty-sixth of February, 1667-8, aged twenty-one years.
The poetry upon her tombstone, being undoubtedly the
first placed withia the burial-ground, may not improperly
be used to close the present chapter: —
" Stayl thou this tomb that passeth by,
And think how soon that thou may'st die:
If sex, or age, or virtue bright
Would have prolong'd to these, it might,
Though virtue made not death to stay:
Yet turn'd it was to be their way.
And if with them thou wouldst be blest,
Prepare to dye before thou rest"
CHAPTEE XV.
QUAKER BUEYING-GEOUITD.
First Advent of the Quakers 1656, and their Harsh Treatment ■ . • First
Quaker Meeting- House in Boston, built 1694, sold 1709 • • ■ Grave of John
Soames ■ • • Quaker Meeting-Honse in Congress street, built in 1709 by
William Mumford ■ ■ ■ Situation and Dimensions of the Lot . • . House and its
Size ■ • . House Burned in 1760, and Repaired ; Taken Down in 1825 • • •
Burial-Ground Discontinued in 1815, and the Eemains Removed to Lynn in
1826 ■ . . Grave of "William Mumford • ■ • Quaker Estate Sold in 1828 • • • New
Meeting-House Erected in Milton Place in 1828, and sold in May 1865 • • •
Early Distinguished Quakers.
The cemetery that belonged to the Society of Friends,
and which was called the Quaker Burying-Ground,
was the fourth in point of antiquity in Boston. This
religious sect, although it has never been very numerous
in Boston, yet had, very early in the history of l^ew
England, a respectable number of firm and conscien-
tious adherents in the metropolis, — the first of whom
made their appearance in the summer of 1656, about
twelve years after the rise of the denomination in Leices-
tershire, England. The first who came to Boston
were imprisoned immediately on their arrival, and at
the earliest opportunity were sent back to Barbadoes
and England, whence they came. For many years this
people were subjected to the most humiliating treatment,
and to punishments of the greatest severity. Some had
one of their ears cut ofi^, some their tongues bored with
Jiot irons, and others were publicly executed by hanging.
228 TOPOGRAPHICAL ANB HISTORICAL
This barbarity" will forever cast a stigma upon the ad-
ministration of Governor Endicott, who as Mr. John
Hull, the mint master, tells us, " had very faithfully en-
deavor* the suppression of a pestellent generation, the
troubles of o' peace, civUl and eclesiastick." The per-
secution of this sect, however, excited in some a sympa-
thy; on the execution of the Quakers in 1659, one of
the persons in attendance, Mr. Edward Wanton, a per-
son of considerable consequence, became so affected that
he soon afterwards was converted to the Quaker doc-
trines, and was subsequently one of the most influential
and enthusiastic of their number.
During the Colonial Government of Massachusetts,
the Society of Friends had no regular place of worship,
although meetings for religious exercises were held as
frequently as the defenceless condition of the Society
would allow, the earliest of which any account has been
preserved being on the fourth of May, 1664, about ten
months previous to Governor Endicott's decease. On
the adoption of the Provincial Charter, which passed
the seals on the seventh of October, 1691, and which
was brought to Boston on the fourteenth of May, 1692,
by Governor William Phips, the Society was placed
nearer on an equality with the other sects of Christians,
and was so much relieved from oppression that its prin-
cipal men set themselves about providing a permanent
place of worship. One of their number, William Mum-
ford, a stonecutter by trade, who seems to have had
considerable experience in trading in real estate, pur-
chased a large lot of land in " Brattle Close or Pasture,"
as it was then styled, being the estate now covered with
the building at the corner of Brattle street and Brattle
square, called the "Quincy House." This lot, measur-;
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 229
ing nearly fifty-three feet upon Brattle street (as the
square was then designated), and forty-four feet in the
rear, being about one hundred and thirty feet deep, was
part of the original grant of Captain William Tyng; and
on his decease, which occurred on the eighteenth of Janu-
ary, 1652-3, it fell to his eldest daughter Elizabeth, the
wife of Major Thomas Brattle, and then to Thomas
Brattle, the noted Treasurer of Harvard College, who sold
it on the tenth of July, 1694, to Mr. Mumford. Mum-
ford built a brick meeting-house twenty-four by twenty
feet upon the front part of the lot; and on the second of
the following February conveyed a portion of the land,
measuring about twenty-five feet and three inches on the
street, twenty-one feet on the rear, and about one hun-
dred and twenty-eight feet deep, to Walter Clarke, Esq.,
of IN'ewport, E. I., Edward Shippen, Esq., of Philadel-
phia (late of Boston), John Soames of Boston, Edward
"Wanton of Scituate, and William Chamberlain of Hull,
trustees, to be held by .them " to the only sole and proper
use for the service and worship of Almighty God by the
society or commimity of People called Quakers, at all
and every time and times forever hereafter when and as
often as need shall require, and to and for none other
use, intent or purpose whatsoever." This lot and the
brick meeting-house upon it were sold to Thomas
Clarke of Boston, pewterer, on the twenty-seventh of
July, 1709, after, as it will appear, Mr. Miunford had
purchased another lot elsewhere for the accommodation
of the Society.
It has been thought that a portion of the Brattle
street lot was used for a cemetery by the Society of
Friends; but this idea does not appear to be substan-
tiated by any record that can be found, and it is certain
230 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
that Mr. Soames, one of the trustees, who died m iffo-
vember 1700, nearly nine years before it was sold, was
buried in Copp's Hill Buryiag-Ground, where his grave-
stone can be now seen by any one who desires to see
the last earthly resting-place of one of a sect which
had very little quiet in this world, at least when Friend
Soames was allowed to follow the busiaess of a cooper
at the ISTorth End of the town. The following is an
exact transcript of the inscription:
HERE LYETH
BURIED Ye BODY OF
JOHN SOAMES SEXr
AGED ABOUT 52 YEARS
DEPARTED THIS LIEE
NOVEMBER Ye 16
17
l^o other person of note belonging to the sect and
residing ia Boston died, as far as can be ascertained,
while the Quakers held possession of this estate. I^ow,
"as there is no other foundation for the belief that the
Society of Friends had a burial-place near their fii'st
meeting-house than the fact of owning land behind it,
there cannot be a great error in judgment in inferring
that there were no burials there, and that when they sold
the estate and purchased another they provided for the
burial of their associates in the new lot, and also that
the first ground set apart for their burials was that
which they so tenaciously retained possession of many
years after there were any families of the denomination
residing in the town.
The second venture of the Society was the purchase
of the Congress street estate, so well remembered by
many persons now living. Here was established the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTOK. 231
Quaker Burying-Ground in the year 1709. One of the
number, Mr. William Mumford, the person already men-
tioned, on the fifth of January, 1707-8, purchased of Dr.
Elisha Cooke and the other heirs of Governor John
Leverett, the land, which by deeds dated on the twenty-
eighth of April, 1709, and twenty-ninth of June, 1713,
he conveyed to Samuel Collins of Lynn (who of all
others had a queer trade for a Quaker, for he was a
gunsmith), and to Thomas Eichardson of Boston, who
some time between the two dates removed to Newport,
R. I ; and these last on the tenth of June, 1717, exe-
cuted an indenture with Walter I^ewberry of Boston,
merchant, Robert Buffun and Samuel Pope, blacksmith,
and Joshua Buffun, husbandman, all three of Salem,
and Matthew Estes, Jr., of Scituate, currier, as trustees
for the Society, placing the land and newly built meet-
ing-house at the disposal of these brethren. From this
time the estate was held by trustees or overseers until
August 1828, when several persons of Lynn, Danvers
and Salem, as overseers of the Salem Monthly Meet-
ing, conveyed the estate to Dr. Edward H. Eobbins, and
the society styled the Yearly Meeting of Friends for
New England released all right in the same.
The lot was situated in Leverett's lane (now called
Congress street), opposite Lindall street, and, by the
original deed of conveyance, measured about fifty feet
in front, sixty in the rear, about one hundred and sixty
on the south, and one hundred and forty on the north.
In the course of little over a century, the length of the
lot shrunk nearly thirty feet by the widening of Con-
gress street and other causes.
On the front part of the estate, the Quakers, in 1709,
erected their meeting-house, to take the place of that in
232 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Brattle square, which they left the same year. The new
building was of brick, covering a space thirty feet by
thirty-five, and setting back sufficiently to allow of a
high wooden fence in front, the large gate of which was
seldom opened between the years 1709 and 1808 (just
one hundred years), except for a portion of the small
monthly meetings of the brethren, which were held alter-
nately within its walls and at Salem and Lynn, and now
and then for a burial. By the great fire which occurred
on the twentieth of March, 1760, this buUding was much
injured, but was repaired the same year. The meetings
having been discontinued in the year 1808, the building
became of very little use, and the Society, on the second
of AprU, 1825, sold it for the value of its material, the
whole edifice bringing only $160, and it was soon taken
down.
The rear part of the lot appears to have been used
for burial purposes from the time of the purchase in
1709 until the twenty-second of June, 1815, although
the interments were of very unfrequent occurrence. On
the fifteenth of May, 1826, the following order was passed
in the Board of Aldermen, on petition of Estes ]N"ewhall,
of Lynn, and others : — " Ordered, that the petitioners be
permitted to take up all the remains of the dead from
the burial ground in Congress street, commonly called
the Quaker Burying Ground, and to reinter them in their
burying ground in Lynn; the same to be done under
the direction of the superintendent of burial grounds."
This duty was performed between the twenty-eighth of
June and seventh of July of the same year, and the
remains of seventy-two adults and of thirty-nine chil-
dren were removed to Lynn, and the bodies of two adult
persons were delivered up to their brother and deposited
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 233
in King's Chapel Cemetery, making one hundred and
thirteen in all. The remains of others were found sub-
sequently, when digging the cellar for the building
afterwards erected upon the site.
One would naturally suppose that the person who
had taken such an active part in establishing the grave-
yard would have selected the spot for his own resting-
place; but such was not the ease with Mr. Mumford.
His body was buried in the old part of the Copp's Hill
Burying-Ground, and a headstone bearing the following
inscription placed at his grave :
HERE LYES T' BODY OP
WILLIAM MTJMPORD
AGED 77 YEARS DIED
NOYr Y* ai* 1718.
Mr. Mumford, it appears, lived less than a year and
a half after he conveyed the property to the trustees of
the Society. He was a man of considerable enterprise,
and was largely concerned in real estate transactions
both in and out of town.
After the estate was sold in 1828, a large stone build-
ing was erected upon it, which in later years, untU 1860,
was occupied by the printing and editorial establishment
of the Boston Evening Transcript, and is now improved
as an extensive printing office by Messrs. J. E. Farwell
&Co.
Soon after the sale of the Quaker lot in Congress
street, the yearly meeting of Friends for K'ew England
purchased another estate in Milton place, bounded about
sixty feet easterly on the place, about thirty-nine in the
rear, and a little over eighty in depth. Upon this
the Friends erected a substantial brick building with
so
234 DESCEIPTION OF BOSTOX.
a stone front, measuring about thirty-nine by eeventy-
five feet, where they occasionally held meetings, but it
being of very little use to the Society, it was sold at
auction, and on the thirtieth of May, 1866, the Quakers
ceased to be owners of a meeting-house in Boston.
The early members of the Society of Friends were
many of them remarkable men. Mr. Mumford, as has
already been said, was largely interested as a builder in
the town, and he was the prime mover in the settlement
of the town of Sutton in this State. Mr. Edward Ship-
pen was a merchant of note, who removed early to I^ew-
port, Rhode Island, and then to Philadelphia, where,
under the city charter of 1701, he was the first mayor,
having held important positions in the State Legisla-
ture. Mr. Edward Wanton was an enterprising ship-
builder of Boston, and subsequently of Scituate, and the
father of Governor WUliam Wanton, of Rhode Island.
Walter Clark was also Governor of Rhode Island, and
one of the Council of the !N^ew England Colonies under
Governor Andros, by appointment of James II. What-
ever may be the traditionary and even recorded history
of the early Quakers, it should not be forgotten that
they then, as now, had among their number persons
of the greatest excellence as well as of the greatest
endurance.
CHAPTEE XVI.
CENTRAL BURriNG-GEOTJND.
Crowded State of Middle District Burial-Ground in 1740 • • • Committee to
locate another Graveyard, in 1748 • • • Report in Favor of Southeast
Corner of the Common rejected ■ • . Locations elected in 1754 for the South
Burying-Ground, now called the Central Burying-Ground • ■ • Other Names
of the Graveyard ■ • • Dimensions of the Lot • . ■ The Foster Lot at the Cor-
ner . . . Establishment of the Burial-Ground • ■ • Date of Tombs • • • Orna-
mental Trees set out in 1830 and 1840 • • • Fence erected in 1839 ■ • ■ Mysteri-
ous Gravestone • • • Place for the Burial of Strangers • • • Mystic Emblems • • •
Oldest Gravestone ■ . • Monuments • • • Supposed Goblins ■ • • Inscriptions • • •
Mons. Julien • • ■ Verses.
In consequence of the crowded state of the grounds
belonging to the King's Chapel and Granary Burying-
Grounds, great complaints were made by the under-
takers, and petitions were occasionally presented to the
Selectmen of the town asking for relief, the object being
the laying out a new yard nearer to the South End.
The petition of John Chambers and other gravediggers,
in 1740, alluded to in a preceding chapter, had consider-
able eflFect, and set the town officials looking about for
the proper place for a new cemetery, although the object
was not finally accomplished untU sixteen years later.
On the twenty-eighth of March, 1748, a committee,
appointed on the sixteenth of the same month, reported
to the town that they had " considered of the premises,
and were of opinion that a piece of ground at the lower
end of the Common, adjoining to the pasture belonging
236 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
to Hon. James Allen, Esq., is a place the most con-
venient for a burying ground." This report elicited
much debate, and it was finally recommitted to the gen-
tlemen who had presented it, with a desire that a plan
be taken of the land proposed by them for the burial-place
and that they consider whether it will not be best and
most convenient that a highway should be laid out
between said land of Mr. Allen and the Common, and
they were directed to report again at the next general
town meeting. On the ninth of May following, the com-
mittee reported agreeably to instructions, presenting a
plan of a lot near the southeast corner of the Common,
containing about an acre and a half, and bounded east
by the Tremont street mall, and about three hundred
and twenty-four feet north of the present Boylston
street, the intervening lot of land belonging to the heirs
of Col. Thomas Fitch ; and they recommended laying out
a twenty foot highway on the south. The proposed lot
was part of the Common, and was not taken for the
graveyard, probably because the townsmen did not wish
to abridge their "area of freedom"; and consequently
the matter was deferred, and the old burial-grounds
were crowded a little more during the next eight years.
On the fifteenth of May, 1754, a more earnest and
direct petition for a burial-place at the South End was
presented in town meeting, and referred to a committee
consisting of Thomas Hancock and Thomas Greene,
Esqs., and Messrs. Jacob Parker and John Hill and
John Phillips, Esq., all prominent and influential citizens
of the town. This committee reported on the seven-
teenth of the next September, recommending the pur-
chase of Col. Thomas Pitch's pasture at the bottom of
the Common, the estate then belonging to Andrew
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 237
Oliver, Jr.; and the report, after the usual amount of
debate, was accepted, and further action deferred untU
the eleventh of the following October, when it was
voted to purchase the lot. The portion of Col. Fitch's
pasture then determined on for the South Burying-
Ground, as it was called at first, — and which afterwards
was for many years known as the Common Burying-
Ground, until it was designated as the Central Burying-
Ground in 1810, in consequence of the establishment
of another burial-place at the southerly part of Wash-
ington street, — is the same that is now fenced in, and
formerly included the portion of Boylston street mall
which intervenes between it and the street. The
land, about two acres in extent, was purchased of
Andrew Oliver, Jr., and his wife Mary, who was a
daughter of Col. Fitch (they having been married on
the twentieth of June, 1728); and the boundaries as
then given were, by deed dated on the ninth of June,
1756, " easterly on land sett off to Mrs. Martha Allen,
there measuring three hundred and twenty feet,
southerly on FroggLane so called there measuring three
hundred and twenty-one feet, westerly on the Common
or Training Field there measuring on a bevelling line
three hundred and fifty-five feet, and northerly on the
same Common or Training Field there measuring one
hundred and eighty-nine feet and. an half to the first
bounds." These dimensions differ somewhat from those
of the lot as formerly included within the old brick
walls.
Although this ground was frequently designated as
the " Common Burying-Ground," it appears that no part
of it ever belonged to the Common; a remark which is
equally true in regard to the portion of land lying east
I
238 TOPOGKAPHICAi AKD HISTOEICAL
of it, and now partially occupied as a deer park, the
same having been purchased on the sixth of October,
1787, of William Foster, the father-in-law of the late
Hon. Harrison Gray Otis. Since the name of the street
on the south was changed from Frog lane to Boylston
street, about the year 1809, the burial-ground has fre-
quently been called " the Burying Ground on Boylston
street," as the names " South " and " Central " were so
uncertain in their designation, being equally applicable
to other grounds elsewhere situated.
At this late date, it is almost impossible to imagine
what preparation was necessary to be made to render
the pasture proper for burials, except to enclose it with
a good substantial fence; but it is certain that some-
thing was done, as the following record was made of a
meetmg of the Selectmen held on the twenty-fourth of
IsTovember, 1756: — "As the Burying Place at the bot-
tom of the Common, lately purchased by the Town of
Andrew Oliver, Junr., Bsqr., is now fit to bury the dead
in, the Selectmen have therefore appointed John Ean-
stead to have the care of said Burying Place, and to
bury the dead there." The early burials, qs in the other
yards, were in graves, there being no evidence of the
buUding of any tomb there until the year 1793, when
Mr. John Just Geyer, a stonecutter, was allowed " to
erect " one, " under the direction of Mr. Seaver." From
this time until 1800, a few were built each year; but in
the years 1801, 1802 and 1803 a large number were
built, chiefly by Messrs. Nicholas Peirce, Jr., and John
Peirce, two bricklayers living at the south part of the
town. About this last year the old brick-fence was
completed, and the burial-ground considered finished;
but in the year 1839 two rows of tombs on the south
DESCKIPXION OP BOSTON. 239
side were discontinued, and the Boylston street mall
laid out, and other tombs built on the western side to
compensate for those which were permanently closed.
In the year 1830 a few liberal persons subscribed a
small sum of money, which was expended in purchasing
and setting out ornamental trees in this graveyard; and
in 1840 a large number of trees and shrubs were set out,
which gave a very handsome appearance to. the premises.
How early interments were made in the yard cannot
be exactly ascertained. A small stone, bearing date at
least seven years before the establishment of the ceme-
tery, may now be seen standing within the enclosure,
with the name of the infant it was intended to be a
memorial of entirely obliterated. The inscription is as
follows: —
SON TO Cap. Will."
. & Maet
his wife died
Augt 24th 17*49
Aged 14 Days
"Wlio the incomprehensible little child was, and how
the stone came in its present place, do not appear; nor
are there any indications by surrounding objects to
help explain the mystery.
Tradition says that the British soldiers who died in
the barracks on the Common were buried in this yard;
and, although this may have been the fact, there is no
evidence that such was the case. It is much more
reasonable to infer that the ground was early used for
the burial of strangers, and Roman Catholics; for the
gravestones denote this fact sufficiently well, the graves
of persons from various foreign countries, even from
240 TOPOaEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL _^^
China, and fi'om many of the N'ew England States, being
designated by conspicuous memorials. The square and
compasses, emblematic of the mystic art, are more
frequently found here than in the other burial-groimds
in Boston 5 and in one marked instance the cross of
crucifixion is found with the masonic emblems.
If the child's gravestone is rejected as the oldest,
the following may be considered as holding that
position :
Here lies
Buried ye Body of Benjamin-
Feobishee Son of Mr.
William & Mrs Maet
Feobishee, who died ye
4th of Octr, 1761, Aged
1 Year & 25 Days.
The child, over whose grave this stone now stands,
was undoubtedly the son of a noted soap-boiler who
dwelt on Union street, and was buried within five years
after the establishment of the burial-ground.
There are only four memorials which can be called
monuments ; two of these are the horizontal tablets over
the tomb of the Wyers and over that of Hon. Thomas
Davis, at the southeast and southwest corners, both
having inscriptions, the first in remarkable Latin, and
the latter in good English; the remaining two are over
tombs where were buried Sarah, the wife of Dudley
Atkins Tyng, and Samuel Sprague, a sterling old Bos-
ton mechanic. These last being upright and con-
structed of white marble, and, moreover, being situated
near the path leading across the Common to the corner
of Pleasant street, have in the dim twilight of bygone
days been shunned by errant youngsters as goblins of
times long past; but Mrs. Tyng and old Mr. Sprague
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 241
were very respectable and quiet people, and not being
night waiters while living have not commenced such
unprofitable business since their decease, though their
monuments may appear in motion to persons passing by
them at late hours.
The inscriptions in the Central Burying-Ground are
in no way remarkable ; yet some of the gravestones have
verses cut in them which are somewhat characteristic.
In the northerly part of the yard, an unpretending stone
marks the resting-place of a humble, but formerly very
indispensable individual, whose name has not been en-
tirely forgotten. At the close of the last century, and a
few years in the present, the most noted restaurateur of
the town was Monsieur Julien, — he who served the
public at his house at the corner of Milk and Congress
streets. The inscription on the stone is as follows :
In memory of
Mr. John B. Julien,
who died June 30th, 1805.
^t. 52.
In hope of that immortal hliss,
To rise & reign where Jesus is,
His flesh in peaceful slumber lies
Till the last trump shall sound, arise 1
There are those who think that this famous man
lived many years later, undoubtedly because the widow
carried on the business after his decease, as was adver-
tised in one of the obituary notices of her husband, and
perhaps because his famous soup is not yet excluded
from sumptuous bills of fare on festive occasions.
A more extensive effort is that which can be read on
the gravestone of a young Scituate woman, who died in
1802, at the age of twenty-one years:
31
242 DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
Beneath this humble Stone, here lies a Youth,
Whose Soul was Goodness, and whose Heart was Truth
Crop'd like a Plow'r she wither'd in her Bloom,
Tho ' flatt'ring Life had promis'd Tears to come ;
The Tears she liv'd in Virtue's paths she trod,
■ And now her Spirit soars to meet her God;
In realms of Bliss, where Joys eternal reign.
Devoid of Care, an,d uncontroU'd by Pain.
Perhaps this chapter cannot be better closed than
with the following post-mortem lecture, which the head-
stone of Mr. Charles Wyman has been freely giving in
the same enclosure since the eighth of July, 1785, when
he died, in the fifty-seventh year of his age:
Beneath these clods of silent dust,
I sleep where all ye living must,
The gayest youth & fairest face
In time must be in this dark place.
CHAPTER XVII.
SOTJTH BURYTNG-GBOUND AND CEMETEKIES.
South Burying-Ground, on Washington street, 1810 •••Its Situation and
Boundaries • ■ . Near the Old Place of Execution • • • Marsh Tilled up and
Graded • • • Tombs first built in 1827 • • • Part of Yard cut off in 18G5 • • • Mr.
Hewes, the Old Superintendent of Burials • • • Cemeteries under the Churches
— Christ Church Cemetery In Salem street, 1732 ••• Ancient Burial Casket
with Evergreens • • ■ Inscription on Tomb of Eev. Dr. Cutler, the First Pas-
tor of Christ Church • • • Burial of Major Pitcairn, Eoyal Marine • • • Trinity
Church . • • Old and the New Cemeteries • • ■ King's Chapel Cemetery, Old
and New • • -The Old Building • • • Tombs of Kev. Mr. Myles and Sir Henry
Frankland ••• Burial of Gov. Shirley in 1771 •• -Inscriptions in the Chapel
• • • St. Paul's Church Cemetery • • • Park street Church Cemetery • • • Discon-
tinued.
Iisr 1810 the necessity for a cemetery at the South End
of the town existing, the South Burying-Ground on
"Washington street was opened for burials, which for the
space of seventeen years were made entirely in graves,
the lot having been laid out for the purpose by the town
authorities. This burial-ground is situated between ^ S
Newton street on the northeast, and Concord street on
the southwest, from both of which it is separated by (
dwelling-houses 5 and between "Washington street on the |
northwest, and James street on the southeast. Its
northerly part has recently been encroached upon by the [
St. James Hotel, an elegant edifice, erected in 1867-8. \
It is very neatly laid out into four squares, which are
ornamented with trees, and the whole is surrounded with
durable walls, that on Washington street being of ham-
244: TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
mered granite. In its earlier years it was the scene of
many of the capital executions; for near its most east-
erly part, which formerly extended to tide-water, usually
stood the gallows, and the culprits were generally buried
in deep graves within the cemetery near the place of
their execution. Soon after the building of the Leverett
street jail, hangings were performed more privately, and
the gallows on the neck discontinued. In stUl earlier
times the gallows stood further north, near the present
position of Maiden street; and, in the well remembered
execution of Samuel Tulley for piracy, it stood at South
Boston, and for Henry Phillips, the murderer of Den-
negri, at the Roebuck Tavern.
As late as the year 1837, there was very little come-
liness to the South Burying-Ground. A large portion
of it was marshy, and consequently wet; and until a
large quantity of proper soil was carted upon it, as was
done that year, and the surface graded, the place was
hardly fit for the purposes of sepulture, although, even
then, the front part of it was nearly filled.
In 1827, tombs were first built at the sides of the
yard; and from year to year, as purchasers were found,
others were erected in a substantial manner, until the
number amounted to one hundred and sixty-two, and
the dimensions of the yard were fixed at three hundred
and five by three hundred and fourteen feet; which
proportion the yard continued to hold until the year
1866, when it was curtailed of its size, the tombs on
the northerly side having been discontinued and a
strip of land ceded to the abutter on that side for yard
room and another portion for the hotel.
The gravestones in this yard are not numerous, and
strictly speaking there are no monumental inscriptions
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTOK. 245
within it, although there are several granite structures
standing upon vaults in the central part of several of
the squares, and at their corners.
One person should not be forgotten in connection i
with this cemetery — Mr. Samuel Hill Hewes, the first
Superintendent of Burials, elected on the estabhshment
of the office in 1822, and continued in office until his
decease in 1845, he having served the town in the same ^,
capacity since 1818, at which time he succeeded Daniel
Oliver. Mr. Hewes, from his first entrance upon office, '
took a particular interest in this yard; and it is mainly
owing to him that it has attained its present symmetri- ,
cal and neat appearance. The great passion this gentle-
man possessed for having everything appear regular
induced him to lay out walks in all the old graveyards,
and to arrange the gravestones in rows, representing
companies of winged cherubim in martial array. Mr.
Hewes died on the ninth of April, 1845, in the eighty- \
fifth year of his age, and was interred in an angle of '
the southwesterly square of his favorite resort during •
the last years of his useful life. '
Besides the burial-grounds already described, there
are, or have been, on the peninsula five cemeteries, dis-
tinctly so-called to distinguish them as being built
beneath church edifices. Of these, the Christ Church , ^ [/^
Cemetery, under Christ Church in Salem street, is very
ancient and contains thirty-three tombs. The Church
was built by Episcopalians in 1723, the corner-stone
being laid on the fifteenth of April and the first pubhc
worship held in it on the twenty-ninth of December of
the same year. Interments were made under the church
soon after its erection, and a tomb had been built before
the twenty-third of October, 1732, when permission was
246 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAX,
granted to T. Carrington to build a tomb adjoining to
the one already built there; but measures were not taken
for the establishment of a cemetery until the thirtieth of
the last-named month, when it was determined that the
vault beneath the church should be laid out for the pur-
pose. One of these was appropriated very early by a
Mr. "Wheate, who devoted it to the good purpose of
burying his deceased friends, one of whom, the wife of
Honorable John Wheelwright, was deposited there in
the year 1740, the earliest date now to be found in the
cemetery. About fifty years ago a body was exhiuned
in the northeast corner of the cemetery, curiously pre-
served by embalming, and with it were found evergreens.
This body had then laid there eighty or more years; and
was originally encased in two caskets, each covered with
coarse linen cloth impregnated with a protective gum.
Mr. Thomas, whose remains were thus discovered, had
died in Bermuda, and been brought back to Boston for
burial. Although care seems to have been taken to
preserve the tablet which covered this grave, no evidence
of it can now be traced within the cemetery. On the
easterly side is a tomb formerly belonging to Capt.
Thomas Potts, in which was buried the first rector of
the church, and upon a small slab may now be read the
following inscription:
Here Lyes entombed the Body of tlie Eevd.
TIMOTHY CUTLEE, D. D. first Minister of this
Church, deceased Augst 17th, 1765, Aged 81 Tears.
Also the Body of Mrs. ELISAth CUTLEE, widow
of the above, died Sept the 12th, 1771, Aged 81 Tears.
With the exception of the thirty-three tombs and
the heating apparatus of the church, nothing is to be
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 247
seen within this enclosure made sacred by the burial of
many of the worthy old residents of the Korth End.
It is related, however, in the traditions of the old peo-
ple who have dwelt in the neighborhood of this ceme-
tery, that Major Pitcairn of the British Marines, who
led the troops to Concord and was repulsed, and who
afterwards feU mortally wounded in the Battle of
Bunker Hill, was taken after the last-named battle to a
house in Prince street, where the gasometer now stands,
and after death was temporarily deposited under Christ
Church, and afterwards carried to England for burial.
Be this as it may, it is certain that during the siege of
Boston, in the war of the revolution, the cemetery was
frequently used for the burial of British officers. "T^
The old wooden building of Trinity Church, which
formerly stood at the corner of Summer and Hawley
streets (the former anciently known as " the street lead-
ing to the fort," and the latter as "Bishop's Alley"), and
the corner-stone of which was laid on the fifteenth
of April, 1734, by Eev. Commissary Roger Price, the
rector of King's Chapel, and the building consecrated
on the fifteenth of August, 1735, contained twenty- !
five tombs in its cellar. The corner-stone of the new
building was laid on the fifteenth of September, 1828,
by Rev. J. S. J. Gardiner, D. D., the Rector, and the
church was consecratied on the eleventh of Novem-
ber, 1829. !N"ew tombs were bnilt beneath the new
church, and the remains formerly deposited were re-
tained in Trinity Church Cemetery, as the new place for
burials is called, and in which are fifty-five tombs, one
of them generally known as the Stranger's Yault.
Like most church cemeteries, there is nothing specially
to interest a visitor to this; for little else can be seen or
248 TOPOaEAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
learned except the names of the owners of the different
vaults, — the names of the deceased, who have heen de-
posited there having been, it would seem, designedly,
and surely most effectually kept out of sight, and only
to be Imown on examination of the City Registrar's
carefully preserved records, or the plates within or upon
the mouldering coffins securely guarded by strongly
locked doors.
Some time about the year 1688, the first Episcopal
church was built in Boston; the exact time is not known
when the building was commenced, nor when it was
completed, nor by what authority a portion of the Old
Burying-Ground was taken for its site, other than thfe
usual authority made use of by the tyrannical usurper,
Andros — namely, that " might made right." Why
Andros did not take for this purpose the land on the
opposite side of Tremont street, which he much coveted,
is equally a problem of uncertainty, without it was be-
cause he preferred to contend with the dead rather than
with the living, and so invaded the tenements of the
former. Sure it is that, about the time the tyrant was
sent back to England, a wooden building was erected at
the corner on Tremont and School streets, which was
designated as the King's Chapel, and was supplied with
a small number of parishioners several years before pews
were built for their accommodation. This old building,
which was much enlarged about the year 1710, almost
equivalent to a re-building, had a square tower, sur-
rounded by a four-sided pyramid, upon the top of which
was a tall staff, half way up on which was a wooden
crown, and on the top was a weather-cock. This
answered the society about sixty years, when, in conse-
quence of the decayed condition of the old building, and
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 249
more particularly as a considerable part of the roof had .
been carried away by a violent storm, an effort was
made for the erection of a new building of stone, which
proving successful, the wooden church was taken down
in 1748, and the new one commenced. Under the old
wooden building were several tombs, the first mention
of which is recorded on the sixth of December, 1717,
when it was voted that "Mr. Mills " and "Mr. Franklin"
have liberty to bmld a tomb under the east end of the
church. This vote really meant to give accommodation
to Rev. Samuel Myles, the Rector, who died in March,
1727-28, and to Sir Henry Frankland, quite a noted and
wealthy townsman, whose princely house stood beside
that in which Governor Hutchinson dwelt in Garden
Court street, sometimes anciently known as Frizzell's
lane, because an opulent merchant named John Frizzell
once lived at the Fleet street corner. How many tombs
were under the old church is not known; but it is
certain that many of the noted Episcopalians of the day
buried their dead there, among whom were the wife and
daughter of Governor WUliam Shirley. When the old
wooden church was taken down in 1748, after much
'bickering with the Selectmen of the town, the wardens
of King's Chapel were allowed to extend their territory
north and east, the bodies to be removed from the land
taken for the church, and carefully buried in some part
of the Old Burying-Ground. One Selectman and a
very few influential persons made trouble with the
church, and compelled the wardens to purchase land
on both sides of School street, partly a portion of the
yard before the new City Hall, and partly where the
old brick Latin School House stood, at the corner of
Chapman Place (then, as it ought now to be, named
32
250 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
for Dr. Elislia Cooke, the inflexible ISTew England
patriot in the days of Andros and the royal gover-
nors). The east part of the present King's Chapel
stands on land on which stood the old school-house
of Master Philemon Pormort, the first known master of
the first free school in Boston, in 1635. When the
stone building, now known as King's Chapel, was
erected, the comer-stone being laid by Governor Shir-
ley on the eleventh of August, 1749 (but not until
the school-house had been built), twenty tombs were
placed in the basement, and a large vault, called the
Stranger's Tomb, under the tower. These have been
owned and occupied by some of the most noted of
the inhabitants of the town, and are still used as de-
posits for the dead. Governor William Shirley, who
died in Roxbury on the twenty-fourth of March, 1771,
was buried in tomb numbered 18, Eev. Mather Byles,
of Christ Church, performing the funeral services. The
tablets containing inscriptions appertaining to this cem-
etery are placed upon the walls of the chapel, and are to"
the memory of Mrs. Frances Shirley, Mrs. Frances, wife
of Mr. William BoUan, Mr. Charles Apthorp, who died
on the eleventh of l!^ovember, 1758, Mr. Samuel Vassall,
of London, of ancient memory, Mr. William Price, who
died on the nineteenth of May, 1772, aged eighty-seven
years, and some of the late pastors of the church.
Beneath St. Paul's Church is a cemetery containing
sixty-four tombs, which were built soon after the erec-
tion of the building, the corner-stone of which was laid
on the fourth of September, 1819, and the building con-
secrated on the thirtieth of June, 1820, by Bishops Gris-
wold and Brownell. Permission was formally given, on
the first of September, 1823, for the use of the tombs
DESCRIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 251
in this cemetery on the usual terms, a special condition
having been previously passed that no tomb should be
appropriated for the interment of strangers or of any
person in consideration of payment therefor. In 1825
the remains (such as could be found ia the Minot tomb
in the Granary Burying-Ground) of Dr. Joseph "Warren,
the patriot, were removed to the "Warren tomb, and the
following suitable inscription placed upon the box which
contained them: — "In this tomb are deposited the
earthly remains of Major-General Joseph Warren, who
was killed in the battle of Bunker Hill, on the 17th
June, 1775."
These honored relics have since been placed in an
imperishable urn, and deposited in a vault in Forest
HUls Cemetery, where, though now in theu' fourth place
of burial, it is presumed they will remain beside those of
his distinguished brother, until the last great day.
In January 1823, the proprietors of Park street
Meeting-House petitioned the City Council for liberty
to erect tombs under their building, which was granted,
and thirty tombs were brought into use. About the
year 1862, the Society determined to discontinue this
cemetery, and a lot was purchased at Mount Auburn for
the future place of deposit of remains that had already
been buried within these vaults. To this and other
burying-places the remains were removed during the
Slimmer of that year, and the stately monument at
Mount Auburn attests to the good faith and liberality
of the church in this matter.
CHAPTER xym.
SOUTH BOSTON AND EAST BOSTON CEMETERIES.
South Boston Cemeteries • • • St. Matthew's Church Cemetery, 1818 . • • St.
Matthew's Church Sold to the Freemasons, and the Cemetery Discontinued
• ■ ■ A Burial-Ground Provided for by the Act Annexing Dorchester Point to
Boston In 1804 . . • Lot Selected in 1817, and Set off by the Supreme Court
in 1818, and Laid out as the Boston Cemetery ■ • • Tombs Built in 1821, and
Demolished before 1853 ■ . ■ Hawes Burying-Ground, 1816 • • ■ Union Ceme-
tery, 1841 • • • St. Augustin Cemetery, for the Burial of Roman Catholics,
1818 • . . Size and Position of the Lot, and St. Augustin Chapel ■ ■ . Burial of
Key. Dr. Matignon in 1818 • • . Monument of Rev. Dr. OTlaherty, and other
Tablets in the Yard •••East Boston Burying-Grounds •. .Interment in
Graves • • • The Burial-Ground Purchased in 1838, and Established . • ■ The
Israelitish Burying-Ground, Belonging to the Congregation Ohabei Shalom,
Established in 1844 • ■ • Old Funeral Customs . • • Introduction of Hearses.
Having in several preceding chapters given a cursory
description of the burial-places upon the peninsula, it
now remains to take a brief notice of those, modern
though they may be, which are situated at South Boston
and East Boston.
South Boston, under the name of Dorchester Point,
was set off from Dorchester and annexed to Boston on
the sixth of March, 1804; at which time it comprised a
few farms, on which there were not many houses, and
no place for the burial of the dead, the Old Burying-
Ground in Dorchester, at the corner of Boston avenue
and Eustis street, generally serving the purpose for the
few families who made their abode there.
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 253
The first movement for a burial-place at South Bos-
ton seems to have arisen on the building of St. Matthew's
Church, which was organized on the twenty-fourth of
March, 1816, and incorporated on the sixteenth of the
following June. In 1817, the wardens and vestry com-
menced building their house of worship on Broadway,
about a hundred feet northwest of E street, on a lot
which was subsequently conveyed to them on the fourth
of jN'ovember, 1818, by Abraham Gould, a large real
estate owner of that part of the town, the church having
been consecrated by Bishop Griswold on the twenty-
fourth of the preceding June. The size of the lot of
land, and also the building was subsequently increased.
"When the church was erected, tombs were built in its
cellar; and an application was made to the Board of
Health for permission to use and occupy them for burial
purposes. A committee of the Board reported on the
eighteenth of June, 1818, "that they had attended to
the duty assigned them, by viewing' the situation, , and
examining the tombs referred to, and taking into consid-
eration the remote situation of the chapel from the body
of the town, the faithful and secure manner in which the
tombs are built" recommended that the request be
granted; and the following order was passed:
" Ordered, That the tombs now built under St.
Matthew's Chapel at South Boston be, and they are
hereby, appointed, located, established as a place where
the dead may be buried in the town of Boston; and all
persons are hereby required to take notice and govern
themselves accordingly."
This burial-place took the name of St. Matthew's
Church Cemetery, and has been very much used. The
church building was recently sold to the freemasons of
254 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
South Boston, and the use of the sixty tombs has been
discontinued, although a few of the owners held out for
a considerable time against having the deposits in then-
tombs removed; this prevented the freemasons putting
the land to the use for which it was last purchased, and
they subsequently sold it to persons who have erected
upon it substantial buildings.
The legislative act of 1804, which annexed to Boston
that portion of Dorchester now known as South Boston,
provided that the proprietor of the tract should " assign
and set apart three lots of land on the same for pubUc
use, viz., one lot for the purpose of a public market
place, one lot for a school house, and one lot for a burial
ground, to the satisfaction and acceptance of the select-
men of the town of Boston "; or in case the said Select-
men and proprietors should not agree upon the said lots,
it should be lawful for the Supreme Judicial Court, at
any session thereof in the County of Suffolk, upon appli-
cation of the said Selectmen, to nominate and appoint
three disinterested freeholders of Boston "to assign and
set off the three lots aforesaid by metes and boimds " ;
and the lots of land by them assigned and set off as
aforesaid should thenceforth " vest in the said town of
Boston forever without any compensation to be made
therefor by the town." Provision was also made that if
compensation for the land should be demanded, that the
lots should be appraised and the Valuation assessed upon
all the proprietors.
The first-mentioned lot for the market house was
deeded to the town in 1819 by Mr. John Hawes, the
person who has been so noble and generous in his gifts
for the improvement of South Boston; but there being
no immediate need for the market house, the donor gave
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 255
permission that the land should be used for the erection
of a school-house until a public market should be
required. 'No lot has as yet been demanded by the
city for school purposes under the act of March 1804,
although several buildings have been erected for school-
houses on land specially bought for the same.
In 1817, the Selectmen of Boston selected a lot for
the cemetery contemplated in the legislative act, but
W'cre not able to agree with the proprietors of the land
respecting its assignment for the purposes of a burial-
ground; consequently resort was had to the Supreme
Judicial Court, and a petition was presented at the 'No-
vember term of 1817 for the appointment of three com-
missioners; and Ebenezer Gay of Hingham, Thomas
Greenleaf of Quincy, and Isaac S. Gardner of Brook-
line, were appointed by the Court, who after a hearing,
■ had on the twenty-third of !N"ovember of the same year,
set off a portion of land containing about 85,400 feet,
situated on Dorchester street and next to the division
line between South Boston and Dorchester, which action
was approved by the court. The lot was bounded south
on Dorchester street three hundred feet, west on Dor-
chester boundary hue two hundred and sixty feet, north
on F street, and including a part of it, two hundred and
sixty feet, and east on Seventh street. Upon this the
Board of Health commenced the building of tombs; and
in January and March 1824, the proprietors released
their rights in the land to the city, "to have and to hold
the same to the said city as and for a burying ground in
pursuance of the provisions of said act" of 1804.
During the latter part of the year 1821, in conse-
quence of an order passed by the Board of Health on
the twenty-fourth of July, fifteen tombs were built in
256 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
the cemetery by Mr. Thomas Austin, and the lot was
properly fenced in. The committee who had charge of
the work closed a report, submitted on the thirteenth of
January, 1821, in the following words: — "The com-
mittee, therefore, have the satisfaction to state, that,
although in the execution of the important duties con-
fided to them by the Board of Health, they have had
much labor, anxiety, and responsibility, yet they derive
great consolation from witnessing the public approba-
tion of the intelligent and provident proceedings of the
Board of Health in providing for the exigences of the
town of Boston a repository for the dead, so convenient,
and exceeding in solemn magnificence and elegance
anything of the kind in the United States, it is their
opinion that when the whole of the 'Boston Cemetery'
shall have been completed agreeably to the plan already
adopted by the Board of Health, the same will be highly '
honorable to the moral feeling of the citizens of the
metropolis and an ornament to our State and country."
These tombs were offered for sale on the sixth of June,
1821, and were advertised as "completed with iron
doors and locks in a style superior to any in America."
Four only were sold at that time, three for $152 each,
and one for $166.34.
iN^otwithstanding the exalted opinion the committee
had of the Boston Cemetery, it never became an object
of much pride to Boston, and was very little used; in-
somuch, that in 1853, it appears that nearly all of the
tombs had been demolished, and burials h^d ceased to be
made in it, on account of the unsuitable condition of the
soil for graves and tombs. Several attempts have been
made by individuals to get possession of this lot, bat
these efibrts proved of no avail; and in 1868 the neces-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 257
sity of additional school accommodations in Ward XII.
having become imperative, a new and elegant school-
house for the Shurtleff School was erected upon this
conspicuous site, and dedicated on the twenty-third of
JSTovember, 1869.
On the twelfth of October, 1816, John Hawes of
South Boston conveyed to a committee of the inhabi-
tants of South Boston a small lot of land on the old road
leading to the point " for the use of a bmying ground
for the inhabitants." It was bounded northerly one
hundred and nine feet on the " old road," easterly one
hundred feet, and southerly one hundred and nine feet
on land of Abraham Gould, and westerly one hundred
feet on land of the heirs of Col. Ebenezer Clap; and lies
between the streets now known as Fourth and Fifth
streets on the north and south, and between L and M
streets west and east, and contains about one-quarter of
an acre and ten square feet. In this small yard there
are about seven tombs, the yard having been chiefly
used for interment in graves, which practice was discon-
tinued, some years since. The use of this graveyard,
now known as the Hawes Burying-Ground, was not
sanctioned by the Board of Health until the twelfth of
March, 1821.
On the thirtieth of October, 1841, the trustees of the
Warren Association sold to Adam Bent of South Bos-
ton a small lot of la"nd south of, and adjoining to, the
Hawes Burying-Ground; bounded on the north one
hundred and eleven feet by the Hawes Yard, easterly
about fifty-five feet by land of the Association, south-
erly about one hundred and ten feet by Fifth street, and
westerly forty-three feet by land of Jonathan Phillips.
In this small yard were originally fifteen tombs and five
33
258 TOPOGKAPHICAI, AND HISTORICAL
burial lots. The owners of the lot have named it the
Union Cemetery, and have placed around it a very neat
iron fence.
In the year 1818 the Roman Catholics selected a lot
of land upon Dorchester street for a burial-ground,
which was purchased in parcels of Zachariah G. Whit-
man, and Jonathan Mason, by deeds passed on the ninth
of December, 1818, the twenty-seventh of March, 1819,
and the fifth of April, 1822* and St. Augustin Cemetery
was established by an order of the Selectmen : " Ordered,
That there be assigned and located some suitable place
at South Boston, under the direction of the Board of
Health, as a burial ground for that denomination of
Christians called Koman Catholics of the town of
Boston."
This lot has a front of about one hundred and fifteen
feet southerly upon Dorchester street, and extends back
SB far as F street; on the east being bounded by Sixth
street, and on the west by Tudor street. The whole lot
is enclosed by a high wooden fence, and contains a
large number of monuments and gravestones, which are
chiefly of white marble, many of the monuments having
long epitaphs, and most of the stones somewhat more
upon them than the ordinary gravestone inscriptions.
Within the enclosure is a small chapel, containing about
thirty-eight pews, consecrated by Bishop Fenwick in
1833, which is now seldom used, and is going rapidly
to decay. This lot possesses much interest, and is the
only yard in South Boston in which burials are allowed
to be made in graves. Here repose the remains of
Francis Anthony Matignon, D. D., a most estimable
man, formerly the minister of the Roman Catholics
in Boston. He died of consumption, at the age of sixty-
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 259
five 3^ears, on the nineteenth of September, 1818, having
been born in Paris on the tenth of ISTovember, 1753.
His funeral, which occurred on the twenty-first of Sep-
tember, was attended with uncommon ceremonies, a
considerable number of Acolytes with burning tapers
escorting the large procession through the streets
from the Church of the Holy Cross in Franklin street
to the Granary Burying-Ground, where the body was
temporarily deposited in the tomb of Mr. John Magner,
from which it was removed to St. Augustin Cemetery
on the twenty-first of the ensuing April. "Within the
chapel, at the right of the altar, stands a mural tablet
bearing the following inscription:
Here lie the mortal remains of
FRANCIS ANTHONY MATIGNON, D. D.,
and for 26 years Pastor of the Church
of the Holy Cross in this town:
Ob. Sept. 19th, 1818,
^t. 65.
Beloved of God and men whose memory is in benediction:
EccFus C. 45., Y. 1.
The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips.
He walked with men in peace, and in equity, and turned many away from
iniquity. For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall
seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.
Malachi C. 2., V. 6, 7.
Far from the Sepulchre of his fathers repose the ashes of the good and
great Doctor Matign on; but his grave is not as among strangers, for it
was, and will often be watered by the tears of an affectionate flock, and his
memory is cherished by all who value learning, honour, genius, or love
devotion.
The Bishop and congregation in tears have erected this monument of
their veneration and gratitude.
In front of the chapel stands the monument of Dr.
O'Flaherty, and upon the walls are inserted tablets com-
memorative of three distinguished Catholic priests:
Rev. James McGuire, a native of the county of Cavan,
260 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
Ireland, died on the fifth of March, 1850, aged thirty-
five years; Rev. Patrick Byrne, a native of the county
of Kilkenny, Ireland, ordained on the eighteenth of
March, 1820, and late pastor of St. Mary's in Charles-
town, died on the fourth of December, 1814, aged fifty-
two years; Kev. John Mahoney, a native of the county
of Kerry, Ireland, who, after a laborious mission of six
years in the States of Maryland and Virginia, and of
thirteen years in the diocese of Boston, departed this
life on the twenty-ninth of December, 1839, aged fiJty-
eight years.
Dr. O'Flaherty will long be remembered for the
great ability he exhibited in the famous religious con-
troversy which he had many years ago with Rev. Dr.
Lyman Beecher. His monument is quite imposing. It
is of white marble, containing on the front panel a
medallion portrait of the deceased, and upon the left
panel a Latin inscription which is thus translated into
English on the right panel :
Here lies the body of
THOMAS JOHN O'FLAHEETT,
who was born in the county
of Kerry in Ireland.
A physician of high repute and
a most worthy priest of
ALMIGHTY GOD.
He always shone as the ornament of the sciences, the faithful interpreter
of languages, and the intrepid and invincible defender and expounder of
the sacred dogmas of the Catholic Church. His countrymen and fellow-
laborers in the vineyard of Jesus Christ have, under the guidance of the
Eev. James O'Eeilly, his most faithful friend, honorably erected this monu-
ment to the imperishable memory of a Priest so celebrated and dear to all.
He died on the 29 day of
March, 1846, aged 47 years.
May his soul rest in peace. Amen.
DESCRIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 261
"Within the enclosure there are a very few tombs, the
popular mode of burial with the Catholics having been
in this yard in graves. Over each grave is a large per-
pendicular marble slab, much larger and more expensive
than those of any of the other burial-grounds in Boston,
and upon each of these are the three letters I. H. S.,
and generally the words " requiescat in pace."
The above-mentioned burial-grounds are all that are
situated in South Boston, the necessity for others having
been supplied by the large suburban cemeteries in the
neighboring towns.
There are two cemeteries at East Boston, the lots
for which were bought of the East Boston Company,
and in both interments are chiefly made in graves.
On the thirteenth of July, 1838, the Company con-
veyed Sr tract of land, four hundred and fifty by three
hundred and fifty feet, between Bennington, Harmony,
Auburn, and Swift streets, to the city for a burial-ground;
and on the sixteenth of the same month the same was
accepted by the Board of Aldermen, and it was ordered
to be enclosed with a light fence, and that no person be
allowed to be buried within it nearer than eighteen feet
from the enclosing fence. This yard is used by the res-
idents of the ward, and a few interments are made in it
of persons from the peninsula, on account of the privi-
lege of burying in graves, which many persons consider
most proper. In this yard are about twelve tombs.
The congregation Ohabei Shalom, the Israelitish
Society of Peace, on the twenty-ninth of April, 1844,
petitioned the city government for leave to purchase a
portion of the East Boston Burying-Ground for a cem-
etery, but were denied; but having bargained for a lot
of land in the fourth section of the island, they again
2G2 TOPOGEAPHICAL AST) HISTOEICAL
petitioned the Board of Aldermen for leave to use
the lot so obtained, which was granted on the fifth of
October of the same year. In the mean time, on the
twenty-fifth of July, the society purchased the lot at the
corner of Byron and Homer streets, one hundred feet
square, and containing a little less than a quarter of an
acre of land. The burials in this yard are entirely in
graves, and the neat white gravestones, with Hebrew
inscriptions, and now and then one partly in English,
add much to the peculiarity of the cemetery. The lot
is enclosed with a wooden fence, and in consequence of
its remote distance from the thickly inhabited portion of
the island is seldom visited. The order passed by the
Board of Aldermen establishing this graveyard was in
the following words :
" Ordered, That the trustees of the Israelitish con-
gregation Ohabei Shalom (Friends of Peace) with their
associates having purchased a lot of land 'No. 250 in
Section 4 at East Boston, be and they are hereby author-
ized to lay the same out as a private burying-ground, they
complying in all respects with the statute laws of the
State and the ordinances of the City, and the rules and
regulations of this Board, subject, however, at all times
to the supervision of the superintendent of burial-
grounds and the control of this Board."
Previous to the purchase of this lot the Jewish
burials were either at JSTewport, R. I., or in South Read-
ing, a neighboring towu. The original ground laid out
in 1844, not sufficing for the burials of the sect, which
has much increased during the last few years, permis-
sion was given by the Board of Aldermen on the thirti-
eth of June, 1868, for an increase of the lot, which in
consequence thereof has been enlarged on the southerly
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 263
side by the addition of another piece of ground exactly
one hundred feet square.
With the exception of the tombs belonging to the
various City Institutions at South Boston and Deer
Island, and the graveyards at Castle and Rainsford
Islands, there are no burial-places within the old limits
of the city other than those described in these chapters,
if the burial of early executed persons in the common
and the harbor are made exceptions.
In the olden time burials were conducted in a very
different manner from what they now are. "When a
death occurred in a family, it was generally made known
very widely; and on the day of the funeral, the relatives
and friends, far and near, assembled at the house of the
deceased, and carried the body to the burial-ground,
unless, as in many of the towns in the Plymouth
Colony, there were places for burial upon the farms,
which was not the case, of course, in Boston. As our
fathers eschewed everything that resembled the church
customs of their fatherland, no prayers nor particular
services were had at the house or even at the grave;
but after the funeral the mourners and their friends
returned to the house, and there, if we can believe the
charges in the old administration accounts, there some-
times must have been pretty high times. Instead of the
prayers and addresses which are now part of the funeral
ceremonies at houses, the prayers, and now and then a
funeral sermon, were reserved for the ensuing Sunday
forenoon religious services at the meeting-house. The
first prayer made at a funeral in Boston is said, on good
authority, to have been offered by Rev. Dr. Chauncy, at
the interment of Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mayhew, pastor of
the West Church, who died on the ninth of July, 1766,
264 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
and was buried from the "West Church on account of
the great concourse who desired to pay respect to his
memory by being present on the occasion. The as-
sembly being in a meeting-house, it was deemed proper
and expedient that a devotional exercise should be had;
and this incident led to a custom which is now universal.
The sermon which introduced the present custom of
funeral sermons over the body was preached by Dr.
John Clarke in Brattle Street Meeting-House, at the in-
terment of Kev. Dr. Samuel Cooper, who died on the
twenty-ninth of December, 1783, and was buried on the
following Friday; which being the day the usual sacra-
mental lecture was delivered in Brattle Street Church,
and the body having been taken into the meeting-house
on account of the great number of persons who desired
to attend the funeral. Rev. Dr. Clarke, the junior pastor
of the first church, who was to have preached the
lecture, changed it into a funeral service, and thus set an
example which has been much followed since. The
sermons which are usually designated as funeral ser-
mons were generally in early times preached, as before
said, upon the Sunday after the funeral ; although occa-
sionally, by accident, the funeral sermon was preached
at the time of interment, an exception to the general
rule.
There were no hearses in the early days of the town.
The coffin, which was generally of pine, hemlock, or
cedar, and sometimes of harder and more costly wood,
was usually stained black or red, and sometimes covered
with black cloth; and this was ornamented with capa-
cious hinges and a plate, all struck up into form from
sheets of tinned iron, the plate being marked with black
letters, neatly painted upon a planished surface. This
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 265
was carried by hand upon a bier to the grave, or tomb,
as the case happened to be, by bearers, who were from
time to time relieved by others who walked by their
side; and these were followed by the mourners and
friends, who walked two by two, man and woman, arm
and arm, and boy and girl hand and hand together.
After the funeral the bier was left standing over the
grave ready for use when occasion should require.
This custom prevailed till within a period which can be
well remembered by our oldest people. The bearers
were generally rewarded with a present of gloves, and
sometimes scarfs, and the mourners had funeral rings
of black enamel, edged with gold, bearing as inscription
the name, age, and date of „death of the deceased.
Hearses were not introduced into Boston until about the
year 1796, when, on account of the great, distance of
the burial-grounds from some parts of the town, their
use became necessary. Carriages, for the women to
ride in, were introduced into use not long afterwards,
although the men continued to walk until the establish-
ment of the suburban cemeteries.
Until the purchase of " Sweet Auburn," on the con-
fines of Cambridge and Watertown, for a rural burial-
place, very little had been done towards ornamenting
and beautifying the graveyards in Boston and the
neighboriag towns ; but since the establishment of
Mount Auburn Cemetery, much has been done to expel
from the old graveyards their forbidding appearances.
In late years, since the abolishment of burials in
graves within the limits of the peninsula, the greatest
number of interments have been made in the rural cem-
eteries, that at Mount Auburn being the oldest of those
most generally used. On the twenty-third of June,
34
266 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTOniCAL
1831, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, an insti-
tution of high standing and much usefulness, obtained
an addition to its act of incorporation, conferring powers
to dedicate and appropriate any part of the real estate
which it then owned or should afterwards purchase, "as
and for a Rural Cemetery or Burying Ground, and for
the erection of Tombs, Cenotaph^, or other Monuments,
for or in memory of the dead : and for this purpose to lay
out the same in suitable lots or other subdivisions, for
family, and other burying places ; and to plant and em-
bellish the same with shrubbery, flowers, trees, walks, and
other rural ornaments," etc. The grounds taken for
this purpose by the society was the land on the border
of Cambridge and "Watertown, known by the name of
" Sweet Auburn," evidently derived from Goldsmith's
delightful poem. Within this tract is an eminence, long
known as Mount Auburn, whose summit is about one
hundred and twenty-five feet above the level of Charles
River, which flows gracefully by its southerly borders.
The whole lot now contains a little over one hundred
and twenty-five acres, and was formally consecrated on
the twenty-fourth of September, 1831. By an act of
the legislature, approved on the thirty-first of March,
1835, Joseph Story, John Davis, Jacob Bigelow, Isaac
Parker, George Bond, Charles P. Curtis, and others,
were created a corporation, by the name of the Proprie-
tors of the Cemetery of Moiint Auburn. This and the
Forest Hills and Mount Hope cemeteries have been
the places for burial most used for intei'ment by the
people residing in Boston and its immediate vicinity.
In the year 1846, the necessity for another large rural
cemetery similar to that at Mount Auburn becoming
apparent, efforts were made in the then City of Roxbury,
DESCETPTION OF BOSTON. 267
which included at that time the present town of West
Roxbury, for the estabhshment of a new pubhc ceme-
tery within the limits of that city. Hon. John J. Clarke,
the first Mayor of Eoxbury, made a commnnication to
the City Council on the fifth of October of the same
year, which contained the following suggestion: "At a
time not very remote it will become necessary to procure
other places of sepulture for those that shall die in the
city. Mount Auburn is too distant, and but compara-
tively few feel able to procure lots there. I would
therefore invite you to consider the expediency of pur-
chasing a tract of land, (if one can be procured well
adapted,) and laying it out in a proper manner, and
appropriating it to the purposes of a cemetery for the
use of all the inhabitants of the city, on such terms and
conditions as shall be thought best; and also to take
measures to make the existing cemeteries more respect-
able." The communication was referred to a joint
special committee of the City Council for consideration.
On the twenty-ninth of October, a public meeting of the
citizens of Eoxbury was held in City Hall, and resolu-
tions were passed urging the purchase of the Seaverns'
farm, in the west part of Eoxbury. On the ninth of
November, 1847, on motion of Alderman William B.
Kingsbury, it was ordered, " that the Joint Standing
Committee on Burial Grounds be, and they hereby are,
authorized to purchase of Joel Seaverns, for a Eural
Cemetery, a tract of land called the Seaverns farm,
containing fifty-five acres, more or less, at three hundred
dollars per acre": and at the same meeting an order
was passed, directing a special committee to apply to the
General Coiirt for an amendment to the City Charter,
authorizing the City Council to take the proper steps
268 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
necessary for instittiting the new cemetery. An Act of
the Legislature of the Commonwealth was approved on
the twentj'^-fourth of March, 1848, authorizing the City
Council of Koxbury to elect by joint ballot in convention
a board of five commissioners for the term of five years,
on the principle of rotation, to have the sole care, super-
intendence, and management, of a "Rural Cemetery,"
provided the act should be accepted by the City Council
within thirty days after its passage. The act was ac-
cepted on the twenty-seventh of March, and the pur-
chase of the land was made by deed dated the next day.
The laying out of the grounds was commenced on the
twenty-fifth of the ensuing April; on the twenty-sixth
of June, the cemetery was named "Forest Hills" by
ordinance, and on the twenty-eighth of the same month
it was formally dedicated. Since the first purchase, the
cemetery has been increased in size to about one hun-
dred and thirty-three acres. On the annexation of Kox-
bury to Boston, it was deemed best that the Forest Hills
Cemetery should be placed under a private Board of
management, elected by the proprietors of the lots ; con-
sequently an Act of the Legislature was obtained on
the twelfth of March, 1868, by which Alvah Kittredge,
George Lewis, William C. Harding, proprietors of lots
in Forest Hills Cemetery, their associates and succes-
sors, were made a corporation by the name of " The
Proprietors of Forest Hills Cemetery," with the neces-
sary powers and privileges, and subject to the usual
liabilities and restrictions. The ofl&cers of the corpo-
ration by the act are seven trustees, and a treasurer
and secretary; and the corporation were empowered
by the act to hold real estate in "West Roxbury to the
extent of three hundred acres, and personal estate to
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 269
an amount not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars.
The Act of Legislature was accepted by the proprietors
on the twenty-third of March of the year it was passed.
In consequence of the above transfer of the manage-
ment of the cemetery, an order was passed by the City
Council and approved by the Mayor on the thirty-first
of March, 1868, authorizing the Mayor to execute, in
behalf of the city, a conveyance of the lands purchased
for this cemetery, and the City Treasurer to transfer
and deliver the property obtained and acquired for said
cemetery, which the city had acquired by the union of
the two cities, to the proprietors of the cemetery; and
the Mayor, on the day of the aforesaid approval, exe-
cuted the deed, in accordance with the order.
Partially within the limits of Dorchester, near Hyde
Park, and partly in West Koxbury is situated Mount Hope
Cemetery, another of the rural places of burial estab-
lished for the convenience of the citizens of Boston and
of the neighboring cities and towns. This cemetery
was originally laid out for burial purposes by a company
of gentlemen who obtained an act of incorporation on
the tenth of November, 1851. The grounds contain
one hundred and four and three-fourths acres, and were
consecrated for their present use on the twenty-fourth
of June, 1852, by appropriate services. On the thirty-
first of July, 1857, the cemetery was conveyed to the
city for the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars; since
which it has been under the management of a Board of
five trustees, the City Eegistrar serving as secretary.
A superintendent resides near the cemetery.
CHAPTBE XIX.
BtTRYING-GROlTNDS IN BOSTON HIGHLANDS.
The Three Cemeteries of the Highlands ■ ■ • The Old Burying-Ground, or Eliot
Burying-Ground • • • The Ancient Cemetery of Roxbury, and Depository of
the Remains of the First Settlers ■ • • The Dudley Tomb • ■ - Thomas, Joseph
and Paul Dudley ■ ■ • Dudley Epitaphs and Anagrams • • ■ The Parting Stone
on Eliot Square, 1744 ■ • • The Eliot or Ministers' Tomb ■ ■ • Ministerial In-
scriptions . • ■ Oldest Gravestone ■ ■ • Samuel Danforth's Grave • • • Gravestone
of Rev. Shearjashub Bourn ■ • • Curious Inscription on Gravestone of Ben-
jamin Thomson • • • The Father of the Patriot Warren • ■ ■ The Warren
Cemetery, Formerly the Property of the First Parish • • ■ St. Joseph's
Cemetery, near Circuit Street.
The Boston Highlands, formerly the city of Roxbury,
before annexation to Boston, contained three burial
places : — the Old Cemetery at the corner of Washing-
ton and Eustis streets ; the Warren Cemetery, near War-
ren street and Kearsarge avenue, established by the
Society of the First Parish; and St. Joseph's Cemetery
on Circuit street.
The first of these, known to antiquarians as the
Eliot Burying-Grround, because the remains of the
Eev. John Eliot were deposited within its bounds, is
indeed an antiquated cemetery, and is situated at the
corner of Washington and Eustis streets, about two
miles in a southerly direction from State street,, a
short distance south of the old Boston and Roxbury
line, making the northeasterly corner of the junction
of the roads leading to Dorchester. In this spot the
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 271
people of Eoxbury first selected their place for the burial
of the dead of their town, and here were laid to rest
the most notable as well as the most ancient of the
original inhabitants of that old settlement. One can-
not pass through this quiet yard without noticing upon
the memorials there standing the names of persons dis-
tinguished in the early history of ISTew England —
although the custom of making interments in tombs has,
in a great measure, prevented the appearance of many
of the best known in the annals of the first years of the
town. Fortunately the position of the resting-places of
these have been carefully and reverently transmitted
down to the present generation in the most authentic
manner, and with the most scrupulous precision.
Until within a few years, this old graveyard has been
most unwarrantably neglected; but now, instead of
being overgrown with noxious weeds and unsightly
bushes, as formerly, it presents a very diflferent appear-
ance, as though the taste and skill of the noted floricul-
turists of the neighborhood had been expended upon
its once desolate and uninviting walks. The broken
monuments have been repaired, the fallen stones have
been uprighted, the weeds have been plucked, and the
bushes cut down, and a great and favorable change
has come over the old cemetery; for the enterprising
citizens have somewhat redeemed the sepulchres of
their fathers, and some have strewn them with flowers.
Within this walled ground lie all that was mortal
of many of the worthiest men among our forefathers.
Here were deposited the remains of the famous Dud-
leys, Thomas and Joseph, two ancient governors of Mas-
sachusetts, the first during the existence of the colonial
charter, and the second after its dissolution; and Paul
272 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
Dudley, the noted chief justice, so well known for his
liberally bestowed mile stones. Here, in a tomb, for
ages almost unknown, lie the ashes of 'New England's
famous apostle, the revered John Eliot; and here lie
5nany of the former pastors and teachers of the old
church of Koxbury. Until quite recently, none of these
worthies have had inscriptions on monument or tablet,
though written epitaphs in some instances have been
preserved. Although Governor Thomas Dudley was
renowned for his great strictness and integrity, and
died at the age of nearly seventy-seven years, on the
thirty-first of July, 1653, it is not to be supposed that
any one had the temerity to place upon his sepulchral
tablet (which has been taken from out of the monu-
mental^ slab) the following traditionary epitaph:
"Here lies Tom Dud,
That sturdy old stud,
A bargain's a bargain
And must be made good,"
It would be much more reasonable to believe that
the following anagram and verses, sent to him a few
years before his decease by some nameless author, might
have been deemed worthy of such a purpose :
"THOMAS DUDLEY
Alil old must dye.
A death's head on your hand you neede not weare,
A dying head you on your shoulders beare.
You neede not one to mind you, you must dye,
You in your name may spell mortalitye.
Yoiinge men may dye, but old men, these dye must,
'T*ill not be long before you turne to dust.
Before you turne to dustl ah! musti old! dye!
What shall younge doe, when old in dust doe lye?
When old in dust lye, what N. England doe?
When old in dust doe lye, it's best dye too."
DESCEIPTIOK OP BOSTOK. 273
What old Governor Dudley thought of the officious
oflfering thus made to him, it would be very difficult in
these far distant days to imagine; but it certaiuly must
have set him to thinking, and undoubtedly diverted his
mind to the thoughts of putting his house in order.
iN'otwithstanding the fashionable custom of maMng ana-
grams of the names of distinguished people, which pre-
vailed at the time he lived, it cannot be presumed that
he adopted the above lines for his epitaph; for the
following lines of his own composing were found in his
pocket after death, and may be considered more appro-
priate for elegiac purposes, if any of his descendants
should see fit to renew the memorial stone over the spot
where his remains were first deposited:
" Dim eyes, deaf ears, cold stomach, shew
My dissolution is in view.
Eleven times seven near liv'd have I,
And now God calls, I willing die.
My shuttle's shot, my race is run,
My sun is set, my day is done.
My span is measur'd, tale is told,
My flower is faded, and grown old.
My dream is vanished, shadow's fled,
My soul with Christ, my body dead.
Farewell dear wife, children and friends.
Hate heresie, make blessed ends.
Bear poverty, live with good men ;
So shall we live with joy agen.
Let men of God in courts and churches watch
O'er such as do a toleration hatch.
Lest that ill egg bring forth a cockatrice.
To poison all with heresie and vice.
If men be left, and oth3rwise combine,
My Epitaph's, ' I dy'd no Libertine.' "
Another epitaph written in Latin, probably by Eev.
Ezekiel Kogers, the first minister of Kowley, in twelve
36
274 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
lines, is preserved, but "will probably never be cut in
stone.
The second Governor Dudley, Joseph, the son of
his father's old age, died, on the second of April, 1720,
also in Eoxbury, where he passed the last remaining
eighteen years a very eventful life. Perhaps his best ep-
itaph could be extracted from his last will and testament:
" I bequeath my Soul into the hands of Almighty God, thro' Jesus
Christ my Lord, in whom I trust for eternal Life, and my Body to be
decently buried with my Father."
Paul Dudley, son of Governor Joseph, was chief
justice of the Province of Massachusetts, and died on
the twenty-first of January, 1750-51. He was buried
in the tomb of his fathers; but his epitaphs are only to
be read on the numerous rcdle stones that skirt the roads
in ^Norfolk County. One of these, erected in 1744, may
be seen near the !N"orfolk House, at the comer of Centre
and "Washington streets on EUot square, beariug the
following inscriptions on three sides of an upright
stone:
DEDHAM.
THE
CAMBRIDGE.
RHODE
ISLAND.
PARTING
STONE.
1744.
P. DUDLEY.
WATERTOWN.
This old Parting Stone has undoubtedly pointed the
way to what was once considered the termination of
civilization, and has given rest to the wearied limbs of
many a foot traveller of the old«n time, who has, whUe
sitting upon the rough ashlar, blessed the memory of
good, as well as just, Paul Dudley.
The tomb of this family is the first that meets the
eye on entering the cemetery from Bustis street, and
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTOK. 275
may be readily distingxdshed, as recently some one has
placed upon the monumental slab that covers it an oval
of white marble, beariag upon it the name Dudley,
A little further on, to the right and left, is a cluster
of half a dozen other tablets which cover the tombs of
some of the magnates of old Roxbury. Among these,
is " the ministers' tomb," and m it was buried old John
Eliot the apostle, and the translator of the Bible into
the Indian tongue. N^o epitaph commemorative of this
good man can be found cut ia stone by any of his con-
temporaries; but modern hands have restored the old
monument, and cut upon its tablet the following:
HEBE LIE THE BEMATXS OF
JOHN ELIOT
THE
APOSTLE TO THE INDIANS.
Ordained over the First Church Nov. 5, 1632.
Died May 2a, 1690, Aged LXXXVI.
ALSO OF
THOMAS WALTEE.
Ordained Oct. 19, 1718. Died Jan. 10, 1725.
Aged XXIX.
NEHEMIAH "WALTEE.
Ordained Oct. 17, 1688. Died Sept 17, 1720.
Aged LXXXVIL
OLIVEE PEABODT.
Ordained Nov. 7, 1750. Died May 29, 1752.
Aged XXXII.
AMOS ADAMS.
Ordained Sept. 12, 1753. Died Oct. 5, 1775.
Aged LIV.
ELIPHALET POETEE.
Ordained Oct. 2, 1782. Died Dec. 7, 1833.
Aged LXXV.
276 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTORICAL
In renovating this ancient monument, the outside of
the old structure has been completely covered with a
mastic coating, and upon one of its sides have been
placed in prominent letters the words " Parish Tomb."
The oldest gravestone now to be found in the yard
is that of Samuel Danforth, the oldest child of Eev.
Samuel Danforth, the colleague of Eev. John Eliot.
This boy was born on the seventeenth of January,
1652-53, and, as the old record informs with great ex-
actness, " at nine o'clock at night," and was baptized at
Boston by his grandfather, Eev. John Wilson, two days
afterwards. The inscription is as follows :
: SAMUEL DANFOETH:
:AGED: 6 MONTHS:
:DYED: 22 D: 3 M: 1663:
The gravestones of several other children of Eev.
Samuel Danforth, who died in infancy, are also to be
found in the enclosure, and almost all of them are older
than any original memorials to be found in any of the
burying-grounds in Boston.
A few gravestones bear very curious inscriptions.
That of Eev. Mr. Bourn of Scituate, who died in Eox-
bury, is as follows:
" Here lies buried the body of the Eev. Shearjashub Bourn, late Minister
of the First Parish in Scituate, and son of the Hon. Melatiah Bourn, esq. of
Sandwich, who died 14 August, 1768, set. 69.
Cautious himself, he others ne'er deceived,
Lived as he taught, and as he taught believed."
Another stone records in a somewhat T-emarkable
manner the death of an eminent person, who figured in
Eoxbury a little more than a century and a half ago, as
a schoolmaster and physician :
DESCEIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 277
" Sub spe immortali, 5'e
Herse of Mr. Benjamin Thomson
learned schoolmaster
& Physician, & ye
Uenowned Poet of K. Engl.
obiit aprilis 13°, anno Dom.
1714, & setatis suae 72,
mortuus sed immortalis.
He that would try
What is true happiness indeed
must die."
In the back part of the yard, and perhaps in too
humble a position to meet the eye of any but that of an
antiquary, could once be found the almost forgotten
gravestone of Joseph Warren, the father of the patriot
of Bunker Hill fame. This memorial, which has been
removed from its place witKin a short time, although
the footstone has been left to mark the grave, states that
he died on the twenty-third of October, 1745, in the
sixtieth year of his age. The following account of his
decease is taken from the Boston [N^ews-Letter:
KoxBTTET, October 25, 1745.—" On Wednesday last, a sorrowful acci-
dent happened here. As Mr. Joseph Warren, of this town, was gathering
apples from a tree, standing upon a ladder at a considerable distance from
the ground, he fell from thence, broke his neck, and expired in a few
moments. He was esteemed a man of good understanding, — industrious,
upright, honest and faithful; a serious, exemplary Christian; a useful
member of society. He was generally respected amongst us, and his death
is universally lamented."
This old yard does not seem to have been much used
in late years, owing undoubtedly to the large number of
rural cemeteries in the neighborhood. At a very little
expense, this place so centrally situated, and upon one
of the most public highways of Boston, might be made
one of the ornaments of the city; and if the gate should
be left unlocked, it would certainly be visited as much as
278 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
other burying-grounds, wMch serve for Sunday evening
promenade grounds during the summer months.
The "Warren cemetery was purchased and laid out by
the religious society worshipping in the meeting-house
of the First Parish of old Eoxbury on the eighteenth
of June, 1818, at a time when there were only three re-
ligious societies in the old town of Eoxbury which then
included the present town of "West Eoxbury. The
lot was bought of Samuel Bugbee, of "Wrentham, for
one thousand dollars. It contains one acre, two quar-
ters, and one rod, and was described as bounded as fol-
lows, viz : " beginning at the northwest comer of land
belonging to the heirs of Doct. John "Warren, deceased,
running north thirty-three degrees east, one of Gun-
ter's chains, and four links by the Great Eoad leading
from Boston to MUton, to the south side of a great rockj
thence south eighty-four degrees east, six chaias and
forty-five Hnks to a corner in Samuel "Weld's land;
thence bounded easterly by said Samuel "Weld's land,
and partly by land belonging to the heirs of Doct. John
"Warren, as the wall now stands j bounded southerly,
westerly, and south westerly, by land belonging to the
heirs of Doct. John "Warren, deceased, as the stone wall
now stands, running in an irregular direction to the
first corner by the road agreeable to a plan taken by
Mathew "Withington, dated April 21st, 1818." At a
meeting of the pew proprietors of this society, held on
the fourth of January, 1841, they voted to ofier to the
town the new burial-ground, without consideration,
provided the town would accept the samej which was
done on the fifteenth of the ensuing March. This cem-
etery is situated on a rising ground a short distance
south of Dudley street, and in the centre of a district
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 279
bounded by tbis street on tbe north, Winthrop sti'eet on
the south, Grenville street on the east, and Warren
street on tbe west, from which it receives its name, and
by which it is approached from the west through Kear-
sarge avenue, which once bore the name of Mount
Vernon Place, and which is continued to Winthrop
street on the south.
Southwest of Circuit street, and southeast of Fen-
wick street, between Shawmut and Walnut avenues, is
situated St. Joseph's Cemetery, a large burying-ground
belonging to the Roman Catholics. At a distance from
Shawmut avenue, this presents a very prominent appear-
ance, from the large number of white memorial stones
which have been erected over -the graves of its silent
inmates, and on account of the special neatness and
care with which its monuments have been arranged and
preserved. This cemetery was laid out in 1847, and
established by the city council on the seventeenth of
December, 1849 by the following order:
" Ordered, That permission be granted to the Eev.
Patrick O'Beirne, pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Eox-
bury, to establish a burial ground or cemetery within a
parcel of land containing about four acres, and situated
near the westerly end, and on the southerly side of
Walk Hill street, being a part of the premises described
in the deed of B. C. Evans to the Kev. Patrick
O'Beirne, dated May 5, 1849, and recorded in the
Registry of Deeds for the County of E'orfolk, Book
136, page 310; Provided the regulations which have or
may be established in conformity to the provision of
the ordinance and orders of the city council in relation
to the burial grounds and interments of tbe dead are
complied with."
CHAPTER XX.
DORCHESTER BTJRTINQ-GROTINDS
The Seven Barial-Grounds in the Sixteenth Ward • • • The Old Burylng-Groand,
1634 • • • Early Capen Gravestone • • • Very Ancient Horizontal Slabs • • •
Enigmatical Inscriptions, 1644, 1648, and 1659 ■ . • Monument to General
Humphrey Atherton ■ ■ • Curious Epitaph of William Poole • • • John Foster,
the Ingenious Mathematician and Scholar • • • Tomb of Rev. Richard
Mather • • • Elder James Humphrey • • • Lieutenant - Governor William
Stoughton • • • Elder Hopestill Clap • • • Royall Family Tomb • • • Grave of
Miriam Wood, the old School Dame ■ • • Deacon James Blake • • ■ Daniel
Davenport, the Old Sexton • ■ • South Burying-Ground, 1814 • • • Dorchester
Cemetery, 1848 • • • Roman Catholic Cemetery on Norfolk street, 1850 • • •
Mount Hope Cemetery and Catholic Burying-Ground • • • Cedar Grove
Cemetery, 1868.
DoEOHESTEK, HOW a Constituent part of Boston, bearing,
numerieallj speaking, the designation as the Sixteenth
"Ward, has seven burial-places; the Old Burying-Ground
on Stoughton street: the South Burying-Grround on
"Washington street, near the Lower Mills ; the Dorches-
ter Cemetery on N^orfolk street; the Roman Catholic
Cemetery, also on ]S'orfolk street; Mount Hope Ceme-
tery, partly in Dorchester, on "Walk Hill street; the Ro-
man Catholic Cemetery, contiguous to Mount Hope
Cemetery; and the ]S"ew Cemetery recently laid out on
Adams street, bearing the name of the Cedar Grove
Cemetery.
During the first few of the earliest years of the town
of Dorchester, as it is conjectured by antiquaries, the
DESOEIPTION OF BOSTON. 281
place of burial was situated near where the first meeting-
house was erected, in the vicinity of the corner formed
by the junction of Pleasant and Cottage streets; but
this spot could not have been long, nor much in use, for
in Ifovember 1633, the fathers of the town agreed upon
having a burying-ground on the corner of the present
Stoughton street and Boston avenue, and on the third
of March, 1634, they laid out for the purpose a lot of
five rods square, the nucleus of the present cemetery,
which contains about three acres of land. In this inter-
esting spot were buried the forefathers of Dorchester,
and here can be seen in good preservation the memo-
rials which the filial piety of their posterity have placed
in respect to their virtues and good names. Here can
be found several gravestones bearing the earliest dates
of any of the ancient inscriptions in N'ew England; yet
appearances are such as to give room for reasonable
doubt as to their being of the extreme antiquity that
their dates might lead incautious persons to infer. The
oldest date is 1638; but the inscription is put upon the
stone in such a manner as to give conclusive evidence
that the sculptor's work was not performed earlier than
the year 1653, and probably later than 1800. The
inscription is as follows:
HEBE
lies the bodies of
mb. baenaed capen
& mes. joan capen his
wife; he died not. 8
1638. aged 76 teaes
& she died mabch
2 6 16 5 3
AGED 75 TEAES.
In the neighborhood of this stone, near the corner of
the two streets, are two very ancient-looking, horizontal
36
282 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
slabs, which are supposed to have been placed over
graves earlier than those which bear inscriptions; and
it is not unreasonable to believe, that the traditionary
stories about their being placed there to prevent the
disturbance of the dead by the wild animals, are correct.
On a small square horizontal slab of dark slatestone
may be read two poetical enigmas, the subjects of which
have baffled the skill of the very persevering and ingen-
ious antiquaries and genealogists of Dorchester. This
slab does not appear as old as its inscriptions indicate,
and it may have been placed in the yard as late as the
year 1659, when a similar inscription was dated, if not
at a period somewhat subsequent to that. The inscrip-
tions are:
ABEL ■ HIS • OFFEEING ■ ACCEPTED • IS
HIS* BODY" TO* THE- GRAVE" HIS" SOVLE" TO" BLI3
ON • OCTOBERS • TWENTTE • AND • NO • MOKE
IN • THE • TEARE • SIXTEEN ■ HUNDRED • 44
STBMITE • SVBMITTED • TO • HER • HEAVENLY • KING
BEING* A • FLOWER * OP * THAT * JETEENAL * SPRING
NEABE* 3* YEARS* OLD* SHE* DYED* IN* HEAVEN* TO* "WAITE
THE • YEARE * WAS ' SIXTEEN * HUNDRED • 48
The third inscription, its stone not to be found, has
been preserved by an ancient grave-digger, now resting
from his labors beneath the turf of the same yard, and
is as follows:
Submit submitted down to dust,
Her soul ascends up to the just;
At neer ** old she did resign.
Her soul's gone to Christ, year '69.
The following inscription, on the large horizontal
tablet placed over the remains of Major-General Hum-
phrey Atherton, may without uny doubt be considered as
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTOk 283
old as the date connected with it. General Atherton
was a man of considerable usefulness in the colony, hav-
ing held many important offices, and at the time of his
death was the incumbent of the highest military position
in Massachusetts. He may be said to have died in the
service of his country; for on returning home early on
the morning after the sixteenth of September, 1661, from
Boston Common, where he had been reviewing the
troops, he came, in the darkness of the night, in collision
with a stray cow, and was thrown from his horse and
kUled. He was buried with great pomp and display as
is shown in his epitaph, which is carefully cut upon the
stone under the image of a naked sword, the emblem of
high military rank. The inscription is in capitals, and
as follows:
Heare • lyes • ovr • captaine • and major • of • Svffolk • was • withall
A ■ goodly • magistrate • vas • he • and • major • generaU
Two* trovps" of hors' with- hime- here- came- sveh- worth* his* love* did • crave
Ten • companyes • of" foot ■ also • movrning • marcht ■ to • his • grave
Let -all • that • read .• he • svre • to ■ keep • the • faith • as • he • hath • don
With • Christ • he ■ li vs ■ no w crownd • his • name • was • Hvmphrey • Atherton
He • dyed • the • 16 • of- September • 1661.
There are many interesting memorials in this yard.
Those of Rev, Richard Mather and Rev. Josiah Flint,
the first of whom died on the twenty-second of April,
1669, agfed seventy-three years, and the latter on the
fifteenth of September, 1680, aged thirty-five, are of
the only early clergymen of the town. Of the ancient
schoolmasters, there may be seen the gravestofle of Mr.
"WUliam Pole (or Poole, as it should be), a very aged
man, who died on the twenty-fourth of February, 1674-
75, aged eighty-one years. This old settler was in
Dorchester as early as 1630, and subsequently was for
284 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
a while in Taunton, where he was a captain of the train
band and a representative to the General Court, On
his return to Dorchester he served in a double capacity,
as town clerk and schoolmaster. Like many other
remarkable persons, when his final days approached,
he wrote his own epitaph, and his posterity had the same
faithfully cut in capital letters upon his tombstone, as
follows :
HEBE - LIETH - BUBIED - YE - BODY - OF
3IR. WILLIAM- POOLE -AGED-81-YEAES
WHO-DIED-YE-25TH, OF-FEBETJAET-IN
TE-YEBE 16 7 4.
Ye - epitaph - of- William - Pole - which - hee - hemself
made - while - he - was -yet- liuing- in- remembrance-of
his - own - death - & - left - it - to - be - ingraven - on - Ms
tomb - yt - so - being - dead - he - might - warn - posterity ,
or-a-resemblance-of-a-dead-man-bespeaking-ye-reader.
Ho - passenger - tis - worth - thy - paines - too - stay
& ~ take ~ a ~ dead - mans — lesson —by— ye — way
J- was ~ what — now— thou — art ~ & — thou — shalt— be
What - J - am - now - what - oods - twixt - me - & - thee
Now - go - thy - way - bvt - stay - take - on - word - more
Thy-staf-for-ought- thou- kno west-stands -ye - next - dore
Death - in - ye - dore - yea - dore -of- Heaven - or - Hell
Be - warned - be - armed - believe - repent - fairewell.
It is somewhat astonishing that stone-cutters of the
olden time should not only misspell names, but make
mistakes in figures ; and yet so they did, as is strongly
illustrated in the case of Goodman Poole. This care-
lessness often makes much confusion for antiquaries.
One of the most learned men in Dorchester was
young Mr. John Foster, son of Capt. Hopestill Foster.
This young man was educated at Harvard College,
where he graduated in the year 1667. He was an
universal genius ; he was " the ingenious mathematician
and printer" and schoolmaster. It is said of him that
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTOif. 285
he designed the "seal or arms of ye colony," the Indian
with a bow and arrow, and the famous motto, "Come
over and help us." He died on the ninth of September,
1681, aged only thirty-three years, and yet had accom-
plished much to keep his name in pleasant remembrance.
"Ars illi sua Census erat — Skill was his cash."
One of the most noted tombs in the Dorchester
graveyard, is that of Rev. Richard Mather, father of the
distinguished Rev. Increase Mather, and grandfather of
the remarkable Rev. Cotton Mather, and great-grands
father of the notorious loyalist and wag, Rev. Mather
Byles. His inscription is upon a horizontal tablet, and
is as follows:
D. o. M. Sacee
ElCHAEDTJS HiC DOEMIT MATHEEUS
(SeD NEC TOTTJS NEC MOEA DiUTURNA)
L^TATTJS GeNUISSE PAEES
Incebtijm: est utetjm Doctioe an Melioe
ANIMXIM& Gloeia non Queunt Humaei
Diuinely Rich & Learned Eichard Mather
Sons like Him Prophets Great Eeioicd this Father
Short Time His Sleeping Dust heres couerd down
Not His Ascended Spirit or Einown.
U. D. M. In Ang. 16. An. In. Dorc: N-A. 34 An.
Obt. Apr. 22 1669 Mt suae 73
James Humphrey, one of the Ruling Elders of the
Church, died on the twelfth of May, 1686, in his seventy-
eighth year; and a poetic inscription, written in acrostic
verses, was placed over his tomb, in the year 1731, when
it was repaired by his grandson, Jonas. It is said of
Elder " Humfrey," that a short time before his decease,
he intimated a desire to be buried in the same vault
with the Rev. Mr. Mather; but circumstances preventing,
his remains were deposited in a grave near his beloved
286 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AilD HISTOKICAL
pastor, in the westerly part of the old inclosure. The
lines, written in the usiial gravestone style, are as fol-
lows:
I nclos'd -within tills Shrine is Precious Dust,
A nd only waits for th' Eising of the Just.
M ost useful! he Liv'd adorn'd his station
E ven to old Age serv'd his Generation:
S ince his Decease tho't of with Veneration.
H ow great a Blessing this Kuling Elder he,
U nto this Chtxech & Town & Pastoks Three?
M ATHER he first did by him Help receiue,
F LINT he did next his Burthen much reUeue:
R enown'd DANPORTH did he Assist with Skill.
E steem'd High by all: Bear Pruit untill
T ielding to Death his Glorious Seat did Pill.
On the seventh of July, 1701, died Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor William Stoughton, aged seventy years, one of
the most useful men in the colony. He graduated at
Harvard College in 1650, prepared himself for the miu-
istry and preached awhile in England; was a member of
the Council, Chief Justice of the Superior Court, and
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, actiug as Gover-
nor many years. He is most favorably remembered for
his benefactions to his Alma Mater, to which he gave
one thousand pounds. A building that bore his name,
but has now been superseded by another still retaining
it, was built at his expense, and property was left by him
for the support of poor scholars. He lies buried be-
neath an imposing tablet, which has been restored at the
expense of the college, and upon which is a very learned
Latin inscription, said to have been written by Cotton
Mather, but believed to be a paraphrase of that of the
renowned Blaise Pasohal. It has been translated into
English as follows:
DBSCEIPTION or BOSTON. 287
HEEE lilES
"WILLIAM STOUGHTON, Esquihe,
Lieutenant, afterwards Governor,
Of the Province of Massachusetts
in New England,
Also
Chief Judge of the Superior Court
in the same Province,
A man of wedlock unknown,
Devout in Religion,
Eenowned for Virtue,
Famous for Erudition,
Acute in Judgement,
Equally Illustrious by Kindness and Spirit,
A Lover of Equity,
A Defender of the Laws,
Pounder of Stougbton Hall,
A most Distinguished Patron of Letters and
Literary Men,
A most strenuous Opponent of Impiety and
Vice.
Khetoricians delight in Him as Eloquent,
"Writers are acquainted with Him as Elegant,
Philosophers seek Him as Wise.
Doctors know Him as a Theologian,
The Devout revere Him as Grave,
All admire Him ; unknown by All
Yet known to all.
What need of more. Traveller? Whom have
we lost —
STOUGHTON 1
Alas!
I have said sufficient, Tears press,
I keep silence.
He lived Seventy Years;
On the Seventh of July, in the Year of Safety
1701,
He Died.
Alas I Alas I What Grief I
The gravestone of Elder Hopestill Clap (son of
the noted Capt. Eoger Clap, who commanded the Castle
288 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
in Boston Harbor many years under the colonial govern-
ment, and whose gravestone is now standing in King's
Chapel Burying-Ground in Boston) may be seen, with
an inscription written by Eev. John Danforth, his
pastor:
HERE LIES INTEBEED YE
BODY OF ELDER HOPESTILL
CLAP WHO DECEASED
SEPTEaiBEB 2d 17 19
AGED 72 YEAE8.
His Dust Waits Till The Jubile
Shall Then Shine Brighter then y e Skie
Shall meet & Join (to Part no more)
His Soul Thats Glorified Before
Pastors & Churches Happy He
With Kuling Elders Such As He
Present TTsefiil Absent Wanted
Liu'd. Desired Died Lamented.
The following inscription was placed over the gi'ave
of an ancient school-mistress, which may be noticed in
the oldest part of the groimd:
HERE LYES YE BODY
OF MIRIAM WOOD
FORMERLY WIFE TO JOHN SMITH
AGED 73 YEARS
DIED OCTOBER YE 19TH
1 7 6 .
A Woman well beloved of all
her neighbours from her care of small
Folks education their number being great
that when she dyid she scarsely left her mate
So Wise Discre[et] was her behaviours
that she was well esteemed by neighbours
She liv'd in love with all to dy
so let her rest [to] Eternaty.
A very long and excellent inscription may be found
upon the tomb of the family of Royall, in which were
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 289
buried William Royall, of N^orth Yarmouth, who died
on the seventh of November, 1724, in the eighty-fifth
year of his age ; and of Hon. Isaac Eoyall, of Charles-
town, who died on the seventh of June, 1739, aged six-
ty-seven years.
Another epitaph which is somewhat curious is in this
old yard, so remarkable for its peculiar inscriptions,
which were frequently made more plain by the hand of
old Daniel Davenport, the sexton, and " Old Mortality,"
of Dorchester, and which have been preserved by a
distinguished antiquary, who has made accurate copies
of all within the cemetery, is :
Here lyes buried ye body
of Mr. James Blake
who departed this life
Octr. 22d, 1732, Aged 80
years & 2 months.
He was a member in full
communion with ye church
of Christ in Dorchester
above 55 years, and a Deacon
of ye same Church above 35 years.
Seven years Strong Pain doth end at last,
His weary Days & Nights are past;
The Way is Eough, ye End is Peace;
Short Pain gives place to endless ease.
Perhaps this description of the Old Burying-Ground
cannot be better closed than by giving the inscription on
the stone standing upon the grave of the old sexton.
This is furnished by Mr. Ebenezer Olapp, an eminent
antiquary of Dorchester, who saw "Old Mortality" dig-
ging and preparing his own grave a third of a century
ago. The old man, after delving in his profession about
half a century, died at Dorchester at a very advanced
37
290 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
age; and at his decease was the oldest male inhabitant
of Dorchester. The following is the inscription, which
was written by his former pastor, 'Rev. Thaddeus
Mason Harris, D. D., one of the most remarkable
antiquaries and conscientious historians of the day, and
who left two generations behind him to exemplify his
industry and research:
This grave was dug and finished
in the Tear 1833
DANIEL DAYENPOET,
when he had been Sexton
in Dorchester
twenty seven years,
had attended 1135 funerals,
and dug 734 graves.
As Sexton with my spade I learned
To delve beneath the sod;
Where body to the earth returned,
But spirit to its God.
Tears twenty seven this toil I bore,
And midst deaths oft was spared
Seven hilndred graves and thirty four 1 dug
Then mine prepared.
And when at last I too must die
Some else the bell will toll;
As here my Mortal relics lie,
May heaven receive my soul.
Mr. Davenport lived nearly a generation of years
after he had thus prepared for his own burial; and dur-
ing most of this time continued his avocation as sexton.
He attended probably five hundred more funerals after
digging his own grave, having his son "William for a
colleague the latter part of his life. Such were his feel-
ings for the Old Burying- Ground that he lingered about
it to the last, and regarded it as his own pleasant home,
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 291
as it had already been that of his worldly emolument.
The following inscription tells the visitor when this old
man ceased from his earthly labors, and when he was
garnered into the field where he had laid to rest so many
of his old acquaintances and fellow-townsmen:
He died December 24, 1860,
aged 87 years, 6 mos, 19 days.
He buried from March 3, 1806
to May 12 1852
one thousand eight hundred & thirty seven
Persons.
"William Davenport, son of the old sexton, after he
had buried twelve hundred and sixty-seven persons, died
in the fortieth year of his age, and was gathered to his
father.
The South Burying-Ground, which ranks second in
age in Dorchester, is situated on Washington street,
near the Lower Mills, and was established in 1814, the
first interment being made on the twentieth of May of
that year.
Eev. John Codman, D. D., who died on the twenty-
third of December, 1847, at the age of sixty-five years,
bequeathed to the Second Parish a lot of land for burial
purposes on I^Torfolk street. This was consecrated as
the "Dorchester Cemetery," on the twenty-seventh of
October, 1848, the day that the remains of this dis-
tinguished theologian were removed from their original
place of deposit to the family tomb within the enclosure.
The first burial in the cemetery was made eight days
previous.
The other burying-ground on IS'orfolk street origi-
nally contained about ten acres, but has been consid-
erably enlarged. It was purchased on the twelfth of
292 TOPOGKAPHICAI. AND BISTOKICAL
August, 1850, of John Tolman, and has been used for
the interment of Roman Catholics.
Mount Hope Cemetery and the Roman Catholic
Burying-Ground near it have been mentioned in a for-
mer chapter.
In the year 1867, a rural cemetery was laid out by
the town of Dorchester on Adams and Milton streets,
near the Lower Mills. It is designated as Cedar Grove
Cemetery, and contains a little more than forty acres
of land. It is under the control and management of a
board of five commissioners under the authority of a
special act of the legislature, approved by the gov-
ernor on the sixteenth of March, 1868, granting powers
similar to those under which Forest Hills and Mount
Hope have become so attractive as burial-places of
the dead. This cemetery afibrds a very considerable
variety of surface and material, and presents extensive
and delightful views of the neighboring country and
!N^eponset River, which flows by its southerly borders.
In the process of its improvement a good degree of
success has been attained in preserving the distinctive
natural beauties of the place, while turning them to
useful account in the general purpose for which the
grounds are designed. The original cost of the land
was about twenty-five thousand dollars, and since the
commencement of the enterprise further sums to the
amount of thirty thousand dollars have been appropri-
ated for improvements. By the provisions of the act
above-mentioned, a portion of the grounds was set
apart as a free public burial-place for the inhabitants
of Dorchester, the remaining portions to be sold in
lots, and the proceeds devoted exclusively to the pre-
servation and embellishment of the cemetery. Pro-
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 293
vision is also made for the application of trust funds
to special purposes, and for the care of particular lots.
The grounds are laid out in accordance with designs
by L. Briggs, Esq., under the direction of William
Pope, Henry J. Nazro, Nathan Carruth, Henry L.
Pierce and Albe C. Clark, commissioners.
CHAPTEE XXI.
HISTOEy OF BOSTON" COMMON.
Erroneous Idea that the Common Was Given to the Town • • • Bought of William
Blaxton in 1634 • ■ • Removal of Blaxton to Study Hill, and his Decease in
1675 • • ■ Rate Raised for Paying for the Peninsula • . ■ Famous Deposition of
John Odlin and Others in 1684 • • ■ The Deponents • • • Danger of Losing
the Common • • ■ Common Land Reserved for Future Benefit of the Town
• . • Establishment of the Common in 1640 ■ ■ • Title to the Whole Peninsula
Obtained by Charter, by Purchase of the Indians in 1630, and of Mr. Blaxton
in 1634 ■ • ■ Quitclaim Release of Charles Josias, alias Wampatuck, in 1685 • • •
Town Orders Concerning the Common, and its Use for Pasturage of Cows
and Sheep • • ■ Sale of the Common Land Restricted to the Consent of the
Inhabitants • • • Cow Keeper, and Shepherd Appointed • • • Town Orders
• Against Abuses of the Common • ■ • The Probable Commencement of Inter-
nal Health Ai'rangeraents • ■ • The Improvement of the Common Confided to
the Selectmen ••■ Provision of the City Charter Respecting the Common,
by which it cannot be Leased nor Sold by the City Council.
Peehaps there is no part of Boston in which its citi-
zens feel more pride than in its Common. This tract of
about forty-five acres has from the early days of the
town been the free and undisputed property of its inhabi-
tants. Many persons have supposed that it was given
to the town, but this is not true; for it was purchased of
Mr. William Blaxton, he who was seated upon the
peninsula when the colonists came to Massachusetts, and
who so generously invited them to his hospitable abode,
where so bountifully flowed the purest water from his
living spring. For about four years after the removal
of the colonists to Boston, they dwelt contentedly with
DBSCEIPTION OF BOSTON-. 295
their host; and in the year 1634, the reverend gentle-
man, undoubtedly desiring a greater freedom and less
interruption from company, or, as it has been said, that
he might escape the lord-brethren of IS'ew England, as
he had previously endeavored to avoid the lord-bishops
of Old England — quitted his peninsula, or "neck," as
it was anciently called, to the sole enjoyment of his
guests, and departed to a place near Providence, called
by him Study Hill, where he spent the remainder of his
days with his family in quiet, and died on the twenty-
sixth of May, 1675, just before the breaking out of the
liTarraganset war. Before leaving Boston, however, .
he sold all his interest in the peninsula, except in six
acres, where his house stood, to the colonists, for thirty
pounds. The money therefor was raised by a rate, as is
shown by the following entry in the first book of the
town's records, under date of the tenth of iN'ovember,
1634: — "Item, y* Edmund Quinsey, Samuel Wilbore,
"WlH"" Boston [Balston] , Edward Hutchinson the elder,
"Will"" Cheesbrough, the constable, shall make & as-
sesse all these rates, viz*, a rate of 30£ to Mr. Black-
ston," etc. The following deposition, now printed from
the original document, which is sanctioned by the well
known autograph signatures of Governor Bradstreet
and Judge Sewall, was taken in 1684 to perpetuate
the evidence of the fact, as probably no deed was taken
from Mr. Blaxton at the time of the release; and cer-
tainly none was ever recorded in the records of the
county or colony (those of deeds commencing about
the year 1640). The earliest entries in the town vol-
ume, previous to September 1634, have been irrecover-
ably lost; therefore if such a fact had ever been re-
corded by the town authorities, all evidence thereof
296 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
has been lost. This interesting document is in the
following words:
" The Deposition of John Odlin aged about Eighty-
two yeares, Robert Walker aged about Seventy Eight
yeares, Francis Hudson aged about Sixty eight yeares,
and "William Lytherland aged about Seventy Six yeares.
These Deponents being ancient dwellers and Inhabitants
of the Town of Boston in I^ew-England from the time
of the first planting and setling thereof and contintiing
so at this day, do jointly testify and depose that in or
about the yeare of our Lord One thousand Six hundred
thirty and ffour the then present Inhabitants of s* Town
of Boston (of whome the Hono"^ John "Winthrop Esq'
Govemo' of the Colony was cheife) did treate and agree
with M"' WUliam Blactstone for the purchase of his Es-
tate and right in any Lands lying within the s* neck of
Land called Boston, and for s* purchase agreed that
every householder should pay Six Shillings, which was
accordingly collected none paying less some considerably
more then Six Shillings, and the s^ sume collected was
delivered and paid to M' Blackstone to his full content
& satisfaction; in consideration whereof bee Sold unto
the then Inhabitants of s^ Town and their heires and
assignes for ever his whole right & interest in all and
every of the Lands lying within s^ neck. Reserving onely
unto himselfe about Six acres of Land on the point
commonly called Blackstons point on part whereof his
then dwelling house stood j after which purchase the
Town laid out a place for a trayning field; which ever
since and now is used for that purpose & for the feed-
ing of Cattell; Robert Walker, & W" Lytherland fur-
ther Testify that M' Blackstone bought a Stock of
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 297
Cows with the Money he rec^ as above and Removed &
dwelt near Providence where he liv'd till y" day of his
death.
" Deposed this lO'" of June 1684. by John Odlin,
Eobert Walker, Francis Hudson, & "William Lyther-
land according to their respective Testimonye
" Before us
« S. BRADSTREET, Gou'n'.
"SAM SEWALL, Assist."
The original document has upon its back the follow-
ing indorsement: — "John Odlin &c their depositions
ab' Blackstons Sale of his Land in Boston."
The foregoing instrument is of great interest, as it
contains the evidence of the purchase of the peninsula
of Boston, upon the testimony of four of the most
ancient men of the town, three of whom lived to a very
great age, and were among the last survivors of the first
comers to the town.
Odlin was a cutler by trade, and died on the eigh-
teenth of December, 1685, a little over a year after the
deposition was taken. Hudson was the fisherman who
gave name to Hudson's Point, and is said to have been
one of the very first who landed on the peninsula from
Winthrop's company; he died on the third of N^ovember,
1700, aged eighty-two years. Walker was a weaver,
and died on the twenty-ninth of May, 1687, aged eighty-
one years. Lytherland, being a supporter of Mrs. Ann
Hutchinson in her peculiar religious dogmas, left the
town and took up his abode at iJ^Tewport, E. I., where he
was for many years the town clerk, and where he died
at an advanced age.
The deposition of these aged men proves satisfacto-
rily that the peninsula, and consequently the Common,
38
298 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
was bought and paid for by the townsmen; and it also
shows that a portion of the town was set off as a train-
ing field very soon after the purchase.
The townsmen, however, by a narrow-minded policy,
which took a sudden start one public lecture day, came
very near losing the training field, the loss of which
would have deprived the ancient cows of many a mouth-
ful of sweet grass, and the present generation of their
beautiful Common. It appears that the inhabitants of
the town met after lecture on the eleventh of December,
1634, for the purpose of choosing seven men, to divide
among themselves the town lands, then lately fully ac-
quired by purchase of Mr. Blaxton; and, in order to
carry out the affair secretly, they voted by written bal-
lots. They undoubtedly wanted more acres for raising
potatoes and cabbages. The residt was, that they left
out of ofiice several of the chief men who had before
managed the town's affairs as a Board (which had ex-
isted since the settlement of the town, and had probably
been the origin of the Boston Board of Selectmen), Mr.
"Winthrop only having one or two spare votes, which
saved his election. Mr. Winthrop would not accept
ofiice under the cu'cumstance, and after the usual
amount of talk, and at the solicitation of Rev. Mr. Cot-
ton, the people agreed to go into another election on the
next lecture day, which occurred on the eighteenth of
the same month. The whole transaction is thus graph-
ically related by Mr. "Winthrop in his journal, under the
proper date:
" This daye, after the lecture, the inh"'* of Boston
mett to choose 7 men who should devide the towne
lands among them. They chose by pap' & in their
choice lefte out M"" Coddington, & other of the cheife
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 299
men; only they chose one of the Elders & a Deacon,
and the rest of the inferior sort, & M'' "Winthrop had
the greater mimber before one of them by a voice or 2.
This they did as fearinge that the richer men would give
the poorer sorte no great pportions of lande, but would
rather leave a great pte at lib'ty for new comers and for
coinon, w"^ M' Winthrop had oft psuaded them vnto, as
best for the towne, &c. M'' Cotton & divers others
were offended at this choyce, because they declined the
magistrates: & M' Winthrop refused to be one ypon
suche an election as was carried by a voice or 2, telling
them, that thoughe, for his pte, he did not apprehende
any psonall injurye, nor did doubt of their good
affection towards him, yet he was muche greived that
Boston should be the first who should shake off their
magistrates, espec M' Coddington, who had been all-
wayes so forwarde for their enlargement; adding fur-
ther reason of declininge this choyce, to blott out so
badd a president. Whereupon, at the motion of M"
Cotton, who showed them, that it was the Lord's order
amonge the Israelites to have all such business comitted
to the eldirs, & that it had been neerer the rule to have
chosen some of cache sorte, &c., they all agreed to go
toe a newe election, which was referred to the nexte
lecture daye."
At the time of adjournment, which occurred on the
eighteenth of December, 1634, o. s., only four years
after the settlement of the town, the townsmen passed
the following at a general meeting called upon public
notice :
"Inprymis it is agreed that M' Winthrop, M' Cod-
dington, M' Bellingham, M^ Cotton, M"^ OUyver, M'
Colborne, & Will"" Balstone, shall have power to divide
15
300 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
& dispose of all such lands belonging to y" towue (as
are not yet in y" lawfull possession of any pticular
psons) to the inhabitants of y" towne according to y"
Orders of y^ Court, leaving such portions in Common for
y" vse of newe Comers, «fc y^ further benefitt of y^ towne,
as in theire best discretions they shall thinke fitt, — the
Islands hyred by y" towne to be also included in this
Order."
Again on the thirtieth of March, 1640, the following
appears on the record:
j,i' "Also agreed vpon y' henceforth there shalbe no
1 land granted eyther for houseplott or garden to any
pson out of y* open ground or Comon ffeild w"'' is left
betweene y° Centry Hill & M" Colbrons end; except 3 or
4 lotts to make vp y* streete from bro. Eobte Walkers
to y" Round Marsh."
The estate of Mr. William Cclbron was upon the
street now called Boylston street, but which was an-
ciently known as Frog lane ; and Mr. Robert Walker's
lot was upon the same street, but nearer Charles street.
Mr. Thomas Oliver owned the lot on the corner of Tre-
mont street (then called the High street), and the lots
were in the following order from the comer in the pos-
session of Thomas Oliver, Richard Carter, Jacob Leger,
William Colbron (sometimes Colborne and Colburn),
Edward Belcher, William Talmage, Robert Walker,
William Briscoe, and Cotton Flack; the Round Marsh
was west of the northerly end of Pleasant street.
The above quoted votes, for as such they are to be
regarded, had a special reference to the tract of land
now called the Common; and it is certain that from the
adoption of the last mentioned, passed in March 1640,
to the present time, it has been strictly observed, as far
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 301
as the present limits of the Common are concerned; and
thus this tract has been kept under the control of the
townsmen themselves, who have always been so jealous
of their right to it that they have never surrendered it
to the caprice of either town or city officers.
Before this purchase of Mr. Blaxton, the Massachu-
setts colonists had a good title to the soil through the
charter of the Governor and Company of the Massachu-
setts Bay in ISTew England, which passed the seals at
"Westminster on the fourth of March, 1628-9 j and it is
made certain by an instrument executed on the nine-
teenth of March, 1684-5, by the Indian Sachem "Charles
Josias, alias Wampatuck, son and heir of Josias Wam-
patuck, sachem of the Indians inhabiting the Massa-
chusetts ia l^ew England, and grandson of Chickata-
but, the former sachem," that the peninsula of Boston
was fairly bought of the Indians. In this instrument
Josias, the sachem, gives the following as his reasons
for executing a release of the land to the inhabitants of
Boston:
"Forasmuch as I am Informed, and Well Assured
from Several Antient Indians, as well those of my
Council as others. That upon the first Coming of the
English to set down and Settle in these parts of Kew
England, my above named grandfather, Chickatabut,
the Chief Sachem, by and with the Advice of his coun-
cil, for encouragement thereof, upon Divers good causes
and considerations him thereunto moving, Did give,
grant, sell, alienate, convey and confirm unto the Eng-
lish Planters and Settlers, respectively and to their
Several and respective Heirs and Assigns forever All
that neck, tract or parcel of Land, scituate lying and
being within the Mattachusetts Colony, in Order to
302 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
their settling and building a Town there, now known
by the name of Boston, as it is Invironed and com-
passed by the Sea, or salt water, on the !N'ortherly,
Easterly, and Westerly sides, and by the Line of the
Town of Eoxbury on the Southerly side, with all the
Rivers, harbours. Bays, Creeks, Coves, flats and ap-
purt'ces thereunto belonging. As also Several other
Outlands belonging to the said Town on the south-
erly and easterly sides of Charles River, and the
Island called Deer Island lying about two leagues
Easterly from the said Town of Boston between
Pudding-point Gut and the broad sound, so called, s*
Island containing one hundred and sixty or two hun-
dred Acres of Land, more or less, with the privilidge
and appurtenances thereunto belonging, which said
l^eck and Lands have since been Distributed and
granted out among themselves into particular Alot-
ments and other Conveniences, and given, AUenated,
and Transferred to and from one another, having been
peaceably and quietly possessed, used, Occupied and
Enjoyed, for the Space of about Fifty and five years
last past by the said first Grantees, their heirs, Succes-
sours and Assigns, And now stand quietly and peace-
ably possessed thereof at this day."
It thus appears that our forefathers obtained the soil
by royal grant under the colony charter, and by pur-
chase, first from the Indians about the year 1630, and
secondly from Mr. Blaxton, in 1634; and that as late
as the year 1685 they obtained a confirmatory release
of the whole peninsula and the surroundings. These
ought certainly to be considered as giving a good
title; and the order of the thirtieth of March, 1640,
siu-ely established the Common.
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 303
The old town records abound in votes and orders
about this Common,, as to keeping it clean, and pre-
venting injuries to it. The following orders are im-
portant as well as interesting. They were passed on
the eighteenth of the third month. May, 1646:
"At a Generall townes meeting vpon the Lawful
warninge of all the freemen it is graunted y' all the
inhabitants shall haue equall Right of Comonage in the
Towne. Thos who are admitted by the Towne men to
be Inhabitants.
"It is ordered, y' all who shall after the dat herof
come to be an Inhabitant in y" Towne of Boston shall
not haue right of Comonage, vnless he hier it of them
y' are comoners,
"It is ordered, y' ther shalbe kept on the Comon
bye y' Inhabitants of y" Towne but 70 Milch Kine. / '^
"It is ordered, y* ther shalbe no dry cattill, younge ''^^^^
cattill or horse, shalbe free to goe on y" Comon this
year; but on horse for Elder Oliuer.
"It is ordered, y' noe Inhabitant shaill haue power to
sell his righte of comonage, but only to let it out to hire
from year to year.
" It is ordered, y' if any desire to keep sheep, hee
may keepe four sheep in liew of a cow."
Perhaps there is more force in the following order,
passed the same day, than has been generally noticed
in it. It is undoubtedly the origin of all the votes and
orders as well as clauses of city charters, preserving the
power of control of the Common with the legal voters :
"It is ordered, y* noe comon marish and Pastur
Ground shall hereafter bye gifte or sayle, exchange,
or otherwise, be counted vnto j)priety w'^'out consent of
y^ major p' of y= inhabitants of y'' towne."
/".
304 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTOEICAL
If the order of the thirtieth of March, 1640, estab-
lished the Common, there can be little doubt that the
foregoing perpetuated its existence. From time to time
a person was appointed to "keep the cowes which goe
on the Common," for which he had "two shillings and
sixpence the head for every cowe that goes there"; and
a few years later a shepherd was also appointed.
The following order, passed on the thirty-first of
May, 1652, seems to indicate a great abuse of the Com-
mon, and perhaps also the streets of the town. Our
ancient Selectmen were not very choice in the use of
language, but the words of the record give a much bet-
ter idea of old times than any substitute for them that
can be made by the writer. The record is as follows :
"Att a meeting of all the Select men it is ordered,
that noe person inhabiting w*in this town shall throw
forth or lay any intralls of beast or fowles, or garbidg,
or carion, or dead Dogs or Catts, or any other dead
beast or stinkeing thing, in any hie way, or dich, or
Common, within this neck of land of Boston, but ar
inioynd to bury all such things that soe they may pre-
vent all anoyanc vnto any.
"Further it is ordered, that noe person shall throw
forth dust, or dung, or shreds of cloth or lether, or any
Tobacko stalks, or any such things into the streats."
These orders were evidently the commencement of
internal health arrangements, and may have had a good
effect for some time; but it is very apparent that they
must have been forgotten or overlooked, as it became
necessary on the thirtieth of March, 1657, five years
later, to make the following record in the town book:
"Wliereas y° Comon is att times much anoyed by
casting stones outt of y° bordering lotts & other things
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 305
y* are offensiue, Itt is therefore ordered, y' if any person
shall hereafter any way anoy y" Comon by spreading
stones or other trash vpon itt, or lay any carrion vpon
itt, euery person so offending, shall bee fined twenty
shillings."
It is very fortunate that some of the past city officers
did not live in the olden time, else we shoxild surely find
in the old records grievous notices of fines and punish-
ments for covering the Common and malls with coal
ashes and cinders, and for murdering the beautiful shade
trees that our fathers had so carefully and providently
set out for our especial benefit and comfort.
An important order was passed by the General Court
of the Colony on the thirtieth of May, 1660, which put
the use of the Common more directly under the charge
of the Selectmen of the town. The power granted to
the Selectmen is with modifications now extended to
a committee of the Aldermen. The record is thus :
" Att the motion of some of Boston inhabitants, it is
ordered that the selectmen of that towne from tjme to
tjme shaU & hereby are impowred to order the improve-
ment & feeding of their comons w*in the necke of land
by such catle as they shall judge meete, any lawe, vsage,
or custome to the contrary notwithstanding."
The thirty-ninth section of the city charter contains
the following:
" The City Council shall have the care and superin-
tendence of the pubUc buildings, and the care, custody
and management of aU property of the city, with power
to lease or sell the same, except the Common and Fan-
euil Hall."
This prudent provision, founded in the foresight of
the wise men who projected the charter, has not been
39
306 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
entirely useless, for it has undoubtedly more than once
saved the sale of land which justly belonged to Boston
Common.
The early volumes of records teem with such entries
as the above quoted j but the few specimens which have
been given are sufficient to convey an idea of what was
done in days long past in reference to the town's great
breathing place.
CHAPTER XXn.
BOTJNDAET, EXTENT AND FENCES OP THE COMMON,
Bonndatles of the Common • • • Colonnade Row, the Old Haymarket, School
House, Washington Gardens, and Long Acre • • • Gentry Street, and the Old
Town Institutions, the Granary, the Almshouse, the Workhouse, and the
Bridewell • • • Hancock House, Copley House, etc. • • • Sea Fencibles • . . Fox
Hill and Ropewalks • • • Hayscales and Pound • • • Frog Lane, Deer Park, and
Foster's Corner • • • Fences, First Erected in 1635 • • ■ Styles and Gates • • ■
Fence Built in 1734, Burnt by British Soldiers for Fuel • • • New Wooden
Fence • • • Size of the Common • • • Iron Fence Put Up in 1836 • • • Burial
Ground Fence, 1839 ••• • Deer Park, 1868.
Boston" Common has been slightly curtailed of its
original size. When first set apart as a training field, it
extended easterly a short distance from the present line
of Tremont street, covering the site of the houses in
Colonnade row, and was bounded by Mason street. Its
westerly boundary was the water of the Back Bay, for
Charles street was not laid out until the year 1803. On
the north it was bounded by Beacon street j the Gran-
ary Burying-Ground, and the land on Park street (an-
ciently known as Sentry, or Gentry street), having been
taken from it, — the burial-ground in 1660, and the land
on Gentry street for the eleemosynary institutions of the
town a short time later. The southerly boundary was
by the estates on the north side of Frog lane (now
Boylston street), which have since been purchased by
the town, that part on which the Deer Park is situated
308 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
having been bought of "William Foster on the sixth of
October, 1787, and the burial-ground of Andrew Oliver,
Jr., on the ninth of June, 1757. On the southwest the
boundary ran by the westerly side of the burial-ground,
and nearly in the course of Carver street to the water.
There are persons now living who remember when
the land on which Colonnade row stands was a vacant
space, except at the corner of "West street, where the old
grammar school-house stood, — the empty land being
used chiefly for a haystand, and known as the hay-
market. Further north, between "West and Winter
streets, was the mansion-house and estate of James
Swan, subsequently known as the "Washington Gardens,
where was a noted amphitheatre or circus, opened for
the purpose in July 1815; and still further north, oppo-
site the present site of Park street meeting-house,
was Long-acre (where formerly stood the old manu-
factory house, and near which was the building of the
Massachusetts Bank), and which was so named because
a noted coachniaker. Major Adino Paddock, from Lon-
don (he who planted the elms in front of the Granary
Burying- Ground), had, just before the revolutionary
war, his. workshop there.
Beacon street, easterly end, from School street to the
State House, was laid out on the thirtieth of March, 1640,
by the following vote : "Also it is ordered, y^ y" streete
from M' Atherton Ilaulghes to y" Gentry Hill be layd
out & soe kept open for ever." Mr. Hough resided at
the south corner of School and "Washington streets, con-
sequently the foregoing order established the whole of
School street as well as a part of Beacon street. The
Granary Burying-Ground having been taken from the
Common in 1660, and the land for the town buildings
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 309
soon after, and Gentry street (now Park street) having
been laid out, the Common lost a considerable portion
of land. At the commencement of the present century,
the old buildings alluded to were standing; and it may
not be out of place to copy the following description of
them and their location, which was wiitten a few years
ago for another purpose.
In the earlier days of the town, the lot was part of
the now contiguous bui'ial-ground, and was nearly at
the extreme limits of the settlements, joining upon the
Common. As time wore on, a street was laid out on
the south side of the lot, extending to the Beacon or
Sentry Hill, which took the name of Centry (or Sentry)
street. Then, when the need came, a building eighty
feet by thirty feet, for a public granary, was erected on
the lot, and subsequently, in 1737, removed to the cor-
ner, its end fronting on the .principal street. This was
constructed of wood, with oaken timbers, and was in-
tended to hold about twelve thousand bushels of grain,
annually purchased, and stored by the agents of the town,
and sold at a small advance to those whose exigencies
required such a consideration. The old and gloomy
looking building, used in its latter days as an inspection
office for pot and pearl ashes, and also for nails, and
finally as a mart for second-hand furniture, h^s not en-
tirely passed from remembrance. It stood in its lot un-
til the year 1809, when it was taken down to give place
to Park street meeting-house.
Further up on the street were large brick buildings,
called the Almshouse and Workhouse, and a smaller one
of the same material, called the Bridewell, for disorderly
and insane persons. The Almshouse, which stood on
the corner of Beacon street, was erected in the year
310 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
1686, and was two-storied, with a gambrel roof and pro-
jecting gable; to this, in a subsequent year, was added a
wing. Its use was confined to the aged and infirm poor.
The Workhouse, a somewhat larger structure, about
one hundred and twelve feet in length, with gables, and
also two-storied, was buUt in the year 1738, and was ex-
clusively appropriated to the vagrant, idle and dissolute
of the town. The Almshouse and Bridewell were both
standing when Bonner pubHshed his plan of the town,
in 1722, and together with the Workhouse were in use
until the completion of the Almshouse, since erected
at Barton's Point, on Leverett street, and. which was
opened for occupancy at the close of the year 1800. Of
course the buUdiugs for the poor and dissolute were not
on the site selected for the meeting-house, but on the
adjoining lot of land, which extended to the corner of
Beacon street, near the 'New State House, as the capitol
was then generally styled.
At the close of the last century, the Sentry street of
our fathers did not present so inviting an appearance as
does the Park street of our own day. The old dingy
buildings and the broken fences have disappeared, and
stately houses have succeeded in their places. !N"o more
will the staid townsman nor the jocund youth, proceed-
ing to the Common in wonted manner on election and
Independence days, be interrupted by the diminutive
hands thrust through the holes in the Almshouse
fences, or stretched from beneath the decaying gates,
and 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 habi-
tations be heard calling for bread, which oftentimes
the town had not to give. Those days are past, and
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 311
one would almost desire, when reading the record of
those times, that the remembrance of them were gone
also. But a great lesson of charity has gone with
them; for how many of the benefactors of the town
made their first essay in alms-giving when they un-
consciously dropped their little coin into those out-
stretched hands!
"Where the State House stands, and previous to the
building of this edifice, the corner-stone of which was
laid on the fourth of July,' 1795, was once the cow pas-
ture; and further west the stone mansion house and
stable of Thomas Hancock, the uncle of the patriot;
and further west were a few dwelling-houses, in one of
which formerly dwelt John Singleton Copley, the dis-
tinguished artist; and subsequently the street was
honored as the residence of General Knox and Judge
"Vinal, the former a good soldier and bookseller, and the
latter a noted politician and schoolmaster who lived next
to the governor. UntU the year 1803, when Charles
street was laid out. Beacon street run west as far as the
water, where it terminated; and from this point, which
was the northwest corner of the Common, was a row of
large rocks (bowlders taken from the high land in the
immediate vicinity), that extended westward to low
water mark, undoubtedly as an Ladication of the bound-
ary line of the Common. Just south of this point, not
a great many years ago, — for persons who are not very
old can well remember it, — stood the gunhouse of that
indomitable nautico-military company, technically desig-
nated as the Sea-Fencibles, but known to the boys as
the Sea-Dogs; for this gallant band, first organized
during the Madison war, purported to consist of ship-
masters, who had roughed it in their early days, and
312 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL.
buffeted for many a year the most boisterous billows of
the briny deep.
On the west side of the Common was the low marshy
land bordering upon the water, on part of which was
Fox HUl, and on the flats of which in later days stood
the five rope-walks, which the elder Quincy, ur the first
years of his mayoralty, removed with such marked
improvement to the neighborhood.
The southwest corner was used not many years
ago (commencing about the year 1803) by the town,
and afterwards by the city, as a position for the south
hayscales, which about the year 1811 had been moved
there from their old position where Colonnade row
now is. The pound and stables also stood in the
same neighborhood, although in very early times the
pound was kept near the Granary Burying-Ground.
These incumbrances were banished from the Common
not very long after the cows were deprived of their
pasturage, which they and their predecessors had
enjoyed since the days of their old benefactor, Gov-
ernor John Winthrop. A short distance south of this
corner was Kidge HUl, a lofty bluff, the last portion
of which disappeared when the improvements were
made in the vicinity of the Providence Railroad Sta-
tion House.
The southerly side of the Common was anciently
bounded by the rear of the estates on Frog Lane,
portions of which, as has been shown, were purchased
by the town and added to its territory, thereby recom-
pensing in a degree the loss of" that part taken fi'om its
northeast corner for the Granary and other purposes.
Just east of the Central Burying-Ground, on the land
bought of Mr. Foster, stood in former days the hearse-
DESCBIPTION OP BOSTON. 313
house, and the gun-house of one of the artillery compa-
nies, one of the others being in Hull street and another
at Fort Hill. In 1826 the gun-house was removed to a
place just north of the Providence Railroad Station,
where it was used several years by Dr. Winslow Lewis
for a private lecture room for medical students. This
same corner was used, about the time of the war of 1812
as an artUlery park; and the deer park which now occu-
pies the site of the gun-house was established in the fall
of 1863, the deer having been put in possession of it on
the ninth of October of that year. The estate on the
south side of Boylston street at this corner, where Ho-
tel Pelham now is, was long the residence of the Foster
family; and that on the east side, where the Freemasons
have erected their magnificent temple, the corner-stone
of which was laid on the fourteenth of October, 1864,
and the buUding dedicated on the twenty-fourth of
June, 1867, was the site of the Head mansion house
and garden. This corner of the Common was cut oif
and rounded by an order approved by the Mayor on the
sixteenth of June, 1868 ; and, after the great widening of
Tremont street. Hotel Pelham was moved nearly fifteen
feet westwardly to its present position on the twenty-
fourth of August, 1869, being four days in motion.
As eai"ly as the twelfth of March, 1634-5, the
townsmen took order to have the " Town Fields," as
they were termed, substantially fenced, with proper
styles and gates; and on that day it was ordered, that —
"All y" fenses to bee made sufficient before y" 7"" day
of y^ second moneth [April 7th], and they to bee looked
vnto by our brother Grubb & brother Hudson for y"
]S"ew Feild, our brother Pennyman & brother Colborne,
fory' feild by him, & our brother Penn & brother
314 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Belcher for j' Fort Feild, brother Everill & brother
Matson for j" Mylne Feild."
The following record respecting styles and gates is
to be found in the town records, under date of the twenty-
third of March, 1634-5.
" Imprymis it is agreed by geaerall consent y* y" over-
seers of y° fences of y" severall feilds shaU see to y^
making of such styles and gates as may bee needfull
for every feild, & o'' brother Wilbore to see to y" gate &
style next vnto Eoxburre, all of them to bee done be-
fore y" aforesd 7* day of y" 2^ moneth, y^ styles &
gates for common high wayes to bee made out of pub-
lique charge forth of y^ constables hand, & y* pryvate
styles ■& gates to bee made at y® charge vpon y^ land in
every feild j)portionabhe for eidge fence vpon payne
for every the feilde not soe done by y" 1 day of y' 3^
moneth, 20' to bee forfeyted by y® o'crseers thereof."
Of the fields above mentioned, that near Mr. Colbron
is supposed to mean the Common; and if so, it must
have had a fence of some sort at that period. But in
all probability there was nothing that could be really
considered a permanent fence for the Common until
about one hundred years later, when the first that is
found definitely mentioned in connection with it was
put up in the spring of 1733-4, the following vote being
passed by the townsmen on the eleventh of March :
" Voted, That a Eow of Posts, with a Rail on the top
of them be set up, and continued thro' the Common from
the Burying Place to Colo. Fitch's fence ; leaving Open-
ings at the several Streets and Lanes."
This fence was only on the easterly side; for the
burial-ground alluded to was the Granary on the north
side, and it has already been stated that Mr. Fitch's es-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 315
tate (that purchased in 1756 and 1787) was at the Boyl-
ston street corner of Tremont street, on the south side.
The streets and lanes, at which openings were left, were
Hog alley (now Avery street, although for a long time
it bore the name of Sheaf lane) , "West street, and Blott's
lane (now Winter street). The westerly side needed
no fence in the olden time, as it was bounded upon
the water; and the northerly and southerly sides were
protected by private estates and the public institutions
already mentioned. Perhaps the fence was built at
this time in consequence of the trees that had been,
and were soon to be, planted on the easterly edge of
the Common; for a few trees had already been set
out in the neighborhood of the place contemplated for
the fence, and it is evident that they had sustained
some wanton injury, as the following vote was passed
on the same day as that ordering the fence :
"And, in order to prevent further waste of the Trees
in the Common,
"Voted. That there be allow'd and paid out of the
Treasury a Reward of Forty Shillings to any Person
that shall inform against, and convict, any Persons of
cutting down or despoiling any of the Trees already
planted in the Common, or that may be hereafter planted
there. Also
"Voted. That the same Reward be given to those
who shall convict any Person or Persons of breaking
any of the Posts and Rails that shall be put up in the
Common as aforesaid."
The openings into the Common appear very early to
have been productive of evil, for the following entry ap-
pears on the record under date of the fourteenth of
March, 1737-8:
316 TOPOGEAPHICAl, AND HISTOEICAX,
"Whereas, at a Public Town Meeting the 11th March,
1733. It was Yoted "That a Eow of Posts with a
Rail on the Top of them be set up and continued thro'
the Coramon from the Burying Place to Colo. Fitch's
fence, leaving openings at the several Streets and Lanes.
And it being now represented, and complained of. That
the Common is much broken, and the herbage spoiled,
by means of carts &c. passing and repassing over it —
" Wherefore. In order to prevent this Inconvenience
and Damage for the future
"Voted, That there be but one Entrance or Passage
for Carts, Coaches &c. out of Common street, into the
Common or Training Field, to be left open near the
Granary, to go up along by the Workhouse to Beacon
street; and that the other Gaps or Inlets aforementioned
be closed up with Posts and Rails as the rest."
It is probable that the fence buUt in 1734 was that
which supplied with fuel the camp fires of the British
soldiers, quartered upon the Common during the time of
the siege of Boston; for certain it is that the Common
fence was thus appropriated by the destructive herd
that desecrated meeting-houses, and defaced all kinds of
private as well as public property during that eventful
period of the history of the town.
The Foster pasture was not enclosed as part of the
Common until the year 1795, when the following vote
was passed on the thirteenth of May :
" Voted, That the Selectmen be directed to carry the
mall to the end of Foster's Pasture, lately so called, and
after widening the street the remainder of the land to
be inclosed for the future use of the town."
The wooden fence, made of neat posts and rails,
which was standing half a century ago, and which can
DESOKIPTION OF BOSTON. 317
be remembered by so many, was undoubtedly the one
that succeeded the older one destroyed during the
revolutionary war; and was unquestionably built about
the year 1784, when the* great improvement was made
to the Common by the subscription of generous towns-
men. This fence, until the year 1795, was only on three
sides of the Common, with another fence parallel to the
portion on Tremont street; and between these was the
great mall, so-called to distinguish it from the little
mall (often known as Paddock's mall, or Paddock's
walk), in front of the Granary Burying-Ground. The
great mall was sometimes called the old mall in dis-
tinction of the present Beacon street mall, which was
first known as the new mall. Not long after the
laying out of Charles street in 1803, the fence was
extended on the westerly side, thus completely sur-
rounding the Common. It was constructed with square
posts, upon which a four-inch joist was laid, with one
corner uppermost, — a very uncomfortable seat for the
boys, as many persons now living can testify with
sorrowful memories, — and a slat was attached to the
sides of the posts, like the side raUs to many of
the old turnpike bridges, to add to the efficiency of the
fence. At last this gave way to the violence of
the Great Gale on the twenty-third of September,
1815, when so much damage was done to the trees,
fences and buildings in the town; and the Tremont
street portion was again erected in October 1815,
under the Superintendence of Charles Bulfinch, Esq.,
the famous Chairman of the Board of Selectmen,
and the Beacon street portion under Abraham Bab-
cock; Esq., in 1820, the vote for the last portion of
it having been passed by the selectmen on the seven-
318 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
teenth of May, and a record of it made in the following
words :
" The Chairman was authorized to make a contract
with Messrs. John Gushing & Elisha Hunt to build a
fence on the east side of the New Mall at the rate of
fifty cents per foot running measure."
This last of the wooden fences, the one that so
many can now remember, was built with square white
oak posts with rounded tops, which were connected
with two rows of eight-sided chestnut rails, painted
with a light color. This fence edged upon the street
gutter, there being then no brick sidewalk around the
Common. The iuner fence, along the Tremont street
mall, was removed during the mayoralty of Hon. Har-
rison Gray Otis, who, after the lemoval of the cows
from their ancient pasturage, saw no necessity for it.
There had been in the olden time, on holidays, three
rows of tents between these two fences, — the easterly
row for candy-sellers, the middle generally for cake and
bunn-venders, and the westerly row for the ancient
election beverage, which was the freest liquid used on
gala days.
When the last portion of the fencing was completed,
the Common contained in area, exclusive of malls, forty-
three acres and three quarters and ten perches by actual
measurement.
In 1836, the present iron fence, 5,932 feet in length,
was placed around the Common, partly by subscription,
at an expense of |82,159.85, the great gateway opposite
"West street being subsequently placed there in 1857.
A short time before the erection of this fence, an accu-
rate admeasurement of the Common was made, and the
malls which formed its boundaries were found to meas-
DESCRIPTIOlSr OF BOSTON. 319
ure in length the following number of feet, namely:
that on Park street, 437 feet; that on Tremont street,
1,685 feet; that on Boylston street, 700 feet; that on
Charles street, 1,380 feet; and that on Beacon street,
1,565 feet, — making in all 5,767 feet, losing 165 feet at
the various angles of their union, and by the contraction
caused by the widening all the surrounding streets and
the establishment of sidewalks.
The iron fence around the burial-ground on Boyls-
ton street, as has been before mentioned, was erected in
1839, and the iron wire fence aroxind the Deer Park in
the summer of 1863.
CHAPTER XXm.
MALLS, PATHS AND WALKS OF THE COMMOK.
Malls • • • Tremont Street Mall, and its Three Eows of Trees, 1728, 1734, and
1784. ■•The Great Gale of 1815.. -Gale of September 1869 ... Hancock
Trees, 1780... Great Improvements of 1784 ... Beacon Street Mall, 1815,
1816 • . . Charles Street Mall, 1823, 1824 . . . Kemoval of the Poplar Trees in
Park Street Mall, 1826 • . • American Elms in Park Street . ■ . Boylston Street
Mall, 1836 . . . Walks and Paths • . ■ Ridge Path . . • Lyman Path . . • Long
Path . . . Armstrong Path . . . Brimmer Path . . . Other Walks • • • Attempt in
1830 to Change the Name of the Common and Malls.
The Common is now entirely surrounded by malls, all
of which have names derived from the streets that form
their outer boundaries. That on Tremont street is the
oldest, and was therefore originally named the maU;
although subsequently, when there was a second one, it
acquired the name of the great mall, and now, as there
are several, it is called the Tremont street mall. Very
early in the last century it had only two rows of trees,
mostly English elms, with a few sycamores at the
northerly and some poplars at the southerly end; the
outermost of which was set out about the year 1728,
and the innermost transplanted there about the year
1734; for on the eleventh of March, 1733^, upon a
motion made by Mr. Jonathan Williams, it was
"Yoted, That the Eow of Trees already planted in
the Common be taken care of by the Selectmen from
time to time, and that another Row of trees be planted
there at a suitable distance."
DESCEtPTIOK OF BOSTON. 321
This vote did not give satisfaction to some busybody
of the town, who, on the twenty-ninth of the same
month, proposed the following vote, which was passed :
" Yoted, That the additional Eow of Trees which is to
be planted in the Common, be set to the eastward of
those already planted there." But this vote was never
carried out; and on the third of April, next ensuing,
the following record was entered upon the town's book:
"Yoted to reconsider the vote for fixing the ad-
ditional Row of Trees (to be planted in the Common)
on the East side of those already planted. And upon
consideration had
"Yoted, That the additional Eow of Trees to be
planted in the Common, shall be, on the West side of
those already planted there, from the Burying place to
Mr. Sheafe's, and at such distance from the other Eow,
as the Selectmen shall think fit."
One of these old English elms that had braved the
storms of one hundred and thirty-four years was taken
down on the fourth of May, 1868, and its layers on being
counted strictly corresponded with its age.
The third row of trees was planted in this mall in
the fall of 1784, when the great improvement was made
to the Common. All of these trees were carefully
guarded by the townsmen, who occasionally passed
votes at their town meetings instructing the Selectmen
to take care of them. Many of them suffered from the
great September gale of 1815, by being blown down;
and, when placed again in an erect position, were defaced
by being trimmed of a portion of their upper branches.
This tremendous gale, which will ever be memorable
in the annals of Boston, occurred on Saturday, the
twenty-third of September, commencing from the east,
11
322 TOPOGRAPHICAL AST) HISTOEICAL
about an hour before noon. At twelve o'clock the wind
changed to the southeast, blowing with an increased vio-
lence, amounting to a hurricane; but, fortunately, con-
tinued but a short time, shifting at about one o'clock to
a southwesterly direction, when it ceased in its violence.
The damage to buildings was exceedingly great. Sev-
eral of the chimneys of the State House were upset, as
were, also, about sixty others in different parts of the
town. The steeples of the Old South, Hollis Street,
Charles Street Baptist, and Part Street meeting-houses
were much injured, and barely escaped being blown
down. The roofs of several buildings were taken off,
and a great destruction of slates and window-glass
ensued from the violence of the gale. Seabirds were
driven in quantities forty or more miles inward from
the sea, and sea-swallows (commonly known as Mother
Gary's chickens) were seen in the vicinity of the
wharves, — a circimistance never before known, as they
are rarely seen within several leagues of land, their
home being upon the deep waters of the ocean. One
building was entirely blown down and burnt — the old
wooden glass-house in Essex street; and the shipping in
the harbor and at the wharves was very much injured.
But we are told that the most impressive scene was ex-
hibited on the Common and its immediate vicinity.
Many of the old and stately trees which formed the old
mall, and skirted the Common, were torn up by then-
roots and prostrated, carrying the fences with them;
and several of the large elms of Paddock's mall shared
the same fate, overturning a portion of the brick wall of
the burial-ground. One of the trees of the old mall
measured then seven feet and eleven inches in, girth.
The sycamores and elms fared alike. The trees which
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 323
suffered most were in the westerly row at the north part
of the mall, and several were opposite the State House.
It is remarkable that the older trees on the outside of
the mall, which had been planted more than eighty
years, withstood the tempest comparatively unharmed;
while those in the most leeward row, and which were of
younger growth, were prostrated, the wind at the time
of its greatest violence coming from a southeasterly
point. In a short time the trees were trimmed and
raised to their places; and, though they made a sad
appearance the remainder of the year, most of them
lived, and have endured several hard blows since. The
sycamores have, however, within a short time fallen a
sacrifice to a blasting disease.
On Monday, the twenty-fifth of September, two days
after the great gale, the Selectmen held a meeting, and
among other minutes on their records is the following,
which gives a suflSciently minute account of the damage
to the trees :
" A very violent gale of wind having on Saturday
last done great damage to the town in general, but par-
ticularly to the Common, by rooting up thirteen large
trees in the Mall, & eleven in the line of Beacon street,
& three by the burying ground in Common street, the
chair informed the board that he had employed a num-
ber of labourers to replace them — they approved his
proceeding, & appointed the chairman [Charles Bul-
finch, Esq.,] & Mr. [Jonathan] Himnewell to superin-
tend the work."
Considerable improvement was made to the Common
in consequence of this action of the Selectmen; for to
this the towns-people were indebted for the new wooden
railing described in the last chapter, which continued to
324 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORIOAI,
be serviceable until the days of Mayor Armstrong, when
it was superseded by the present durable iron fences,
erected in 1836. Besides raising up the trees which had
been blown down, the vacancies that had been occurring
for many year-s were supplied with new elm-trees of the
American species.
On the eighth of September, 1869, fifty-four years
after the great September gale of 1815, another not
inferior in the amount of damage which it caused
occurred in the afternoon, between the hours of three
and five. Chimneys and steeples were blown down, and
trees were uprooted. Several large trees on the Com-
mon were blown down, one of them measuring nine feet
in circumference near the ground. The steeple of the
meeting-house on the site of that originally erected for
the fourth church was blown over, so as to turn upon a
neighboring house and pierce it from roof to cellar, and
its famous cockerel was put to a most dismal and ter-
rific flight, that would truly have much astonished good-
man William Cordwell, its cunning artificer, could he
have revisited his ancient haunts, and witnessed the new
exploit of his pet bird. On the occasion of this storm
the Cohseum, which had given protection to so many
during the jubUee week in the preceding June, was
very much injured, and many steeples and vanes were
seriously damaged.
UntU within a few years, during the mayoralty of
Mr. Otis, the southerly end of the Tremont street mall
was covered with grass, the portion between "West street
and Boylston being very little used by promenaders.
Only a small portion of the northerly side of the
Common had trees in the year 1780, and these were not
set out with any degree of regularity; and in so poor a
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 325
condition were they then, that liberty was granted to
Governor Hancock, in October of that year, to take up
some of them, and put out new ones near his estate, a
few of which with their wide-spreading branches are
now to be seen.
Quite an agreeable change came over the Common
in the year 1784, just as the town was beginning to
revive from the effects of the revolutionary war, by
which especially during the siege, as it has been called,
it had suffered very much. Two persons, whose names
should not be forgotten in this connection, were particu-
larly active in procuring subscriptions, and in carrying
on improvements that have characterized this as the
period of the great improvement to the Common. John
Lucas, Esq., the commissary of pensioners for Massa-
chusetts, who resided and had his office in Orange
street, which it must be borne in mind was that portion
of "Washington street extending from Essex street to
Dover street, was one of these 5 and the other was Mr.
Oliver Smith, a noted apothecary, who dwelt in Milk
street, and kept shop in old CornhUl, now the north end
of Washington street. Under the direction of these
gentlemen, many of the low portions of the Common
were raised, the holes filled up, the uneven places
graded, the fences repaired, and a large number of trees
set out, not only in the mall, but in various parts of the
enclosure, particularly in the range of the ridge of high
land leading from "West street to the comer of Carver
street. The amount of money subscribed at the time,
and paid in, was £285 14s. Id., and the number of
liberal contributors somewhat exceeded three hundred.
To this attempt to benefit the Common the town was
indebted for the third row of trees in the Tremont street
326 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
mall, then known as tlie great mall and sometimes as
the old mall, to distinguish it from the little mall (or
Paddock's walk) and the new mall, which was that now
called the Beacon street mall. On the occasion, the
Selectmen, at a meeting held on the twenty-sixth of
July, 1784, gave permission for the improvements, as
is made evident by the following minute upon their
records :
"Dr. Smith and others subscribers for planting
another Row of Trees in the Common, & under the
direction of the Selectmen, had liberty granted accord-
ingly."
Since the year 1784, many trees have been set out
upon the Common, forming the several malls and ave-
nues which now give ornament to it. The mall on
Beacon street was laid out during the years 1815 and
1816, the neighboring street being widened and straight-
ened, the expense being defrayed from a subscription
raised in the year 1814 for the purpose of defence
against a contemplated attack from the British in the
Madison war.
The Charles street mall was commenced in the
jrear 1823, and completed in 1824, during the first year
of the mayoralty of the elder Quincy; and in 1826,
through the energy of the same gentleman, the old
poplar trees which used to disfigure the Park street
mall were unceremoniously cut down early one morn-
ing, and the beautiful elms set out in their place by his
own hands. The two American elms, which formerly
stood within the sidewalk of the same mall outside of
the fence were very early placed before the old town
buildings, which have been before alluded to as being
situated upon Gentry street. Several unsuccessful
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 327
attempts have been made to have these old landmarks
of ancient days removed; and although one of these
venerable shade trees has been obliged to yield to in-
corrigible fate, yet one of the twins of the forest still
remains, defying the axe, as it has heretofore the storms
and winds.
The Boylston street mall was extended across the
burial-ground in 1836, two rows of tombs being closed
for the purpose; and with this improvement the Com-
mon became for the first time entnely surrounded with
malls.
Besides the malls which ornament the sides of the
Common, there are many paths, or walks, which traverse
it in various directions, chiefly as " short-cuts " from one
to another of the several openings in the fence, at the
approaches of the difierent streets and avenues that radi-
ate from all parts of the enclosure. The walk leading to
Carver street from West street gate (built under the
direction of ex- Alderman Samuel Hatch) has for a long
time been known by those frequenting the Common as
Ridge Path, on account of the bluif-like appearance it
formerly had on its westerly side. Lyman Path, with
its magnificent trees, lindens, elms and maples, led from
West street to Joy street openings. Long Path and;
Armstrong Path diverged also from the Joy street
opening, the former leading to the corner of Tremont
and Boylston streets, and the latter to Winter street;
and Brimmer Path led from Winter street to Spruce
street. Other walks than these have been variously
designated by persons in the habit of passing through
them. Why should not that which runs in a southerly
direction from the Great Tree, and by the four Balsam
Poplars or Aspens, be called Bigelow Path, in remem-
328 , DESCBIPTION OP BOSTOiT.
brance of the ex-mayor who planted the quivering-leaved
trees beside it? and why not give the name of Quincy
Path to the walk leading from the corner of Park and
Beacon streets to "West street, in honor of the venerable
man who during the early years of his mayoralty did so
much to improve the Common?
All the walks in the enclosure of the Common have
had trees set out at their edges since the adoption of
the city charter, it being the pride of the committees of
each year to do something to beautify and adorn this
favorite holiday resort of the citizens.
In 1830, about the time of the bicentennial celebration
of the naming of the town, it was proposed, by persons
who certainly could not have had much reverence for the
past, to change the name of the Common and malls to
"Washington Park." This endeavor, however, did not
meet with public favor; and the old name, homely per-
haps, but sufficiently good, has continued in use until
the present day. May it never be recorded in oiu' city
annals, that such a folly as that then contemplated has
been perpetrated; for it is sufficiently discreditable to
Boston that the names of many streets, which once
were the record of the munificence of the honored
dead, have been imwittingly changed to gratify the
vanity or please the fancy of modem innovators.
CHAPTEE XXIV.
THE OLD ELM AND OTHER TREES ON THE COMMON.
Improvements by Mayors Quincy, Lyman and Bigelow • • • Trees on the Com-
mon • • • Trees Named and Labelled • • • The Great Tree • • • Its Great Age • • ■
Its Injury in 1860 ■••Its Rivals in Pittsfleld and Brookline •••Its Large
Limb Used for Executions and the Hanging of Effigies • • • Phillips and
Woodbridge Duel in 1728 • • • Called in 1784 Liberty Tree • • • Traditions
about the Age of the Great Tree •■• Its Measurements in 1825. ••Gold
Medal Awarded for a Drawing of it • • • Its Measurements in 1844, 1855, and
1860 • • • Injury in 1831 • • • Great Cavity Noticeable in 1755 • • • Probable Cause
of the Apparent Diminution of the Opening • • • The Cows upon the Com-
mon, and their Expulsion in 1830 • • • The Squirrels and their Disappearance
• • ■ Iron Fence Around the Tree in 1854 • • • Inscription • • • Offshoot, a Sap-
ling, First Appeared in 1859.
NoTWiTHSTAJ^DiNG the great improvements made upon
the Common and mall in 1784, by Mr. Oliver Smith and
others, ample room was left to their successors for con-
tinuing on in the good wort. When Boston became a
city, the responsibility of looking after this great holiday
resort of its citizens fell to the mayor and aldermen, and
they appear to have been ever mindful of the great trust
committed to them. Mayor Phillips, perhaps, had as
much as he could do during the year he held office —
the first after the adoption of the city charter — in or-
ganizing the new government and putting its wheels in
motion, without spending his energies upon the Com-
mon, which had already, and quite recently, received so
much attention from the townsmen and their public
servants, the Selectmen. He, indeed, dwelt beside the
42
330 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
enclosure, at the corner ofWalnut street; but the con-
tiguity of his residence to such a beautiful spot did not
draw his attention from what, during his short adminis-
tration, was of more consequence to the qitizens, and
which required the earUest care of those who were de-
termined that the establishment of Boston as a city
should not prove a failure, as was too frequently at that
time predicted, and by very many desired; for, as it
will be remembered, the new charter was accepted by
only a majority of nine hundred and sixteen votes out
of four thousand six hundred and seventy-eight cast,
and many of the opponents of the project did not vote.
When the senior Quincy entered upon office, he
brought with him a great energy of character, which
has not been surpassed by any of his successors. It
was his lot, also, to have a habitation near the Common;
for he dwelt at the corner of Hamilton Place, and from
his windows could see the mutilated buttonwoods, and
the unsightly poplars, which so soon after his entering
upon office fell victims to his good taste, and were sup-
planted by the stately elms in Park street mall. Mr.
Quincy did not confine his labors to the part of the
Conamon in his immediate neighborhood, but laid out
the Charles street mall, and set out many of the trees
beside the paths, as did also his successor, Mr. Otis,
whose stately residence in Beacon street also faced the
same. Other mayors in their time, especially Messrs.
Lyman and Bigelow, looked out well for the trees.
Mr. Lyman set out the magnificent rows which border
the path that bears his name; and Mr. Bigelow, besides
setting out the aspens, the solitary oaks, and the much
abused arbor vitse hedge on the music hill, absolutely
saved from destruction a large portion of the trees in
DESCBIPTION OP BOSTON. 331
the old mall, which were about to die in consequence of
the great mass of hard Medford gravel that excluded
moisture from their roots, which some of the early-
mayors, in -their mistaken ideas of what the public
good required, had heaped upon the mail to take the
place of the soft green, natural carpet, over which so
many times the towns people of earlier days had prom-
enaded, and which the boys of the town had generally
occupied as a playground. It may almost seem incredi-
ble, but it is true, that Mayor Bigelow, in his first year
of oflSce, removed from the malls more than six thou-
sand cartloads of the disintegrated and decayed granite
and of the smothering hard coal ashes, with which his
predecessors had put back the growth of the trees very
many years, and had absolutely killed a large number.
One alone of the buttonwoods now remains to give
ocular proof that trees of that species were once in-
mates of the mall.
Under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Sher-
burne, the city forester. Mayor Bigelow caused several
hundred trees to be set out, and the decayed trees to be
pruned, and their cavities filled up and covered with
cement and canvas.
There are now on the Common about 1,300 trees; of
which about seven hundred are American elms, about
fifty English and Scotch elms, about eighty maples of
many varieties, about seventy lindens, seventeen tulip
trees, ten sycamores, eight oaks, four balsam poplars or
aspens, and a large variety of other trees, among which
is the Gingko tree, transplanted from the garden of the
late Gardiner Greene, Esq., in the year 1835, when Pem-
berton Hill was taken down, and the present square
bearing the same name was laid out.
332 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Within a short time (in 1864:), all the trees upon the
Common have been scientifically examined by Dr. A. A.
Gould, and their species ascertained j and upon some
of the principal of them labels have been fastened, indi-
cating their popular and scientific names, and the coun-
try where they are indigenous. Besides giving the
names of the trees now growing upon the Common, Dr.
Gould prepared a list of other trees which should be pro-
cured, and which would add to the beauty of the ground,
and absolutely ascertained where such trees can be
obtained. These, unquestionably should be procured
and placed in various parts of the enclosure, from time
to time, untU as many different specimens of shade
trees shall ornament the paths, hills and valleys as
can be procured, and cultivated upon the soil.
!N"ear the centre of the Common is situated the
Great Tree, formerly one of the most noted objects of
the town, and now a matter of great regard with the
old inhabitants, who remember it among the earliest
things that attracted theh* attention in early youth.
But it will not do to pass by this noted elm with a
shnple mention of its place upon the Common. It
has given shelter and shade to many generations that
have passed away, and has braved the storms and gales
of centuries. As far back as tradition can go, it was
standing in its majesty and beauty; but it has been
reserved for the present generation to witness its almost
entire destruction.
It is not often that an occurrence of such small
importance as the destruction of a tree will cause so
much sorrow and regret as did the dismemberment of
the Great Tree on Boston Common, which occurred on
the twenty-ninth of June, 1860, at half-past six o'clock
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 333
in the evening. During the afternoon the appearance
of the heavens had indicated a storm of no ordinary
character, and indeed it came, and few will ever forget
it, for the injury it has done.
The great fall of water, together with an uncommon
gust of wind, broke down the limbs of many trees
throughout the city, not even sparing those of Pad-
dock's mall which had then so recently escaped the
threatening axe. The Great Tree, the pride of Bos-
tonians, and perhaps the most. noted of its kind on the
continent, suffered with the others; and after standing
for centuries, the oldest of the traditionary relics of the
days of our forefathers was in a few moments stripped
of its beauty and its magnificent proportions, to linger
out a maimed and displeasing existence, the evidence
only of the violence of the storm which had so muti-
lated it. The amount of injury the tree sustained was
great. Its beauty has been destroyed without hope of
renewal; and it was the skill only of Mr. John Galvin,
the city forester, that saved the part that now remains
standing; he using eight cart-loads of material to fill
up the cavity in the tree.
As soon as the storm abated, the rumor that "The
Old Elm Tree is blown down" spread rapidly through
the city, causing hundreds of citizens to go to the spot
and see for themselves. To their regret, they found the
rumor but too true; and very many who visited the
locality of the venerated tree secured portions of the
fallen limbs, to preserve among the choicest of the relics
of the olden time.
Much has been said and written about this noted
elm, the product of our own indigenous forests, but it
has had its rivals; among which has been the far-
334 TOPOGKAPHICAI, AND HISTOEICAL
famed elm of Pittsfield, remarkable for its gigantic
height, and for having a trunk one hundred and
fourteen feet high below its first branch; and the
Aspinwall elm in BrooHine, famous for its enormous
and wide-spreadiag roots, and for the great size of
its trunk. But both of these, also, have been deprived
of their glory, and by storms that have passed harm-
lessly by the Boston elm; and both have been taken
down, and are now no longer its rivals.
Although the tree had attained a great age, and
uncommon size, it was more for its beautiful proportions
and graceful limbs than for age or size that it gained
its notoriety with those who had paid particular atten-
tion to trees; and the associations connected with its
history will always keep it in remembrance. Upon its
largest limb, now gone, it has been supposed that some
of the early executions in the colony took place, and
it is certain that during the revolutionary struggles
of America this tree was one of the places of constant
resort of the Sons of Liberty, who frequently caused
it to be illuminated with lanterns on evenings of re-
joicing and on festal occasions. It also served the
purpose of exhibitions of popular feeling and indigna-
tion, for many has been the tory who has been hung
in effigy from its branches. Perhaps on this account
it acquired the name "Liberty Tree," which it bore
in 1784 (the tree originally bearing the name having
been taken down), as it is designated on a map of
Boston engraved that year. Yery near this tree
occurred, on the third of July, 1728, the duel be-
tween Benjamin "Woodbridge and Henry Phillips,
alluded to in a previous chapter; and beneath its
branches have been enacted many a scene of youthful
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 335
valor, in days long past, on the holidays of Election
and Independence.
It would be diiScult to assign to the tree even an
approximate age; for, like the good old ladies so often
read of, it has kept its own secret locked up closely
within its own heart. It has been known, however, as
far back as tradition can go, and is represented upon
the oldest map of the town known to exist, and which
was engraved in the year 1722, ninety-two years after
the settlement of the peninsula, and then was of suf-
ficient size to have attained distinction. It is reason-
able to believe that it was growing before the arrival
of the first colonists. A tradition has existed in the
Hancock family, passed down by Mrs. Lydia Han-
cock, wife of Thomas, who built the house where his
nephew, the governor dwelt, that her grandfather,
Hezekiah Henchman, set out the tree when he was a
boy; which would have been about two hundred years
ago, as his father, Daniel, the old schoolmaster, left
Boston as early as 1674. Other accounts from the
Henchman family give the honor to the old school-
master, who wielded the sword as well as the birches,
— for he commanded the famous artillery company,
and served in King Philip's war in 1675. The last
tradition says that the tree was set out as a shelter
for the company. If this was the case, he was more
provident than his successors, none of whom would
have planted a tree — though as Dumbiedikes said, it
would grow while men were sleeping — with such a
long prospective view ahead, and in such a place as
the tree has grown in. Besides, more than one hun-
dred and ninety rings can easily be counted in the great
branch that was broken ofi" in 1860, and which must cer-
336 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
tainly be several years younger than the tree itself, which
alone cames back that portion of it to a period as early
as the Hancock tradition can with any certainty go; and,
if any reliance can be placed in traditional lore, which is
extremely doubtful, we must believe that the Quakers
and perhaps Ann Hibbens, the martyr of the witch, de-
lusion, were hung from its bough, the former in Octo-
ber 1659, and the latter in June 1656, when it certainly
must have been more than twenty-six years old, and if
so was growing in 1630.
The first measurement of the great tree of which
any account was made was taken in 1825, at the request
of some person residing in N^ew York. The dimensions
were accurately noted on the second of April, 1825, and
were as follows: Height sixty-five feet, circumference
twenty-one feet eight inches at two feet six inches from
the ground, and the branches extended in diameter
eighty-six feet. At the time, it was said, that "this
pride of our Common is pronounced by judges to be as
handsome in form as it is large in size and venerable in
age, and it may be worth the remark, that notwithstand-
ing all the buffeting it has received from storms and
hurricanes for more than a century, its original beauty
and symmetry have not been impaired, although it has
at times lost many of its branches." At this time a
gold medal was offered for the best painted picture of
it, and several were made, and in May the medal was
awarded and sent to Mr. H. C Pratt, the successful
competitor.
In 1855, the tree was very accurately measured by
the City Engineer, who recorded the following dimen-
sions: Height, seventy-two feet six inches; girth, one
foot above the ground, twenty- two feet six inches;
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 337
girth, four feet above the ground, seventeen feet; aver-
age diameter of greatest extent of branches, one hun-
dred and one feet. Other earlier measurements, by
George B. Emerson, Esq., and Prof. Asa Gray, in 1844,
show that the tree had not ceased to grow as long as it
stood. The latest measurement, taken by the writer a
few months before its mutilation, gave twenty-four feet
girth at the ground, eighteen feet three inches at three
feet, and sixteen feet six inches at five feet, showing an
increase of only about five inches in girth in sixteen
years.
The storm of 1860, which so mutilated the tree, was
, not the only storm which injured its great branches.
In the sununer of 1832 it was much injured by the vio-
lence of a stoma, and its 'largest limbs were so much
cleft asunder as to allow them to rest their branches
upon the ground; but they were subsequently, at much
cost and labor, restored to their former position, and
were sustained in place by iron bolts and braces. By
the gale of September, 1869, a large limb, measuring
forty-two inches in circumference, was torn from this
tree, thus gradually destroying its original beautiful
proportions.
Many of the older inhabitants can well remember
when there was a cavity in its trunk sufficiently large to
allow boys to secrete themselves within it. This was
very noticeable in 1755, when a picture was made of
it in needlework; but this has almost entirely disap-
peared, being partially closed up by the good treatment
and care which have been given to the tree, and partly
from the raising of the soil at its roots. This opening
was on the northwest side, and there is also a smaller
one, now apparent, on the westerly side.
43
338 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTOKICAL
' When the cows were tenants of the Common, having
acquired the right of pasturage by a vote of the towns-
men, passed in May 1660, empowering the Selectmen
" to order the improvement and feeding of their com-
mon by such cattle as they shall deem meet," they were
accustomed to shelter themselves beneath the wide
spreading branches of the Great Tree from the burn-
ing sun, and to cool their heated hoofs in the damp
marshy ground around its prominent and far stretch-
ing roots. Consequently the immediate proximity to
the trunk of the tree was extremely muddy, and not
fit to be a proper place for promenade and shelter in
inclement weather for the pedestrians. • Many attempts
were made, in. vain, to expel the quadrupeds from their
old haunts, which the right of eminent-domain, and the
annual tax of two dollars, had for many years secured
to them; but they kept their place, and enjoyed their
rights and liberties. The new state of things, when
Boston became a- city by an act of the legislature,
signed by Gov. Brooks, on the twenty-third of Feb-
ruary, 1822, adopted by the townsmen on the fourth of
March of the same year, and announced by the procla-
mation of the governor on the seventh day of the same
month, completely subjected the poor beasts, as well as
their owners, to the mercies of a new regime. The
gentle Phillips, the first mayor, who was elected to
office on the sixteenth of AprU, 1822, and inaugurated
on the first of May, being as much a lover of true liberty
as his gifted son, let the creatures alone during his
twelve months of service in the curule chair; and it was
not until the iron will of his successor. Judge Quincy,
who was transferred from the bench of the Municipal
Court to the Municipal Chair, raised the price of pas-
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 339
turage from two dollars to ten, that a visible change was
made in the quality and quantity of stragglers upon the
Common. It remained, however, for the third mayor,
Hon. Mr. Otis, noted for his politeness, and winning
ways, to remove the trouble, as it was considered by
those who were wont to perambulate the numerous by*
paths and byways of the old common land, or cow com- ~
mons, as it might have been called in the days of our
forefathers. On the tenth of May, 1830, the order was
passed that banished the four legged gentry from their
green pasture, and shady retreat under the old elm.
Consequent to this came the raising up of the ground-
level around the foot of the tree, and the conversion of
the marshy soU into dry land. Heaps of material were
thrown upon the widely extending roots, and the damp
places were made dry; and with these changes the hole
in the tree almost disappeared, and very nearly the old
tree, our ancient friend, came to terminating its vegeta-
tive existence; for its growth was checked, and its once
luxuriant foliage began to wilt, and exhibit unequivocal
signs of death. The subsequent removal from the tree
of this ungenial mass of debris, which had been placed
around its roots made room for the good soil which
replaced the poor stuff, and again the Great Tree began
to show its pristine vigor; and the filling up of the low
places between the great roots, together with the heal-
ing process of nature, diminished the apparent size of
the great hole in the trunk, which had so often been the
hiding-place of boys, in their sports and pastimes.
In the summer of 1854, Mayor Smith, — he who in-
troduced the squirrels that drove away the birds, and
afterwards disappeared during the winter of 1864 —
paid considerable attention to the Old Tree. He had
340 DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON.
it pruned and cared for, and placed around it an octa-
gonal iron fence, which bears upon an oval tablet
secured to the gate the following inscription:
THE OLD ELM.
THIS TEEE HAS BEEH STANDHTG
HEEE FOE AX tTNENOWir PERIOD.
IT IS BELIEVED TO HAVE EXISTED
BEFOEE THE SETTLEMENT OF BOSTOIT,
SEINO full GEOWIT XS 1722, EXHIB-
ITED MAEKS OF OLD AGE IN 1792, AND
WAS NEAELY DESTEOTED BY A STOEM
IN 1832. PEOTECTED BY AN lEON
ENCLOSUEE IN 1854
J. V. C. SMITH, MAYOR.
When the Great Tree was measured lq the spring of
1860, an offshoot was discovered, which had recently, in
1859, started from one of the roots on the westerly side
of the main tree. This ghoot is still alive, measmnng
over twelve feet m height, and about thirteen inches
in circumference a short distance above the ground,
and appears to have received due attention from those
who have since that time had charge of the Conmion.
Just where it emerges from the soil, there is a consid-
erable cavity in the old tree; and it would not be
surprising if the young tree, vampire-Hke, were to
grow and flourish on the life-sap of its parent; and
if care is continued to be given to it, it may hereafter
succeed its parent and become as noted ia coming
centuries as has its distinguished progenitor.
CHAPTEE XXY-
TOPOGKAPHY OF THE COMMON.— EXECXJTIONS.
The Training Field ■ • ■ The New Parade Ground • • • Ropewalks • • • Charles
Street Laid Out • • • Light Horse and Boston Cavalry • • • Hills on the Com-
mon • • . Powder House Hill ■ ■ . Old Windmill • • • Fortifications • • • Old Block
House Burnt • • • Fox Hill and Old Windmill • • • Marsh • • • Ridge Hill ■ . •
•Washington Hill and Smokers ' and Music Circles • ■ • Bigelow's Evergreens
• • • Ponds • • • Frog Pond • • • Shehan's Pond, a,nd Shehan's Execution In
1787 • • • Cow Pond, or Horse Pond • • • Wishing Stone • ■ • Moll Pitcher • • •
Fortifications and Barracks of the British during the Siege • • ■ Measurements
of the Common in 1851 • • • Executions on the Common • • • Petitions against
Hanging Tulley on the Common Granted • ••Public Executions Terminated
in 1826.
I]sr the olden time tne whole of the Common was used
as a training field, and on the annual muster day it
presented a lively scene j for all the trainbands of the
county were there, and nearly all of the towns-people
also. On this occasion, and more especially on the
more noted holidays, it was well lined with booths and
tents for the sale of a great variety of eatables as well
as drinkables, the peculiar designations of many of
which have disappeared from use, and have become
almost forgotten, except when some one of the old
school ventures to speak of them. The line on muster
days was formed a short distance west of the inner
wooden fence of the Tremont street mall, and usually
extended from Park street to the Central Burying-
Ground, there being then no trees to interfere with
342 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
the military movements. In those days the sham-fights,
which took place in the afternoon, succeeded the morn-
ing review, and were performed near Charles street, on
the site of the present parade ground. The part of .the
Common near Charles street was, until quite recently,
a damp place, and was known to our fathers as "the
marsh at the bottom of the Common." While Hon.
Thomas P. Kich was chairman of the committee on the
Common and malls, not many years ago, this marsh was
laid out for its present purposes, preceding committees
having done much to fill up the hollow places with
oyster shells, coal ashes, and the dry dirt collected from
house to house in the city carts. Indeed, in the last
days of the town government, the scavengers used to
bury the swill, which they took from the tenements, in
holes dug for the purpose in" this part of the Common,
and continued this unhealthy practice until the estab-
lishment of the great piggery at the old House of
Industry, at South Boston Point.
Until the first of September, 1794, the Common on
the west extended to the water of the Back Bay, the
town on that day having voted to Isaac Davis and others
a portion of the land west of the present Charles street,
for the erection of six ropewalks. Within two years of
this date, a sea-wall was buUt from Beacon street to
Boylston street, and six ropewalks erected, which were
burnt on the eighteenth of February, 1806; and five
more were built in their places, and four of them again
destroyed by fire on the thirteenth of November, 1819,
and rebuilt. In 1803 the town voted to complete one
hundred feet of a new street leading from Pleasant
street to Beacon street, parallel with the ropewalks.
This was shortly afterwards done, but the street was
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTOK. 343
not finished until many years afterwards; for, on the
sixteenth of August, 1820, " the Committee on the Com-
mon was instructed to build a road from Pleasant street
to Fox Hill." The first foot-walk was made in conse-
quence of the following vote passed by the Selectmen
on the eleventh of June, 1812 :
" The Chan-man [Mr. Charles Bulfinch] & Mr. [Eben-
ezer] Oliver were empowered to have the street next
the ropewalks at the bottom of the Common raised so
as to form a foot walk six feet wide, with a row of tim-
ber on each side, & filled between with gravel, as a
further security against high tides."
Soon after this the fence on Charles street was built,
and, in the first year of the mayoralty of the elder
Quincy, the mall was laid out, and its trees planted.
At the close of the last century, this portion of the
Common was frequently used by the volunteer soldiery.
On the twenty-third of May, 1787, "the selectmen allot
for the Light Horse the west part of the Common to
the beach for exercising the horses." It was then
bordered eastwardly by a ditch, dug there for draining
the marsh, of which it was a part. In October 1797,
a similar request, made by Capt. Eufus Q. Amory for
the Boston Cavalry, was refused.
!N"ot many years ago the South Hayscales were kept
on the southerly end of the Parade Ground, having been
moved there in 1812; but these were removed when
they appeared to be no longer needed; and it was
determined to preserve the westerly portion unencum-
bered for the use of the soldiers. The order which
estabUshed the Parade Ground was passed by the
Board of Aldermen on the eighteenth of October, 1852,
in the following words:
34i TOPOGEAPHICAL AiTD HISTORICAL
" Ordered, That the Committee on the Common and
Public Squares be instructed to have graded forthwith
that part of the Common along Charles street, from
Beacon to Boylston streets, in conformity with a plan
proposed by the City Engineer, for the j)urpose of
keeping the same open as a parade ground, — free
from trees or other obstructions."
Therefore it has since been kept clear of trees, which
would have greatly interfered with military evolutions.
During the summer of 1869, the Committee on the
Common, under the chairmanship of Benjamin James,
Esq., Chairman of the Board of Aldermen, has caused
the northerly portion of the Parade Ground to be put to
grass, and that portion of the Common has been much
improved in appearance in consequence thereof.
Of late years the Parade Ground has become the
favorite place for athletic exercises and games, and for
the display of fireworks and -l^alloon ascensions on
public holidays. '
From the earliest days of the town, four hUls were
perceptible upon the Common. Three of these had
distinguishing names: Powder-House Hill, Ridge HUl,
and Fox Hill; but the fourth was not of sufl3.cient
prominence and note to have gained any proper desig-
nation, and has only come to any degree of distinction
within the present century, and more particularly within
the last fifteen years. These hills, with their intervening
valleys, break up the otherwise disagreeable evenness of
the enclosure, and add much to the picturesque appear-
ance of the Common; and all of them have interesting
associations connected with the history of the town.
Powder House Hill, more recently called Flag-staff
Hill, — until the fiag-staff was removed to Music Circle
DESCRIPTION OF ROSTON. 345
Hill, when the abortive attempt was made to erect a
Soldiers' Monument, and the foundations therefor were
laid and buried up in 1866, — was situated in what was
the central part of the Common, before Charles street
was laid out. It is to be seen delineated in all the
ancient maps of the town, and was from very early-
times appropriated, as its name indicates, for a site for
the town's powder-house. In ancient times, as far back
as 1652, Ensign James Oliver and Sergeant Peter
Oliver had liberty to set up a mill upon its top. During
the occupation of the town, in the war of the revolu-
tion, by the British troops, this hill was entrenched, and
was held by the artillery. After the adoption of the
city charter, these entrenchments began to disappear,
and now none of them are to be seen. A few large
trees grow upon its summit, thirteen of which form a
circle; and west of them once arose from its most
elevated part a tall flag-staff. This staff, which for a
while gave name to the hill, was erected on the twenty-
eighth of June, 1837. It has since been removed, as
stated above, to' another hill where the flag of the
Union can float as conspicuously as on any point on the
Common. The westerly slope of this hill was used by
the small boys in winter for coasting; and many Boston
boys, of an older growth, can well remember the in-
iquity, in the form of drinking and gambling, that used
to be carried on there before the mayoralty of the elder
Quincy. "Without descending too much into particulars,
one may be pardoned for recalling to mind the egg-
nogg, rum punch, and spruce and ginger beer which
were so profusely distributed there on Election days;
but no reminder is necessary to recall the gaming table,
the black joke, and the tar on the heel. The memory
44
346 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
of these will remain while any one of the boys of those
days is left to relate the feats of by-gone times. Un-
til within a very few years, when the present Parade
Ground was appropriated for military use, the salutes on
festal days, and for political rejoicings, were fired from
the hill; and the old soldiers, many of whom are still
living, can well remember their arduous task in drag-
ging their mounted field-pieces over the ditch, and on
the hill. In days long past, there stood near this hill
a block-house, which was burnt on the twenty-eighth
of September, 1761; and it is related that "as it was a
monument of reproach, and an asylum of debauchery,
the inhabitants, so much noted for their agility at fires,
remained tame spectators" of the conflagration, and
allowed the destruction to go on.
Fox Hill was on the westerly edge of the Common,
not far from the place in the Public Garden assigned for
a tower, and which projects into the pond that was arti-
ficially commenced there on the fourteenth of !N^ovember,
1859. It must not be mistaken for "West HiU, one of
the westernmost heads of Beacon HiH, and which was
situated very near Cambridge street. This hill was not
very large, being about twenty feet in height and fifty
feet in diameter, and was almost surrounded by water,
being on the edge of the part of Charles River generally
known as the Back Bay. Old persons have a remem-
brance of it, precipitous and gravelly; and many of a
younger age may have not yet forgotten the rising
ground beneath one of the old ropewalks, which used
to sMrt Charles street the first twenty-five years of the
present century. This hill was often mentioned in the
early records of the town; the following occurs under
date of the twenty-seventh of August, 1649':
DESOEIPTION OF BOSTOHT. 347
"Tho. Painter hath liberty to erect a milne at Fox
Hill by publieke consent of y" Towne in gen', and y* he
is bound to finish y" milne in too years, and at the first
pecke of corne it grinds hee is to begin his rent at 40s,
p annti for euer to y'' publieke vse of y® towne."
Connected with Fox Hill was an extensive marsh,
which, on the twenty-sixth of February, 1665-6, was
leased for forty years, at an annual rent of thirty shil-
lings, to John Leverett, — he who so faithfully served,
the town and colony in all their important offices, and
died at last, while Governor, on the sixteenth of March,
1678-9, — at the same time the town "granting liberty to
the inhabitants of the town to fetch sand. or clay from
the said hill." This marsh covered the space now oc-
cupied by Charles street and the Public Garden, and
extended south somewhat beyond the Station House of
the Boston and Providence EaDroad.
Ridge Hill extended in a westerly direction from the
present Smoker's Circle to the shore of the Back Bay,
and terminated in an abrupt bluff from ten to twelve feet
high. It consisted of an ancient drift of gravel j and
before it was levelled, not many years since, presented
traces of the excavations made by the British soldiers,
during the siege of Boston, for cooking places. Upon
a portion of its crest is Eidge Path, leading from "West
street gate to the southerly corner of Charles street.
The other hUl was situated a short distance south of
Powder-House Hill. There is no evidence that it had
any peculiar name until early in the present century,
when it was known by the boys of the town who
played upon the Common as "Washington Hill. It
has upon the easterly portion of it seven elm-trees, reg-
ularly arranged in a circle, with comfortable seats for
348 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
persons who indulge in the use of tobacco. Forty years
ago this circle was a place of much resort, and it still
keeps up its popularity with the present generation.
When Mr. Bigelow was mayor, he laid out another
circular walk, just west of the above and on the same
rising ground, and in the area placed, in 1849, the cir-
cular hedge of evergreens, which undoubtedly, for very
good reasons, was girdled, and removed during the first
year of the admiiiistration of his successor, Hon. Ben-
jamin Seaver. A few years ago six trees were set out
around the edge of this circle, one of which has died
and been cut down. On holidays it is a noted position
for a music stand, and hence has obtained the name of
Music Circle. It is eagerly sought on the evening of
Independence Day, as one of the best positions for
viewing the fireworks usually exhibited on that occa-
sion. It is now used for the flag-staff, and upon its
summit was erected, in 1866, a small building, under
the charge of the Committee on Health.-
On some of these hills was anciently placed the
gallows; for on the thirty-first of March, 1656, the
gallows was ordered to be removed to the next knoll
of land before the next execution.
There are three ponds, if such they may be called;
for in early times they were merely marshy bogs, and
had no defined borders. Of these the Frog Pond, a
name which has never been taken from the one that
is situated north of the old Flag-staff Hill, does not
appear on any of the early maps of Boston, and is
found only on those of a comparatively modern date.
It is said to be of artificial construction, but is remem-
bered by our oldest residents. After the stone edgings
were placed around this pond, m the year 1826, an
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 349
attempt was made to change its name to Quincy Lakej
but this proved unsuccessful, as did other attempts to
call it Crescent Pond, and Fountain Pond, when the
Cochituate water first flowed into it through its foun-
tain, on the twenty-fifth of October, 1848. A short
time previous to this, a new curbing was placed around
the pond, in the days of the junior Quincy.
Another pond, or wet marsh, and which could not
have been dignified with the name as such, had not
Boston been so deficient in these characteristics, was
situated west of the Frog Pond, and was called She-
han's Pond, from the name of a culprit who had many
years ago been executed there. He was hung on the
twenty-second of November, 1787, and. the following is
an account of his execution taken from the Centinel, of
the twenty-fourth:
" On Thursday last, Jdhn Shehan, a native of Cork,
in Ireland, was executed on the commons in this town,
for burglary in the house of Mr. S. Eliot — in June last.
At the place of execution his behaviour was becoming
his unhappy situation — and he made his exit with con-
siderable composure. He was 24 years old — was a Ro-
man Catholick — and, except in the burglary for which
he sufiered, does not appear, by his life, to have been
guUty of many atrocious offences."
The improvements of modern days have entirely
obliterated all appearances of this pond, and the once
damp and disagreeable place is now the most popular
part of the Parade Ground, the portion usually selected
for athletic games of exercise and amusement.
The other pond, merely a wet place, entirely desti-
tute of springs, was between the two hills now to be
seen on the Common, and lay exactly west of the four
350 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AND HISTOEICAIi
aspen-trees' set out by Mayor Bigelow. This was called
by some, Cow Pond, and by others, Horse Pond, and
not only in wet seasons supplied the cows that pastured
on the Common with water for drink, but also cooled
their limbs in sultry weather. This marshy place gave
a home to many frogs, which never took a fancy to the
Frog Pond, so-called j and was sometimes so flooded
with water, which ran into it in wet weather, that, if
tradition can be believed, a man was once drowned there.
After the removal of the cows from the Common, by an
order of the City Council passed on the tenth of May,
1830, the watering place became useless j and, about the
year 1838, the city authorities commenced filling it up
with coal ashes. At the same time all of the Common
lying west of the two hills was graded in the same
manner, thus preparing a good surface for that part of
the Common which was soon after appropriated as a
Parade Ground.
In this connection the Wishing Stone, which can
only be remembered by those whose heads have been
whitened by more than fifty summers, should not be
forgotten. It was situated just about where the path
from Joy street runs to the Great Tree, and was near
the Beacon street mall. Its name implied the use to
which it was formerly put. It has long since disap-
peared, removed probably by persons who were igno-
rant of its associations.
It is astonishing how many people there are who
have personal recollections associated with this old
stone. "When public convenience seemed to require new
cross-paths in the Common, it was deemed necessary
that the old rock, as it was called by those unacquainted
with its history, should be removed from its ancient
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 351
location. It was therefore blown to pieces by the usual
process of blasting, and its fragments carried off, prob-
ably to be put to some ignoble use; and the two walks
leading easterly from the northerly end of the long path,
near the gingko tree, diverging the one to Winter
street, and the other to West street, were widened and
beautified with side trees ; for the exact position of this
noted stone was in the fork of the two paths. The
young folks of by-gone days used to walk nine times
around this stone, and then, standing or sitting upon it,
silently make their wishes; which, in their opinion, were
as sure to come to pass, if their mystic rites were prop-
erly performed, as were the predictions of the famous
Lynn witch, Moll Pitcher, who flourished in the days
of our grand-parents, and who died, as perhaps the
credulous will be glad to know, at Lynn, on the ninth
day of April, 1813, aged seventy-five years, she being
at the time the widow of Robert Pitcher, formerly a
Lynn shoemaker.
During the siege of Boston, in the days of the
revolution, there were upon the Common several fortifi-
cations and barracks. The British artillery was sta-
tioned upon Flag-staff Hill, where were intrenchments.
A battery was located on Pox Hill; and at the end of
Boylston street, as it was in those days, and exactly
opposite Carver street, was a strong fortification. The
marines- were stationed on a line with Tremont street,
and the infantry was scattered about the Common as
was most convenient. Marks of the breastworks and
encampments were noticeable for many years after they
were left by the soldiery.
In December 1851, a very careful survey of the
Common was made, and all its topographical marks
352 TOPOGJlAPHldAIi AND HISTOBICAL
accurately laid down on a plan. The measurements
differ slightly from those formerly given, perhaps on
account of taking in the burial-ground and malls. By
this admeasurement it was ascertained that the area, in-
cluding cemetery and malls, contained forty-eight acres,
one quarter, seventeen rods, and two hundred, and
thirty-seven feet; and the cemetery contained one acre,
one quarter, twenty-three rods, and two hundred and
seven feet. The exact length of the fence around the
Common, including the four gates, and the other open-
ings, was 5,946.9 feet, or one mile and one-eighth, and
six and nine-tenths feet.
Allusion has been made several times in these chap-
ters to executions upon the Common. It is known that
the earliest were performed there, and upon regularly
constructed gallows, though tradition says that the
great tree was sometimes used for the purpose. It was
not exclusively the place of execution, for persons have
been hung during the last and present century on the
neck, south of Dover street, where in 1769 the authori-
ties erected the gallows; and some of the old pirates
met their end in the harbor, qn some of the flats and
islands. In all probability Mrs. Dorothy Talbye (wife
of John) , who murdered her own daughter, Difficulty,
was hung on the Common, on the sixth of December,
1638, as was also Mrs. Ann Hibbens (wife of William) ,
who was hung as a witch on the nineteenth of June, 1656,
as had also been Mrs. Margaret Jones, on. the fifteenth
of June, 1648. William Robinson and Marmaduke
Stephenson, Quakers, were hung on the Common on
the twenty-seventh of October, 1659, and Mary, wife
of William Dyre, on the fii'st of June, 1660. Old Jethro,
the Indian, was huhg, and Matoonas shot upon the
DESCBIKEION OF BOSTON. 353
Common in 1676. Since this time, until the year 1812,
executions were conducted upon the Common, though
occasionally some were upon the Neck. John Quelch
and his five associates were hung for piracy at low
water mark on Charles Eiver, Boston side, on the
thirtieth of June, 1704, and William Fly and his as-
sociates, Samuel Cole and Henry Greenvill, pirates,
were executed at Charlestown Ferry, on the twelfth
of June, 1726, Fly, the ringleader, being hung up in
irons on Nick's Mate, as a spectacle for the warning
of others, and the other two buried among its rough
gravel at low water mark. The following record,
taken from the Selectmen's minutes, shows how exe-
cutions were stopped from taking place upon the
Common:
"25 November, 1812. A memorial was received
from a great number of inhabitants, remonstrating
against the execution of the two persons now under
sentence of death for piracy being permitted to be
had at the bottom of the Common. — The subject was
considered, and it was voted unanimously that the board
could not consent that any part of the Common could
be used for that purpose.
"The Chairman was desired to communicate to the
Marshall the vote of the board, and at the same time
to inform him of their readiness to aid the officers of
the United States in executing the law: that a com-
mittee should accompany him to South Boston, to select
the most convenient and suitable place, it being their
opinion, that the execution in a situation in a view
open to the harbor will be best calculated to answer
the end of punishment, the prevention of similar crimes,
by the display of their awful consequences."
15
354 DESOKIPTION OJF BOSTOK.
The two pirates to be executed were Samuel TuUey
and John Dalton; TuUey was hung at Ifooks Hall, South
Boston, on the tenth of December, 1812, and Dalton
was reprieved. The hanging of John Holland on Bos-
ton l^eck on the third of March, 1826, for the murder
of one of the city watchmen, Jonathan Houghton, was
the last of the public executions in Boston, the jaU yard
being from that time used for such dreadful purposes.
CHAPTEE XXYT.
PUBUC GAEDEN.
Land Granted and Ropewalks Bnilt in 1794 . . . Early Condition of the Garden
• • • Eox Hill and Round Marsh ■ • ■ Land Regained in 1825 • • • Committees
for the Purpose and Reference ■ • • Streets around the Garden • • • The Mill-
dam, Boylston street, and Arlington street • • • The Tripartite Indenture of
1856 • • • Attempt to Sell the Land in 1824 negatived by the Citizens • ■ •
Agreements with the Water Power Company • • • Leased to Horace Gray and
Others for a Public Garden in 1839 • • • Efforts to Sell the Garden in 1843
and 1850 • • • Act of April, 1859, by which the Garden was Saved from being
Built upon • • • Mr. Snelling's Efforts for a Salt Water Lake • • • Alderman
Crane's Order Establishing the Garden, and Mr. Meacham's Plan Adopted
• • . Size of the Garden • • • Fence, Pond, Conservatories • • • Granite Basins,
Eonntains and Figures • • • Bronze Statue of Everett • • • Ether Monument • • .
Ball's Equestrian Statue of Washington ••• Bridge over the Pond •••Im-
provements by the Committee of the Aldermen • • • The Garden a Suitable
Place for Memorials.
The Public Gaeden" was originally part of the Com-
mon; but a great fire occurring in the neighborhood of
Pearl and Atkinson streets, whereby the seven old rope-
walks were burnt on the thirtieth of July, 1794, the
towns-people opened their hearts, though they closed
their senses, and resolved to grant the flats at the bot-
tom of the Common for the erection of six new build-
ings in place of those destroyed, on condition that no
jnore ropewalks should be built between Pearl and
Atkinson streets upon the old site. This rash act of
our fathers fairly lost to the town the old Round Marsh,
which had always, from the first settlement of the town,
been a part of the Common or Training Field; and it
356 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
was not until the first year of the elder Qumcy's ad-
ministration of city affairs that the lost estate was
regained, by paying the owners the large sum (as it
was then considered) of fifty-four thousand dollars, and
obtaining a reconveyance of the land on the twenty-
fifth of February, 1824, it having then been out of the
possession of the town nearly thirty years, the grant
from the town having been made on the first of Sep-
tember, 1794.
In the days just alluded to, there were no streets
forming the north and south boundaries of the flats;
and the eastern limit of the present garden was de-
noted by a muddy path . through the bog or marshy
ground, which had been more travelled over by beast
than by man. "With the exception of a small piece of
land, consisting of gravel and coarse sand, known as
Fox Hill, — the same described in the last chapter, and
which was sometimes designated as an island because
the high tides frequently flowed around it, — this
consisted entirely of salt marsh and flats, with a few
small salt ponds, and was not estimated as of much
value ; though from time immemorial it had been rented
at times for a small compensation, under the name of the
" Bound Marsh," or the " Marsh at the Bottom of the
Common." "When the ropewalks were built, an open
space was left at the southerly end, near the foot of
Boylston street, and just beside the bluff of Ridge HUl;
but no street was made there for many years, untU the
land west of the northerly end of Pleasant street was
laid out and sold, and Boylston street extended westerly
over the flats.
By those who were living and observant of the
topography of the peninsula before the adoption of the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 357
city charter, this tract of land seemed quite useless,
except to keep an open view of the country lying to the
west. But on the accession of Mr. Quincy to the muni-
cipal chair, the land seemed to acquire new value, and
it was one of his earliest schemes for the benefit of
Boston to get back the possession of this territory,
so stupidly granted away by the old towns-people ; and
a committee, of which he was chairman, and Aldermen
George Odiorne, Joseph H. Dorr, and Caleb Eddy, his
associates, were indefatigable in their attempts to bring
about the much-desired result.
In consequence of a recommendation of the commit-
tee, the whole subject was committed to five eminently
discreet persons, who were noted for their general intel-
ligence and probity, as well as for their acquaintance
with matters relating to landed property in the city.
These referees, Messrs. Patrick T. Jackson, Ebenezer
Francis, Edward Cruft, Peter C. Brooks, and John P.
Thorndike, one only of their number dissenting, agreed
upon the award already mentioned, of fifty-five thousand
dollars, to be paid to the owners in fee; and, to the
joy of all, the property became again vested in Boston
in its corporate capacity, and subject to the ancient
town orders and new city charter, which reserved its
appropriation strictly to the legal voters of the town,
and subsequently of the city.
On the fourteenth of June, 1814, Isaac J*. Davis,
Uriah Cotting, and William Brown, with their associ-
ates, were granted an act of incorporation by the Gen-
eral Court of the Commonwealth, under the name of the
Boston and Eoxbury Mill Corporation, for building a
mill-dam, forty-two feet wide, from Charles street at the
westerly end of Beacon street, to the upland at Sewall's
358 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTOKICAL
Point, so-called, in BrooHine, and as near as might be
to the north side of tide-mill creek, and to be made so as
effectually to exclude the tide-water, and to form a res-
ervoir br empty basin of the space between the Dam and
Boston J^eck. Among other privileges, the act gave
that of building another dam from Gravelly Point in
Koxbury to the MUl-dam. Other acts of a subsidiary
character were afterwards passed, and in a few years
after the passage of the general act, the land west of
Charles street, being part of the empty or receiving
basin, became comparatively a dry place, and a spot
upon which persons of a speculative tendency were wont
to cast their longing eyes. In consequence of the erec-
tion of the Mill-dam, the Western avenue, as it has been
termed, extending from Beacon street to Brookline, was
laid out as a street, although it was not opened for pub-
lic travel until the second day of July, 1821 ; and thus a
defiliitive boundary was established on the northerly side
of the town's land, back of the Common. The street on
the southerly side, known as the extension of Boylston
street, was laid out by a survey made on the eighteenth
of August, 1843, by Alexander Wadsworth, and thus
the southei'ly boundary fixed. The westerly boundary
was established as late as the eleventh day of December,
1856, by the tripartite indenture executed by the Com-
missioners of the Commonwealth, the Boston Water
Power Company and the city of Boston, — the Com-
mittee of the City Council being Aldermen Farnham
Plummer and Pelham Bonney, and Councilmen Oliver
Frost, Ezra Parnsworth and John G. Webster. This
agreement, which settled many important points relating
to the Back Bay Lands, received the approval of Mayor
Eice on the thirtieth of December followiag. By this
DESORIPTIOW OF BOSTON; 359
indenture a narrow strip of land was annexed to the
northern part of the Public Garden, and the new avenue
eighty feet wide, now known as Arlington street, was
laid out.
No sooner had Mayor Quihcy secured the title of
the land west of the Common to the city, in February
1824, than an attempt was made to sell it again for
building purposes, and the matter was agitated by the
City Council. It was considered most prudeiit to sub-
mit the question to the citizens, and a general meeting
was called for the twenty-sixth of July, at which the
legal voters were called upon to decide whether the
City Council should have authority to make sale of the
land west of Charles street in such way and on such
terms as they might deem expedient. A second ques-
tion proposed was, whether the land generally known as
the Common, now lying between the malls, should be
forever kept open and free from buildings. At the
meeting the subjects were referred to a large and very
respectable committee of citizens, of which Col. John
T. Apthorp was chosen chairman, who in October re-
ported adversely to the proposition, and submitted three
other propositions, making five in all, which were all
negatived (except the second) on the twenty-seventh of
December, 1824. The fifth question negatived at the
time, by a vote of 1,632 against 176, was in the follow-
ing words :
" Shall the City Council, whenever in their opinion,
the convenience of the inhabitants require, be author-
ized to lay out any part of the lands and flats, lying
westerly from the Common, for a cemetery, and erect
and sell tombs therein, on such terms and conditions as
they may deem proper?"
360 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
After this time arrangements were made with the
"Water Power Company, by which buildings were kept
from being erected upon the Back Bay Lands, and
things Went on very quietly in reference to the public
territory west of Charles street. On the twenty-fifth of
September, 1837, however, Horace Grray and others pe-
titioned for the use of the land for a public garden,
which on the sixth of [N'ovember of the same year was
granted on certain conditions, among which was ©ne
that no building should be erected thereon except a
green-house and a tool-hohse, and these not to be over
fourteen feet in height. The next year Mr. Gray and
his associates petitioned again, and again in January
1839, the same permission was granted with similar con-
ditions; and on the first day of February, 1839, Horace
Gray, George Darracott, Charles P. Curtis and others
were incorporated as the "Proprietors of the Botanic
Garden in Boston," with power ta hold property to the
amount of fifty thousand dollars. These proprietors of
the Garden fitted up a conservatory for plants and birds,
just north of Beacon street and west of Charles street,
which for a while was a place of considerable attraction,
until it was unfortunately destroyed by fire.
In 1842 and 1843 efibrts were again made in the City
Council for selling the Public Garden, but these proved
unavailing; and the matter was allowed to quiet down
until the years 1849 and 1850; when the efforts were re-
newed with much greater prospect of success, but were
finally defeated, although distinguished jurists had given
their opinions that the land could be sold. Thus, in
1856, the tripartite agreement before alluded to was
made, and the question of building upon the Public
Garden was considered as settled against any such pro-
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 361
ject. On the sixth of April, 1859, an act (chapter 210)
was approved by the Governor of the' Commonwealth,
establishing the boundary line between the cities of
Boston and Eoxbury, and authorizing the filling up of
the Back Bay. Provision was made by this act that
no buildings should be erected between Arlington and
Charles streets, and three commissioners were appointed
by Governor Banks and Mayor Lincoln to make an
award to the city in consequence of relinquishing the
right to erect buildings on the strip of land acquired
by the city by the tripartite indenture of the eleventh of
December, 1856. The act was submitted to the citizens
on the twenty-sixth of April, 1859, who voted on the
following question:
" Are you in favor of accepting an Act of the Legis-
lature of 1859, entitled ' an Act in relation to the Back
Bay and the Public Garden in the city of Boston? ' "
Six thousand two hundfed and eighty-seven votes
were in favor of accepting the act, and only ninety-nine
were in the negative; so the act was accepted by the
citizens, and on the next day a proclamation to that ef-
fect was made by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
The commissioners jointly selected by the Governor and
Mayor were Hon. Messrs. Josiah G. Abbott, George B.
Upton, and George S. Boutwell, and they on the first of
July of the same year published their award, giving to
the city two parcels of land containing 44,800 feet, for
the relinquishment of the right to build upon the strip of
land east of Arlington street containing about 118,000
feet (28 feet on Boylston street, and 155 feet on Bea-
con street), both parcels subject to the restriction that
nothing but dwelling-houses shall be erected thereon.
While the negotiations were going on between the
46
362 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
State and the city, great efforts were made by a philan-
thropic citizen for preserving the Back Bay lands as
free from buUdings as possible, with a lake of salt water
for sanitary purposes. As yet he has not been success-
ful in his intentions, though he has with him the good
wishes of many sensible and scientific persons. The
pond proposed was first suggested by Hon. David Sears
in 1852, and was to have contained about thirty-seven
acres. Mr. Greorge H. Snelling's plan was somewhat
more extensive, and the water was to be continued to
the full basin. ^Notwithstanding the present beautiful
appearance of Commonwealth avenue and its magnifi-
cent edifices, and the pleasant foot-walk between the
two carriage ways, there wUl be many to regret that the
refreshing sheet of water of the contemplated " Silver
Lake " is never to ornament the city, or to be enjoyed
by its citizens.
After the acceptance of the act of 1859, the subject
of further improving the Public Garden was taken seri-
ously into consideration, and on the eighth of August of
the same year an order was offered on the subject in the
Board of Aldermen, which was amended by the Com-
mon Council, and finally referred by the Board to the
Committee on the Common and Public Squares, of
which Alderman Samuel D. Crane was chairman, "to
report a plan of improvement and the estimated cost
thereof." On the thhty-first of the succeeding October,
Alderman Crane submitted a report, rich in information
and abounding in detail, accompanied with a plan for
the laying out of the Garden, and recommending the
concurrence of the Board with the Common Council
in the passage of the order relating to the subject, as
amended by that branch of the city government on the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 363
twenty-ninth of September; and also advising the pas-
sage of an order approving the plan submitted with
the report. The report was printed, and is a valuable
acquisition to the history of public parks. It was subse-
quently adopted, and the order which recommended
the plan passed in both branches of the City Council.
The adoption of this important order had the desired
effect, and from that time to the present great progress
has been made towards perfecting the Garden, and mat-
ing it what its most ardent friends desired at its estab-
lishment.
The Public Garden now contains about twenty-four
and one-quarter acres. The total length of its four
sides measures 4,212.47 feet. On Boylston street, 793.94
feet; on Charles street, 1,289.70 feet; on Beacon street,
739.70 feet; and on Arlington street, 1,263.47 feet; and
125.66 feet are given up to the entrances at the cor-
ners. The iron fence was erected in 1862 and 1863, at
a cost of $25,000. The pond, which is purposely irreg-
ular in shape, and which was commenced on the four-
teenth of November, 1859, has an area of about three
and three-quarter acres.
Soon after the establishment of the Public Garden, a
portion of it was filled up with soil and loam, and a
small greenhouse, in shape of a lean-to, was built in the
year 1853 for the accommodation of the plants used in
the PubUc Squares. This was sold and removed in
1856, and the present conservatory erected on the Bea-
con street side of the garden. The new conservatory
was occupied a short time by Azel Bowditch, seedman
and floriculturist, and subsequently by John Galvin, the
City Forester; and now in 1870, is rented by the city to
John Gormley, florist.
364 TOPOGRAPHICAL AKD HISTOKICAL
While Alderman Crane was chairman of the Com-
mittee on the Common and Public Squares, a liberal
appropriation was made for completing the Public Gar-
den. A large quantity of material was used for grading
it, and under the superintendence of James Slade, the
City Engineer, the flower beds and paths were laid out
by Mr. Galvin, the City Forester, in accordance with the
plan of George P. Meacham, of Boston, the architect,
who received the a^ard of the committee ; and a consid-
erable portion of it was sodded. In 1861, five granite
basins with fountains were placed in different parts of
the area, and much ornamental work was done within
the enclosure. In one of these basins is a beautiful
statue, wrought in marble, the gift of the late John T).
Bates, the first work of art placed in the Garden. An-
other figure, presented by Mrs. Tudor, occupies a con-
spicuous position; and these will undoubtedly be fol-
lowed by other similar objects from other persons
interested in beautifpng the place.
On the northerly side of the garden, a statue of Hon.
Edward Everett,, modelled at Rome in 1866 by "William
W. Story, Esq., and cast in bronze at Munich, was pre-
sented to the city on the eighteenth of !N"ovember, 1867.
The Ether Monument, the gift of Thomas Lee, Esq.,
stands near the northwesterly corner of the enclosure,
and was dedicated on the twenty-seventh of June, 1868;
on which occasion. Dr. Henry J. Bigelow delivered the
presentation address, and the Mayor accepted the monu-
ment with a few remarks. The equestrian statue of
Washington, modelled by Thomas Ball, Esq., and cast
in bronze at the Chicopee Works, was dedicated on the
third of July, 1869, by an address by Hon. Alexander H.
Rice, and a response of acceptation by the Mayor.
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 3^5
"When the plan for the laying out of the Public Gar-
den was made by Mr. Meacham, it was a favorite idea
with many persons, in, as well as out of, the city gov-
ernment, that the public buildings should be placed
within its borders; and, consequently, much was said
and done to bring about this project, which was sub-
sequently ultimately relinquished by the passage and
acceptance of the act of 1859. Upon the plan was
designated a place for a city hall, which was to be built,
if the measure could be carried through the City Council,
upon Arlington street in a line with Commonwealth
avenue, the buUding facing due east and west. This
part of the project was given up, and. the city hall was
built in School street, under the direction of Messrs.
Bryant and Gilman, the architects, the corner-stone
being laid on the twenty-second of December, 1862, and
the building dedicated on the eighteenth of September,
1865. An elegant bridge, consisting of a single arch,
was thrown over the pond in 1867, for the convenience
of pedestrians, and is esteemed a great ornament and
convenience by the frequenters of the Garden. At the
northerly end of the pond projects a small promontory,
upon which stands a small summer-house supplied with
seats, and from which can be obtained an excellent view
both of the pond and Garden.
The borders of the several walks of the Garden have
been tastefully laid out into flower beds, where can be
found, in the proper season, a choice collection of plants
of annual growth and of a more permanent character.
These walks have now become favorite places for the
resort of children during the summer season, and noth-
ing has been lost in appropriating the place to its pres-
ent purposes, which are far more desirable than those to
366 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
which it previously used to be put. When the weather
is such as to permit it, there are upon the pond, man-
aged by safe persons, several comfortable and con-
venient boats, in which children are transported from
one part to another, and thus entertained with an
amusing and healthy recreation. In the conservatory
are kept plants in great variety.
During the last few years, much improvement has
been made in the Garden, and many trees have been set
out; to the principal of which, like those on the Common,
through the instrumentality of Alderman Clapp, a former
chairman of the committee on these grounds, have been
affixed the scientific and popular names, as ascertained
by the late Dr. A. A. Gould.
The garden has now become one of the most attrac-
tive parts of the city, and is a place of much resort in
pleasant weather. For many of the late improvements
upon this once neglected piece of city property, the citi-
zens are indebted to the great energy and good taste of
the several Committees on the Common and the Public
Squares, to the City Engineers, and to the Superintend-
ents, who have usually been designated as the City For-
esters. IS'o one can now visit this beautiful place with-
out being thankful for the interest and energies which
have brought about, and carried to such a degree of per-
fection, this ornament to the city; nor should anyone be
unmindful of those, who, by their wise forethought, have
saved this land from the inordinate desire of gain which
has several times threatened its sale for building pur-
poses.
l^ow that so many statues and other memorials of
the distinguished sons of Boston are to be placed in
prominent positions in the city, would it not be well to
DBSCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 367
devote the green spaces between the paths of this much
frequented Garden to this laudable purpose? The chief
European cities have their squares for works of art, and
why should not also Boston?
CHAPTER XXVn.
PADDOCK'S MAX,L.
The Granary Mall • • • Its Situation • • ■ Its Trees Saved in 1860 • ■ • Its Establish-
ment by Captain Paddock • • • Its Two Walks, and the Uses of the Outer
Walk • • • Mr. Ballard's Agency in the Establishment of the Mall • • • Captain
Adino Paddock and his Family • • • When the Trees were Transplanted • • •
First Imported flrom England, and Set Out in Milton before their Removal to
Boston • • • The Original Number Set Out • • • Eleven now remaining • • • Their
Cavities for a time the Winter Resort of Squirrels • • • Size of the Largest
Tree ■ • • Illumination of the Trees on the News of the Repeal of the Stamp
Act in 1766 ■ • • Trees injured wantonly in 1766 and 1771, but preserved dur-
ing the Revolution . . . Injury from the Great Gale of 1815.
There is another mall in Boston besides those sur-
rounding the Common, which is equally as distinguished
as they have been; and this should not be forgotten,
though the once graceful branches which formerly
adorned its noted elms have become decayed in their
old age, and haVe been mutUated by the saw, the trees
themselves barely escaping the threatening axe that
came so near annihilating them in January, 1860. The
Granary Mall, in which these old friends have stood and
given an agreeable and refreshing shade for more than
a century, is situated in one of the most frequented ave-
nues of the city, and occupies the sidewalk in Tremont
street, just east of the Granary Burying-Ground. The
following description of it is a revision of an account
written soon after the escape of the old trees in 1860,
when they were so fortunately preserved from destruc-
DBSCEIPTIOK OP BOSTON. 369
tion by the active exertion of Alderman Samuel D.
Crane, Clement Willis, and Thomas C Amory, Jr., and
others of the City Council.
In the olden time this mall, or walk (as it is some-
times called) about three hundred and fifty feet in
length, extended in width some distance westerly into
the present limits of the burying-ground; and was cur-
tailed of its size a little in 1717, just at the time arrange-
ments were in progress for building tombs around the
edges of the cemetery. The associations connected
with it are of sufficient interest to warrant giving to its
history one chapter of the present series of topographi-
cal papers.
It is fully settled, by general consent, that Captain
Adino Paddock, who served the town of Boston many
years as a sealer of leather and as one of the firewards,
was principally concerned in the truly praiseworthy un-
dertaking of establishing the Granary Mall. Hence the
name of Paddock's Mall (or walk) was, without any
special municipal sanction, given to this row of trees,
and also to the sidewalk which they occupy, and which
became quite narrow after the fence of the burying-
ground was erected. For a time the footpath barely
protected the roots of the trees from passing carriages,
so near to the highway was it originally laid out; but in
aftertimes it was widened to its present ample dimen-
sions by the construction of another walk on the street
edge, the two pathways being separated by a curbstone,
and the inner promenade being several inches moi'e ele-
vated than the outer. On the outermost of the walks it
was, that in the good old times, before Boston became
dignified by a city charter, the stalls and booths were
placed on public holidays and days of general rejoicing,
47
370 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
for the Tending of the smaller matters of refreshment,
preparatory to the larger and more varied supply to be
found in profusion on the Common and its numerous by-
paths, malls and, eminences.
!N"otwithstanding the prominent part taken by Mr.
Paddock, the name of another person is often spoken of
in connection with the setting out of these trees, — that
of Mr. John Ballard, a resident of the north end of the
town, an active and public-spirited man, and an enter-
prising mechanic, l^o others are mentioned as taldng
any part in the laudable endeavor; and to these generous
individuals alone, in the absence of all positive knowl-
edge to the contrary, must be given the well-merited
thanks of those who have lived to enjoy the benefits
thus bestowed upon so many generations.
Mr. Paddock, though not an Englishman by birth —
for he descended from the good pilgrim stock of the
Pljnnouth colony — was so by training. He had been
bred a builder of chairs, as the light one-horse vehicles,
which are now called chaises, were then called; and his
foreign predilections led him, on settling m busiaess, to
give the name of the old street in London, rendered
famous for carriage building, to the part of the street
where his workshop stood, opposite the G-ranary Bury-
ing Ground; and for a considerable time after Mr. Pad-
dock retired from Boston, as he did when the British
evacuated the town, that portion of the street extend-
ing from King's Chapel to "Winter street, and at the
time a portion of Common street, was known as Long
Acre. In this account the distinctive title of Captain is
by preference given to Mr. Paddock, although he also
had, even during his sojourn in Boston, a claim to the
higher military appellation of Colonel. As an active
DBSCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 371
officer, and for a time commander of the Boston train of
artillery, he felt himself particularly honored, as he was
then in a position of great usefulness; for, in fact, his
lessons in military matters, while in the Train, were
productive of much good, as laying the foundation of
good soldiership in the Province, by giving thorough
instruction to many who afterwards became distin-
guished officers in the patriotic army of the revolution-
ary war. Ardently attached to the interests of the
mother country, and one of the foremost of the loyalist
party, he left Boston in March 1776, for Halifax, IN". S.,
and in the following June embarked with his wife and
children for England, where he resided till the year
1781 ; when, receiving an office under the English Gov-
ernment, he removed to the Isle of Jersey, and there
remained until the time of his decease, which event
occurred on the twenty-fifth of March, 1804, he being
at the time seventy-six years of age.
Of the descendants of Mr. Paddock, it should be
said, that although the immediate family of this gentle-
man took up their abode in England after leaving Bos-
ton, nevertheless, the oldest son, bearing his father's
name, prepared himself for the practice of medicine,
and returned to America, and passed his last days in
l! HISTOKICAL
the Legislature of the Commonwealth in the year 1846;
and his statement was then made from authority which
he deemed at the time conclusive, and corroborative
evidence sustains him in his opinion. For a time after
the importation of the trees from England, they are said
to have been in a nursery in Milton, where they were
carefully watched until they were of sufficient size
and strength to be transplanted in a place so public as
that for which they were selected.
The setting out of Paddock's trees must not be con-
founded with the transplanting of the trees of the great
mall on the Tremont street side of the Common. The
outermost row of these trees, it will be remembered, waa
set out some time about 1728, the year of Paddock's
birth; the second row in the same mall was placed there
in the spring of 1734; and the third or innermost row
was planted by Mr. Oliver Smith and other townsmen,
in the fall of 1784.
Although Paddock's English ehns do not exhibit,
when in full foliage, the gracefulness of the American
species, they have the advantage of continuing longer
in their dress of green. They put forth their leaves
weeks sooner than the natives do, and retain them some
time after the limbs and branches of the indigenous trees
are entirely leafless. !N"ow, only eleven of these noble
trees remain standing in their lot; three, at least, have
fallen within a few years, sacrificed by a' false taste in
paving the sidewalk in which they stood. How many
of them there were originally is not known. It is sup-
posed that the row extended from Park street meeting-
house northerly to the larch-tree in the burial-ground,
beneath whose shade slumber the victims of the State
street massacre of the fifth of March, 1770. If, how-
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON". 373
ever, the row extended so as to skirt the whole front of
the Granary Burying-Ground, there might have been
sixteen trees in all. The usual length of life allotted to
this species of tree is about one hundred and fifty years,
although some individual trees have been known to sur-
vive the effects of storm and natural decay for twice
that period. These trees have no doubt stood somewhat
over one hundred years, and already begin to show
strong symptoms of an approaching end; for most of
them have lost parts of their largest limbs, and several of
them are already so hollow as to have afforded a win-
ter retreat to the few gray squirrels, which, after enjoy-
ing the neighboring cemetery as a playground during
the summer months, were compelled to find more
comfortable quarters from the inclemencies of the cold
season of the year, and also receptacles where they
could safely and conveniently store their winter's supply
of food. These habitations are now deserted, as the
squirrels have also left the Granary Burying-Ground
within a short time, as they did the Common.
The largest of these trees is the one nearest the Tre-
mont House. "When it was measured by the writer in
the spring of 1860, it was in circumference, near the
sidewalk, sixteen feet and ten inches; at a height of
three feet, the circumference was twelve feet and eight
inches ; and at the height of five feet above the sidewalk,
eleven feet and eight inches. It may be a matter of
wonderment that this tree is the largest of all the trees
belonging to the public walks of the city, with the single
exception of the great American elm-tree of the Com-
mon; for it was set out about thirty or thirty-five years
after those of the two outermost rows in the Tremont
street mall. Nevertheless there is sufficient reason for
374 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
the fact: for most of the elms in the malls of the Com-
mon have died out and been replaced by other trees, and
those that remain have almost been choked for want of
moisture, which the hard walks have kept from their
roots, so that they have in a degree become stinted in
their growth by the injury, and put back more than
thirty-five years. l!^otwithstanding the neglect of the
other public trees at times, those of Captain Paddock
were cherished with the greatest care, and their roots
nourished by the richest soil. Even in more recent
days, with some exceptions, these trees have been more
carefully looked after than those on the Common.
Taking for granted that Paddock performed his
great benevolence in 1762, or about that time, the trees
must have been mere saplings when they were first
called upon to do public service ; and on this occasion
they not only made their first appearance in history, but
also ran their first risk of mutilation, if not of entire
destruction. On Friday, the sixteenth day of May,
1766, there arrived in Boston harbor the brigantine
Harrison, Shubael Coffin, master, belonging to " John
Hancock, Esq., a principal merchant of the town," in
about six weeks from London, bringing the important
account of the repeal of the American stamp act, which
had received the royal assent on the nineteenth day of the
previous March. In compliance with the arrangements
made at a general town meeting, held in anticipation of
such joyful ne\vs, the selectmen of the town met in
Faneuil Hall, and appointed Monday, the nineteenth of
May, to be passed as a day of general rejoicing for that
happy occasion. The day was ushered in, very much in
the manne.r of the present time, by the ringing of bells,
the discharge of cannon, the displaying of colors from
DESCBIPTION OP BOSTON. 375
houses and from the masts of the shipping, and by mar-
tial music. A royal salute was fired by Captain Pad-
dock's train of .artillery, and glorious doings were had
on the Common. In the evening the rejoicings were
after the peculiar fashion of the day, by illuminations
and bonfires. A pyramid on the Common, ornamented
with patriotic paintings, and lighted by two hundred
and eighty lamps, concluded the display of the evening,
with a discharge of fireworks; and the rejoicings of the
first day were brought to a close by a grand and elegant
entertainment given by Mr. Hancock to the genteel part
of the town, and a treat to the populace of a pipe of
Madeira wine. On the next evening, Liberty Tree,
which had been lighted up with forty-five lanterns, was
again illuminated with one hundred and eight, in allu-
sion to the majority that repealed the odious act. It is
traditionally related, also, that Paddock's trees and
those on the Common were similarly decorated, and,
although they escaped injury on that famous day, it
appears from the following advertisement, printed in
the Massachusetts Gazette Extraordinary, on Thurs-
day, the twenty-second day of May, and re-published
in the Evening Post of the twenty-sixth of the same
month, that inconsiderate persons had already com-
menced indiscretions upon the then harmless row of
small trees:
THE Eow of Trees opposite Mr. Paddock's shop have of late
received Damage by persons inadvertently breaking off the limbs of
the most flourishing. The youth of both sexes are requested, as they
pass 'that way, not to molest them ; those trees being planted at a con-
siderable expense, for an Ornament and Service to the Town. Not
one of the trees was injured the Night of General Rejoicing, but last
Night several Limbs were broke off."
376 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
From the years 1766 to 1771, it seems that all went
well with the trees; but in the latter year the hand of
indiscretion was again raised to mar them. The follow-
ing advertisement may be found in the Boston Evening
Post of Monday, August 26, 1771:
"A GUINEA REWARD
Will be given by the subscriber to any one who shall inform him of the
Person or Persons that on Thursday night last cut and hacked one of
the Trees opposite his House in Long Acre.
" As said Row of Trees were planted and cultivated at a consider-
able expense, it is hoped that all persons wlU do their Endeavour to
discountenance said Practices.
ADINO PADDOCK."
"Whether the outrage alluded to as above given was
caused in consequence of Paddock's toryism is not
known; but it is positively certain that his trees were
respected by the British soldiery, during the siege of
the town; and when those lawless vandals were dese-
crating churches, pulling down meeting-houses for fuel,
and discharging their firearms at harmless gravestones,
they had grace enough to spare the trees. Paddock is
said to have written, many years after the days of the
revolution had passed away, to one of his Boston friends,
expressing gratitude that the trees for which he had
always had a deep solicitude had escaped those days of
trial. Their day of doom has not yet come. The earth-
quakes have left them unharmed. The great gale of
1815, though it upset many, and marred their propor-
tions, did not uproot them so but that they could be
restored; nor did the storm of the twenty-ninth of
June, 1860, nor the gale of the eighth of September,
1869, destroy any of these venerable trees, although in
DESCRIPTION 01" BOSTON. 377
both instances many of their large branches were broken
off, and their beauty much impaired. They have passed
on flourishingly; the spirit of improvement has alone
come near destroying them. In the days of Mayor
Armstrong they met with serious injury, when the
stone foundation for the iron fence of the Granary
Burial-Ground was laid. The roots by which they
obtained the greatest part of their nourishment were
cut off, and many of their branches began to fail. As
time sped, they began to recover from this shock.
They had, indeed, scarcely resumed their former con-
dition when their roots were deprived of the necessary
moisture by a closely -laid brick sidewalk, and of course
they again pined. The removal, however, of a portion
of the bricks, and allowance of proper moisture, together
with an enriched soil, gave them another chance for the
continuance of life; and thus they now remain. Far
distant may the day be, when these old friends 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, as valued heritages
that Bostonians have received from the generations that
have preceded them.
CHAPTBK XXVIU.
PXXBLIO SQTTABES.
Washington Square on Tort Hill • • -Ancient Cornhill • • -Bowling Green- - - Bea-
con Hill •-- Church Green, and Church Square ■•• Columbia Square, 1801,
named Blackstone and Franklin Squares in 1849 • - - Franklin Place, 1793 - - -
Louisburg Square, 1834 - - - Pemberton Square, laid out in 1835, and named
in 1838 • - - City Hall Square, 1841, formerly Court Square in 1815 - - - Lowell
Square, 1849 • • - South End Squares in 1849-1851, Chester Square, Union
Park, Worcester Square ■ • ■ Haymarket Square - - • East Boston Squares,
Maverick, Central and Belmont Squares • • - South Boston Squares, Tele-
graph HOI and Independence Square.
Besides the Common and Malls, and the Public Gar-
den, there are in Boston several other public grounds
known as the Public Squares. These, with a few others
of a more private character, should not be omitted in a
description of the topography of the city. The ordi-
nary squafes at the junction of streets are more prop-
erly classed with, the streets, alleys, lanes, courts and
places, and will not, therefore, be taken into considera-
tion at the present time, but be reserved for future
notice.
In a previous chapter, a description was given of
Fort HUl, more particularly as one of the prominent ob-
jects of view on approaching Boston. Upon its summit
was formerly seen a circular enclosure, surrounded with a
square, usually known as Washington Square, and some-
times as Washington Place, the circular portion retain-
ing the name of Fort Hill, the designation which the
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 379
whole enclosure has borne for very many years. This
summit was the ancient Cornhill of the forefathers of
the town, and in the olden time had upon it the earliest-
built fortification of the peninsula, if not even of the old
colony of the Massachusetts Bay. Like ail the other
prominent eminences of the town, which could be
reached by the winds, it was the seat of one of the nu-
merous mills erected for the convenience of the towns-
people, — this particular one being carried on by the
widow Anne Tuthill, who moved it to that situation
in the fall of the year 1643, not long after the death of
her husband Richard, who had been a very prominent
person in town matters. In the years 1740 and 1742
attempts were made to have this place called Bowling
Green; and, though the project was at the latter date
favorably entertained, it did not succeed, and the hill
was allowed to retain its old and well-known name. As
early as the year 1803, the circle had been laid out; and
during the years 1812 and 1813 efforts were made for
improving the general appearance of this then much
frequented place. Soon after this the old wooden posts
and rails were erected upon it; and these not long after
gave way to a neater wooden structure, which was
taken down in 1838, and a very neat iron fence com-
pleted in its place in July of the same year. The portion
of land enclosed contained about 40,000 square feet, the
diameter within the fence being about two hundred feet.
This was sometimes called Washington Place, though
the familiar name of Fort Hill is its true and most pop-
ular designation, on account of its old associations. By
the Fort Hill improvement this place has been much
changed in appearance, and its characteristics entirely
lost.
380 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
For many years the Common and Fort Hill, if the
burying-grounds are excepted, were the only public
places in the peninsula which the towns-people enjoyed
for pleasure meetings on gala days; for the South End
with its large area of vacant land was too far distant
from the settlement, and the square upon Beacon Hill,
where the beacon, and subsequently the monument,
stood, was altogether too limited in its size, (being only
four rods square,) for anything like a promenade, al-
though the last mentioned spot was frequently visited,
in consequence of the delightful prospect of the harbor
and neighboring country which it afforded.
Previous to the year 1715 a small area of land at the
junction of Simimer street and Blind Lane (the easterly
part of Bedford street) was known as Church Green.
Why it was so called cannot be inferred; for there was
no meeting-house then in its immediate neighborhood
nearer than the old building of the Old South Church at
the corner of Milk street. The name first appears in
the following record taken from the town books, under
date of the twentieth of September, 1715 :
" In answer to the petition of Sundry of the Inhab-
itants who are desirous to erect a 'New Meeting House,
Praying the Town to grant them a Piece of Land suit-
able to build the same upon,
"Yoted, a grant to Messrs Henry Hill, Eliezur
Darby, David Craige, Nicholas Boon, Samuel Adams
& their associates and successors for ever, a Piece
of Land comonly called Church Green nigh Summer
street in Boston of sixty five feet in Length and forty
five feet in Breadth (with convenient High "Wayes
Hound the same) for the Erecting thereon an Edifice
for a Meeting House for the Publick "Worship of God.
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTON. 381
Provided the sd Meeting House be erected and im-
proved to that use within the space of Three years
next ensuing."
At the same town meeting, the selectmen were
empowered to lay out the piece of land, and were
directed to make and execute the proper deed of con-
veyance, agreeably to the tenor of the grant; which act
they performed on the twenty-first of November follow-
ing. Of the grantees, Messrs. Hill, Darby and Craige
were styled mariners, Boone a bookseller, and Adams
a maltster. By the laying out of this land for the Il^ew
South Meeting-House, Church Green disappeared. To
this religious society, the town afterwards gave an
additional piece of land, with a very cautious condition
(after the prudent manner of Mr. Bulfinch, the noted
selectman) ; and upon these lots stood the octagonal
stone biiilding, which in the year 1868 was removed
for the accormnodation of business.
Care must be taken not to confound Church Green
with the well-known square for many years known as
Church Square, and which surrounded the old Brick
Meeting-House of the First Church in Comhill, oppo-
site State street; nor with the more ancient square that
for several years environed the most ancient building of
the same society, which stood upon the lot now occupied
by Brazier's building in State street, and which was
sold abojit two hundred and thirty years ago to an
Englishman for one hundred and sixty pounds sterling,
to raise means for defraying the expense of re-building
the meeting-house that stood where Joy's building now
is, and which was destroyed by fire on the second of
October, 1711.
At the March meeting in the year 1800, the question
382 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
of laying out the iN'eck lands came up, and the subject
was referred to the selectmen, who reported in March
1801, presenting a plan, in which the land was divided
into streets and lots, the streets being regular and drawn
at right angles; "and to introduce variety, a large cir-
cular place " was left to be ornamented with trees, which
the committee said would " add to the beauty of the
town at large, and be particularly advantageous to the
inhabitants of this part," the Ifeck. The " circular
place " was called Columbia Square ; .and in reality was
an oval grass plot, bounded by four streets, with Wash-
ington street running through its centre — indeed, the
identical territory now included in Blackstone and
Franklin Squares, the last of which was for a time called
Shawmut Square. The old Columbia Square never
became distinguished, excepting its westerly part, which
was noted as being the site on which poor Henry Phil-
lips (Stonehewer Davis) was so uselessly hung on the
thirteenth of March, 1817, for killing Gaspard Dennegri
at the Eoebuck Tavern, near FaneuU Hall Market
House, on the first of December, 1816. This square
was for many years much neglected, and remained so
nntil the twenty-first of February, 1849, when its east-
erly portion was called Franklin Square, and its west-
erly half Blackstone Square, the iron fences which
surrounded these being completed in ll^ovember of the
last-mentioned year. Of these, Franklin Square now
contains 105,205 , square feet, and Blackstone Square
105,000 square feet. In each of these is a fountain,
supplied from Cochituate Pond.
Franklin Square must not be confounded with Frank-
lin place, just east of the old, and now part of the pres-
ent Franklin street. This last was the site of a great
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 383
private undertaking. Originally, being of a marshy and
boggy character, it had lain unimproved till the close of
the last century, when Joseph Barrell, Esq., a noted
merchant of the town, who dwelt in Summer street, laid
it out for a pleasure garden, ornamenting it with a fish
pond, and- fountain. In 1792, a plan was formed for
building two rows of brick houses in the form of cres-
cents, on the tontine principle, and the foundation of these
was laid on the eighth of August of the next year. In
a short time sixteen comfortable and fashionable houses
were erected on the spOt, and a small grass plot fenced
in and ornamented with a monumental urn commemora-
tive of Franklin, the great Bostonian. For this great
improvement to the town, its people were indebted to
Charles Bulfinch, a gentleman of great enterprise and re-
fined taste, and to WilUam ScoUay and Charles Yaughan,
men eminently distinguished for their public spirit and
endeavors in improving the style of building in the town.
The urn was removed a few years ago, when tlie present
stone warehouses were erected on the two sides of the
place, which is now known as FranMin street, the
name of place having been taken from it. This monu-
ment was obtained in Bath, England, by Mr. Bulfinch,
and sent to this coimtry. It now stands upon the lot on
Bellwort path, leading from "Walnut avenue in Mount
Auburn Cemetery, where are deposited the remains of the
most noted of the chairmen of the selectmen of Boston.
Louisburg Square, private property, situated on the
western slope of Beacon Hill, and upon a portion of Mr.
Blaxton's garden, was laid out about the year 1834.
The statue of Aristides was placed in the grass plot in
it on the first of December, 1849, and that of Columbus
more recently.
384 TOPOGKAJPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ~
Pemberton Square, also private property, is the site
of one of the old peaks of the easterly summit of Beacon
HUl, and was laid out in the year 1835; and the sur-
rounding land for building lots was sold on the seventh
of October. It had its present name assigned to it on
the nineteenth of February, 1838.
When the court house on School street was refitted
for a City Hall, in the years 1840 and 1841, the bmldiugs
in front of it were removed, and the land, the last part
of which had been purchased on the fourth of June,
1839, was laid out as a square, and fenced with iron
pales. Many persons wUl undoubtedly remember when
Mayor Bigelow in 1851, about the time of the " reign of
terror " to the dogs, had the additional pales inserted in
the fence, to keep annoying animals from the enclosure.
Before the erection of the present new City Hall^ the City
Hall Squares contained 10,200 square feet of land. The
old building, one story high, on School Street, near the
burial-ground, occupied many years as a grocery store
by Asa Richardson, will be easily recollected, as also will
the brick building in its rear, erected by Hon. William
Sullivan in 1815, and known as Barristers' Hall. This
was named Court Square on the fifteenth of September,
1815, on the completion of Mr. Sullivan's building. The
statue of Franklin was inaugurated in front of the old
City Hall on the seventeenth of September, 1856, and
was finally removed to its present position on the seventh
of July, 1865- The iron fence, which was completed in
^November, 1865, adds much to the neat appearance of
the squares. The most westerly of these two squares,
that in which the Franklin statue stands, is shaded by a
very large triple-thorned acacia {GleditscJiia triacan-
thos) , one of the largest and most ornamental of the na-
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 385
live forest-trees of America. ]N"o ruthless hands should
ever lay violence upon this tree, which already vies in
size and beauty with those cultivated with much care in
some of the palace-gardens and parks near London.
In 1849 a lot of land was purchased in Cambridge
street in front of the Meeting-House of the West
Church, and laid out into a square. This lot of land
contains 5,782 square feet, and was sometimes called
Derby Square. On the twelfth of ^N^ovember, 1853, the
late Rev. Dr. Charles Lowell set out four oak-trees in
the enclosure, the same having been raised from acorns
planted at his seat at Elmwood, in Cambridge.
La 1849 much was done during the first year of the
mayoralty of Hon. John P. Bigelow towards improving
the public lands at the South End of the city; and in
1850, a new ordinance was passed concerning the public
lands which gave enlarged powers to the joint standing
committee of the city council. On the seventh of Feb-
ruary, of the last-mentioned year, the following order
was passed:
" Ordered, that the Joint Standing Committee on
Public Lands be authorized to lay out such streets and
squares on the public lands, and make such alterations
in the lots as the best interests of the city may require ;
provided such laying out shall not conflict with the
rights of private citizens, and be subject to the approval
of the Mayor and Aldermen."
The committee who were to carry out this important
order consisted of Hon. Mr. Bigelow (the Mayor),
Aldermen Samuel S. Perkins and Billings Briggs, and
Messrs. Abel B. Munroe, ]S"athaniel Brewer, Albert T.
Minot, Benjamin Beal and Aaron H. Bean of the com-
mon council. The committee was largely assisted by
49
386 TOPOGEAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
Hon. Peleg "W. Chandler, who has so unwaveringly ad-
vocated all the recent city improvements in connection
with the public lands ; and also by a special committee,
of which Hon. Henry B. Rogers, then an Alderman, was
chairman, and through whose active exertions a high
grade for the neck lands was obtained, which added
much to the value of the territory for private dwellings.
Plans and estimates were made by Messrs. E. S. Ches-
brough and "Wiliram P. Parrott, sMlful and experienced
engineers; and from this time the South End began
to be the most desirable part of the city for genteel
residences. About this time, and in consequence of
the above-mentioned order of the city council, several
squares were laid out at the South End, mainly through
the instrumentality of Mr. Minot, a member of the com-
mittee. Of these, Chester Square, which contains 57,-
860 square feet of land, and East Chester and "West
Chester Parks (called avenues by vote passed in 1869) ,
were established in 1850, and the neighboring house-lots
were sold on the thirtieth of October, 1850. Union
Park (originally laid out as "Weston street) contains
an area of 16,000 feet, and its lots were sold at auc-
tion on the eleventh of June, 1851. Worcester Square,
of the same size, was sold on the seventeenth of May,
1851.
Haymarket Square has a much older date for its
establishment than the South End Squares; but its
fountain was erected in 1851.
The squares at East Boston were established about
the same time. Maverick Square, containing 22,500
square feet, of which 4,398 are enclosed within an iron
fence; Central Square, 49,470 square feet, 32,310 en-
closed;, and Belmont Square, 10,200 square feet.
DBSpEIPTION OF BOSTON. 387
At South Boston, 190,000 feet of Telegraph Hill,
independent of the reservoir, were enclosed with a fence
in 1851 and 1852; «.nd Independence Square, between
Broadway, Second, M, and IN" streets, containing about
six and a half acres, was established by a vote of the
Board of Aldermen on the thirtieth of November, 1857.
A strip of land east of the City Point Primary School-
House contains 9,510 feet, surrounded with an iron
fence.
All of these public squares are kept in excellent
condition, under the superintendence of the Committee
on the Common and Public Squares; and pains are
taken to make them ornaments to the city, and pleasant
places of resort for the inhabitants.
CHAPTER XXIX.
SPRINGS, TOWN PUMPS, AND KESEEVOIKS.
Boston selected as the Seat of the Governor and Company in Consequence of its
Springs of Water • ■ • The Springs • ■ • The Great Spring in Spring Lane ■ • ■ The
Ancient Springate, and its Early Residents • • • Blaxton's Spring near Louis-
burg Square • ■ • Spring Street Spring ■ • • West Hill Spring • • • Other Springs
. • ■ Boston Mineral Spring in Hawkins Street • • • Thomas Venner's Well, and
the Old Town Pump in Old Cornhill, 1650 ■ • • The Last Appearance of the
Old Well ■ • • Origin of the Old Town Pump in Dock Square, 1774 ■ • • Wil-
liam Franklin's Old Well in 1653 ■ • • Other Old Public Pumps • • • Keservolrs
• • ■ Jamaica Pond Aqueduct, 1795.
While the forefathers of the town were temporarily
seated at Charlestown (the ancient Mishawum of the
aborigines), and were looking around for a permanent
settlement, they were considerably distressed for a suffi-
ciency of pure spring water of easy accessibility. On
their then small peninsula they had a good situation, as
far as the site was concerned; for it was in an extremely
pleasant and salubrious locality, and was nearly sur-
rounded by an arm of a navigable harbor, and by inlets
of salt water possessing deep and broad channels. But
in Charlestown there was a great deficiency, as far as
could be then known, of the requisite springs of fresh
water; indeed, there was only one known spring, and
that aiforded a brackish and insufficient supply, and Avas
far remote from the settlement, being upon the salt-
water flats, and only accessible at low tide, and conse-
quently, giving but a scanty quantity, was a precarious
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 389
reliance. It was in this emergency that Mr. "William
Blaxton, who had for some time been a resident upon
the peninsula called by the Charlestown people Tri-
mountaine, and who had discovered a remarkable spring
of water there that more than supplied all his needs,
very generously communicated the information to his
suffering countrymen across the river, and pressingly
urged them to take up their abode on his side, upon the
ancient Shawmut. The solicitations of the reverend
gentleman prevailed, and soon after the death of Mr.
Isaac Johnson, one of the most important men of the
new enterprise, the colonists moved over to Boston, as
they had named the site of their new town, and com-
menced the settlement which undoubtedly they consid-
ered peculiarly well adapted for the beginning of a
large commercial emporium.
As the springs induced the Governor and Company
of the Massachusetts Bay — in other words, the Massa-
chusetts colony — to make their principal settlement at
Boston, and as several of them have been noted in
their day, a few words concerning them may not be
out of place in the local descriptions attempted in these
chapters.
The best loiown of the springs is that which gave
name to a noted locality, called in the olden time "the
Springate," but now, and for many years back, designa-
ted as Spring Lane. Any one who walks through this
narrow passageway, leading easterly from Washington
street, will notice on the left-hand side of the lane an
angle in the sidewalk, exactly opposite the northwest
corner of a building erected by the Old South society
for the purpose of a chapel. At this point, in the
gutter, once stood a wooden piimp, which many of the
390 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
older residents of Boston will well remember. This old
friend of humanity, with its wooden nose and iron
handle, stood in a well dug on the site of the spring,
which had faUed somewhat when the wells of the
neighboring estates had been sunk, after the locality
had become thickly settled. The spring was fenced in
during the early days of the town government, and was
approached through a gate; and from this originated
the name of the lane in which it was situated. In later
times this was designated as the Great Spring, and was
very noted in its day. iNorth of it was the estate of
Goodman Thomas Oliver, one of the Elders of the First
Church, a person held in such esteem by his fellow
townsmen, that in the year 1646, when horses were for-
bidden to feed upon the Common, exception was made
in favor of one horse for him; and, his sons, Ensign
James Oliver and Sergeant Peter Oliver, were, in 1652,
" granted liberty to set up a windmill between the town
and the hill called Fox Hill," the elevation on the Com-
mon formerly known as Flagstaff HUl. Governor John
"Winthrop and Mr. William Hibbins, one of the Assist-
ants, whose wife Mary was executed in 1656 upon the
Common for witchcraft, and Mr. John Spoore, had their
house-lots on the south side of the lane. Spoore's estate
was bounded on the north by the creek that flowed from
the lane into Oliver's Dock, and on the east . by the
marsh commonly known as Winthrop's Marsh, which
extended up into the town as far as the present Devon-
shire street. This last-named estate in 1671 fell into
the possession of Mr. John Winslow (brother of Gov-
ernor Edward Winslow of the Plymouth Colony) and
his wife Mary Chilton, — she who, coming over in the
renowned May Flower, in 1620, has the reputation of
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 391
being the first woman who landed upon New England
soil from that ever memorable vessel which so joyfully
landed its freight of pilgrims upon Forefather's Eock
at Plymouth, on the twenty -first of December of the
same never-to-be-forgotten year. The last-named estate
is now covered by Minot's building, and has been occu-
pied many years by printers and type-founders. This
spring of living water undoubtedly furnished its grateful
liquid draughts to the parched lips of the first Gover-
nor, and first ruling elder of Massachusetts, and of Ply-
mouth's distinguished pilgrim. "When this spring ceased
to bubble to the surface of the earth in the Springate,
and when the well received its tributary ofiering, is not
known; but the wooden pump is well remembered by
those who in days of yore enjoyed its cooling and re-
freshing water. During the fall of 1869, while work-
mien were engaged excavating a cellar for the new post-
ofi3.ce building on the lot between "Water and Milk
streets, and facing upon Devonshire street, this old
spring found an opportunity of escape, and commenced
anew in discharging the refreshing element, much to
the annoyance of the builders, who much preferred a
dry cellar to a free supply of pure water.
Within the recollection of many of the old residents
of the westerly slope of Beacon Hill, a large spring
poured a bountiful supply of water not far from the
centre of the grass plat in the enclosure of Louisburg
Square. This was unquestionably the identical spring
that yielded its benevolence to Mr. Blaxton, and was the
earliest inducement that led the fathers of the town to
the peninsula. Until Beacon Hill, or rather that portion
of it sometimes designated as Mount Yernon, was
removed, the spring continued to flow, and gave in
392 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
bounteous streams its pure and soft water. It was
about eighty feet above high- water mark, and in its lat-
ter days had three outlets. It furnished water for the
negro washerwomen, who frequented the neighborhood
of the springs, where they were wont to have their
cleansing tubs, feeling very little concern whether the
Jamaica Pond aqueduct should give out or not, or
whether or not the city should introduce a public supply
of pure fresh water from any of the neighboring ponds
or streams. Cochituate Lake and its brick culverts and
iron pipes and hydrants would have been of little ac-
count to them, supplied as they were with enough of the
best and purest water from nature's own well-springs,
without water rates or taxes. This spring should have
been preserved, and allowed to flow into basins of
marble, as a perpetual memorial of William Blaxton,
and in remembrance of the great act of benevolence
which gave rise to the capital of ISTew England.
A spring of considerable consequence used to flow
on the northwestern side of Spring street, a short dis-
tance east of Milton street, hence the derivation of the
name of the street where it was situated. By those who
formerly supposed Barton's Point to be identical with
Blaxton's Point, this was considered to be Blaxton's
Spring. But such was not the case.
A noted spring, endeared to the famous old punch
drinkers of the town, was situated just west of West
Hill, on the shore of Charles River, and only accessible
at low water. The water from this is said to have had
special qualities for the manufacture of the once popular
beverage called punch, and consequently the spring was
much frequented by the jolly fellows of the town, who in
days that are past were generally pretty good epicures.
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 393
Elderly persons often speak of other boiling springs
in the town; and, if tradition can be believed, there were
springs of this character, one near Fox Hill on the west
side of the Common, one running from Pemberton Hill,
the eastern head of Beacon Hill, into Howard street, one
at the corner of Lynn and Charter streets, one in the
yard of the Massachusetts General Hospital, one near
Franklin place, one on the west side of Hancock street,
and one near the corner of Bath and "Water streets.
Such of these as ever existed, or continue at times to
give evidence of past activity, were of very little value,
and were of no importance in supplying the inhabitants
with water for domestic purposes. Most of them were
considered as inconveniences until they disappeared.
The number of hidden springs, which only came to
notice as wells were sunk, was very large; and occa-
sionally great virtues were ascribed to many of them.
The older inhabitants of Boston can undoubtedly, re-
member the renowned Hall spring in Hawkins street,
the famous mineral quality of which was somewhat aug-
mented one morning, about sixty years ago, and as
suddenly lost the next day, to the no great annoyance '
of its proprietor, and disgust of his patrons, who were
wont to visit his comfortable seats, and partake of the
dehcious and rejuvenating beverage of the sulphurous
spring. The following advertisement, which was pub-
lished in the l^ew England Palladium on the morning
of the sixteenth of September, 1808, may recall to mind
more vividly the remembrance of this once charmed
well:
50
394 ' TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAIi
" BOSTON MDSTERAI. SPRING.
" Mr. Hall having taken up his well the last week, and deepened it,
has the water again ready for public use, and much stronger impregna-
ted with its mineral quality than before. The water of this well is so
much like the Ballstown water, that it is considered a good substitute
in all cases where Ballstown water is useful."
Unfortunately for the proprietor of the mineral
spring, a disagreeable story got about, that the well hadi
lost its mineral qualities and medicinal virtues. The
source of revenue failed, and in a short time the Boston
Mineral Spring was almost entirely forgotten, and kept
only in remembrance by those who had no specially
good reason for desiring to forget it, and who occasion-
ally kept it in their minds as a good story of- the uncer-
tainty of some kinds of earthly riches.
The first well we have any authentic knowledge of
in Boston was sunk by Thomas Venner, a cooper,
whose house-lot was situated on *'the High Street"
(now Washington street). The order granting per-
mission for this privilege was passed on the sixteenth
of March, 1649-50, in the following words: — "Mr.
-Venner, and the neighbors thereabout, had libertie to
dig a well and set a pumpe therein neere the shop of
William Davis, providing without annoyance to the
street passage for the waste water." If this is the ori-
gin of the first town pump, the "seven men chosen
to manage the towne's afiaires " were grossly imposed
upon by Mr. Yenner; for the old pump, which stood in
old Cornhill, in the middle of the street, and which was
removed as late as the early part of the present century,
was one of the greatest nuisances to the neighborhood
that could possibly have been tolerated. The pump
handle kept going from early morning to late night,
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 395
and its music was only interrupted by the clatter of
the iron cup and its chain against the pump, as from
time to time they dropped from the hands of those who
had quenched their thirst with the pure liquid from
Mr. "Venner's well. Morning sleep was then impossible,
and early rising no particular virtue. As late as the
year 1760 the selectmen were instructed to do as they
might think proper about repairing the Old Town
Pump in the well; but, after a while it fell into disuse,
and was removed, and the well covered up so as not
to be an interruption in the street. This ancient well,
one of the oldest landmarks of our forefathers, was
exposed to view on the second of July, 1858, when
workmen were laying a new drain in "Washington street,
preparatory to placing in that street the rails of the
Metropolitan railroad. The well was found dry, owing
to its being partially filled up with dirt; and after
the drain was completed, the top of the well was
closed with large stones and sealed with cement, proba-
bly never again to be opened to mortal view. A large
part of its walls was originally laid with stone, but the
upper part was carefully constructed of brick. Its
exact position is in the centre of the street, about thirty
feet north of the northeast corner of Court street.
Perhaps the reason why the Old Town Pump was
removed was pretty much the same that is given now-
a-dayS when improvements are to be made, namely :
" That there was no need of the old thing " ; and this is
made apparent when we read the following vote of the
townsmen, passed a little less than a century ago: —
" At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants
of the Town of Boston duly qualifyed and legally
warned in publick Town Meeting assembled at Fanuel
396 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAIi
Hall on "Wednesday lOth Day of May 10 o'clock
Forenoon A. D. 1774," and by adjournment to August
30th, 10 o'clock,"
" Voted, That the Committee appointed to Consider
of Ways and means for employing the Poor of this
Town now out of Business by the opperation of the
Boston Port Bill, so called, be allowed and empowered
to make such an agreement with the Petitioners for a
Well to be dug on Dock Square as said Committee
may apprehend to be for the advantage of the Town."
The above quoted vote was the origin of the Town
Pump, so famous in our younger days; the same that
stood so long, and was so noted, at the extreme western
end of the square, at the junction of Washington and
Brattle streets, and which was removed when the Co-
chituate water was introduced into Boston in 1848.
Another ancient pump once stood in a well dug by
William Franklin and others in 1653, near the King's
Arms Tavern, which formerly, as early as two centuries
ago, was the principal place of entertainment in the
town, and was at the corner of Col. Shrimpton's Lane,
now called Exchange street.
Were one inclined, many other noted wells and
pumps of a public character could be mentioned ; among
these, one stood in North Square, near the old residence
of the Mountfort family ; one was on the easterly side of
Washington street, not far from Castle street; another
was at the head of State street, near the old State
House ; another on T Wharf; another on Long Wharf,
and another on South Market street, near the central
door. These disappeared like snow before the sun when
the hydrants were brought into use after the introduc-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 397
tion of water. After Boston became a city, many large
reservoirs were dug in the principal squares and broad
streets, chiefly for containing water for use in case of
fire. These also fell necessarily into disuse at the same
time with the public pumps.
On the twenty-seventh of February, 1795, a com-
pany was established for supplying the town with pure
water from Jamaica Pond in Koxbury. The company
did their best to perform what the inhabitants required,
but, like the Town Pumps, had to succumb when the
larger institution prevailed. '
In the early days of the town, the people near the
centre of the peninsula were supplied with water from
the conduit near Dock Square, and the cows and horses
fronj a pond at the south part of the town in the present
Bedford street.
CHAPTEE XXX.
THE OLD CONDXnT.
The First Attempt to introduce Water into Boston • • • A Conduit Suggested by
Capt. Robert Keayne in 1649 • • • Keayne's Bequests, 1653 • • • Capt. William
Tyng's Grant to Everell and Scottow in 1649, confirmed in 1656 • • • Conduit
up in 1652, and incorporated • • • Description of the Conduit • • • Its Situation
• • • Conduit street • • • Uses of the Conduit • • • Great Fire of 1679 • • • Sur-
roundings of the Old Conduit • • • Old Sun Tavern • • • Bight of Leogan
Old'Hancock House in Corn Court • • • Old Fish Market ■ • • Swing Bridge
Triangular Warehouse • • • Eoebuck Passage • • • Old Feather Store • . . Old
Museum • • • Elephant Tavern • • . Draw Bridge • • • Golden Candlestick • •
Sign of the Key • • • Scottow's Alley • • • Union Stone • • ■ Boston Stone • •
Mill Bridge • • • Star Tavern • • • Green Dragon Tavern • • • Old Franklin House.
Notwithstanding the numerous springs which poured
but water in various parts of the town, the good people
in the olden time were so illy provided with this neces-
sary element, that very soon after the settlement of the
peninsula resort was had to artificial means for obtain-
ing a more plentiful supply of this important and much
needed article. Among the most noted of the early at-
tempts for procuring water for the daily use of the
towns-people was the conduit, a very singular contriv-
ance, but one which answered a very good purpose in
the limited space in which its benevolence was experi-
enced. Most persons who have read the accounts of
the old town have undoubtedly noticed allusions to this
structure, but few have been able to form a definite idea
of this early handiwork of the enterprising forefathers
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 399
of the town, or been fortunate enough to designate upon
the map its exact position.
If the early constructed wells are excepted, the an-
cient conduit may be justly said to have been the first
attempt towards introducing water works in the town,
and had its origin in the early necessities of the towns-
men. The want of something of the kind had become
so evident as early as the year 1649, that the subject of
a public conduit had been mooted in the town, and Cap-
tain Robert Keayne, of the Artillery Company, had
made certain provisions for the establishment of such a
contrivance in a will written that year, but subsequently
superseded by the voluminous instrument of one hun-
dred and fifty-eight recorded pages, executed on the
twenty-eighth of December, 1653, and proved on the
second of May, 1656, he having died on the twenty-
third day of the preyious March of the last-mentioned
year. This remarkable individual in his curious docu-
ment used the following language: "Haveing beene
trained up in Military Discipline from my young''
yeares, & haveing endeavoured to promote it the best I
could since Grod hath brought me into this country [in
1635], & seeing he hath beene pleased to use me as a
poore Instrument to lay the foundation of that I^oble
Society of the Artillery Company in this place, that
hath so far prospered by the blessing of God, as to
helpe many with good experience in the vse of their
armes, ... I shall desire to be buryd as a Souldier in
a Military way." After providing for his family, he sets
apart the sum of two hundred pounds for any man or
woman, in Old England or "New, who could make it
justly appear that he had unjustly wronged them. He
made bequests for a market house, a conduit (a good
400 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
help in danger of fire), conveniences for the courts,
commissioners and townsmen; a room for a library, a
gallery for the elders, an armory, a room for divines,
scholars, merchants, shipmen, strangers and townsmen,
and many other things, according to his strange fancy.
If the town should slight or imdervalue his gift for the
conduit and other " buildings," then his money, and the
books he proposed for the library, were to go for the
sole use of the College at Cambridge. WhUe it is cer-
tain that Captain Keayne's books did not go to found
the library, — for that good act was left to be performed
by Mayor Bigelow two hundred years later, — it is un-
doubtedly true that the conduit had its origin in the
provision of the Captain's will; for it appears that in
the year 1649, during his lifetime, Mr. William Tyng, a
wealthy and distinguished townsman of Boston, and
subsequently of Braintree, gave certain rights and priv-
ileges to Messrs. James Everell and Joshua Scottow,
and their associates, in a certain estate, " with free lib-
erty to dig, find out, erect and set up one fountain, well,
head spring, or more, within his land or pasture ground,
situate, lying and being on the westerly side of his then
dwelling-house in Boston aforesaid, as also from said
well or wells, fountain or fountains, to dig or trench
through said pasture ground, to lay down such pipes
or water--v\'ork conveyances as should be necessary for
the carrying or conveying of water from the aforesaid
fountain or fountains, well or wells, unto such place as
the said neighborhood and company shall see conven-
ient for the erecting of a conduit or water works." Mr.
Tyng died on the eighteenth of January, 1652-3, and
subsequently the grant was confirmed by the trustees of
his children, on the twenty-ninth of April, 1656. It is
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 401
certain that the conduit was " set up " in March, 1652,
for at that time the townsmen voted that Mr. James
Everell and the neighbors should have one of the bells
which were given to the town by Captain Crumwell for
a clock, and enjoy while they make use of it there. In
1652, at the May session of the General Court of the
Colony, on petition of the inhabitants of " Conduite
Streete in Boston,"' the water- works company was in-
corporated for buUding the conduit, and provisions were
made for the use of the water in case of fire.
From what has been stated, it would appear that the
conduit was a large reservoir, about twelve feet square,
made for holding water, conveyed to it by pipes leading
from neighboring wells and springs, for the purpose of
extinguishing fires and supplying the inhabitants dwell-
ing near it with water for domestic purposes. Over the
reservoir was a wooden building in the olden time, used
for storage purposes; but in more modern days the old,
building was removed, and the conduit covered with
plank, raised in the centre about two feet, and sloping
to the sides like a hipped roof. On Saturdays, this plat-
form was used as a stand for a meal market, which was
as noted in its day as the hay-stand in Haymarket
Square is at the present time. As it stood in the very
old times with Captaiu Crumwell's bell, it must have
been one of the most remarkable of the ancient land-
marks of the town.
This strange construction was situated in a square
formed by the junction of "Wing's lane (now Elm
street) and Union street, in the neighborhood of the
present ^N'orth street, and a short distance from Dock
Square. The street leading from the Conduit to the
Draw Bridge, placed over the Mill Creek (now the site
61
402 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
of Blackstone street), was one of the first highways
laid out by the early settlers of the town, and was for a
long time known as Conduit street, because the propri-
etors of the conduit owned an estate on the north side
of the street, about where the old building stands, now
occupied by Joseph Breck and Son as an agricultural
warehouse, and which was in the early part of the
present century the next east of the old Boston Mu-
seum, where so many curious and rare objects used to
be exhibited; and one side of which, at no very distant
date, was bounded by an open lane or passage-way,
which contained a water convenience that may be re-
membered by persons who lived in the neighborhood
only fifty years ago as the conduit, — a name which was
given to it by the boys, who had probably heard of the
old reservoir of 1652; and on the east of this lane was
the old Elephant Tavern of bygone days. The exact
position of the conduit is marked out on John Bonner's
plan of the town, engraved in 1722, and has been
pointed out by antiquaries as being near where the
present ^North street and Market Square join Union
street, just west of the " Old Feather Store," which was
taken down between the tenth and thirteenth of July,
1860, to the great regret of many who delighted in
looking upon that well-preserved specimen of the build-
ings of the first fifty years of the town's history. Old
Conduit street, which was sometimes called Draw Bridge
street, lost its name in 1708, and the way from the con-
duit in Union street over the bridge to EUiston's corner,
lower end of Cross street, was named Ann street, in
honor of good Queen Anne of blessed memory, just as
Union street took its name at the same time in commem-
oration of the great British union.
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 403
The old conduit never fulfilled the expectations of
those who devised and built it; and its traces have so
entirely disappeared, that not a single vestige of it can
be found, and only an occasional mention of the street
that bore its name, and of the old estate alluded to, is
all that can be found concerning it in the ancient town
books and in the records of the conveyances of land in
Suffolk Records. 'No digging in the street for the lay-
ing of drains or sewers has, within the remembrance of
persons now living, shown any of its remains; although
it was well remembered in its last condition by the old
persons who have recently passed away.
With the exception of the companies for iron works
in various parts of the colony, this establishment was
one of the earliest incorporations for private purposes in
Massachusetts; and it undoubtedly was of some service
on washing days, and at times of " scathfiers " in the
neighborhood. On the occasion of the great fire of
the eighth of August, 1679, it was put to especial use,
and undoubtedly did much to save the property situated
north and west of it, although all the business part of
the town south of it, from the old feather store corner
to Mackerel Bridge near Liberty Square, was completely
destroyed by the raging element.
The site of the old conduit was, until the recent im-
provements at the South End and on the Back Bay
Lands, in the centre of the town;, and probably there
were more matters of interest within a minute's walk
from it than from any other point on the peninsula.
Just south of it, a few steps, was the westerly termina-
tion of the Old Dock, now filled up, but which extended
to the buildings forming the western boundary of Market
Square; and this separated it from the old " Sun Tavern,'^
404 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
at the corner of Dock Square and the old Com Market,
favorably Imown the past sixty years as the grocery
store of the famous George Murdock, and of his succes-
sor, "Wellington. Taking a course around the conduit
as a centre, next came the renowned " Bight of Leo-
gan," late the Bite Tavern of James M. Stevens, and
farther on " Col. Fitch's Lane," known better as Flagg
alley or Change avenue, with its narrow passageway,
" Damnation Alley," behind Dr. l^oyes's old apothecary
shop, lately renewed by "William Read as a gun store.
Then came Corn Court, with the " Hancock House," in
which it is said Louis Philippe tarried while he made
his short abode ia Boston during the French Keign of
Terror. Between these and the Dock formerly stood
Palmer's warehouse, which gave way to Faneuil Hall
and the " Old Fish Market " j and east of these was the
" Swing Bridge " over the street that led to Ann street,
passing by the "Old Triangular Warehouse," at the
corner of !N^orth Market street and the ancient " Roe-
buck Passage," which was so narrow that only one team
could pass through it at a time, and which often pre-
sented the curious scene between teamsters, made com-
mon by the custom of tossing a copper to see which
should back out for the other. Between the conduit
and the Eoebuck Passage were the " Old Feather Store,"
the "Old Boston Museima," and the "Elephant Tavern"
already alluded to; and not far from these was the
" Old Draw Bridge " in Ann street over the Mill Creek,
which gave way in 1659 when the crowd returned from
the Common after the hanging of the Quakers. East-
erly, in old " Ann street," between the conduit and the
Draw Bridge, will be remembered Samuel "Whitwell's
"Golden Candlestick" at the corner of Union street
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 405
and William Homes's " Key," and the crooked old arch-
way over Scottow's alley that led to Creek Square and
Hatters' Square. In tJnion street to the northeast the
memory wiU extend to the " Union Stone " near At-
wood's Oyster House, and to the "Bpston Stone" at the
corner of the old building that used to stand in " Mar-
shall's Lane." In Hanover street the " Mill Bridge," a
stone arch, the old " Star Tavern " at the northeasterly
corner of Union and Hanover streets, the ancient
" Green Dragon Tavern " in North Union street, and
the old "Tallow Chandler House," more generally
known as the "Blue Ball," on the corner of Union
street, in which the parents of Franklin dwelt the last
years of their lives, and in which the great Bostonian
passed his boyhood, and which was demolished on
the tenth of IN'ovember, 1858, and its site turned into
the street, will not soon be forgotten. These, with in-
numerable other objects of interest, will occur to any
one who retraces the steps of his younger days in pass-
ing around this noted neighborhood. Each of these
could furnish a chapter of interesting reminiscences,
and some of them could awaken memories of the
past connected with the most important era in our
national history.
CHAPTEE XXXI.
PONDS AND AQXJEDITCTS.
The Town's Watering Place in Pond street, now Bedford street • • • Its Site ■ • •
Attempts to have it filled up • • . Its Sale in 1753 to David Wheeler • • • First
Mention of it in the Book of Possessions, 1643 • • • Estates Contigaoas to it
• . • Size of the Pond Lot • . • The Eowe Estate • • • Avon Place ■ • ■ Owners of
the Pond Lot • • • Swamps and Marshes • • • Jamaica Pond Aqueduct • • ■ Aque-
duct Company incorporated in 1795 • • • Location of the Logs, and Extent of
Supply of Water • • • The Lake Cochituate Water Act Passed 1846 • • • Water
Introduced into Boston in 1848 • • • Mystic Water Introduced into East Bos-
ton, January, 1870,
Exclusive of the ponds on the Common, there were,
two hundred years ago, two other ponds so called; but
both of them have now disappeared forever. One of
these was formed by natural causes, and was coexistent
with the town; while the other, a work of human art,
had its origiu in the exigencies of the early settlers of
the peninsula. The latter of these, the Old Mill Pond,
made by the building of the Old ]N"orth Causeway, has
been sufficiently described in a former chapter; the for-
mer, the old watering place, is worthy of a short notice.
The natural pond was of very small size; but its
water is said to have been of considerable purity for
such a location as it possessed, and was much valued by
the townsmen of the olden time, who took good care of
it, it being, as the old records styled it, the "Town's
watering place for their cattle." Although this ancient
convenience, which our forefathers enjoyed, has been
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 407
destroyed, and no vestige of it left, yet its position is
distinctly noted on the oldest map of the town, — Bon-
ner's plan, as it is called, published by "William Price in
1722. It was on the northerly side of Pond street,
which took its name from this circumstance, and which,
in February, 1821, took the name of Bedford Street, in
honor of the late Jeremiah Fitch, Esq., one of the last
Board of Selectmen, whose family had a summer resi-
dence in the town of that name; and its exact site was
a short distance west of the meeting-house occupied by
the society of the Second Congregational Church, now
under the ministry of Rev. Chandler Kobbins, D. D.,
and nearly opposite the Latin school-house.
Tradition, passed down from the early inhabitants,
would lead to the inference that this pond was the con-
venience chiefly used for the cattle, and that cows and
horses were driven to it from great distances in the
town. This may be true, for the nearest public pump, a
hundred years ago, was farther from it on the north
than State street, and there was no accommodation
south of it belonging to the town. The spring in Spring
Lane was undoubtedly used somewhat for the same pur-
pose, and the ponds on the Common were chiefly for the
supply of the cattle that pastured there.
In course of time the pond became a great trouble
to the families in its immediate neighborhood, and mo-
tions were made by the inhabitants to have it filled up,
and the Selectmen were required to consider the subject;
but no satisfaction could be obtained from this body,
further than the following opinion, which was ventured
by them on the second of May, 1739 : " That it is with
the town to give leave for filling up the said pond if
they see fit, and we are of opinion it may be convenient
408 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISXOEICAL
to have it so done accordingly." iN'othing resulted from
this opinion, except renewed efforts for getting it out of
the possession of the town; and with this view Mr. Ben-
jamin Church, a land-owner in the vicinity of it, peti-
tioned the town, on the fourth of May, 1743, that it
might be granted to him; but the town refused the re-
quest. Again, in the year 1753, David "Wheeler, who
owned the estate just west of it on the main street
(then !N^ewbury street), petitioned, requesting that he
might be allowed to hire or purchase the same; and
the matter was referred to a committee to examine into
the condition of the pond, and ascertain what encroach-
ments had been made upon it. The committee subse-
quently reported that the pond, so called, was a nuis-
ance, and recommended that it be sold to help pay Mr.
Dolbeare a debt owiug him, he having erected certain
buildings near the town dock for the benefit of the
town; and on the fifteenth of May, 1753, the freeholders
and other inhabitants in town meetiiig accepted the re-
port, and voted to sell the land on which the pond was
situated, which was done at public auction, on the
twenty-seventh of the following August, to Mr. David
Wheeler, blacksmith, for fifty-one pounds ia lawful
money.
The first mention of " the watering place " is to be
found in the " Book of Possessions," which contains an
inventory of the landed property of the real estate
owners in Boston, as it was held by them about the year
1643. This book, which is carefully preserved among
the city archives, had its origin in an order passed by
the General Court of the Colony, on the ninth of Sep-
tember, 1639, and complied with imperfectly by the
town about the years 1643 and 1644. At this early
DBSCKIPTION OP BOSTON. 409
date, the land in which the pond was situated was at
the then southerly part of the town, abutting southerly
on the south lane leading to Fort Hill, then known as
the Pond street, and fronting the estate of Mr. Robert
Woodward, a carpenter, who had his house and work-
shop upon his lot, which extended westerly to the High
street (now "Washington street). "Westerly the pond
lot was bounded by the estates of Mr. Thomas "Wheeler
and Mr. William Blantaine, and northerly by the estate
of Mr. Blantaine, — the easterly boundary being open
land or highway between the pond and the estate of Mr.
John "V^iall.
In 1753, the time the estate was purchased by Mr.
"Wheeler, the lot was very small, containing less than
one-ninth of an acre, and measured southerly on Pond
street (now Bedford street) only forty-seven feet.
"Westerly it measured one hundred and eight feet, partly
on the estate of the heirs of Samuel Adams, Esq., and
partly on land of Mr. Benjamin Church ; northerly
forty-six feet on the same estate of Mr. Church ; and
easterly ninety-four feet in part on land of Mr. Church,
and partly on land of Mr. Robert Thompson,
The estate on the east of the pond, which, in 1753,
belonged to Mr. Thompson, was purchased by him of
Mr. Benjamin Church in 1742, and, in 1764, was sold to
Mr. John Rowe (the person who gave name to Rowe's
Pasture), and his heirs sold a large portion of it to Hon.
William Prescott on the thirty-first of May, 1817. The
Prescott heirs conveyed their portion of the estate, in
1845, to Hon. Henry B. Rogers, for the Church of the
Saviour, then under the ministry of Rev. Mr. Water-
stonj and on the easterly portion of which his congre-
gation erected the meeting-house now occupied by the
62
410 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
society of which Dr. Eobbias is the pastor. On the
northerly part of the Prescott lot now stands a large
brick dwelling-house, and immediately west of this was
the Old Pond, the Town's Watering Place, or "Wheeler's
Pond, just as any one pleased to call it. The two lots
on the west of the Pond lot extended to the High
street, as it was called, and have been divided and sub-
divided many times, until they now number many inde-
pendent estates. The portion of Mr. Church's land on
the rear was, in the year 1818, in connection with other
estates, laid out into Avon place, chiefly through the
instrumentaUty of the late Charles Ewer, Esq. This
place has recently, by an order passed in 1867, been ex-
tended into Chauncy street, and now with Temple place
forms a continuous avenue to Tremont street.
Mr. Wheeler did not destroy the pond when he
bought the estate, but probably kept it many years in
the condition in which it was when he received it. He
died on the twentieth of September, 1770, giving his
wife Hepzibah a life estate in the property, and pro-
viding that at her decease two-thirds of it should go to
his son David, and the other third to his daughter Sa-
rah, the wife of Jonathan Jones, a hatter. Ooodwife
Wheeler died in January, 1773; and David Wheeler,
the son, also a blacksmith, as his father had been, died
on the sixth of August, 1772, and his third wife, Dorcas,
survived him, together with his daughter Elizabeth by
his first wife, Elizabeth Davis, This daughter died un-
married on the first of December, 1808, and the Pond
estate passed into the possession of her aunt Sarah
Jones, who with her husband ^Jonathan Jones and her
maiden daughter Nancy conveyed the estate by qixit-
claira deeds in 1809 and 1811 to their daughter Hepzi-
DBSCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 411
bah Jones. Hepzibah, in turn, on the thirtieth of July,
1830, quitclaimed her right in the estate to Eichard
Dewerson, a weU-kuown ingenious mechanic, who died
not long ago:
The long continued interest that the early Wheelers
had in this estate, it being contiguous to the possession
of the earliest of the name long before David became
the purchaser, gave to the pond the name of "Wheeler's
Pond; and by this designation it was most generally
known during the last half century of its continuance.
It has not been known to supply water within the mem-
ory of any person living, although there are many per-
sons now on the stage of life who think that they can
remember skating on this pond during their early years.
Be this as it may, it is certain that the boys of fifty years
ago used in winter to gain access, through a passage-
way leading from Washington street, not far from the
present Avon place, to a small plat of ice, which was
situated not far from the back part of Mr. Wheeler's
lot.
With this pond disappeared all that could be called
a natural pond on the peninsula; for there is no evi-
dence whatever that the Fro_g Pond on the Common
was ever anything more than a marshy bog transformed
into an artificial pond by the industry and labor of the
older townsmen. Similar places were in other parts of
the town, and it would be an omission, deserving of
being considered a fault, were no mention made of the
most memorable of the swamps or bogs which were once
to be noticed in Boston, and some of which can well be
reinembered by the old people now living in the city.
The most noted of these were in places now perfectly
dry, and so well guarded as to defy the scrutiny of the
412 TOPOGKAPHIOAL AND HISTORICAL
most profound geologist to point out their locality from
any present indications. A very noted one occupied a
large space south of the Public Library building, be-
tween Boylston street and Eliot street, its central part
being where Yan Rensselaer place now is. Another
covered the territory of Franklin place, extending from
Hawley street^ nearly to AtMnson street; and a third,
nearly contiguous to the last named, was situated where
the southerly end of Devonshire street now is, a little
north of Summer street. Where the estates lie between
Eowe place and Kingston street was another, which was
formerly a part of the large field known as Rowe's Pas-
ture; and on this spot a noted antiquarian writer has
been known to have shot a killdee not far from the com-
mencement of the present century. At the South End,
marshes were on each side of the main street, especially
in the neighborhood of !N^orthampton street; and at the
"West End, between McLean, Allen and Blossom streets,
was a considerable swamp, the remembrance of which
has not entirely passed away. Unquestionably there
were other low places of a marshy character, but those
mentioned above are the most known.
Before quitting the subject of water, it may not per-
haps be amiss to say a few words about the Jamaica
Pond aqueduct, which at the early part of the present
century supplied so large a portion of the inhabitants of
the south part of Boston with fresh water for domestic
use. On the twenty-seventh of February, 1795, Gov-
ernor Samuel Adams approved an act of the General
Court, whereby Luther Fames, ISfathan Bond and Wil-
liam Page, and their associates, were vested with cor-
porate powers for the management and direction of the
business, as a company, of bringing fresh water into the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTOIT. ^ 413
town of Boston by subterraneous pipes; and, by a sub-
sequent act, passed on the tenth of June, 1796, this cor-
poration was empowered to assume the appellation of
" The Aqueduct Corporation." The corporation was
authorized "to bring from any part of the town of
Eoxbury into the town of Boston, and into any street in
the same town, all such fresh water as they, the said
Luther Eames, !N^athan Bond, and William Page, and
their associates, or any, or either of them, in their
private and natural capacities" then had or hereafter
should " have a right to dispose of, or to convey from
the springs or sources thereof." The act gave power
also to open the ground in any of the streets or high-
ways in Eoxbury and Boston as should be required for
the sinMng of the water pipes, but with very prudent
provisions, which prevented the aqueduct from becom-
ing a nuisance, or impairing any right of the town of
Koxbiu-y or any of its inhabitants in and to the waters
of Jamaica Pond. The corporation could hold only
$33,000 in real estate, and the water works were to be
divided into one hundred shares. The price of water
was to be regulated by the General Court, the towns of
Boston and Eoxbury were to have the privilege of hy-
drants for extinguishing fires, and the first meeting was
to be called by Hon. James Sullivan upon the proper
application of the persons named in the act. On the
twenty-second of June, 1803, an additional act was
passed to facilitate the operations of the corporation.
The capital of this company, as far as can be ascertained,
was about |130,OJ30, or about $1,300 to a share, which
became much depreciated in value. "No dividends were
made during the first ten years after the commencement
of the works, and subsequently the average of the divi-
414 , TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
dends for thirty years amounted only to a fraction less
than four per cent a year. When the aqueduct was in
its greatest prosperity, it supplied about fifteen hundred
houses with water, chiefly at the South End, and in the
neighborhood of Summer and Essex streets, and of Pleas-
ant and Charles streets. The water was brought from
Jamaica Pond in Koxbury through four main pipes of
pitch pine logs, two of four inches bore, and two of
three inches, the lateral pipes having a bore of one and
a half inches. The lineal extent of- the water pipes in
Boston was about fifteen mUes, and they extended north
as far as Franklin street, and branched off easterly
through Harrison avenue into Congress street nearly to
State street, and to Broad street. They also branched
off westerly through Pleasant and Charles streets, ex-
tending as far as the Massachusetts General Hospital,
which was supplied with Jamaica Pond water. With
comparatively a very small outlay, the aqueduct could
have increased its benevolence in a tenfold ratio, and
this the corporation desired to do, but was prevented by
the citizens, who, on the twelfth of April, 1846, by ac-
cej)ting an act of the legislature, passed thirtieth of
March, 1846, voted to introduce water from Cochituate
Pond (then called Long Pond), iu I^atick, Framingham
and Wayland, on a much more extensive plan; and
ground was broken at Wayland for the purpose on the
twentieth of August following; and the water intro-
duced on Boston Common through the tall fountain in
the Frog Pond on the twenty-fifth of October, 1848, to
the great joy of the advocates of the measure, and also
with the greatest acceptation of those who had consci-
entiously opposed the proposed plan of introduction at
the inception of the enterprise. On the establishment
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 415
of the Cochituate Water "Worts, of course, all minor
institutions of the kind had to yield way, and the old
Jamaica Pond Aqueduct ceased to he of any special use
either to owners or the puhlic, and was consequently
discontinued, leaving its more powerful rival a full pos-
session of the field.
Since the annexation of the city of Eoxbury, prudence
and a foresight of the future requirements of Boston has
induced the city to make arrangements for supplying
East Boston and the pubUc institutions at Deer Island
with water from Mystic Pond; consequently an agree-
ment was made with the city of Charlestown for this
purpose, and water was let into the pipes leading to
East Boston on the first of January, 1870, and from this
date the inhabitants derive their supply of pure water
through Charlestown from an extensive and undoubtedly
never-failing source.
CHAPTEK XXXn.
ENTEANCES TO BOSTON.
Early Attempts for a Bridge, 1720 ••• Charles River Bridge, opened 1786 •••
Description of the Bridge- •• West Boston Bridge, opened 1793. ..Free
from Toll 1858 • • • CanalBridge, opened 0.809 • • • Prison Point Bridge • • • Bos-
ton South Bridge, opened 1805 ■ • • Name changed to Dover Street Bridge in
1857 ■•• Mill dam, or Western Avenue, opened 1821, and made free 8
December, 1868 • • • South Boston Free Bridge, now Federal Street Bridge,
opened 1828 • • • Warren Bridge, opened 1828, entirely free A:om Tolls
1858 • • . Chelsea Free Bridge, now Chelsea Street Bridge, opened 1834,
rebuilt 1848 • • ■ East Boston Free Bridge, now Meridian Street Bridge, com-
pleted in 1855 ■ . • Chelsea Point Bridge, opened 1839 • • • Mount Washington
Avenue Bridge, opened in 1856 • • • Broadway Bridge, 1869 • - ■ Contemplated
Bridges •■■ Maiden Bridge, 1787, free 1859 ••• Chelsea Bridge, 1802, free
1869 • • . Old Ferries.
In" the olden time, and for a long number of years after
the settlement of Boston, there was only one carriage
entrance to the town, and that was through Roxbury
and over the [N^eck. Although very early ia the last
century, in 1720, there had been some thoughts about
connecting Charlestown with Boston by means of a
bridge, there was no actual advance towards the accom-
plishment of such a design until about the year 1785,
when the townsmen seem to have aroused themselves
on this subject, and came to the determiuation that a
bridge should be buUt connecting the north part of the
town with the neighboring peninsula of Charlestown.
The bridge in question was to extend from Prince street
in Boston to a street in Charlestown leading northerly
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 417
to the main square of that town. At the same time
another bridge, which should connect Cambridge with
Boston, was also talked of, to reach from Barton's
Point, at the northwesterly end of Leverett street, to
Lechmere Point, now known as East Cambridge. Both
of these bridges were subsequently built.
The Charles Eiver Bridge Company was incorpo-
rated on the ninth of March, 1785, by an act of the
General Court, granted to Hon. John Hancock, Thomas
Eussell, Ifathaniel Gorham, James Swan and Eben Par-
sons, Esquires, and their associates; and they were em-
powered to build the bridge and receive certain tolls,
which were to be double on the Lord's day for the term of
forty years, commencing on the day of the first opening
of the bridge for passengers; and they were required to
build the bridge forty feet wide, with a draw at least
thirty feet wide; and to pay annually to Harvard Col-
lege the sum of two hundred pounds in compensation
for the annual income of the Boston and Charlestown
Ferry, which the college might have received had not
said bridge been erected. On the ninth of March, 1792,
in consequence of a charter granted to another bridge
to cross the same Charles River, the term for taking toll
was extended thirty additional years under the same
conditions, and the double toll on the Lord's day was
required to be rehnquished, and a single toll only ex-
acted, as on secular days. Preparations for building
were immediately commenced; an architect. Major Sam-
uel Sewall, and a master workman, Mr. Cox, appointed,
and the stock, consisting of one hundred and fifty shares,
the par value of each of which was one hundred pounds,
was assessed and collected, making the capital of the
company fifteen thousand pounds. The first pier of the
53
418 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
bridge was laid on the fourteenth of June, 1785, the last
on the thirty-first of May, 1786, and the bridge, 1,503
feet long, was opened for public travel, with considerable
parade and ceremony, on the seventeenth of June fol-
lowing, the bridge having been built in about one year's
time. The bridge was built forty-two feet wide, upon
seventy-five piers, each composed of seven oaken tim-
bers; and four soUd wharves and buttresses were laid
with stone in different parts of the stnicture, to
strengthen and sustaui the wooden piers. It had on
each side a passage-way of six feet railed in for safety,
and was lighted at night by forty lamps in lanterns
mounted upon posts.
The opening of the bridge took place on the
Charlestown hohday, — the anniversary of the battle of
Bunker Hill, — and was attended with the greatest en-
thusiasm, and with the usual parade and festivities. At
dawn of day thu'teen guns, the number of the confeder-
ated States, were fired from Gopp's HiU in Boston, and
from Bunker Hill in Charlestown, as a Federal salute,
and the bells in both towns were rung, as now on the
Fourth of July, and the peal of bells belonging to
Christ Church joined in with their musical chimes. A
large procession of the proprietors. State officials, town
officers and notables of the town, was formed at the Old
State House; and, when the time came for its moving,
another Federal salute was given from the Castle, and
one from Copp's Hill as the cortege arrived at the draw
of the bridge. The number of persons present was im-
mense for the time, supposed to be equal in number to
the total population of the two towns. The draw was
fixed by the master workman, and the procession passed
over it under salute. When the retinue arrived in
DBSORIPTIOK OP BOSTON. 419
Charlestown, it passed through the great square, and
took its course towards the renowned hill where the
battle was fought eleven years previous, and was there
received with another salute of thirteen guns, and a din-
ner was served in great style to about eight hundred
persons, who were seated at two tables of three hundred
feet each in length, united by a semi-circle, and who re-
mained in festivity untU six o'clock in the evening. The
joy on this occasion was unbounded, and it is said that
the arrangements on that day far surpassed any that
had ever been known in the neighborhood before.
From being private property, Charles Kiver bridge
subsequently became the property of the State; and
after being made passable for a time without toll, and
then with a toll, finally a sum of money was obtained
for keeping it in repair, and it has been opened as a
perfectly free bridge, without any expectation or reason
that the public will ever again be inflicted with a toll for
passing over it either on foot or in carriages.
A company for building "West Boston bridge, more
generally known as Cambridge bridge, which extended
from the point of land at the westerly part of the town,
where formerly stood the Pest House, over Charles
Kiver to PeUiam's Island (so called) in Cambridgeport,
was incorporated on the ninth of March, 1792. The
persons named in the act were, Hon. Francis Dana,
Hon. Oliver Wendell, Hon. James Sullivan, and Henry
Jackson, Mungo Mackay, and William Wetmore, Es-
quires. The act of incorporation required that the.
bridge should be at least forty feet wide, with side-
railings, lamps, a sufficient draw, a watch-house near the
draw, the proper signboards, and a good road from Pel-
ham's Island to the nearest part of the Cambridge road.
420 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
Suitable tolls were established, and the proprietors were
to pay anmially to Harvard College the sum of three
hundred pounds duriag the term of forty years for de-
fraying the expenses of indigent scholars. On the
thirtieth of June, 1792, another act was passed by the
legislature, establishing the term of continuance as a
corporation to be seventy years, and reducing the
amount to be paid to the college to two hundred
pounds. After this various acts were passed in relation
to the bridge, empowering the corporation to make
and maintain canals, to change the appropriation to
the college so that it could be applied for the support of
two tutors, and for other purposes. The causeway
leading to the bridge was commenced on the jBfteenth of
July, 1792, and the wood work was begun on the eighth
of the following February. The way for travel was
opened on the twenty-third of ISTovember, 1793, in the
short space of seven and a half months from the time of
driving the first pier. The sides of the causeway were
laid with stones, and on each side was a canal about
thirty feet in width. The wooden part of the bridge
when built was about 3,483 feet in length, and was sup-
por(ed by one hundred and eighty piers. The estimated
cost of the structure, together with the causeway and
canals, was about twenty-three thousand pounds, legal
money ; and the principal undertaker for the work was
a Mr. Z. Whiting, who performed it under the superin-
tendence of Messrs. Mungo Mackay and Henry Pren-
tiss. The corporation of this bridge seems to have
had much to contend with ; for, in the year 1796, very
great efibrts were made to construct a bridge which
should extend from Boston to Pierpont's Farm in Rox-
bury, a project that entirely failed. Subsequently the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 421
Canal bridge, the "Western avenue (or Mill-dam), and
"Warren bridge were built, to the great injury of the
West Boston bridge j but the granting of the acts of
incorporation to the proprietors of the Hancock Free
bridge on the sixteenth of April, 1836, on the four-
teenth of April, 1837, and on the twenty-sixth of
March, 1846, completely discouraged the proprietors,
and they were glad enough to sell out their franchise,
and voted so to do on the twenty-fourth. of June, 1846,
to the Hancock Free Bridge Corporation, who by their
act of 1846 were empowered to purchase the bridge,
and also the Canal bridge, or to build a new one, from
Allen street in Boston, to some convenient point in
Cambridge, between the two bridges already built.
Canal bridge was also bought by the same corporation,
who of course did not build the new bridge • but on the
thirtieth of January, 1858, the last toll was collected
from the Cambridge bridges, and on the first of Feb-
ruary a great demonstration of rejoicing at the freedom
of the bridges was made by the city authorities and
people of Cambridge.
The Canal Bridge Company, alluded to above, was
incorporated on the twenty-seventh of February, 1807,
and Cragie's bridge, 2,796 feet in length, extending
from Barton' s Point, at the northwesterly end of Lev-
erett street, to Lechmere's Point at East Cambridge,
was opened for passengers on Commencement Day, the
thirtieth of August, 1809. The corporators named in the
act were Messrs. John Coffin Jones, Loammi Baldwin,
Aaron Dexter, Benjamin Weld, Joseph Coolidge, Jr.,
Benjamin Joy, Gorham Parsons, Jonathan. Ingersol,
John Beach,. Abijah Cheever, William B. Hutchins,
Stephen Howard and Andrew Cragie. The capital
422 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
stock consisted of twelve hundred shares, and the
bridge was to be built from the Almshouse fence in
Boston to Barren's Point in Charlestown. The term of
continuance of the charter was seventy years. This
bridge connects with Charlestown by means of Prison
Point bridge, the length of which is 1,821 feet. The
purchase of this bridge in July, 1846, for $60,00Q, and
the West Boston bridge for $75,000, led to a termina-
tion of tolls on the Boston bridges in 1858.
The company of the Boston South bridge was in-
corporated on the sixth of March, 1804. The bridge
when first erected was 1,551 feet in length, and was
opened for the accommodation of the public on the first
of October, 1805. It is now known as Dover street
bridge, the name having been adopted by the City
Council in 1857. The corporators under the act were
Messrs. William Tudor, Gardiner Greene, Jonathan
Mason and Harrison Gray Otis. The term of continu-
ance was, as in the other bridge charters, seventy years,
and the bridge was to be constructed from the town's
land, at the southeasterly part of the town, to Dorchester
l^eck. At the same time the South Bridge Company
was incorporated, two other important acts were passed
by the legislature, one for the annexation of Dorchester
Neck to Boston, and the other for the building of Front
street (which took the name of Harrison avenue in
1841), extending from Essex street to Dover street.
The cost of the bridge was about f 56,000. At the time
the question of this bridge was under consideration, va-
rious plans were started j the one which seemed to be
very much desired was to have led from South street,
but this idea was defeated. When the petition for the
bridge was presented to the General Court, there were
UESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 423
only ten families on the peninsula comprising Dorches-
ter ISTeck. On the nineteenth of April, 1832, all the
franchise and materials of this bridge were conyeyed
to the city for the sum of three thousand five hundred
dollars, and the bridge became a public highway.
The "Western avenue, about a mile and a half long,
was erected by the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corpora-
tion, which received a charter for the purpose on the
fourteenth of June, 1814; but the way was not opened
for passengers until the second of July, 1821. A peti-
tion for obtaining a charter for this great undertaking,
signed by Isaac P. Davis and one hundred and forty-
three others, was presented to the legislature in June,
1813. The subject was placed in charge of three emi-
nent gentlemen as commissioners, who held sittings for
public hearings, and who finally at the next meeting of the
General Court recommended a plan for the erection of a
dam which should extend westerly from the town to
Sewall's Point in BrooMine, giving a flowage of about
four hundred and fifty acres. This was a change from
the plan of the petitioners, who proposed a dam twenty-
two hundred feet long, extending from the foot of Bea-
con street to Gravelly Point in Roxbury, giving a flow-
age of only two hundred and twenty acres. It was also
proposed to cut a canal across the N^eck for the passage
of vessels, and another along the neck running to Rox-
bury. In this project the towns in the immediate neigh-
borhood of Boston felt great interest, some being very
much opposed to it; while others, deeming it for their
special interest^ favored it strenuously. The act, as
passed by the legislature, provided for a turnpike forty-
two feet wide to "Watertown, and another from a point
on the BrooMine marshes to the "Worcester turnpike,
424 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEIOAL
near the Old Punch Bowl Tavei'n in BrooMine. The
capital stock was divided into 3,500 shares, of one hun-
dred dollars each. The pei'sons named in the act were
Messrs. Isaac P. Davis, Uriah Cotting and WUliam
Brown ; and Mr. Cotting was agent until his decease on
the ninth of May, 1819, when he was succeeded by Lo-
ammi Baldwin, Esq. The superintendent of the work
was Mr. David Moody. George Bethune, Esq., was the
treasurer of the corporation, and Samuel F. McCleary,
the late City Clerk, was the clerk. The work pro-
gressed in such a manner that in the fall of 1820 the
water of Charles Kiver was shut off, the way opened in
July, 1821, and the road to Watertown completed in
1826. The stone material for building the dam was
brought from Koxbury and Weymouth, the dirt from
the flats, and a small portion at the Boston extremity of
the avenue was supplied with dirt from Beacon Hill,
then in process of being dug down. "When the water
was shut off from the Back Bay, the dirt became dry,
and many persons who resided at the time at the South
End can well remember the clouds of fine dust, almost
like Tripoli powder, which took possession of every
crevice of their houses. This dust became such a nuis-
ance that a sluice-way was made the next season, and
the flats overflowed with water. The various dams
were used for economical purposes j grist mills and iron
works were built, rope-walks were erected, and machine
shops and manufactories set up. At the opening of the
way for passengers, a parade was had, but not such as
would be deemed proper at the present day. Gen. Wil-
liam H. Sumner acted as Chief Marshal, and Major Dean
and William Tileston were his aids. A large number
of people, in carriages, and a cavalcade of horsemen
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 425
passed over the dam, on the signal fired by the South
End Artillery under Captain Lobdell; and on their re-
turn, a short address was made by the Chief Marshal to
the persons present, who assembled around him for the
purpose. On the fourth of June, 1868, an act was passed
by the legislature, authorizing the city of Boston and the
towns of BrooHine, Brighton and Watertown, within one
year, to lay out and accept as highways, so much of the
Mill-dam road, and the roads and bridges heretofore
connected therewith in toll franchise, excepting the road
known as the Cross-dam, as lies within their respective
limits ', and on the third of the following iN'ovember, the
Mayor called the attention of the Board of Aldermen to
this fact, and on the seventh of December, the portion of
the road within the city limits was laid out and accepted
as a highway of the city. On the next day the toll-
house on the avenue was closed^ and the Mill-dam be-
came a public highway.
The Boston Free Bridge Corporation, consisting of
Messrs. !N"athaniel "Whittemore, l!^oah Brooks, Cyrus
Alger, William Wright, Adam Bent, David Henshaw,
Jonathan Hunnewell, Francis J. Oliver, Samuel K. Wil-
liams, Hall J. Howe, and their associates, had a charter
granted on the fourth of March, 1826, a previous act
passed twenty-fifth February, 1825, being repealed. The
bridge to be built was to extend in a straight line from
or near jSea street in Boston to the newly made land in
South Boston, and nearly in the direction of Dorchester
Turnpike; it was to be of the proper width, and to have
a suitable draw. G-reat opposition was made to the es-
tablishment of this bridge, but its enterprising under-
takers succeeded. The bridge was bought by the city,
by deed dated September 26, 1828, and was opened for
426 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
travel late in the year. On the eleventh of May, 1857,
the name of this bridge was changed to Federal street
bridge. By an act passed on the twenty-fourth of
April, 1869, the city was authorized to widen the
bridge.
The Warren bridge, leading from Haverhill street to
Charlestown square, 1,390 feet in length, was erected
by a company incorporated on the eleventh of March,
1828, the corporators named in the act being Messrs.
John Skinner, Isaac Warren, John Cofran, IsTathaniel
Austin, Ebenezer Breed and N^athan Tufts. The bridge
was to extend over Charles Kiver, from or near the
wharf in Charlestown late the property of John Harris,
Esq., to the newly made lands in Boston near the Mill
Creek, and it was to be not less than forty-four feet
wide, and to have a suitable draw. So rapid was the
building of this bridge, that it was opened to the public
on the twenty-fifth of December of the same year. In
1833 the control of the bridge was assumed by the State,
and toll was taken in order to defray the expense of
construction; and on the second of March, 1836, it was
opened to the public. It was repaired by an act of the
legislature passed on the seventeenth of March, 1841,
and again put under toll and so continued until the first
of December, 1843, when, together with Charles River
bridge, it was again made free. After becoming free a
second time, these bridges were a third time placed
under toll, on the first of June, 1854, until the thirtieth
of April, 1858, when they finally became free.
On the eighth of June, 1868, an act was passed, by
which three commissioners were subsequently appointed,
for widening the draws of the Charles River and Warren
bridges, for putting the bridges in thorough repair, and
DE3CBIPTI0N OF BOSTOX. 427
for assessing upon the cities of Boston and CharlestoT^rn
the expense of repairing and maintaining them in future.
The Chelsea free bridge, 690 feet long, was con-
structed across Chelsea Creek by a company incorpo-
rated on the twenty-eighth of March, 1834. It extends
from the northerly end of Chelsea street in East Boston
to a point in Chelsea, formerly a part of the farm of the
late Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff, who gave a road through
his land for the benefit of free travel. The corporators
named in the act were Messrs. Benjamin T. Keed, Amos
Binney and John Henshaw. The bridge was opened for
passengers in October, 1834. It was rebuilt in 1848,
and on the eleventh of May, 1857, its name was changed
to Chelsea street bridge. It is kept in repair by the
cities of Boston and Chelsea.
The East Boston free bridge, now called Meridian
street bridge, 1,515 feet long, was built by a company
consisting of Messrs. Henry D. Gardiner, Morrill Cole,
Watson G. Mayo, and others, who were incorporated on
the fifteenth of May, 1855. It was purchased by the
city and completed in December, 1856, and extends
from the northwest part of East Boston to Pearl street
in Chelsea.
The Chelsea Point bridge, 570 feet in length, was
buUt by a company incorporated on the first of April,
1835, and was opened for travel in the fall of 1839. It
crosses a wide creek which separates the easterly end of
Breed's Island from Pulling Point in the town of Win-
throp. The corporators were Messrs. Joseph Burrill,
Joseph Belcher, and John W. Tewksbury. The city
was authorized, by an act passed on the seventeenth of
April, 1849, to purchase this bridge, and on the first
of July, 1850, it was laid out as a highway.
428 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAi
The Mount Washington avenue bridge was built
under an act of the legislature passed the twenty-eighth
of April, 1853, Messrs. Benjamin T. Reed, Deming Jar-
ves, Eben Jones and others incorporators, and was com-
pleted and accepted by the Board of Aldermen on the
thirtieth of April, 1855, but was not opened to the pub-
lic for some time afterwards. The bridge was not to ex-
ceed seventy feet in width, and was to extend from some
point between Foundry and Wales's wharves, across
Fort Point Channel to the Harbor line, at South Bos-
ton, as established in 1840.
Broadway Bridge, extending across Fort Point Chan-
nel, at the place where Broadway, if continued in a
straight line, or nearly a straight line, from South
Boston to Boston proper, would cross the channel,
was authorized by an act passed on the twenty-fifth
of April, 1866. The proper resolves and order for the
extension of Broadway from Federal street to Albany
street were passed by the City Council and approved on
the fourth of May, 1869. The Broadway Biidge was
soon after put under contract, the award having been
made to the Moseley Iron Building Works for the sum
of $331,708.76, the work to be completed early in the
year 1870.
An act was passed on the ninth of June, 1868, for the
improvement of Boston Harbor, whereby the city was
authorized to build and lay out as a public street, East-
ern avenue, with a bridge over Fort Point Channel.
This bridge will undoubtedly be built in proper time.
By an act of the legislature, passed on the eleventh
of June, 1868, and repealed in 1869, the Maverick Bridge
Company were authorized to erect a bridge over the
water between the main land in the city of Boston and
DESOBIPTION OF BOSTON. 429
East Boston. This project was opposed by the general
goyemment, and consequently given up.
A pile bridge was also authorized to be built, not
exceeding one hundred feet in width, from the westerly
side of South Bay, at or near the southerly end of Pine
Island wharf, so called, to the easterly side of said bay,
and to be located in such a direction, that, if continued
easterly, it would intersect Federal street at or near
Dorchester street. Acts for this purpose were passed
on the seventeenth of March and twenty-second of June,
1869, and the bridge was required to be built and finished
within five years of the passage of the act. When the
necessity for this bridge becomes sufficiently imperative,
it will undoubtedly be built.
Several other bridges extend from Boston, as parts
of the raUroads leading from the city, all of which are
comparatively of recent construction, and require no
special mention.
In this connection it may be well to inention that
Maiden Bridge, which connects Charlestown and Mai-
den, was built by a company incorporated on the first
of March, 1787. The work was commenced on the first
of April, and the bridge opened for travel in September
of the same year; and on the first of April, 1859, the
tolls were taken ofi", and the bridge made a public high-
way. Chelsea Bridge, connecting Charlestown and .
Chelsea, and Salem Turnpike, buUt under an act of
incorporation granted on the sixth of March, 1802, be-
came free on the ninth of ]S"ovember, 1869.
In the olden time, the other approaches to Boston
were by means of the regular ferries from Charlestown
and Winnisimmet (a portion of the town of Chelsea),
and by an occasional ferry from Cambridge. Early
430 DESCKIPTION OP BOSTON.
attempts had been made, as before stated, for the con-
struction of a bridge to Roxbury over the Back Bay;
but these, like other similar ones for kindred objects,
entirely failed, leaving Boston N^eck as the only ap-
proach to the town by foot and horse travel, until the
year 1786, when Charles Eiver bridge was opened.
CHAPTBE XXXm.
BOSTON HARBOR AND ITS STTRROUKDrNGS AND ISLANDS.
Boundaries • • • Inner and Outer Harbors • • • Outside tlie Light • . • The Harbor
Visited by Ancient Navigators . ■ • Visit of the Plymouth Forefathers • ■ • De-
scription in 1724 by Capt. Uring • • • Point AUerton • • • The Brewsters • • •
Hull • • • Channels, Passages, Ledges, Rocks and Islands • • • Point Shirley- • •
Pulling Point ■ • • Chelsea, Winthrop, and North Chelsea, formerly Wlnni-
simmet, Pulling Point and Rumney Marsh • • • Southern Boundary • ■ • Islands,
formerly well wooded • • • Forms of the Islands • • • Channels, Shoals and
Rocks.
BosTOK Haebok includes that portion of Massachu-
setts Bay which lies between Point Shirley on the north
and Point AUerton on the south, and extends from the
range of rocks and islands between these Points on the
east to the peninsula on the west. It is usually spoken
of as two harbors, separated by an imaginary line pass-
ing north- and south through Governor's Island, — the
Inner Harbor comprising aU the tide-waters west of this
line, and the Outer Harbor all east of it bayward to the
ocean. Sometimes a third division is alluded to, called
" Outside the Light," which includes several shoals and
sounds, and extends to the outermost rocks and ledges
of the coast. When any vessel is said to be within the
harbor, the inference is that it is within the bounds first
above given. "When persons talk of going " down the
harbor," they do not expect to go beyond Boston Outer
Light House; but when in extraordinary cases they do
432 TOPOGEAPHIOAIi AND HISTOElCAIi
go beyond tliat structure, the expression is usually qual-
ified by adding the words " and outside." "Within its
limits are generally included the several inlets which
appertain to the towns around its margin, and which
have acquired the names of bays and harbors, with the
names of the contiguous towns attached.
In describing the harbor, notice must be taken of its
roads, sounds, channels, islands, rocks, and spits. In-
stead of parading these iu a tabular statement in an
alphabetical order, the plan wUl be pursued in these
chapters that nature has already provided, and distinctly
indicated. Therefore, after giving a cursory description
of the harbor's surroundings, an attempt will be made to
take the objects worthy of note in the order they are
presented to any one leaving the easterly end of Long
Wharf, on a voyage of survey and inspection. By pur-
suing this course, the account will be more useful to
those who may retrace the writer's steps, and much more
intelligible to the reader, who may at home follow him iu
his wanderings by perusing his descriptions.
Perhaps, before entering into particulars, the writer
may be allowed to go back to ancient times, and allude
to some of the early visits to this harbor, which attracted
the notice of navigators and others, who touched its
shores long before Boston was selected as the site of
the maritime capital of I^ew England.
It is stated by historical writers, that more than eight
hundred and sixty years ago the ancient Icelandic navi-
gators, who had frequently visited the regions of Green-
land and Labrador in their numerous voyages, explored
the sea coast of America as far south as ^NTew Jersey.
It lias been believed that, on some of these adventurous
occasions, they anchored near or within the harbor of
DESOBIPTION OF BOSTON. 433
Boston. One of these navigators in particular, Thor-
wald, who made his voyages in the year 1003 and 1004,
is supposed to have reached Cape Codj and afterwards,
following the coast in a circuitous course, to have dis-
covered an abrupt promontory, well covered with trees,
which he named Krossaness, and which archaeologists
have supposed to be Point Allerton, the southerly head-
land at the entrance of the harbor. These traditions,
however, are extremely vague, and entirely unworthy of
credence.
Other accounts, much more to be relied upon, tell of
visits to the Massachusetts Bay by the Plymouth fore-
fathers. On one of these memorable occasions, as Gov.
Bradford has related, they sent out a party of ten men
in their shallop, with proper attendants for interpreting,
to visit the Massachusetts people, the aborigines of the
soU. This was performed on the eighteenth and nine-
teenth of September, 1621, just nine years before' the
settlement of Boston. The Governor states, that "they
returned in saftie, and brought home a good quantity of
beaver, and made reporte of ye place, wishing they had
been ther seated; (but it seems ye Lord, who assignes
to all men ye bounds of their habitations, had appointed
it for another use.)" An account of this visit can be
found in Mourt's Relation, written by one of the com-
pany. Under date of the eighteenth of September, 1621,
this account says : — " "We set out about mid-night, the
tyde-then serueing for vs; we supposing it to be neerer
then it is, thought to be there the next morning betimes ;
but it proved well neere twentie Leagues from JVew Fly-
mouth. "We came into the bottome of the Bay, but being
late we anchored and lay in the shallop, not hauing scene
any of the people. The next morning we put in for the
65
434 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
shore. There we found many Lobsters that had beene
gathered together by the Saluages, which we made
ready vnder a cliffe." It further says, " Againe we
crossed the Bay which is very large, and hath at lest
fiftie Ilands in it, but the certaine number is not koowne
to the Inhabitants." It closes with the following words:
— "Within this Bay, the Saluages say, there are two
Eiuers; the one whereof we saw, having a faire en-
trance, but we had no time to discover it. Better har-
bours for shipping cannot be then here are. At the
entrance of the Bay are many Eockes; and in all likeli-
hood very good fishing ground. Many, yea, most of
the Ilands have beene inhabited, some being cleered
from end to end, but the people are all dead, or re-
moued. Our victual growing scarce, the Winde fayre,
and having a light Moone, we set out at evening, and
through the goodnesse of God, came safely home before
noone the day following."
In a volume of voyages and travels by Captain 'Na.-
thaniel Uring, an Englishman, made between the years
1697 and 1724, is the following brief description of the
harbor, probably written just after his last visit to Bos-
ton in April, 1721:
"Boston is the chief Town in the Province of Massa-
chusetts Bay, it stands upon a Peninsula, at the Bottom
of a Bay, which run in about eight Miles, and is fenced
with Islands, Rocks, and Sands, which makes it a very
secure Harbour; the Entrance into it is narrow, and
some Shoals lie on the South Side: Some small rocky
Islands, which are called the Brewsters, makes the
]^orth Side of it, on one of which Islands stands a
Light House, to give N'otice to Ships who may arrive
DESCEIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 435
on that Coast in the I^ight, and be a Guide to them;
where might be also built a Fortification, which would
command the Mouth of that Harbour, when the Inhabi-
tants think it proper; but at present their Fort stands
upon an Island, two Miles and a Half below the Town;
the Channel for Ships lies very near it, so that no Ships
can pass by it but what the Fort is able to command :
It is a strong, regular, well buUt Fort, mounted with
about 100 Pieces of Cannon, where they keep a Gar-
rison, who are paid by the Country."
The foregoing extract was written by a person of
some consideration, who was for a time the Duke of
Montagu's Governor of the Island of St. Lucia, one
of the Carribees; and it undoubtedly is as much to be
relied upon as any of the accounts of the old voyagers .
Approaching Boston from the seaward, one of the
first objects that meets the eye is a projecting promon-
tory, which at a distance very much resembles the tail of
a large whale. This point of land, part of the ancient
township of Hull, took its name from Mr. Isaac Aller-
ton, one of the passengers of the renowned May Flower,
and one of the most noted of the forefathers who landed
at Plymouth on Monday, the twenty-first (not 22d) of
December, 1620, !N". S. AUerton acted much as agent for
the Plymouth Colony, and was distinguished for great
enterprise and love of adventure. Tradition informs us
that, in one of the voyages of the Plymouth Pilgrims to
Salem, they stopped on their way at the Harbor of Bos-
ton, and landed upon the islands situated at its en-
trance, and also upon the neighboring promontory; and
that they named the projecting headland Point Allerton,
and the islands "the Brewsters," in respect for his
436 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
wife's brothers and sisters, the children of Mr. "William
Brewster, the good old ruling elder of the First Church
of ISTew Plymouth. The corruptions which often get
into spoken language have led frequently to an error in
the spelling of the name of the promontory; for it is
often spelled upon charts " Point Alderton," an error
which has been corrected, as on all the charts that have
any pretensions to accuracy the Point is now correctly
printed AUerton.
Point Allerton has its Great Hill on its centre, and
its Little Hill on the northeast, and also its monument
and its buoy. At its west, connected by a stony beach,
is the town of Hull, sometimes called j!^antasket Island,
the most western part of which is known as Windmill
Point. In a southerly direction from Point Allerton,
leading to Cohasset, is the famous l!Tantasket Beach
facing the ocean, with its Scull Head, Strawberry Hill,
Wliite Head, and Sagamore Head; the Beach itself
being subdivided by Strawberry Hill, so that its north-
erly end is called the Long Beach, and its southerly end
the Stony Beach. Ifearly due east from the Point are
projections of a. dangerous rock, called Harding's
Ledge; and about southeast is the much dreaded Mi-
not's Ledge, with its stone lighthouse.
N^orthward of Point Allerton is the Main Ship Chan-
nel; and, pursuing a northerly course, one soon comes
to Lighthouse Island, sometimes called the Little Brew-
ster, to distinguish it from the Great Brewster with
which it is connected by a bai', and from the Middle
Brewster and Outer Brewster, which lie north of it.
JSTorth of these are Great and Little Calf Island, and
their Hypocrite Passage, or Channel, which separates
them from Devil's Back, Green Island, and Moffit's
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 437
Ledge, to the northeast of which ledge of rocks are a
number of unpropitious looking rocks, very properly
and suggestively called the Graves. Having advanced
thus far. Broad Sound Channel, which separates this
group of islands from Deer Island, presents itself; then
comes Deer Island, in very remote times a part of the
main land, at the north of which is Shirley Gut. Then
Point Shirley appears with Gut Plain, Great Head (or
Green Hill), BluiF Head (or "Winthrop's Head), and,
further on, Grover's Cliff, all within the limits of the
town of Winthrop.
Point Shirley has for many years past been a noted
place. It was formerly called Pulling Point, a name
now retained by another more commodious headland at
the northwest, fronting westerly upon the harbor, and
which has sometimes been called Chelsea Point. About
the middle of the last century a number of Boston cap-
italists attempted to carry on the fishery business here,
and purchased land for the erection of dwelling-houses
and workshops for the fishermen they intended to em-
ploy; but, instead of doing this, they put up houses for
their own pleasure accommodation, and a meeting-house
for a preacher on Sundays, wholly neglectful of the op-
eratives who were to have carried on the business for
them. When ready for their enterprise, the speculators,
believing that all great undertakings should bo auspi-
ciously commenced, concluded to have a nice time, and
consequently invited Governor Shirley, who was exceed-
ingly popular with Bostonians, to go down the harbor
with them on the eighth of September, 1753. At the
time appointed, the proprietors of the new establish-
ment went down to the fishery with the Governor and
a number of gentlemen of distinction, — for they had
438 TOPOGEAPHICAL AST) HISTORICAL
such personages then in great abundance, as now —
who were selected, perhaps, because they could make
speeches, tell stories, or sing songs, and at any rate
could eat dinners and drink good liquors. As they
passed Castle WiUiam (now called Fort Independence)
they, that is to say, the Governor and the company,
were saluted with a discharge of fifteen guns; and so
they were when they returned. It is said that the Gov-
ernor was received at the Point with aU the demonstra-
tion of joy that so new a settlement was capable of; and
that His Excellency expressed great satisfaction on find-
ing so considerable an addition to that valuable branch
of trade, the cod fishery, and hoped the gentlemen con-
cerned would meet with such success as to make them
ample amends for so noble an undertaking. The pro-
prietors, after having leave from His Excellency, gave to
the place the name of Point Shirley. The Governor
was well paid for his condescension, for his name is im-
mortalized and kept green, while the names of the un-
dertakers are as seldom mentioned as their unsuccessful
attempt. About the commencement of the present cen-
tury the manufacture of salt was tried at the same place,
but did not prove remunerative; and in later times the
Revere Copper Company have established works, which,
though they may have been profitable to the proprietors,
certainly have not added to the salubrity of the air at
the Point, nor made the residence in the neighborhood
particularly agreeable at all times.
In reference to the derivation of the old name, Pull-
ing Point, John Josselyn, gent., in an account of his
voyages to 'New England, printed at the Green Dragon
in St. Paul's Churchyard, London, in 1675, says, "Pul-
lin-point is so called because the boats are by the seas-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 439
ing or roads haled against the tide which is very strong
it is the usual channel for boats to pass into Mattachu-
sets-Bay."
On the northerly side, creeks separated the islands
in the harbor from Chelsea, a town which has recently
been divided into three: "Winthrop on the east, named
in honor of Mr. Deane Winthrop (son of the Gov-
ernor), who dwelt there many years, and died on the
sixteenth of March, 1703-4; ]S'orth Chelsea, and Chel-
sea on the west. All of Chelsea was formerly a part of
Boston, under the names of Kumney Marsh, Pulling
Point, and Winnisimmet, and was set off from it by an
Act of the Provincial Legislature, passed on the ninth
of January, 1738-9. An ineffectual attempt was made
to reunite the two towns, but it failed, as several others
have done in later times.
On the south side of the harbor are the towns of
Hull on the east, then, in succession southwesterly, the
towns of Hingham, "Weymouth, Braintree (now Quincy),
Dorchester and Roxbury, — for these last-mentioned
towns should not be forgotten as having existed as
distinct municipaUties ; and that South Boston in the
olden time was a part of Dorchester, under the name of
Dorchester Point or Neck, and Roxbury or Gallows
Bay (now South Bay) was once part of the harbor.
"Within the harbor, lying west of the islands already
mentioned, are many others, several of which are of con-
siderable size; while some are extremely small, and a few
have long since lost the name of islands, although they
once were so, and exhibit to this day evident proofs of
the fact. History, as well as tradition, tells that these
islands were mostly well wooded in the earlier days of
the 'New England settlement', and that they had been
440 TOPOGKAPHICAL ASH HISTOEICAI.
inhabited before the arrival of the forefathers. Certain
it is, that, when the first national census was taken, in
the year 1790, there were fifteen houses and two hun-
dred and fifty-two inhabitants found upon them; and,
what is remarkable, there is hardly one of them that has
not had a visible spring,, or springs, easily reached by
digging.
If the map of the harbor is carefuUy inspected, the
first impression made upon an observer is that of the
curious forms nature has given to these various islands;
which forms have been most queerly changed by the ef-
fects of the currents, and now, with their beaches and
projecting points and headlands, present to the eye the
most grotesque and amusing shapes. This fact is wor-
thy of being made available in giving a description of
these spots (not blemishes) within this justly celebrated
harbor. ^Noddle's Island, or East Boston, as it is now
called, very much resembles a great polar bear, with its
head north, and its feet east. Governor's Island has
much 'the form of a ham, and Castle Island looks like
a shoulder of pork, both with their shanks at the south.
Apple Island was probably so named on account of its
shape; and Snake Island maybe likened to a kidney;
Deer Island is very like a whale, facing Point Shirley;
Thompson's Island, like a very young unfledged chicken ;
Spectacle Island, like a pair of spectacles ; Long Island,
like a high- top military boot; Eainsford Island, like a
mink; Moon Island, like a leg of venison; Gallop's (not
Galloupe's) Island, like a leg of mutton; Lovell's Island,
like a dried salt fish; George's Island, like a fortress, as
it is; Pettick's Island, like a young sea monster; and
Half-Moon Island, like the new or the old moon, as you
view it from the south or north. The other small islands
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON". 441
resemble piimpMns, grapes and nuts, as much as any-
thing, hence the names of some of them. If this mne-
monical description can be kept in mind, certainly the
forms of the islands will be remembered, even if their
names are forgotten.
The channels of the harbor have been named Ship
Channel, Glades Channel, Broad Sound IN^orth Channel,
Broad Sound South Channel. The passages have been
designated Bird's Island Passage, the Back or Western
Way, Black Rock Passage or Channel, and Hypocrite
Passage or Channel. The Poads are President Roads,
Ifantasket Roads, and the Old and New Quarantine
Roads. The most notable shoals are Bird Island Shoal,
Upper Middle Shoal, and Lower Middle Shoal. The
rocks within the harbor most worthy of notice are Wil-
son's Rocks, Hangman's Ledge, Corwin's Rock, Kelley's
Rock, Barrel Rock, and Quarantine Rocks. Each of
these deserves a. particular notice, which will be given
in passing along descriptively through the channels and
among the islands in the tour of inspection.
CHAPTEE XXXTY.
BIED, MODDLE'S, HOG, AND GOVERNOR'S ISLANDS.
Approach to the Harbor through Ship Channel ■ • ■ Mystic and Charles Rivera
and Chelsea Creek ■ • ■ Bird Island Shoal, formerly an Island • • • Noddle's
Island, formerly well wooded • ■ • Granted to Samuel Maverick in 1633 • • •
Recently known as Williams's Island, and East Boston • • -Fanciful Shape • • •
Localities ••• Fort on Camp Hill, 1776 •■•Maverick's Fort, 1680 ■■•Fort
Strong, 1814. •• George Worthylake Drowned, 1718 •■• Duel in 1819. ■■
Hog Island, sometimes designated Susanna, Belle Isle, and Breed's Island
■ • • Governor's Island, formerly Conant's Island, Devised to Governor
Winthrop in 1632 • • • Old Fort Warren, now Fort Winthrop ■ • • The Upper
Middle.
Taking departure from the end of Long wharf, the
most easterly of those projeetmg from the peninsula,
and making to sea in an easterly direction, the harbor is
approached at once by Ship Channel, which may be said
to have its rise from the Mystic and Charles Rivers, and
Chelsea Creek, all of which open into it at the north-
west. After pursuing a course due east a little over a
mile, there is a shoal, composed of gravel and small
stones, formerly the site of a small island, which tradi-
tion says was of some value, and contained a respectable
marsh, which was mowed annually." This is confirmed
by the following record taken from the old town books,
twenty-fifth March, 1650: "Tho' Munt hath liberty to
mow the marsh at Bird Island this yeare." Again, on
the second of April, 1658 : " Bird Island is lett to James
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 443
Euerill & Rich Woody for sixty yeares, paying 12d sil-
uer or a bushel of salt every first of March to y® town
Treasurer & in defect of paym' att y" day 2s or two
bushels of salt, & so 12d or a bushel of salt for every
months neglect, & y" s* Hand is bound for paym*."
Tradition also leads to the inference that it was some-
titnes, though not always (for another shared the same
disgrace), the place for the execution and burial of
pirates in the olden time. This shoal, which bears the
name of Bird Island, makes quite a show at low tide,
and is exactly between two islands, — the one at its left,
known as IN'oddle's Island (now East Boston), and the
other at its right. Governor's Island, formerly Win-
throp's Island. The way by the sides and over the
gravel of this shoal has been generally known as Bird
Island Passage, and at high tide is the most direct route
to Shirley Gut for small vessels bound to Nahant and to
the ports on the northern coast of ISTew England.
The large island, now known as East Boston, prob-
ably took its name from William ^Noddle, whom Gov-
ernor Winthrop calls " an honest man of Salem"; for he
was here early enough to have given to the island the
name which it bore in 1630, though Mr. Samuel Mav-
erick appears to have been a resident on it some years
before that time. As far back as July, 1631, an order
was passed by the Court of Assistants restrailiing per-
sons from "putting on cattell, felling wood, raseing
slate," on Conant's Island, Noddle's Island, and Thomp-
son's Island; and on the third of April, 1632, it was
ordered, " That noe pson w*soever shall shoote att fowle
vpon Pullen Poynte of !N'oddles Ileland, but that the s*
places shalbe reserved for John Perkins to take fpwle
with netts." But on the first of April, 1633, the follow-
444 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
ing sensible order was passed by the Court: "Is^oddles
Heland is granted to M"" Sam" Maiiack [Maverick],
to enjoy to him & his heires for ever. Yielding &
payeing yearly att the Generall Court, to the Goiin'^ for
the time being, either a fatt weather, a fatt hogg, or xls
in money, & shall giue leave to Boston & Charles-
Towne to fetch wood contynually, as their neede re-
quires, from the southerne pte of s* ileland." Either the
island "was extremely well wooded at the time the order
was passed, or else the towns of Boston and Charles-
town were very sparsely inhabited. ll^owadays very
little wood can be obtained from l^oddle's Island, except
chips from the yards of the shipbuilders ; for the oldest
inhabitant only remembers two trees growing upon the
island previous to its purchase by the East Boston
Company, which was incorporated on the twenty-fifth
of March, 1833, and before the subsequent energies of
the Tree Society.
This island, and also the neighboring one, now called
Breed's Island, were very early claimed by Sir William
Brereton; and sometimes the first named of them has
been mentioned as Brereton's Island, and the latter was
similarly attempted to be called Susanna, in respect to
Sir WUliam's daughter; but his claim to name and ter-
ritory was never confirmed to him, and the name of
Ifoddle was retained until it was nearly lost in modern
times, when the name of a family that resided upon it
many years somewhat superseded it, as it was fre-
quently designated as "Williams's Island, until its pur-
chase by the land company, and settlement as East
Boston.
Noddle's Island was "layd to Boston" on the ninth
of March, 1636-7. It originally contained about six
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 445
hundred and sixty-three acres, together with the con-
tiguous flats to low water mark, several hundred acres
in extent, which were confirraed as part of the island by
a vote of the colonial legislature, passed on the thir-
teenth of May, 1640. Its nearest approach to Boston
is now over the ship channel by ferry about eighteen
hundred feet. It is now connected with the main land
at Chelsea by two bridges, and with Hog Island by
another. Describing it from the fanciful shape it has,
in its resemblance to a great bear, we may say that the
bear's head, an elevated tract of land, was known as the
middle farm, with Hog Island Marsh at its northeast.
The small, round pond in this part, called Eye Pond, in
consequence of the loss there of the eye of a noted gun-
ner about fifty years ago, helps out the fancied figure.
The bear's back, fronting the mouth of Mystic Biver,
was the most elevated part of the island, and was..
known as Epgle Hill, and its abrupt termination at the
confluence of Mystic Eiver and Chelsea Creek, as West
Head, and more recently as Eagle Point. The two fore
feet of the assumed bear were called Eastern and
Western Wood Islands, being isolated from the Great
Marsh, which also isolated Camp HOI and its marsh, the
two hinder paws, from the same. The heel of the hinder
leg was called Smith's Hill, the site of the old buildings
which anciently stood on the island, and was separated
from Camp Hill by Great Creek, now the canal of the
Water Power Company, lying between the present
Bainbridge and Decatur streets. The old houses on
Smith's Hill were destroyed in 1775, during the siege of
Boston, and were rebuilt soon after the British evacu-
ated the town from materials taken from the old bar-
racks used by Washiiigton's army in Cambridge.
446 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
In June, 1776, a fort was erected on Gamp Hill by
voluntary labor, which, after becoming of no use, was
suffered to go to ruin, until the fears of the Bostonians
required the erection of another. This, or Smith's Hill,
may have been the site of Mr. Maverick's fort of four
guns erected in 1630. On the fourteenth of September,
1814, another and more substantial fort was commenced
on Camp Hill. This was built by the voluntary services
of patriotic inhabitants of the Commonwealth, various
societies, and the several trades and crafts, taMng
special days for the performance of their part of the
labor. On the twenty-sixth of the following October,
the fortification was formally named Fort Strong, in
compliment to the then energetic governor of the Com-
monwealth, and on the twenty-ninth a public announce-
ment was made that the fort was completed. The old
barracks were removed from the site of this fort in
1833, and the breastworks were gradually obliterated.
Any one desirous of knowing the exact position of this
structure can find its site on the spot where now there
is an open space, in the section of the island which has
the name of Belmont Square.
This island has a little romance connected with it.
It was on Monday, the third of l!^'ovember, 1718, that
Mr. George Worthylake, with his wife Ann, and his
daughter Euth, took a sail to iJ^oddle's Island from the
lighthouse, where he was the keeper, undoubtedly in-
tending to have a good time ; but in the language of an
ancient New England historian, they " took heaven by
the way," for they were all drowned, and taken to
Copp's Hill for burial; and young Benjamin Franklin, a
youthful aspirant for poetic fame, wrote a ballad on the
event, and printed and sold it in the streets of Boston.
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 447
Oh, that some old chest, long hidden in some dark gar-
ret, would disclose this much sought for curiosity, one
of the earliest sparks from the fire that afterwards burnt
80 brightly 1 Another event which is not entirely for-
gotten is the famous duel between two lieutenants in
the United States naval service, which occurred on the
twenty-fifth of September, 1819, near the two elms that
formerly stood not far from the present Border street.
The challenging party, Lieut. Francis B. White, was in-
stantly killed by Lieut. "William Finch, satisfactorily,
no doubt, to the survivor. In more modern times, as
many North-enders will well remember, this island, so
renowned for its hospitality from the first days of Mr.
Maverick to the last days of Mr. Williams, was chiefly
visited by pleasure parties for cooking their fish or
baking their clams, a privilege which was lost after the
island was settled, and other green spots in the harbor
were selected for this purpose.
A short distance to the northeast of iN^oddle's Island,
and separated from it by a narrow, shallow creek, is
Hog Island, to which attempts have been made several
times to affix other names, such as Susanna, Belle Isle
and Breed's Island; but the old and homely name has
prevailed until the present day, and probably will last
until the march of improvement shall cover it with
dwelling-houses, and make it a place for fancy resi-
dences.. It has from time immemorial been used for ag-
ricultural purposes, and in the olden time was noted for
furnishing a remarkable pasturage for cows and sheep.
In size it is about two-thirds as large as its neighbor,
Ii"oddle'8 Island. When Winnisimmet, Eumney Marsh
and Pulling Point were set off from Boston, in January,
1738-9, to form the town of Chelsea, these two islands
448 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
were reserved to constitute part of the town of Boston,
to which they have continued to be attached down to
the present time. Hog Island is separated from the
town of "Winthrop by an inconsiderable creek, over the
widest part of which there is now a wooden bridge.
The island was also connected with Chelsea by a narrow
wooden bridge, erected by Mr. Breed j but this has been
taken down, and the island is approached now over the
bridge from East Boston.
On the first of April, 1634, this island, under the
name of "Hogg Island," and several others, were
" granted to Boston for euer for the yearely rent of ijl.
to be paid to the Treasurer the first day of the second
month yearely," that is, on AprU first j for ia old times,
before the year 1752, the year commenced on the
twenty-fifth of March, and March was styled the first
month, as December was the tenth month. On the
fourth of March following, however, the colonial leg-
islature was so • conscience-stricken at the exorbitant
charge, that " Deere Hand, Hogg Hand, Longe Band, &
Spectacle Ileland are graunted to the inhabitants there,
for euer paying to the Treasurer for the tyme being the
yearly rent of iiijs. & the former rent of iijZ. is remitted
them." After this time the island passed into private
hands; and, having a fertile soil, with its fields lying
upon a high hiU favorably to the sun, and free from the
efiects of the sea breezes, it has been improved as a farm,
and its agricultural products have been remunerative.
For a long series of years this island belonged to the
Breed family, and the last resident of the name, John
Breed, died several years ago. The estate was sold in
1869, and will undoubtedly soon be used for other pur-
poses than those which have made it so well known.
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 449
Eeturning to the position near Bird Island Shoal,
there lies at the southeast Goyernor's Island, frequently
called "Winthrop's Island, because the island was granted
to Governor "Winthrop very early by the colonial leg-
gislature. This noted island took its first name from
Roger Conant, a distinguished early settler of !N'ew
England, who was at Plymouth as early as 1623, then
at IsTantucket, and subsequently at Cape Ann, and
afterwards at Salem in 1627, and Beverly last, where
he died on the nineteenth of I^ovember, 1679, in the
eighty-seventh year of his age. It contains about
seventy acres of land.
The first known of this island is that on the fifth of *
July, 1631, " it was appropriated to publique benefits
and vses." But on the twenty-ninth of the same month
it proved to be very far from being a benefit, for we are
told that "the Friendship set sail for the Christopher
Islands, and ran on ground behind Conant's Island,"
which any one would consider hard treatment for
Friendship. On the third of April, 1632, at a Court of
Assistants, " The island called Conant's Island, with all
the liberties & privileges of fishing & fowleing, was de-
mised to John "Winthrop, Esq., the psent Goiin'', for
the terme of his life, for the ffine of fi"orty shillings, &
att the-yearely rent of xijcZ, to be paid to the Treasurer
upon the twentyfifth day of March j & it was further
agreed, & the said John "Winthrop did covenant and
j)mise to plant a vineyard and an orchyard in the same,
in consideracon whereof the Court did graunt that att
the end of the said tearme, the lease hereof should be
renewed to the heires or assignes of the said John "Win-
throp for one & twenty yeares, payeing yearely to the
Gofln"' for the time being, the fifth pte of all such fruicts
57
450 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
& proffitts as shalbe yearely rajsed' out of the same, &
soe the same lease to be renewed from time to time, vnto
the heires & assignes of the said John Winthrop, with
the said reservacon of the said fifth pte to the Gofln'' for
the time being, & the name of the said ileland was
changed, & is to be called the Gotin''s Garden; pvided,
that if the heires or assignes of the said John Winthrop
shall att any time suffer the said ileland to lye wast, &
not impue the same, then this fsent demise to be voide."
It seems that the excellent governor did not suffer the
Governor's Garden to go unimproved, though perhaps
some of his modem successors would do so, rather than
keep a vineyard and provide fruit for the legislature. It
is surmised, also, by some, that the good old Puritan an-
cestors had an eye to the wine vats, when they looked
out for the " fifth part " of the proceeds of the garden ;
and this is made more than presumptive by the follow-
ing record, made on the fourth of March, 1634-5 :
"Whereas the yearely rent of the Goiin''s Garden was
the fifth pte of all the ffruict that shall growe there, it is
ordered, by this present Court, (att the request of John
Winthrop, Esq.,) that the rent of the said ileand shalbe
a hogshead of the best wine that shall growe there, to
be paide yearely, after the death of the said John Win-
throp, and noething before." It is to be feared that the
vineyard failed, though the orchard flourished; for it
appears that Mr. Winthrop was left out of office, and
another vote passed on the twelfth of May, 1640, by
which the island was " granted &; confirmed to the said
John Winthrop & his heires in fee farme, for w"*" they
are to pay onley two bushels of apples every yeare —
one bushell to the Governor, & another to the Generall
Court in winter, — the same to bee of the best apples
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 451
there growing." It is evident that Mr. Winthrop meant
to keep to his part of the agreement; for on the fourth
of Octoher, 1640, it is stated in the Massachusetts Col-
ony Records, that "Mr. Winthrop, senior, paid in his
bushell of apples" to the General Court; and, undoubt-
edly, the ex-governor, for Mr, John Winthrop was only
an Assistant that year, sent the other bushel to Gover-
nor Thomas Dudley, his successor in ofl&ce, who dwelt
in Eoxbury. It is supposed that the apples were faith-
fully paid in every year, and that each of the members
of the General Court carried home his pockets full; for
again, in September, 1642, the following significant en-
try appears upon the records : " The bushell of apples
was paid in." How long this practice continued is not
known; certainly it did not reach to modern times, for it
would have been hard for some years past to find any
apples, except perchance a few " apples of the earth,"
called in French, "pommes de terre," with which to
have fulfilled the contract.
The island continued entirely in the possession of
the Winthrop family from the time of the colonial grant
until a portion of it, six acres only, was sold by James
Winthrop of Cambridge for $15,000, and conveyed to
the General Government on the eighteenth of May,
1808, for the purpose of erecting a fort, which, when
built, was called Fort Warren, in respect to the memory
of Gen. Joseph Warren. This name, however, has been
transferred recently to another fort erected on George's
Island; and a new fortification, in progress on the sum-
mit of the high hill on the island, has been named Fort
Winthrop, in remembrance of the ancient governor to
whom it was first granted. When Governor's Island
was used, as it frequently was, for a marine residence, it
452 DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
was noted for its hospitality. In the days of the late
Hon. Thomas L. Winthrop, formerly Lieutenant-Gover-
nor of the Commonwealth, and President of the Massa-
chusetts Historical Society, the society several times
held their meetings there. In later days, like most of
the islands in the harbor, it has been noted as a place
of resort for fishing parties.
The fort, which is now in process of construction, is
supposed to be one of great strength, and its position is
considered to be as commanding as could well be de-
sired. The water battery on the southerly extremity of
the island is of great advantage to the defences, con-
trolling, as it does, a large extent of flats, which are
very shoal except at the highest tides.
Southwest of the Governor's Island, and on the
south side of the ship channel, is a shoal projecting
from South Boston Point, called the Upper Middle.
This is a great impediment in the harbor, and is contin-
ually becoming more injurious to navigation, in conse-
quence of the immense quantity of gravel carried to it
from the great headlands of the islands in the outer har-
bor, which are continually washing away by the violence
of storms. These additions, though they do not raise
the height of the shoal, nevertheless increase its extent,
and diminish the width of the channel. It is hoped,
however, that the dredging contemplated in the work of
improving the harbor, may remove this barrier, which at
low tides interferes with the passage of large vessels of
unusually great depth of draught.
OHAPTEK XXXV.
CATASTKOPHE IN THE HAEBOE. APPLE AND SNAKE ISLANDS.
A Remarkable Catastrophe in the Harbor in 1817, the Destruction of the Can-
ton Packet • ■ • Slate Ledge • • • Bird Island Passage • ■ • Apple Island • • • For-
merly the Property of the Town ■ • • A Marine Eesidence ■ • ■ Owned by the
Hutchinsons and Mortimers • • • Condition of Apple Island in 1773 • • • Occu-
pied by William Marsh in 1814 • • • Purchased by him in 1830 • • • House burnt
in 1835 • ■ ■ Snake Island.
Peehaps it will be well, before getting down the harbor
so far as to be out of sight of the starting point, to re-
call the incidents of a well remembered catastrophe that
occun-ed " off stream," just a short distance from the
end of Long Wharf. Scarcely any one who was a boy
between forty-five and fifty years ago will ever forget
the great consternation the town was thrown into on
Artillery Election Day, in the year 1817. It appears
that the once princely merchants, James and Thomas
Handyside Perkins, — whose excellences are not yet
forgotten, though the former died on the first of August,
1822, at the age of sixty-one years, and the latter on the
tenth of January, 1854, having just entered his ninetieth
year, — were owners of a fine ship, called the Canton
Packet, whereof Thomas Proctor was master, and which
was of between three and four hundred tons burden,
and was employed in the India trade. As was custom-
ary in the days that are gone, as well as in the present
times, an ebony-colored personage, who should ofiiciate
in the necessary position of cook, and also in the respon-
454 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
sible character of ship's steward, was procured for the
contemplated voyage to the Isle of France and Canton ;
and for this purpose a young negro, nineteen years of
age, born in Philadelphia, and named "William Read,
was found and engaged. Although business was press-
ing, and the ship fast getting ready for sea, this individ-
ual, according to a custom that had become a rule as
strictly observed as the laws of the Medes and Persians,
was permitted to go ashore to enjoy the festivities of
General Election Day, which in those days had a sobri-
quet that need not be mentioned here, it not having
passed from memory, the day being one on which per-
sons of every kindred a,nd tongue, size, color, sex, and
avocation, had a perfect and full right to the liberties of
Boston Common. The uidulgences on this occasion
were so great, and the taste of liberty was such, that,
although the ship was cleared next day, on the twenty-
ninth of May, the fellow was determined to have another
taste of the same pleasures on the next Election day,
when the Common was usually appropriated to the use
of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and
the pale-faced nabobs and gentry of the town. Unfor-
tunately for the steward, the master of the stanch and
beautiful Chinaman and his crew had also resolved that
they would have that day for a good time, as they surely
had good right to do. This made the young man dis-
contented, sour, and ugly; and he came, consequently,
to a rash conclusion, — to blow up the ship. AU the
freight had been taken in, consisting of a valuable cargo,
upwards of four hundred thousand dollars in specie, and
among other things two casks of gunpowder. The
ship was consequently left in charge of the exasperated
steward; who, not having the fear of the law before
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 455
him, — for he had probably never read the New Eng-
land Primer, and more especially John Cotton's Milk
for Babes, — in a moment of desperation and madness
discharged a pistol into the powder, blew off the stern
of the ship, and himself up into the skies, distributing
his disjointed frame throughout the harbor j and as there
is no record of his burial, although some of the papers
of the day chronicle his death, his remains were prob-
ably never collected for interment. This rash act was
committed at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, when fortu-
nately the seamen of the United States Ship Independ-
ence were on board their vessel; and the cable of the
mangled packet was cut, and the vessel allowed to run
ashore on the flats, then lying north of Long Wharf,
and the remainder of the hull was saved. A ballad,
written in doggerel, issued by Coverly, was circulated
at the time. This affair was the origin of the famous
bywords of bygone days, "Who blew up the ship?"
which question was answered by the colored gentry,
in true Yankee style, "Who put out the moon?" allud-
ing to a famous exploit of the fire department, who
once dragged their engines to the end of the same
wharf to extiaguish what appeared to be a large fire, but
turned out to be only the rising of an extraordinarily
bright full moon on a somewhat hazy summer evening.
The usual dialogue used on old election days, in refer-
ence to these events, is too well known to require repe-
tition. Scarcely any of the surviving frequenters of the
Common 6n the holidays, in the times of the town, but
has a story in relation to the blowing up of the Canton
Packet.
Leaving on the right Slate Ledge, marked by a black
buoy (numbered 11), situated near the northerly edge of
456 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
South Boston Flats, and then pursuing a due easterly
course from Bird Island Shoal about one and a quarter
miles thi'ough Bird Island Passage, passing (on the left)
another buoy (No. 6, red) and a permanent beacon
standing on the easterly edge of the shoal, and on the
right a black buoy (numbered 1) near the northwesterly
termination of the flats of Governor's Island, and Apple
Island, a noted locality in the harbor, is reached. This
contains about ten acres of land, and is two and three-
quarters miles directly east of the end of Long Wharf,
and nearly a mile northeast of Governor's Island. The
island is round, gently rising from its shores to its
centre, and has a considerable show of trees upon it,
two of which have been the most prominent objects in
the harbor for many years, attracting the eye in the
daytime much more readily than the lighthouse on
Long Island Head. The flats which encompass it are
very extensive, and make its approach at low tide some-
what difficult. This small green spot in the harbor
very early fell vmder the jurisdiction of Boston, and in
the early days of the town was used, as most of the
other islands were, for pasturage of sheep and cattle;
but in later times, having a richer soil, and being less
exposed to the violence of the storms than the other
islands, it became desirable for a marine residence, and
as such was improved previous to the war of the Revo-
lution.
From being the property of the town, Apple Island
passed into private hands, and on the fifth of March,
1723-4, was sold by Hon. Thomas Hutchinson and his
wife Sarah (daughter of Hon. John Foster and Lydia
Turell, his wife), the parents of Governor Thomas
Hutchinson, the author of the History of Massachu-
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 457
setts, to Mr. Estes Hatch, sometime of Boston and Rox-
bury, together with the " housing, edifices and buildings
thereon," for the sum of £200. The executor of Mr.
Hatch sold it on the fifth of April, 1760, to Mr. James
Moi'timer, of Boston, tallow-chandler, for the sum of
£133 6s. 8d., describing it as " an island, situate, lying,
and being in the township of Boston, called and known
by the name of Apple Island, containing about nine
acres, with the flats thereto belonging." James Morti-
mer, above named, a native of Waterford, Ireland, died
on the eighteenth of August, 1773, at the age of sixty-
nine years, devising the island by will, dated the twenty-
seventh of May, 1765, one-half of the income of it to
his widow, Hannah, during her life, and the other half
to his brother Peter Mortimer, of Boston, mariner, with
the reversion of the whole at the decease of the above-
named widow. To give something of an idea of the
condition of the island at the time of Mr. James Mor-
timer's decease, the following extract is taken from his
will: "And I will that the lumber that is on Apple
Island with the boats and farm tools remain on said
island for the benefit of the same." In Mr. Morti-
mer's inventory, taken on the fourteenth of September
succeeding his death, are the following items : —
"Apple Island, so called in Boston Harbor,
with the buildings thereon, £200
About ten ton of hay, 15
An old mare, £6; mare colt 2
years old, £10, 16
A horse colt 10 weeks old, 3
A dray cart, 10s; a hand cart 10s, 1
A large boat and apparatus, with
cordage, £6; a small do., 12s, 6 12."
458 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
A provision was made in the wUl, that, ia case of the
death of Capt. Peter Mortimer before the widow of
James, the property should go to another brother,
PhiUp Mortimer, who was residing in Middletown, Con-
necticut. Mrs. Hannah Mortimer survived her husband
only three days, dying on the twenty-first of August,
1773, at the age of eighty-one years; so the estate fell
to Peter, and not to Philip. Strange to say, Peter out-
lived his sister-in-law only one day, dying on the
twenty-second of Axigust, being fifty-nine years of age;
but he lived suflS.ciently long to alienate the island from
the male line of the Mortimers. "What caused the
death of the three Mortimers just in the proper order
to make a -good title for Peter's heir-at-law is not
known to the writer, but the three old gravestones, now
to be seen standing in Copp's Hill Burial-Ground, attest
to the fact, undoubtedly to the great pleasure of the
then Mrs. Mary Mortimer, Peter's widow, who probably
erected them as proofs of her title to Apple Island, as
well as grateful memorials to the memory of her benefi-
cent relatives. Peter Mortimer, it appears, left a widow
Mary; for, before leaving his native country, he took to
wife Mary Wilcox; and on the day his sister-in-law
Hannah died, and he was sure that he was the legiti-
mate owner of the island, he made a will giving her all
his worldly substance, except two houses in Pish street,
which he gave to his niece, Ann Carnall, daughter of
his sister Katharine Carnall, of "Waterford, Ireland.
After the death of Peter, in due time his widow married
Daniel "Waters, securing the descent of the property in
the island to her brother Joseph Wilcox, of Waterford,
Ireland, and his heirs-at-law. Her husband dying,
Mrs. Waters executed a will on the fifth of April, 1794,
DEaCEIPTIO]Sr OP BOSTON. 459
devising her real estate, including the island, to her
brother, the above-named Joseph "Wilcox, and died on
the seventh of June, 1802, at the age of seventy-eight
years, and was buried with her first husband and his
hindred on Copp's Hill. This Mr, Wilcox, it appears,
married on the twenty-eighth of March, 1761, and had
an only child, Eobert, baptized at Waterford on the
thirteenth of September, 1788, who, on arriving at ma-
turity, became a mariner, as his father had done before
him, choosing ^orth Shields, in ^Northumberland, Eng-
land, as his place of residence when ashore. Thus the
real ownership of the island became vested in an Eng-
lishman, who knew very little about it, and probably
placed no great value to it, and consequently sufiered
the house to decay, and the trees to waste.
In this state of things, this romantic spot was se-
lected by an English gentleman by the name of W^il-
liam Marsh, as a place of residence; and in the fall of
the year 1814, at the close of the war, he placed his
family there. After making the fields smile and the
gardens rejoice, the first object of Mr. Marsh was to
find the legal owner of the territory which he occupied,
that he might become the lawful possessor of what he
deemed a modem Eden. In his search he was not suc-
cessful until he had striven many years. About the
year 1822, however, he obtained possession of the knowl-
edge of the person who appeared to be the owner, and
he made with him, on the eighth of October of the next
year, an agreement, by which he was to pay five hun-
dred and fifty dollars for the island, and become the
rightful owner of his much desired residence. So careful,
and yet so scrupulously honest was he in this transac-
tion, that he required the legal proofs of the identity of
460 TOPOGEAPHICAL AST) HISTOEICAL
Robert "Wilcox, the reputed owner. This evidence he
did not obtain until the fifteenth of January, 1830, a few
years before his decease, when the purchase money was
paid, and the deeds passed and recorded.
Mr. Marsh seems to have passed a happy and con-
tented life upon his island, secure from intrusion on ac-
count of its difficulty of approach, and enjoying the
position on account of the fertility of the soil and its
neighborhood to good fishing grounds, and fields for
sporting life. He died on the twenty-second of Novem-
ber, 1833, at the good old age of sixty-six years, and
was buried, according to his own request, on the western
slope of the hill upon his own island home, a large num-
ber of his Boston friends being present on the mournful
occasion. Many persons wUl undoubtedly remember his
faithful negro servant. Black Jack, who was so infa-
mously treated by some of the navy officers stationed in
the harbor; and the successful endeavors of the late
Samuel F. McCleary, Esq., father of the present excel-
lent city clerk, who took charge of his case, and re-
covered for him damages for the abuse.
Since the decease of Mr. Marsh, and the burning of
the house, which last event occurred on the evening of
the eleventh of l^ovember, 1835, the island has passed
into other hands, and has for the most part been out of
use. After a neglect of many years, the city purchased
the island on the twenty-first of May, 1867, paying to
Mr. Edward T. Marliave the sum of $3,750. It is not
now put to any useful or remunerative purpose, but is
held solely for the prevention of the removal of the
gravel and ballast stones which are found upon it. Oc-
casionally an old hulk is broken up and burned on its
fiats for the purpose of saving the iron and copper used
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 461
in its construction. There is no spot, however, in the
harbor, which, at the. present day, offers so strong an
invitation as this does to the romantic for a dehghtful
place as a marine rvTral residence, during the oftentimes
very sultry summer seasons.
About three-quarters of a mile northeast of Apple
Island, in the flats projecting from Pulling Point south-
erly into the harbor, and very nearly half a mile from
the mainland of the town of Winthrop, is a small island,
consisting chiefly of marshy ground, and containing not
more than three or four acres, having the name of
Snake Island. This is very irregular in shape, and
comparatively of little value. It is seldom visited, and
is very rarely mentioned; and were it not that it is
designated upon the charts of the harbor, it, would not
be worth the mention that has been given to it in
this connection.
OHAPTTCT?. XXXVI.
DEER ISLAND.
Deer Island and its Shape and Boundaries • • • New Quarantine Ground • • • Size
of Deer Island ■ • . Its Hills, Bluffs, and Ponds • • • Origin of its Name • • •
Island Granted to Boston in 163t • • • The Island in 1635 • • • Freezing of the
Harbor • • -Deer Island Supplying Firewood for the Inhabitants ... A Prison
for Swine and Goats • ■ • Deer Island Improved for the Maintenance of a
Free School • • • Occupied by John Euggle ■ ■ • Leased to Captain Edward
Gibbens, and subsequently to Elder Penn and John Oliver, and also to Ed-
ward Bendall • • • Leased to John Shaw and Sir Thomas Temple • •• Indian
Claim settled in 1685 • • • Samuel Shrimpton's Lease . • • Intolerant Act of Sir
Edmund Andros in 1689 ■••Town Offered Deer Island for the Erection of
Hospital or Pest House • • • The Origin of Quarantine in Boston Harbor • • •
City Institutions • . • Sea-Wall.
About one mile and a quarter soutlieast of Apple
Island, and four and a half miles due east of Long
wharf, lies Deer Island, being in form very much like
a "whale, with its head to the north, and its back to
the northeast. It is separated from Point Shirley, the
southerly promontory of the town of Winthrop, by
Shirley Gut, a passage, the narrowest part of which,
nearest the harbor, measures about three hundred and
twenty-five feet. On its northeast is the Bay, and on
its southeast the Broad Sound, which separates it from
Lovell's Island and the cluster of rocks and islands at
the mouth of the harbor. The main ship channel sepa-
rates it from Long Island Head and ]S"ix's Mate, both of
which are slightly less than a mile distant from it; and
on its southwest is the New Quarantine Ground, which
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 463
was established a,t the time the island was selected by
John P. Ober and Billings Briggs, Esquires, of the City
Government, for hospital accommodations, and placed
under the special charge of Dr. Joseph Moriarty in the
summer of 1847, when the ship fever raged so malig-
nantly, and subsequently under Dr. Henry G. Clark, tem-
porarily, he having declined a permanent appointment.
■ Deer Island is nearly a mUe in breadth. By an ac-
tual measurement, taken by James Slade, Esq., while
City Engineer, it appears that the island contains one
hundred and thirty-four acres of upland and ififty acres
of marsh, being one hundred and eighty-four acres in
all, besides a large amount of flats, more than equal in
extent to the upland and marsh. It has two hills and
four bliiffs, which are known by the following names:
!N^orth Head, East Head, and South Head (or Money
Head), situated as the names indicate. Graveyard Bluff,
a small projection on the southwesterly part of the island,
and Signal HUl in the -central part. The small eleva-
tion at the northerly part of the island, where the old
house of Major Ebenezer Thayer used to stand, has nev-
er been dignified by any special appellative. The South
Head took the name of Money Head in consequence of
the money-digging affair that occurred there some years
ago. I^'orth and south of Signal Hill are two small
fresh-water ponds, the northerly known as Ice Pond,
and the southerly as Cow Pond, — the former generally
suppl3dng the occupants of the island with ice for sum-
mer use, and the latter affording refreshing water for
the cattle.
Deer Island is very frequently mentioned in the old
records, both of the town of Boston and the Colony of
Massachusetts Bay; and occasionally the old historical
464 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAi
writers and journalists speak of it in connection with
other matters. It undoubtedly took its name from the
fact that deer formerly visited, and perhaps occupied, its
ancient groves, which have long since been cut down for
fuel or lumber. Mr. "William Wood, in his iNew Eng-
land's Prospect, printed in 1634, says that, " The chiefe
Hands which keepe out the Winde and the Sea from
disturbing the Harbours, are first Dears Hand, which
lies within a flight-shot of Pullin-point. This Hand is
so called, because of the Deare which often swimme
thither from the Maiue, when they are chased by the
Woolves: Some have killed sixteen Deare in a day
upon this Hand. The opposite shore is called Pullin-
point, because that is the usuall Channel Boats use to
passe thorow into the Bay; and the Tyde beiag very
strong, they are constrayned to goe a -shore, and hale
their Boats by the seasing, or roades, whereupon, it was
called Pullin-point." Mr. John Josselyn, in his account
of two voyages to !N"ew England, printed forty years
later, alludes briefly tcf the same facts.
On the first of April, 1634, this island, together with
Long Island and Hog Island, were granted in perpetu-
ity to Boston for the nominal rent of two pounds; and
this amount was reduced to four shillings, and Spectacle
Island thrown in besides, on the fourth of the subse-
quent March, when the original grant was confirmed by
the Colonial Legislature. Then terminated all the
right of the Colony to the island, and the Province and
Commonwealth have never set up any claim since to its
territory, but the ownership has remained vested suc-
cessively in the town and city of Boston.
The above are the earliest mentions found made con-
cerning Deer Island. The next learned of it is from the
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTOK. 465
journal of Governor John "Wintlirop, under date of Jan-
uary 1634-5, in the following words : " In the ende of
this monthe, 3 men had their boat froze vp at Bird
Hand, as they were eominge from Deare Iland, so as
they were compelled to lodge there all night; & in the
morning they came over the Ice to !N"odle's He, & thence
to Molten's Poiat in Charles towne, & thence over the
Ice, by Mr. Hoffe's, to Boston. At the same tyme 6
others were kept a weeke at the Governour's Garden ;
& in the ende gate with their boat to Mattapan Poihte ;
for, neer all that tyme, there was no open place betweene
the Garden & Boston, neither was there any passage at
Charles towne for 2 or 3 dayes, the winde about the 1^.
W. 3 weekes, w* muche snowe & extreme frost." The
object of this quotation is three-fold; namely, to give
the mention of Deer Island, to show that what is now
called Bird Island Shoal was then an island capable of
giving hospitality, and lastly to exhibit to the reader the
first chronicled account of the earliest known freezing
over of Boston Harbor. The harbor was frozen also
during the early part of the next month, a fact worthy
of being kept in remembrance, as February seems to
have been usually the favorite month for this occurrence.
The last three times the harbor was frozen over were
about the same season of the year, in 1844, 1856 and 1857.
At this time Deer Island appears to have been of no
special use to Boston, except for the inhabitants of the
town to procure firewood from; for on the twenty-eighth
of !N"ovember, 1636, an order was passed in town meet-
ing, as follows: "Also it is agreed y* y° Inhabitants
who doe want wood, shall have liberty to gett for their
vse, at Deare Island, so as y* they psently take & car-
rye away what they doe gett, & whatsoeftr they have
69
4:66 TOPOGRAPHICAL AKD HISTOEICAL
felled there to be at liberty for others to take away." If
good old Elder Leverett had known the mischief that
would ensue from this order, it is very questionable
whether he would have penned it in so handsome an
Old English letter upon the town records as he did on
this occasion; for now it is with great difficulty that
trees can be made to grow upon the island on accouiit
of the easterly sea winds which are so unpropitious to
their cultivation. A few willows and silver-leaf poplars,
of quite recent planting, seem only to have found root-
hold upon the soil.
At last, on the twenty-ninth of March, 1641, an
order was passed by the town authorizing that trespass-
ing swine, which should be suffered to roam about the
town insufficiently . yoked, and goats found without a
keeper, should be sentenced to Deer Island for a time.
But on the tenth of January, 1641-2, another order was
passed by the town, more in accordance with the way of
doing things now, in the following words: "It is or-
dered that Deare-Iland shall be improved for the main-
tenance of a free schoole for the Towne, and such other
occasions as y^ townsmen for the time being shall tliink
meet, the said schoole being sufficiently provided for."
Undoubtedly Mr. Daniel Maud, the successor of Mr.
Philemon Pormort, the first master of the Latin School,
received the benefit of this vote; but what the "other
occasions" were, and whether they were anything like
those which now occur annually and occasionally, is
entirely unknown. To give an idea of what the income
was from the island, it is only necessary to say, that by
the records it appears, that before the thirty -first of
January, 1641-2, John Ruggle had put up a building
upon the island, probably a pound for the swine and
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 467
goats, for which he was to receive the sum of £7 15s.
6d., and that an order was passed in town meeting "that
Capt. Gibones (who had undertaken it)," should pay
the money to Ruggle, and should let it, when " Capt.
Gibones should be repayed." As the town leased the
island on the thirtieth of December, 1644:, to James
Penn and John Oliver for three years, at the rate of
seven pounds a year, reqviiring the lessees to pay Capt.
Gibones the money he had paid Mr, Euggle, it is pre-
sumed that the school must have had an income during
the time the captain occupied it. At the same time the
island was leased to Elder Penn and Mr. Oliver, liberty
was granted to the inhabitants of the town to cut wood
upon it, provided that they carried it off, or set it on
heaps " that it may not be spoyled, nor hinder the feed
of cattell."
At the expiration of the last mentioned lease, the
island was let to Mr. Edward Bendall for the term of
seven years, at fourteeti pounds per annum, for the
school's use, in provision and clothing, reserving the
right for the inhabitants to cut wood for their own use,
"nott bringing a draught upon y° island"; and on the
twenty-sixth of February, 1648-9, the lease was ex-
tended so as to make up twenty-one years, he to leave
at the end of his term a supply of wood for the mainte-
nance of one family forever, and also what fruit trees he
should plant there. It appears also by the town records,
that on the twenty-seventh of April, 1655, Mr. Bendall
had not paid his rent, as the constable was ordered to
distrain for the rent due the town; and a month later
Mr. James Bill, a resident of the neighboring Point,
was debarred from cutting any more wood, as there only
remained enough for .a farm.
468 TOPOGRAPHICAL ANT> HISTORICAL
Subsequent to this, John Shaw got possession of
the lease of Deer Island, and assigned it to Sir Thomas
Temple, and the town confirmed it to him on the twenty-
third of February, 1662-3, for the term of thirty-one
years, for the same rent, fourteen pounds a year, for the
use of the free school, he not to fell any timber save
what shall be for building, fencing and firewood, on the
island, and at the end of the term he to yield up all the
buildings and fencing. On the twenty-eighth of the
subsequent September, the town passed a vote allowing
Sir Thomas Temple "to cleare the swamp on the said
island of all timber trees whatever, and allsoe what
other wode is vpon the said island excepting some
timber trees," and so, probably, came to an end all the
trees which formerly grew upon the island.
Subsequent to the last date, several of the Massachu-
setts Indians laid claim to Deer Island and other prop-
erty. This claim was met in a conciliatory manner by
the townsmen of Boston, who, on the eighteenth of
June, 1684, appointed Mr. Simon Lynde, an influential
person, to arrange with the Indians and purchase their
claiai; whereupon, on the nineteenth of March, 1684-5,
Charles Josias, alias Wampatuck (grandson of the fa-
mous Chickatabot) , and three other Indians, executed
a quitclaim to the selectmen of the town of the property
claimed, including the island, acknowledging that his
grandfather had, about fifty-five years previous, sold the
property in question to the English planters and set-
tlers. In this deed Deer Island is described as lying
about two leagues from Boston, between " Pudding Gut
and the Broad Sound," and containing one hundred and
sixty or two hundred acres of land, more or less. At
the same time another Indian, David, son and heir of
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 469
Sagamore George, relinquished the right which he had
claimed to Deer Island.
At this time, Mr." Samuel Shrimpton, an extensive
landholder, had become possessed of Sir Thomas Tem-
ple's lease, and on the twenty-fifth of May, soon after
the above described transaction, the town renewed the
lease on the former terms, for eighteen years from the
first of March, 1693-4, he having paid £19 to the sa-
chem Josiah and the other Indians for ratifying the
ancient grant of Chickatabot. ]S"ot long after this, in
1689, the intolerant and troublesome Sir Edmund An-
dros, who unrightfully held the position of Governor of
New England, caused writs to be issued against the
tenant, which the town determined to resist j and,
finally, the usurper having been seized and imprisoned,
and fortunately the revolution occurring in England, the
whole matter ceased, and the town and its tenant were
left in quiet possession of the island, which the town
has continued to hold, without further hindrance, until
the present time.
It would be of no special use to continue further the
list of the tenants of Deer Island. It is sufficient that
the island was improved in this way until the city took
possession of it, in the summer of 1847, for sanitary pur-
poses. One more quotation from the early records of
the town may, however, be interestiag, as it bears so
strong a resemblance to what actually took place ex-
actly one hundred and thirty years later. On the fif-
teenth of May, 1717, at a public meeting of the towns-
men, it was " Yoted, That the Selectmen be impowered
to Lease out a piece of Land on Dere Island not Ex-
ceeding one acre, for a term not exceeding ninety -nine
years, to be improved for the Erecting an Hospital or
470 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Pest House there for the reception & entertainm* of
sick persons coming from beyond the Sea and in order
to prevent the spreading of Infection." This was the
first attempt at quarantine in Boston harbor,- a project
which was not consummated untU the year 1737, as will
be mentioned hereafter in the description of Eainsford
Island.
Those conversant with city matters will remember
that, as early as the first of December, 1848, a portion
of the inmates of the House of Industry at South Bos-
ton were removed to the island, that a large brick build-
ing was erected at Deer Island previous to 1853, and
that the paupers of the city and commonwealth were
soon afterwards, previous to the twenty-fifth of Janu-
ary, 1854, removed to it, and it then became the House
of Industry. A subsequent change m the policy of the
State with reference to the maintenance of its paupers,
in 1854, relieved the city from a large part of its burden
in this respect; and the State poor were taken fi^om the
institution, and placed in the various almshouses provi-
ded for them by the Commonwealth. On the first of
July, 1858, the inmates of the House of Reformation,
and also of the Almshouse School connected with it,
wei 3 removed to the island, where they are now cared
for under the management of the Board of Directors
for Public Institutions. The institutions now on the
island are distinguished as the Almshouse, House of
Industry and House of Reformation. During the years
1868 and 1869, appropriations were made by the City
Council for the erection of a building for a farm house,
and another for the pauper girls. These were buUt in
the year 1869, and have remedied a great want that
existed in the department of public institutions. An
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 471
almshouse for the adult poor will undoubtedly soon be
erected on a site near the boys' and girls' schools, and
then the charitable institutions on the island will be
entirely disconnected with the reformatory.
A considerable portion of the easterly shore of this
island being much affected by the beating of the waves
in storms, a sea-wall has been erected there for its
better protection, and that of the harbor, which is much
injured by the washings from the bluffs of this and other
islands. So great is the wear from the headlands of
Deer Island, that an extensive bar has been created by
the above-named cause, extending a very considerable
distance from its northerly point towards Gut Plain
upon Point Shirley, and another, called Fawn Bar, from
its eastern head towards the ledge of rocks known as
the Graves, in an easterly direction.
Before commencing a description of the islands on
the southerly side of the harbor, it will be best to return
to the starting point, the end of Long Wharf, and take
a new line of departm'e, so as to get a glance of the
other features of the harbor, so necessary for a correct
knowledge of its intricacies.
CHAPTEE XXXVn.
CHANNELS, UPPBK MIDDLE, AND CASTLE ISLAND.
South Battery Point ■ • • Fort Point and Fort Point Cliannel ■ ■ • Cliart by Bon-
ner, 1714 • • • Dorchester Old Harbor ■ • • Dorchester Bay • • • Qnincy Bay • • •
Other small Bays • • ■ Glades Channel • • • Upper Middle Shoal • • • Castle
Island • • ■ Castle Island and its Boundaries • • • Ancient Fortifications • • •
Maverick's Fort • • • Fort Hill Fort • • • Attempt to locate a Fort in the
Harbor • • • Moving Fort • • • Fort at Castle Island undertaken, 1634 • • • Capt.
Johnson's Description of the Fort in 1654 • • • Capt. Richard Davenport • • •
Capt. Roger Clap • • • Captains of the Fort • • • Affair of Lieut. Morris • • •
Castle Island let to Capt. Gibbon in 1643 • • . Arrival of La Tour, 1643, and
Fright of the Inhabitants.
Leavktci again the easterly end of Long Wharf, the
reader will soon find himself in the stream of the main
ship channel; but before startiag down the harbor to
examine the islands on the southerly side of this chan-
nel, it will be well to take some little notice of other
matters of interest as they come ia due course. If he
turn his eyes to the southward, to the neighborhood of
Eowe's wharf, the next just south of India wharf, he
will see what was known in olden times as South
Battery, the site of the Old Sconce or South Battery of-
tentimes called Fort Point, in consequence of the ancient
fortification which stood upon Fort Hill, just inland of
it. Leading from South Bay, which lies between Boston
[N'eck, the Highlands, Dorchester and South Boston, and
probably originating from the small brooks which run
into this bay, is Fort Point Channel (not Pore Point, nor
Foure Points Channel, as it has been frequently mis-
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTOK. 473
called), which empties into the main ship channel. An
excellent manuscript chart of this channel, by John
Bonner in 1714, probably used in preparing his famous
plan of the town, published by Mr. Price in 1722, is pre-
served in the archives of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, and an exact copy of it has been printed for
the Society's published proceedings. South of South
Boston, which was formerly known as Dorchester
Point, is Old Harbor, separated by Savin Hill from Dor-
chester Bay, stiU farther south, and the recipient of the
waters of Neponset River j and to the southeast of this
bay, and separated from it by Squantum, an interesting
locality belonging to Quincy, is Quincy Bay, into which
Black's Creek and several small streams empty. Far-
ther on, east of this bay and Hough's Neck, is Quincy
Town Eiver Bay, into which "Weymouth Fore River
flows, having its origin in Monatoquot River, which in
its turn originates from the confluence of Blue Hill and
Cochato Rivers. East of these, Weymouth and Black
River, Hiugham Harbor and "Weare River connect with
Boston harbor.
The reader is now in a fair condition to proceed
down the harbor; therefore, following the main channel,
and pursuing a southeasterly course from the starting
point, and leaving to the left Bird Island Shoal and
Governor's Island, and Glades Channel running be-
tween them to Bird Island Passage, and also leaving at
the right the Upper Middle Shoal, he will find himself at
Castle Island, about two and one-half miles from the
point of departure. In form, this small island is quite
irregular, resembling as much as anything a shoulder
of pork, with the shank southward. At its north the
water is deep, but very shoal at its south on account of
474 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTORICAL
the flats. I^orth of it is Governor's Island, on which is
Fort Winthrop, less than a mile distant; northwest is
the Upper Middle Shoal; northeast, the Lower Middle
Shoal; east, President Koads; southeast. Spectacle Isl-
and; sonth, Thompson's Island, on which is the Farm
School for boys; and west. South Boston, about two-
thirds of a mile in distance. The island contains, by
estimation, about eighteen acres; and it has always been
retained as the property of Massachusetts, through its
Colonial and Provincial periods, until ceded by the Com-
monwealth, in the year 1798, to the United States, by an
act passed the twenty-fifth of June of that year.
The forefathers, whUe ia England, after they had
resolved to move the company to l!^ew England, among
their earliest considerations took coimsel about fortify-
ing the place to which they were about to go agaiust
hostUe encroachments. It therefore appears that at a
General Court of the Governor and Company, held at
the house of the Deputy Governor, on Thursday, the
fifteenth of October, 1629, for the purpose of settling
the trade ia IS^ew England upon transferring the govern-
ment thither, after long consideration and debate, it
was determined, among other important matters, " that
for the charge of ffortyficacons, the Companyes ioynt
stock to beare the' one halfe, and the planters to defray
the other, viz, for ordnance, munition, powder, &c: but
for labourers ia buUding fforts, &c, all men to bee em-
ployed in an equall pporcon, according to the nomb"
of men vpon the plantacon, and soe to continue vntil
such fitt and necessarie works bee finished."
Very soon after the settlement of Boston, the civil
authorities began to consider the same question. Mr.
Samuel Maverick protected hunself on lifoddle's Island
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 475
as early as the year 1630, by a small breastwork with
four guns; and Fort Hill, in Boston, had fortifications
built upon it as early as 1632 ; for on the third of Sep-
tember, 1634, Mr. John Samford was chosen cannoneer
for the fort at Boston, and an order was passed by the
General Court of the Colony, " That for two yeares ser-
vice that hee hath already done att the said ffort, & for
one yeare more hee shall doe, to be accompted from this
day, hee shall have allowed him out of the treasury the
sum of xxZ*."
The fortification on the peninsula not being consid-
ered sufficient, the question of erecting defences in the
harbor was soon mooted; and the first absolute move-
ment which led to the establishment of one at Castle
Island is thus chronicled by Governor John Winthrop
in his valuable journal, under date of the twenty-first
of February, 1632-3, in the following words: "The
Govern'' «fc 4 of the Assistants, with 3 of the Minist's,
& others, about 26 in aU, went in 3 boats to view
!N"antaskott, the winde "W., faire weather; but the winde
arose at I^. W. so strong, & extreme colde, that they
were kept there 2 nights, being forced to lodge vpon the
ground, in an open cottage vpon a little olde strawe,
which they pulled from the thatche. Their victualls
allso grew shorte, so as they were forced to eate muskles,
yet they were very weary, & came all safe home the 3 :
daye after, throughe the Lord's spec'Ue providence.
Vpon view of the place, it was agreed by all, that to
build a forte there would be of too great charge, & of
little vse; wherevpon the planting of that place was de-
ferred." "Whether or not the authorities thought best
to erect a regular fort is not known, but on the fourth
of March, 1633-4, the court voted, " a moveing fibrt to
476 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
bee builte, 40 flFoote longe & 21 flfoote wide for defence
of this colony," and for the purpose £144 and " 1100
four-inch plank" were "given and promised." "What
was accomplished by the last mentioned vote and sub-
scription remains unknown, although it appears that a
Mr. Stevens was to superintend the work for £10.
Whatever was done, it is certain that on the four-
teenth of the subsequent May, the Court appointed
Mr. Thomas Beecher, Mr. William Pieree and Eobert
Moulton a committee to treat with Mr. Stevens and
Mr. May hew about buUding it; and that is the last
that is known of the undertaking.
l^ot satisfied with the failures above recited, it ap-
pears that another party, consisting of very nearly the
same persons that went to !N'antasket, made another at-
tempt on the twenty-ninth of July, 1634, about a year
and a half later; for Mr. Winthrop relates as follows:
" The Govern'' & Council, & diverse of the Minrs, &
others, mett at Castle Hand, & there agreed vpon erect-
ing 2 platformes & one small fortification to secure them
bothe, &; for the present furtherance of it they agreed to
laye out 5U a man till a rate might be made at the next
Gen" Court. The Deputye, Roger Ludlow, was chosen
overseer of this worke." This committee did the busi-
ness, for, on the third of September following, the Gen-
eral Court ordered, " That there should be a plattforme
made on the north-east syde of Castle Ileland, & an house
built on the topp of the hill to defend the said platt-
forme;" and Captains John Underbill, Daniel Patrick,
John Mason, William Trask and IS'athaniel Turner, and
Lieutenants Eobert Feakes and Eiehard Morris were
chosen as a committee to fix upon the place for the fort
and lay out the work. To show its earnestness in this
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTOlSr. 477
endeavor, the General Court passed a vote on the fourth
of March, 1634-5, "That the ffort att Castle Iland,nowe
begun, shalbe fully pfected, the ordnance mounted, &
eurj other thing aboute it ffinished, before any other
ffortificacon be further proceeded in."
Captain Edward Johnson, of Woburn, in his "Won-
der-WorMng Providence of Sions Saviour," printed
in the year 1654, thus speaks of the fort on Castle
Island: —
"There was a castle built on an Island, upon the
passage into Massachusetts Bay, wholly built at first by
the country in general, but by reason the country af-
fords no lime, but what is burnt of oyster shels, it fell to
decay in a few years after, which made many of the
Towns that lay out of the defence thereof to desert it,
although their safety (under Grod), was much involved
in the constant repair and well managing thereof; here-
upon the next six Towns take upon them to rebuild it at
their proper cost and charges, the rest of the country
upon the finishing thereof gave them a small matter
toward it; upon this there was a captain ordained, and
put in possession thereof by the country, having a
yearly stipend allowed him and his souldiers, which he is
to keep in a constant readiness upon the Island, being
about eight acres of ground. The castle is built on the
northeast of the Island, upon a rising hill, very advanta-
geous to make many shot at such ships as shall offer to
enter the harbor without their good leave and liking;
the commander of it is one Captain Davenport, a man
approved for his faithfulness, courage, and skill; the
master cannoneer is an active engineer; also the castle
hath cost about four thousand pounds, yet are not this
poor pilgrim people weary of maintaining it in good re-
478 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEIOAL
pair; it is of very good use to awe any insolent persons,
that putting confidence in their ships and sails, shall
offer any injury to the people, or contemn their gov-
ernment, and they have certain signals of alarums
which suddenly spread through the whole country."
Captain Roger Clap, who commanded the fort
twenty-one years, from 1665 to 1686, gives the follow-
ing description of the fort previous to his leaving it: —
" I will inform you that God stirred up his poor ser-
vants to use means in their beginning for their preser-
vation; though a low and weak people, yet a wUling
people to lay out their estates for the defence of them-
selves and others. They having friends in divers places
who thought it best for our safety to buUd a fort upon
the island now called Castle-Island; at first they built a
castle with mud- walls, which stood divers years: First
Capt. Simkins was commander thereof, and after hina,
Lieut. Monish [Morris], for a little space. "WTien the
mud-walls faUed, it was built again with pine trees and
earth; and Capt. Davenport was commander. When
that decayed, which was within a little time, there was a
small castle built with brick walls, and had three rooms
in it; a dwelling room below, a lodging room over it, the
gun room over that, wherein stood six very good Saker
guns, and over it upon the top three lesser guns. All
the time of our weakness, God was pleased to give us
peace, until the wars with the Dutch in Charles H.'s
time. At that time our works were very weak, and in-
telligence came to us that Durother [De Ruithier], a
Dutch commander of a squadron of ships, was in the
"West-Indies, and did intend to visit us; whereupon our
Battery also was repaired, wherein are seven good guns.
But in the very time of this report, in July, 1665, God
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 479
was pleased to send a grievous storm of thunder &
lightening, which did some hurt at Boston, and struck
dead here at the Castle-Island that worthy renowned
Captain Richard Davenport; upon which the General
Court in Aug. 10th following, appointed another
[Roger Clap, himself] Captain in the room of him that
was slain. But behold God wrought for us; for al-
though Durother intended to come here, yet God by
contrary winds kept him out; so he went to iNewfound-
land, and did great spoil there. And again when
danger grew on us by reason of the late wars with
Holland, God permitted our Castle at that very time
to be burnt down; which was on the 21 st day of
March 1672-3 : But still God was pleased to keep this
place in safety; the Lord enlarge our hearts unto thank-
fulness."
Captam Clap's description may be correct in general,
but he certainly erred in his names of persons men-
tioned. The Lieutenant Monish, who, he says, suc-
ceeded Captain Simpkins; was Lieutenant Richard Mor-
ris, and he succeeded Captain Edward Gibbons on the
third of March, 1635-6, Gibbons having probably suc-
ceeded Captain !N"icholas Simpkins. By the Dutchman,
whom he called Durother, he probably meant De Rui-
thier, or De Ruiter, a noted naval commander of that
time.
The colonial records abound in votes for the im-
pressment of men to work on the fort, and on the third
of ^November, 1635-6, an order was passed by the Gen-
eral Court, requiring six towns, Dorchester, Roxbury,
Boston, ^Newton, "Watertown and Charlestown, to pro-
vide each two men weekly to work at the fort, and these
were to be paid out of the treasury of the colony.
480 TOPOGRAPHICAIi AND HISTOEICAL
These towns, though sometimes remiss, performed the
task required of them, and in due time the fort was
completed, and supplied with the proper ordnance,
munitions, and garrison. But this did not last long-
for the sham-built fort soon fell to decay, and the
General Court became discouraged about it.
From what has been said above, it would appear that
Captain Nicholas Simpkins was the commander of the
fort from the time it was built uutil 1635, when he gave
displeasure to the General Court by a remissness in his
accounts, and was removed and the place given to Lieu-
tenant Ildward Gibbons, who in his turn was dismissed
the next year, and Lieutenant Richard Morris appointed
to his place. Morris was not more successful than his
predecessors, for he fell into difl3.culty about the red
cross in the country's colors, as our fathers at that time
trained under, and gave allegiance to the English jack,
although Captain Endicott considered it heathenish;
and, not long after his appointment, giving support to
Mrs. Ann Hutchinson in her" theological quarrels, he
was disarmed in I^ovember, 1637, and banished from the
colony in September, 1638, to Kev. Mr. Wheelwright's
settlement at Exeter, "New Hampshire; and Captain
Eobert Sedgwick was ordered to take charge of the
castle in his stead, in June, 1641. In the interim, there
probably was no official commander.
During the administration of Lieutenant Morris, an
affair took place which so clearly illustrates the manner
of doing things in the olden time, that a narration of it
is taken from Governor "Winthrop's journal, as printed by
bis learned commentator, Hon. James Savage, the orig-
inal of this part of the journal having been destroyed by
fire : " Three ships arrived here from Ipswich with three
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 481
hundred and sixty passengers. The last being loath
to come to an anchor at Castle Island, though hailed by
the castle boat, and required, etc., the gunner made a
shot, intending to shoot before her for a warning, but
the powder in the touchhole being wet, and the ship
having fresh way with wind and tide, the shot took
place in the shrouds, and killed a passenger, an honest
man. The next day the governor charged an inquest,
and sent them aboard with two of the magistrates (one
of them being deputed coroner), to take view of the
dead body, and who, having all the evidence, etc., found
that he came to his death by the providence of God."
This verdict of the jury of inquest undoubtedly gave
great satisfaction to Lieutenant Morris and his gimner,
and perhaps to the staid townsmen of Boston; but it
probably proved of no great account to the poor fellow
who had been sent to his long home, or to the fellow-pas-
sengers, who were obliged to abide by it, and be thanks-
ful that they had escaped a similar providence.
On the twelfth of March, 1637-8, the fortification
gave so little promise to the Colonial Legislature that
the authorities came to the conclusion to abandon the
design, and therefore authorized a committee to remove
the ammunition therefrom, and dispose of what else they
deemed fit; but on the second of the May following, so
much of this determination was reconsidered as to al-
low private individuals to man and maintain the fort, if
they would satisfy the court within eight days that they
would do so. These undertakers must have done some-
thing, for they kept the fort along a few years, getting
at one time a hundred pounds from the colony, and at
another time two hundred and fifty pounds, this last
amount for building a house and repairing the batteries,
6X
482 TOPOGKAPHICAL AKD HISTORICAL
and also a grant to take wood from the islands in the
harbor, li^otwithstanding' these efforts, the fort went to
decay, insomuch that on the tenth of Maj, 1643, orders
were given for the removal, within two months, of the
ammunition and ordnance, which were to be distributed
to Charlestown, Cambridge and Ipswich, and a commit-
tee was appointed "to let the iland as they can yearly."
In this they succeeded, for on the seventh of September
following, " the Court gave Castle Hand & the house
there to Capt. Gibons, unlesse it bee implied to publiq
use for fortification at any time hereafter."
The inhabitants of Boston, as well as their Governor,
were very much alarmed, on the fourth of June, 1643,
by the arrival in the harbor of a ship of one himdred
and forty tons, having on board the same number of
persons. The Governor and his family were on their
island when Mr. La Tour came up the harbor in his
ship. The neighboring towns of Boston and Charles-
town betook them to their arms, and three shallops
with armed men went forth to meet the Governor,
and to guard him to his house in town. The Governor,
in his journal, says: "But here the Lord, gave us occa-
sion to notice our weakness, etc., for if La Tour had
been illminded towards us, he had such an opportunity
as we hope neither he nor any other shall ever have the
like again; for coming to our castle and saluting it,
there was none to answer him, for the last Court had
given orders to have the Castle-Island deserted, a great
part of the work being fallen down, &o., so. as he might
have taken all the ordnance there. Then having the
Governor and his family, and Captain Gibbon's wife,
etc., in his power, he might have gone and spoiled Bos-
ton, and having so many men ready, they might have
DBSCEIPTIOir OF BOSTON. 48^
taken two ships in the harbor, and gone away withoxit
danger or resistance." This fright produced a good
effect upon the inhabitants of the neighboring towns,
if it did not upon the General Court, and measures
were very soon afterwards taken for renewing the
fortifications at Castle Island, as will be seen in the
next chapter.
CHAPTEE XXXVin.
CASTLE ISLAND AKD POET INDEPENDENCE.
Castle Island continued • • • Restoration of the Castle in 1644- •• Six Towns to
Kepair it at their own Expense ■ • • Small Annual Allowance for its Mainte-
nance • • • Appropriation for securing Bird Island Passage • ■ • Lieut. Kichard
Davenport appointed Commander in 1645 • • • English Colors to be displayed
from the Castle, in 1651 • • • Small additional Fort erected in 1653 • • • Death
of Captain Davenport in 1665 • • . Appointment of Capt. Roger Clap • • • The
Castle burnt in 1673 • • • Immediately repaired • • • Resignation of Capt. Clap
In 1686, and Capt. John Pipon appointed In his place • • ■ Captain John Fair-
weather • • • Commanders during the Provincial Period • - • Castle William
built in 1701, by Col. Romer-.-Old Inscription ••• Pownal's Picture •••
Wharves built in 1720 • ■ • New Battery, 1735 • • • Governor Belcher's Pow-
wow • • • Form and Appearance of the Castle • ■ • Destruction of the Castle
in 1776 • • • Castle Rebuilt and called Fort Independence • • • Used for Convicts,
1785 to 1798 • • • Used as a State Prison, 1785 to 1805 • • • Island ceded to the
United States in 1798 • ■ • New Fort • • • Topography of the Island ■ • • Old
Block House, Shirley's Battery • • • Site of the Old Castle • • • The Mas-
sie Duel in 1817 • • • Old Memorial Stone • • • New Graveyard.
Iif consequence of the fright caused by the arrival of
La Tour in June, 1643, the inhabitants of Boston and
the neighboring towns began seriously to think of the
importance of having the Castle restored and garri-
soned; therefore certain men from each of the towns
were chosen to take the subject into consideration, and
for this purpose they held a meeting in Boston, where it
was proposed that, as the colony was weary of maintain-
ing the Castle, the neighboring towns should repair and
maintain the same at their own proper charge. But
here a new difficulty arose, as to how it could be done
DESCRIPTION Olf BOSTOK. 485
without giving offence to the Greneral Court, which had
ordered its abandonment. Fortunately, five of the
neighboring Indian Sachems, Wossamegon, IfTashowa-
non, Cutshamache, Mascanomet and Squa Sachim, about
that time came to the determination of vokintarily sub-
mitting themselves to Massachusetts, and of coming
under the colonial government, as Pumham and Sacono-
noco had done sometime before; and, therefore, it be-
came necessary to hold a session of the General Court.
Taking advantage of this necessity, six towns, Boston,
Charlestown, Eoxbury, Dorchester, Cambridge, and
Watertown, appointed a committee, who advised with
the governor and several of the magistrates, who en-
couraged them to go on, as did also the ministers and
elders of the churches, and they petitioned the General
Court to do something about repairing and carrying on the
fortification. But it was all to no purpose ; and they were
obliged to ask for liberty to do it at their own expense and
charge. Even in this laudable and liberal endeavor the
towns were seriously opposed by some of the country
members; for the Court thought that it would be too
great a charge, that it could afford but little help
against a strong enemy, and that if the fort were recon-
structed and manned, there was still another passage by
Bird Island which could be used by inimical vessels in
coming up to the town. ]^evertheless, after a great
deal of persuasion, the towns prevailed, and the follow-
ing order was passed by the General Court on the
seventh of March, 1643-4: "It is ordered, that it shalbee
lawfuU for the inhabitants of the townes w*4n the Bay,
or any convenient number of them, to erect a fortification
upon the Castle Hand, such as the psent time & their abil-
ities will give liberty and oportunity unto, & to repair
486 TOPOGEAPHICAL AUI> HISTOKICAL
the batteries there, or any of them, & to maintaine the
same, & to keepe such garrison there, as the necessary
defence of the place shall require; and that they, shall
have liberty to take back unto the said iland such ordi-
nance & amunition as was lately fetched from thence, or
so much thereof as they shall make use of, any former
order to the contrary notwithstanding." At the same
time the Court promised, that when- the towns should
have repaired the batteries and mounted the ordnance,
and also erected a fortification of stone, timber, and
earth, fifty feet square within the walls, which were to
be ten feet thick and of proportionable height, one hun-
dred pounds per annum should be allowed for the main-
tenance thereof. The Court also allowed another one
hundred pounds for securing the Bird Island Passage,
to be paid when both of the works should be completed.
Yet the worthy magistrates and deputies (or, as they
would probably be called now, senators and representa-
tives) further took order, "that notwithstanding the
charge to bee defrayed by the townes in the Bay, yet
the said fortifications to bee still accounted to belong to
the country, & this Cort, or the councell of warr, from
time to time to have the command & disposal thereof,
as occasion shall require;" and it was ordered that five
barrels of powder, and a proper proportion of shot,
should be allowed for the present to the Castle, to be
spent for the defence of the place and the ordinary sal-
utation of ships. The Court, however, condescended to
allow the towns to appoint a commander for the time
being, who was to observe the instructions which should
be given him with his commission. This document,
which is given in full in the old records, is. a rare bit of
composition, and gives a good idea of the old times.
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTON. 487
From what appears in the colonial records, the Court
undoubtedly signified to the towns a desire that Mr.
Thomas Coytmore, of Charlestown, should be appointed
the commander, as an order was passed on the twen-
tieth of May, 1644, there being as yet no person ap-
pointed for that place, that if the towns agreed to
appoint him, he should be accepted. But it does not
appear that he was appointed, as the position was
offered to Lieutenant Richard Davenport on the thir-
teenth of the following I^ovember, who accepted it sub-
sequently, and who was commissioned in July, 1645.
At the time of the appointment of Lieutenant Daven-
port, fifty pounds were appropriated for his house, and,
subsequently one hundred for the fort, and twenty for a
boat, and the five towns (omitting Watertown from the
six which undertook the repairing the fort) were to
support him. Before accepting the great responsibility.
Lieutenant Davenport proposed seventeen questions to
the Court, which were duly answered. He was told
that his garrison should consist of twenty men for eight
months in the summer season, and ten men for the win-
ter, commencing on the first of JN^ovember; that, as no
constant minister is to be expected, and the Lord hav-
ing furnished him with able gifts, he is to take care of
the garrison as his own family, only that one-half in
turns can come up to town on the Lord's day, and he
himself every other Sunday; that he should have one-
third of the island for his own use, one-tenth for his
gunner, and the remainder for the garrison; that he
should send a boat to, and examine, every ship that ap-
proached the town; that he could cut wood from any of
the islands not disposed of; and that all trading vessels
should have leave to come and depart unmolested.
488 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
The repairing of the Castle seems to have been at-
tended with great difficulty. The towns neighboring to
Boston, notwithstanding their great desire that the for-
tifications should be rebuilt, were very remiss in ftirnish-
ing their part of the labor and supplies, and were fre-
quently compelled to do their duty by the constables on
orders of the General Court. Boston was not quite so
remiss as the other towns, as on the tenth of January,
1643-4, it agreed to provide all the timber and lay it in
its form for the work on the top of the hill, in case the
other towns would go on with their shares of the work;
and at the same time, it offered inducements for ten fam-
iUes to reside upon Castle Island. But notwithstanding
all this, Boston was almost as negligent in its duties
towards the Castle as were the other towns, and fines
were exacted and impressments continually made for the
furtherance of the work. On the twenty-seventh of
October, 1648, Lovell's Island was granted in perpetuity
to the town of Charlestown, reserving a privilege for
the garrison of the Castle to cut off one-half of the
wood as should be needed for fuel and other economical
purposes upon the Island.
Things seem, after this, to have gone on at the Cas-
tle after a fashion, for the General Court passed the
following order on the seventh of May, 1651: "For-
asmuch as this Courte conceives the old English colours
now vsed by the Parliament of England to be a neces-
sary badge of distinction betwext the English & other
nations in all places of the world, till the State of Eng-
land shall alter the same, which we much desire, we
being of the same nation, hath therefore ordered, that
the Capt. of the Castle shall psently advance the af-
foresaid colours of England vppon the Castle vppou all
DESCBIPTION OP BOSTON. 489
necessary occasions." Even in this order the old
eiunity to the red cross shows itself, and a wish is ex-
pressed that the symbol may be changed; and probably
it was hoped that the new state of things, which had
arisen on the murder of King Charles, would bring it
about. Undoubtedly Captain Davenport had great re-
luctance in seeing the cross in the old standard waving
over his fort; for he, it will be remembered, was Endi-
cott's tool in cutting the cross out of the colors, while
he was an ensign at Salem, in 1634. Davenport perpet-
uated the remembrance of this affair in his family, by
naming a daughter, born shortly after, Truecross Da-
venport. About this time the armament and military
property of the fort consisted of six murtherers, two
boats and a drum, and two muskets and a suitable num-
ber of pikes for each soldier. Occasionally committees
were appointed to visit the Castle and make repairs; and
on the thirtieth of August, 1653, the General Court,
thinking it necessary that something must be done
towards repairing the fortifications, passed an order
that a small fort should be erected there, at a cost not
exceeding three hundred pounds. In October, 1654, a
committee reported that one of the boats had been lost
and the drum spoiled, but not owing to the neglect of
the captain. On the twenty-eighth of January, 1655-6,
the town of Boston lent the captain of the Castle a
great bell, probably the mate to the one lent to the un-
dertakers of the conduit in Union street, the same hav-
ing been given to the town by Captain Cromwell This
looks a little as though things were improving at the
Castle; and the idea is confirmed by the record that
another attempt to finish and equip the Castle was made
the next May.
62
490 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
In November, 1659, an order was passed by the
General Court to pay Captain Davenport £40 8s. 8d., a
bill of charge for repairing the new Castle. This may
have had reference to the small fort erected under the
order passed in August, 1653. Things went along at
the Castle pretty much in this manner until the fifteenth
of July, 1665, when Captain Davenport was killed by
lightning, he at the time lying upon his bed in a room
next to that which contained the powder. It appears
he had become fatigued with labor, and had lain down
to rest. Three or more people were injured at the time.
The command of the Castle was given by the General
Court to Captain Koger Clap on the tenth of August,
1665, who felt a great interest in it, and who strove by
every effort in his power to have it put in good order.
The Court provided for a constant garrison, which con-
sisted of a captain, lieutenant, and other officers, with
sixty-four able men completely armed, of which Boston
was to furnish thirty, Charlestown twelve, Dorchester
twelve, and Eoxbury ten.
On the twenty-first of March, 1672-3, the Castle,
being built chiefly of timber, took fire and was burnt;
the powder, and a portion of the officers' and soldiers'
property, alone were saved. The next day the magis-
trates of Boston and the neighboring towns issued
orders for a contribution of fifteen hundred pounds to
repair it as speedily as possible; and, on the seventh of
May following, the General Court " hauing considered
the awfnl hand of God. in the destruction of the Castle
by :Qer, doe order and appoint, 1st. That there be a
small regular peece erected where the old Castle stood
(not exceeding sixty fibote square within, or proportion-
able), for the defence of the battery & entertainment of
DE8CEIPTI0N OF BOSTON. 491
such garrison as may be meet. 21y. That the charge
hereof be defrayed by the late subscriptions & contribu-
tions to that end, & what shalbe wanting to their works
be levyed by a pubhcke rate, wherein those who haue
already contributed shall be considered according to
what is already declared. And for the management of
this aflfajre, and to conclude the matter & forme of the
sajd Castle, and bring the same to a compleat end as
speedily as may be, the honoured Governor John Leue-
ret, Esq., Captain W" Dauis, Cap* Roger Clap,
Cap* Thomas Savage, & M' John Richards are ap-
pointed & impowred as a committee; and what shallbe
concluded, from tjme to tjme, by any three of this com-
mittee the honoured Goiinor being one, it shallbe ac-
counted a valid act to the ends aforesaid." So attentive
were the committee, and so active and energetic were
the workmen, that on the seventh of October, 1674, an
opportunity occurred for the passage of the following
order by the General Court: "Itt is ordered, that the
whole Court on the morrow morning goe to the Castle
to vejw it, as it is now finisht, & see how the countrys
money is layd out therevpon, & that on the countrys
charge : which was donn." Here we begin to notice an
unmistakable approach to the modern way of doing
things. In May, 1678, an appropriation of £200 was
made towards repairs to the Castle. In May, 1679, an
inquiry having been made, it was reported that there
were twenty-three mounted guns above on the Castle
and seven below in the battery, and that there were want-
ing five small guns to cleare the curtains above. At
that time the whole garrison consisted of the captain
and gunner and four men, which, it would seem, was
rather a scanty number to manage the guns.
492 TOPOGKAPHICAi AND HISTOEICAL
In this condition the Castle remained until Captain
Clap gave up the charge of it, in 1686, being unwilling
to hold command under the usurper, Andros; and he
was succeeded by Captain John Pipon, who in his turn
was succeeded by Captain John Fairweather, on the
nineteenth of April, 1689. After the second charter,
known as the Province Charter, passed the seals in
1691, the Lieutenant-Governor (or Deputy-Governor,
as he was sometimes called) had the command of the
Castle. During Lieutenant-Governor Dummer's time
of service he claimed three servants, which during most
of the time he employed upon his farm at IsTewbury,
and claimed pay for them as soldiers, and required also
pay for their subsistence. This caused many disputes
with the colonial legislature, in which he got the worst,
as they were very sure to disallow all such charges
made by him. Once a year the Court usually passed an
appropriation for the pay of the Lieutenant-Governor,
" in consideration of his readiness at all times to serve
the Province." Probably the fortifications on Castle
Island remained without much of any change until the
year 1701, when the old works were demolished, and
new ones erected ia their place.
The new fort, constructed chiefly of brick, was built
in a very substantial manner by Colonel "WUliam Wolf-
gang Eomer, an engineer of much ability. He placed
over its entrance a white slab twenty-five inches square,
which bore the following inscription: —
Akno Decimo teetio Kegni WILHELMI
TEETH Mag : Beit : Fe : & Hib : Kegis
Invictissimi hoc MUNIMENTUM
(:ex ejus Komine Wilhelmi Castellum
IfUNCUPATUM :) FOTT tNCEPTtTM.
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 493
Anno Secundo Eegni ANT^M
Mag : Bbit : Te : & Hib : Kegin^
Seeenissim^ peefectum Annoq;
Domini M DCC III.
o Trihuno Wolfgango Wilhelmo
liomero Begiarum Majestatum
in Septentrionali America Architec-
to Militari primario constructum.
This maybe translated thus: "In the thirteenth year
of the reign of William the Third, most inyincible King
of Great Britain, France and Ireland, this fortification
(called Castle William, from his name) was under-
taken; and was finished in the second year of the reign
of the most serene Ann, Queen of Great Britain, France
and Ireland, and in the year of our Lord 1703.
"Built by Colonel William Wolfgang Komer, chief
military engineer to their royal majesties in North
America."
A portion of this instructive stone is now in a good
state of preservation (the right hand portion having
many years ago disappeared). The words Invictis-
simi, Wilhelmi Castellum, Serenisimce, MDCCIII,
were gilded, and the others were painted white. As
the thirteenth year of Eang William HI. occupied a
large portion of the year 1701, the rebuilding of the
Castle must have been commenced during that year. It
was constructed chiefiy of bricks, cemented together
with mortar made with lime obtained from burnt oyster
shells. A small part of the old wall has been retained
in constructing the rear portion of the present fortifica-
tion. Fort Independence; but as it has been covered
with large granite ashlers, the ancient relic is entirely
hidden from sight.
494 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
The old Castle of 1701 was very much injured by
the British troops, at the time they evacuated Boston,
on the seventeenth of March, 1776. A very good
drawing of it was made in 1757, by Governor Thomas
Pownal; and it is quite probable that, during the sev-
enty-five years of its standing under the British flag, it
experienced no material change. During its provincial
days, its history was merely a matter of detail, commit-
tees of the General Court being occasionally appointed
to visit it, and to make repairs. On one occasion (ia
1720) it was found necessary to do something for the
security of the east and west heads of the island, and
therefore a committee was appointed to visit the place,
and they reported on the fifteenth of l^ovember of that
year as follows: "We have reviewed the works and find
them well finished, and find it absolutely necessary that
the east and west heads be well secured by good sub-
stantial wharfis, and that there be new coverings for the
guns at the lower battery to be ready for service." The
report was accepted, and provision made to secure
the heads in the best and most effective manner, either
by wharves, or by drivbig in of spiles, to be filled up
with stones or otherwise, and strong white oak carriages
were ordered to be made for the guns. Early in the
year 1735 there was a proposition to build a new battery
at Castle William; and a committee appointed to visit
the island reported on the thirtieth of June, 1736, that
they found the works, as platforms, carriages, copings,
and all the wood-work, well done, but the brick-work
was not in good condition, as the mortar was soft, and,
not sticking to the brick or stone, much of it came out.
The new battery, then building, was one hundred and
fifty feet distant from the old work, at the end of the
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 495
island, and was to be joined to the main fort by a plat-
form and palisades. The Province Records abound in
orders for the appointment of committees to visit the
Castle; and on one occasion (in 1732) the governor,
Jonathan Belcher, took several sachems of the Cagna-
waga Indians and a number of gentlemen to see the
Castle; and when the Lieutenant-Governor, Spencer
Phipps, sent his bUl for the entertainment provided for
the company, and for several other committees, the
Court refused payment of it, "for that it was not
lodged within the time prescribed by law."
If Governor PownaFs picture of the Castle is cor-
rect, that which stood during the provincial years must
have been quadrangular in form, although some old
charts exhibit a pentagonal plan. The buildings had
the appearance of having been two stories in height,
with large windows. In connection with these was a
large chimney, which was blown down on the twenty-
third of October, 1761. A later view, which exhibits
the star-spangled banner floating from the buUding, has
a beacon-pole standing on the easterly part of the hUl.
It has been mentioned that the British left the town
on the seventeenth of March, 1776, and commenced
their devastations upon the Castle at that time; but it
does not appear that they accomplished their work and
left the harbor for several days, as a diarist states that
on the twenty-second of March, five days later, Castle
William was burnt to ashes and destroyed. After this
the provincial forces took possession of the fort, and re-
paired it as well as could be then done. Its name was
changed to Fort Independence on the seventh of De-
cember, 1797, President John Adams being present on
the occasion. By an act of the General Court of the
496 TOPOGBAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
Commonwealth, passed on the fourteenth of March,
1785, the Castle was appointed a place of confinement
for thieves and other convicts to hard lahor, an act
which became inoperative on the twenty-fifth of June,
1798, when the State ceded the jurisdiction of the island
to the United States. By an act passed the first of Ifo-
vember, 1785, aU persons under sentence to hard labor
were ordered to be removed there, and a provision was
made in the act ceding the island to the United States,
that this class of prisoners should be allowed to be kept
there with a sufficient guard; and this condition of
things remained until the State Prison in Charlestown
was built, in 1805. "Within a few years a very conven-
ient and substantial stone fort has been erected on the
site of old Castle William, which, with the aid of
Fort "Winthrop, is supposed to completely command the
approach of the inner harbor by means of the main ship
channel.
Previous to the war of the Revolution, there stood
at the northwesterly part of Castle Island, near what
was called the "West Head, a block house, which was
used by the officers of the garrison; and just south of
it, at the extreme westerly part of the island, was the
wharf, which was approached from Dorchester Point by
small vessels. The Old Block House (so called to dis-
tinguish it from the one of more modem date), which
had been the residence of former officers, and which in
later times, on a peace establishment, had been used by
the soldiers of the garrison, was situated on a point at
the southern extremity. A battery of some consider-
able force, called Shirley's Battery, was located on the
northeastern side, directly above East Head and its two
small wharves, and fronted Point Shirley, commanding
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 497
Pulling Point Gut. The Castle, built between the years
1701 and 1703, called Castle "William, stood on the top-
of the hill between East and "West Heads, the site of the
former fort, which had been called at the commencement
of the provincial government. Fort William and Mary,
in honor of the Prince of Orange and his royal spouse,
and as nearly as possible where the present Fort Inde-
pendence now stands good sentinel. The whole island
may well be said to be situated on Dorchester or South
Boston Flats, as at low tide the water is very shoal on
all its sides except where it touches the main ship chan-
nel on the northeasterly side.
Castle Island has its reminiscences, some of which
are not of a very pleasant character j for in its day it
has been the Bladensburg of Boston, duels having been
fought there. A memorial of one of these unfortunate
occasions can now be seen standing on the glacis of the
fort, a short distance north of the West Battery. A small
monument of white marble bears inscriptions which tell
their own story. The following is on the south panel:
Near this spot
on the 25th, Deer, 1817,
fell
Lieut. Robert P. Massie,
Aged 21 years.
On the west are the following lines : —
Here honour comes, a Pilgrim gray.
To' deck the turf, that wraps his clay.
On the north panel : —
Beneath this stone
are deposited
the remains of
Lieut. Egbert Y. Massie,
of the
TJ. S. Regt. of Light Artillery.
63
498 DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON.
On the west: —
The officers of the TJ. S.
Eegiment of Lt. Art'y
erected this monument '- .
as a testimony of their respect
& friendship for an
amiable man
&
Gallant Officer.
A memorial of older date, the most ancient now to
be found upon the island, may be seen on the green, a
short distance west of the west face of the fort. It is a
slate headstone, and bears these words :
Here lyes the Body of
Mr Edward Pursley.
He departed this life
Aug. 31st 1767
Aged 60 years
and 4 mouths.
It is much to be regretted that no memorials can be
found of the old commanders of the fort. Roger Clap,
it is well known, was buried in the Chapel Burjdng
Ground, but the last resting-places of the others are not
known. One noted provincial captain, Lieutenant-Cap-
tain John Larrabe, of famous memory, died on the elev-
enth of February, 1762, aged seventy-six years.
Just west of the gravestone of Edward Pursley is a
modern graveyard, quite small. This contains no in-
scription bearing date previous to the year 1850.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THOMPSON'S, MOON. AND HALF-MOON ISLANDS.
Upper Middle Shoal • • • Main Ship Channel • • • Seven Feet Channel • • • PresI-^
dent's Boads • • • Lower Middle •'• • Thompson's Island • • • Buoys • ■ ■ Glades
Channel • • • Dimensions and Position of Thompson's Island • • • Muscle Bank
• • • Lyman's Grove • ■ • Fantastic Form of Thompson's Island • ■ ■ History of
the Island • • • Appropriated for School Purposes . . • Claim of John Thomp-
son, in 1648 • • • Standish's Visit in 1621 • • • Indian Claim, 1654 • • • Island set-
tled by David Thompson in 1626 • • -Squantum ■ • • Boston Asylum and Farm
School • • • Island annexed to Boston in 1834 • • • Moon Island • • • Mennens
Moone ... . Form of -Moon Island . • • Half-Moon Island.
Taktistg departure from Fort Independence, and pro-
ceeding in an easterly direction, leaving behind the Up-
per Middle Shoal, with the Main Ship Channel on its
north side, and on its south what used to be a channel
bearing the name of Seven Feet Channel, — for the tide
that left the Upper Middle only three feet below the
surface of the water also left this old channel seven
feet deep, — the reader will come into President's Road
(or Roads), which in the olden time was called the
King's Road, exactly north of which is the Lower
Middle, a gravelly, rocky shoal, which is sometimes ex-
posed to view. Having advanced about three-quarters
of a mile, and then turning to the southwest and pursu-
ing a course for about a mile and a half, he will arrive
at the wharf situated on the northwest part of Thomp-
son's Island.
On coming down the harbor thus far, several buoys
have been noticed floating in the stream. It will be
500 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAIi
well to remember, that of these, the Eed Buoy No. 6,
and the beacon just north of it, are near the most shoal
part of the remnants of the ancient Bird Island, between
which and the Black Buoy ^o. 1 (at the northerly
point of the flats of Governor's Island) lies Glades
Channel; Black Buoy IS'o. 9, which is passed at the
right, bounds the Upper Middle; while the Red Buoy
]^o. 12, at the left, warns from the flats of Governor's
Island, as do !N"os. 10 and 8 (both red) , also on the left,
from the Lower Middle; and Black Buoy l^o. 7 is the
turning point for Thompson's Island wharf.
Thompson's Island is about one mile in length from
northeast to southwest, and about one-third of a mile in
width, and contains about one hundred and forty acres
of land, suitable for agricultural purposes. It is not far
from half a mile north of Squantum, a well-known
promontory of Iforth Quincy, which is about seven
miles from Boston by the usually travelled road; but by
water it is about three mUes from Long wharf. North-
west of the island is a large shoal, called Muscle Bank,
which separates it from South Boston Point, and also
from Castle Island, a little over a mUe at its north;
Spectacle Island hes northeast. Long Island east. Moon
Island southeast, Squantum south, and Savin Hill, in
Dorchester, a mile and a half due west of it. The sur-
face is gently rising, forming two eminences, which, in
reference to their position, are called East and "West
Heads; and between these, on the southeasterly side, is
a cove, and on the southwesterly a salt-water pond of
several acres, into and from which once flowed a creek,
that in ancient times was dignified by the name of river.
Thompson's Island Bar, which projects at the southern
extreme of the island about a quarter of a mile towards
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 501
Squantum, has been long a noted locality, furnishing
delicious clams, which our fathers used to cook beneath
an old sycamore tree, which has shared the fate of its
kindred. Not far from this bar, and upon the West
Head, is a grove of trees, planted about thirty years ago
by the late Hon. Theodore Lyman, and upon this island
are many flourishing fruit trees, which bear an abun-
dance of choice pears and other fruit.
The form of this island, as shown on the charts of
the harbor, is very much like that of a young unfledged
chicken looMng towards the east, the northeasterly part
(or East Head) representing the head and bill of the
bird, and the bar, which extends from the southerly part
towards Squantum, the legs and feet. The portion of
the island where the wharf is situated forms the back.
By keeping this fanciful form in mind, the figure of the
island will be remembered. It should not be forgotten
by those who visit this pleasant spot, that the deep wa-
ter is on its north and westerly sides, while very shoal
flats lie to its east and south.
The first mention of this island is found in the Co-
lonial Records of Massachusetts, under date of the
fourth of March, 1634-5, in the following words:
" Tompson's Iland is graunted to the inhabitants of
Dorchest" to enioy to them, their heires & successors,
w"'* shall inhabite there, foreuer, payeing the yearely
rent of xijtZ to the tresurer for the time being." In con-
sequence of this grant by the General Court of the col-
ony, the town of Dorchester voted, on the twentieth of
May, 1639, that a rent of twenty pounds a year should
be charged for the island, to be paid by the tenants
toward the maintenance of a school in Dorchester; this
rent of twenty pounds " to bee pajd to such a schoole-
502 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
master as shall vndertake to teach English, Latine, and
other tongues, and also writing." The schoolmaster
was to be chosen from time to time by the freemen, but -
it was left to the discretion of the Elders and the Seven-
men for the time being to decide " whether maydes
shalbe taught w**" the boyes or not." So it seems that
the good people of Dorchester early provided for
schools where the really solid branches should be
taught, and also had an eye to the propriety of " mixed
schools," as they are termed nowadays. It appears
that Eev. Mr. Thomas Waterhouse had the honor of
being the first person to enjoy this bountiful provision
of the town, and even he had liberty to teach the
writing as he could conveniently. The difficulty of col-
lecting rent, however, induced the town, on the seventh
of February, 1641-2, to provide that there should be
but ten tenants upon the island at any one time. These
halcyon days, however, did not last forever, for a Mr.
John Thomson, son and heir of the David Thomson
from whom the island derived its name, made claim to it
in 1648, and the town lost it, as will be seen from the fol-
lowing extract from the Colony Records, under date of
the tenth of May, 1648 : " Forasmuch as it appeares to
this Corte, upon the petition of M"' John Thomson, sonn
& heire of David Thomson, deceased, that the said David,
in or about the yeare 1626, did take actuall possession
of an iland in the Massachusetts Bay, called Thomson's
Hand, & then being vacuum domicilium, & before the
patent granted to us of the Massachusets Bay, & did
erect there the forme of an habitation, & dying soone
after, leaving the petioS an infant, who so soone as he
came to age, did make his claim e formerly, & now
againe, by his said petition, this Corte, consid^ng the
•DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 503
pi'eraises, & not willing to deprive any of their lawfull
right & possession, or to prmit any piudice to come to
the petitiofl in the time of his non age, do hereby
graunt the said iland, called Thomson's Hand, to the
said John Thomson & his heires forever, to- belong to
this jurisdiction, & to be und"" the gov'nment & lawes
thereof." The General Court, however, did not take this
island from the jurisdiction of Dorchester, but allowed
it to remain under it, where it had been since 1634, to-
gether with the neighboring island called Moon Island.
The Dorchester people bore the loss of their island with
Christian fortitude, and in October, 1648, petitioned for
another island instead of it; whereupon the Court ex-
pressed a T^illingness to answer their petition "when
the towne psents that w** is fit to be given." The
town, not satisfied with the result of the petition, tried
again to get the island restored by law, but failed in the
attempt.
When Mr. John Thomson made his defence against
the renewed claim of Dorchester to the island, in 1650,
he brought in evidence certain affidavits of William Tre-
vore, William Blaxton, Miles Standish, and the Saga-
more of Agawam, all eminent persons in their way.
These documents, copies of which are preserved, make it
appear that early after the settlement of Plymouth,
Captain Standish and others, among whom was William
Trevore, a sailor, who came over in the May Flower, in
1620, visited Boston harbor in September, 1621, and at
that time Trevore took possession of the island, under
the name of Island of Trevor, for Mr. David Thomson,
.then of London; that Mr. Thomson obtained a grant
of the land by patent before the arrival of the Massa-
chusetts Company; that Mr. Blaxton, who is well
504 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
known as the reputed first European resident upon the
pemnsular part of Boston, knew Mr. David Thomson
personally, and was acquainted with the location of the
island and its usej that it had what was called a harbor,
and that hogs were pastured upon it; that there was at
the time of the visit no evidence that Indians had ever
dwelt upon it or cultivated its soil ; and that it had
never been claimed by any Indian except by an old Dor-
chester Indian about the year 1648. The river is also
alluded to by the Sagamore. Either the Sagamore was
very uncertain, or his memory treacherous, or else he
deposed to what he had not read; for certainly his testi-
mony is in some respects very far from the trath. But
he gives the reason why Mr. Thomson liked the island,
— because of the small river; and it may be inferred
that the true reason is given by Trevore and the Indian
why Mr. Thomson so early left Piscataqua and stopped a
while upon this island in the harbor, — because he liked
it, and had a grant of it. On the eighteenth of Oc-
tober, 1659, the inhabitants petitioned for a grant of a
thousand acres in lieu of the island; and on the twelfth
of [N^ovember following, the Court grants their request,
the said land to be laid out where they can find it, they
improving it for the benefit of their free school. The
land finally obtained by Dorchester was part of the
present township of Lunenburg.
Although Mr. John Thomson got possession of his
island from the Dorchester people, another claimant, in
the shape of an Indian, named Winnuequassam, laid
claim to it in November, 1654, and had liberty of trial
granted him; but he failed in proving his right, and the
estate in the island remained to Mr. Thomson and his
heirs.
DESCEIPTION or BOSTOjST. 505
Mr. Thomson probably settled upon the island dur-
ing the year 1626, for Gov. Bradford, in his history of
Plymouth Plantation, under date of 1626, speaks of
" Mr. David Thomson who lived at Piscataqua," and the
Colonial Records of Massachusetts mention him as a
resident of the island the same year. He had been sent
out by Sir Fernando Gorges iu 1623, and first set down
at Piscataqua; but being discontented, it is presumed
that he removed to Boston harbor about the time above
alluded to. He is supposed to have died on this island
some time during the year 1628, leaving. an only son
John, an infant, who inherited his estate, which also
included the neck of land pertaining to Quiney, now
called Squantum, — perhaps from Squanto (or Tisquan-
tum), who was one of the party with Captain Standish
who visited the island in September, 1621, — a place
much noted during the early part of the present century
for the Squantum Feasts held there, not only by the fast
young men of the time, but also by the staid and re-
spectable old gentlemen of Boston and the neighboring
towns. Until the second of May, 1855, Squantum,
though south of the !N'eponset River, was part of the
town of Dorchester; but, at the above-mentioned date,
it was set ofi" from Dorchester, and annexed to Quiney.
At extreme low tides, the water is so shallow between
Squantum and Thompson's Island Bar that a person
may cross from the main land at the Squaw Rock (for-
merly called Chapel Rock) to the island.
This island has always been private property since
the time of the Thomsons, and used for purposes con-
nected with agriculture. In 1834, it was purchased for
$6,000, by the proprietors of the Boston Farm School,
an institution incorporated on the nineteenth of !N'ovem-
•64
506 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
ber, 1833. This society immediately erected a substan-
tial building, 105 by 36 feet, with a central front projec-
tion of 39 by 25 feet, under the immediate supervision
of the late John D. "Williams, Esq., of this city, who felt
a great interest in the charitable undertaking. On the
fifth of March, 1835, this institution was united with the
Boston Asylum for Indigent Boys, which had been in-
corporated on the twenty-fourth of February, 1814, the
united institutions taking the name of the Boston Asy-
lum and Farm School for Indigent Boys. The island
having become appropriated for uses connected with the
city of Boston, an act of the legislature was passed on
the twenty-fifth of March, 1834, setting it off from Dor-
chester, with which it had been connected two hundred
years, and annexing it to Boston so long as it should be
used for the purposes of a farm school or other charita-
ble purposes J and a provision was made in the same act
that nothing in it should destroy or affect any lawful
right that the inhabitants of Dorchester might have of
digging and taking clams on the banks of said island,
evidently showing that its flats had not lost their value
in respect to the famous Hfew England shell-fish.
Moon Island, or Mennen's Moon, as it was called in
ancient times, together with Squantum, was placed
under the jurisdiction of Dorchester by the expressive
order passed at the General Court of Elections held the
second of June, 1641: "Squantum's ]S"eck & Mennens
Moone are layd to Dorchester." The Moon Island, or
Moon Head, as it is sometimes designated, contains
about twenty acres of land, and has been used from time
immemorial for pasturage; it is connected at very low
water with Squantum by two bars. The associations
connected with this island are such as have been men-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 507
tioned when speaking of some of the other islands,
namely, as furnishing to excursion and pleasure parties
comfortable places for cooking.
Moon Island is one of the most marked objects in
the southerly part of the harbor, on account of the high
bluff which it presents on its northerly side. In form
on the charts, it looks very much like a leg of venison
with its shank pointing westerly as a bar towards
Squantum. Its proper approach is on its southerly
shore.
About two miles south of Moon Island is Half-Moon
Island, lying in the flats a short distance from the north-
erly shore of Quincy. It resembles in form half of a
ring, the convex part north; hence the derivation of its
name from the moon, as presented to view in its first
or last quarter.
CHAPTER XL.
THE BACK WAT AND SPECTACLE ISLAND.
Form and Position of Spectacle Island • • • Sculpin Ledge • • • The Back Way,
or Western Passage • • • Size of the Island • • ■ First mentioned in 1635 • • •
Granted to Boston for the Benefit of the Free School • • • Formerly covered
■with Wood • • • Laid out for the Planters in 1649 ■ • • Relinquished to the Plant-
ers in 1667 . . . Purchased by Thomas Bill ■ • ■ Sold to Samuel Bill in 1681 • • •
Indian Claim and Release in 1684 • • ■ In Possession of Samuel Bill, Jr. • ■ •
Sold to Richard Bill in 1730 ••• First Quarantine Establishment in Boston
Harbor • • • First Attempt at Squantum Neck • • • Deer Island offered by the
Town ■ ■ ■ Part of Spectacle Island purchased, 1717 • • • Quarantine Act in
1710 •• • Rainsford Island purchased by the Province in 1736, and Quarantine
on Spectacle Island given up in 1739- ■ • Island sold to Edward Bromfleld in
1742 • • ■ Condition of the Island in 1742 • • • Use of the Island in late Years.
EETUENEsra from Thompson's Island about a mile in a
northeasterly direction towards President Koads, and
passing one half a mile in an easterly course, the reader
will come to a peculiarly shaped island, called Spectacle
Island, from its remarkable resemblance to a pair of
spectacles, it being formed of two peninsular portions
connected together by a short bar, which is covered with
water at high tides. It lies between Thompson's Island
west, and Long Island east, being distant about three-
quarters of a mile from the former, and about one imle
from the latter. Between it and the southeasterly point
of Long Island lies Sculpin Ledge, the easterly part of
which has a Red Buoy, l^o. 2, to warn the boatman
of its dangerous hidden rocks. Between this island
and' ledge on the northeast, and Thompson's and Moon
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 509
Islands on the southwest, is the Back "Way, or "Western
Passage, throvTgh which the course from Boston is south-
southeast. The bluff on the northerly part of Spectacle
Island, and the high land upon its southerly portion, are
designated generally as its N'orth and Sovith Heads.
Each of these parts can be approached on their west-
erly side, where small wharves have been built by the
owners of the island for their own use, and for the ac-
commodation of the numerous visitors to its hospitable
shores. By the old deeds of conveyance and by estima-
tion, it is supposed to contain about sixty acres of land,
equally divided into two parts for the two peninsulas.
The first mention of this noted location in the rec-
ords is on the fourth of March, 1634-5, when, together
with Deer Island, Hog Island, and Long Island, it was
granted to the town of Boston, for the yearly rent of
four shillings for the four islands, which may be called
one shilling a piece for each of them. Very soon after
it came into the possession of the town, it was allotted
to the different inhabitants, who paid a small annual
rent, to inure to the benefit of the free school. At this
time the island was well covered with wood; for Gov-
ernor "Winthrop relates, that on the thirteenth of Jan-
uary, 1637-8, about thirty persons of Boston went out
on a fair day to Spectacle Islaiid to cut wood, the town
being in great want thereof. The next night the wind
rose very high at the northeast, with snow, and after-
wards at the northwest for two days, and it was so cold
that the harbor was frozen over, except a small channel.
These thirty adventurers met with hard luck, for of their
number, twelve could get no farther home than the Gov-
ernor's Island, seven were carried in the ice in a small
skiff, through Broad Sound to the Brewsters, where
510 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
they had to stay two days without food and fire, and
g-et home by the way of Pulling Point, and many of the
others, after detention, had their limbs frozen, and one
of them died.
In 1649, the town began to take measures for grant-
ing the land at the island to planters for perpetuity,
reserving the exaction of a small annual rent of about
sixpence an acre for the benefit of the free school; and
on the nineteenth of April of that year, ten persons
" bind themselves and their successors to pay sixpence
an acre p yeare for their land at Spectacle Hand, for-
euer to y® use of the schole, y* soe it maye be proprietye
to them for euer, and they are to bring in their pay to
the townes treasurer the first day of February for eft
or else there land is forfeit into the townes dispossing."
These persons did not pay their rent as promptly as they
should, and some of them conveyed their rights to others,
insomuch that there were large arrearages due; there-
fore an order was passed in town meeting, in 1655, of a
compulsory character, and the treasurer was authorized
to levy and collect by help of the constable. It was not,
however, until the eleventh of March, 1666-7, that the
town relinquished all its right in the island to the plant-
ers. This it did at that time, and made void the agree-
ment about the annual rent of sixpence an acre for the
benefit of the school, on condition that the back rent
should be paid up in full to that date. This was un-
doubtedly done; for just previous to this last date, Mr.
Thomas Bill, a lighterman, began to purchase up the
rights of the several owners ; and when he had nearly
acquired the whole island he sold his thirty-five acres of
it, on the twenty-fifth of January, 1680-1, to his son
Samuel Bill, a butcher, who had previously purchased
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 511
five acres of Mr. John Salter (part of his inheritance
from his father William, a mariner), and also other parts
of several persons. Thus Mr. Samuel Bill became, as
he thought, owner of the whole island. But here, as in
other like cases, a pretended prior Indian claim turned
up, and had to be quieted. It appears that the new
claimant was Josiah, the son and heir of Josiah, other-
wise called Wampatuck, late sachem of the Massachu-
setts country. This distinguished individual says, in
the language of the deed of release, where he uses the
first person I, "for divers good causes and considera-
tions me thereunto moving, & in particular for and in
consideration of money to me in hand paid, before the
ensealing of this deed, by Samuel Bill, of Boston,
butcher, have with y* knowledge and consent of my
wise men and councillors, "William Ahaton, Sen' "Wil-
liam Ahaton, Jun"^ & Robert Momentaug, given,
granted, sold, enfeoffed and confirmed, and by these
presents do fully, freely and absolutely give, grant, sell,
enfeoffe, convey and confirme unto the s^ Samuel Bill
his heires & assignes for ever one certain Island scituate
in the Massachusetts Bay, commonly known and called
by the name of Spectacle Island, in the present posses-
sion of the same Bill, with all rights, privileges and
appurtenances thereunto in any wise appertaining &;
belonging." The Indian covenants, in the deed, " that
(according to Indian right & title) he is the sole
owner and proprietor of the s* island," and therefore,
with his three councillors, executes the same on the
thirtieth of April, 1684. What the valuable considera-
tion consisted of does not appear j but it is known that,
after the purchase of other claims by Mr. Bill, he re-
mained in full possession of it until his decease, on the
512 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
eighteenth of August, 1705, when it fell to his widow
Elizabeth, by a provision of his wUl, which provided
that she should enjoy its benefits during her widowhood,
and at her decease it should go to his son Samuel.
Mr. BUI also provided that, in case of the marriage
of his widow, she should retain only her thirds in the
real estate left by him. Mrs. Bill chose the latter alter-
native, and on the twenty-second of March, 1705-6,
married Mr. Eleazer Phillips of Charlestown. In con-
sequence of this marriage, the estate of Mr. BiU was
amicably divided, and two-thirds 'of Spectacle Island, as
well as two-thirds of the eeventy-six sheep and two
cows, and the whole of two negro men, a boat, one old
mare, and the family hog, together with sundry tools,
were apportioned to Mr. Samuel BiU, the heir apparent,
the whole value of his portion amounting to £444 18s.
8d. In the course of events, Mr. Phillips and his wife
died, and the title became vested in Mr. Samuel Bill, in
accordance with the will of his father. This Mr. Bill
was denominated, in the old records, a victuaUer, and
resident of the town of Boston, as his father and grand-
father were before him. From this time the island re-
mained in the possession of Mr. Bill (with the excep-
tion which will be mentioned hereafter) until he sold
it, on the eighteenth of March, 1729-30, to his brother
Richard.
Early in the last century, our wise and considerate
rulers began to think earnestly of establishing a quar-
antine in Boston harbor; and for that purpose the Gen-
eral Court of the province, on the eleventh of June,
1716, appointed a committee " to investigate a suitable
place for the erecting a hospital for infectious persons,
with minutes for an Act for that purpose." The com-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 513
mittee attended to the duty assigned them, and on the
twentieth of the ensuing November reported on the sub-
ject, recommending, among other things, that an acre of
land, with the necessary privileges, should be purchased
at Squantum IS^eck. This part of the report was ac-
cepted, and an appropriation was made of one hundred
and fifty pounds for the object, and for the erection of
the necessary buildings, Samuel Thaxter and "William
Payne, Esquires, being the committee to carry the order
into effect. But on the eleventh of April, 1717, one
hundred and five inhabitants of Dorchester, fearing the
effects of having a pest-house so near them, remonstra-
ted against the same; and another committee, with the
same powers and instructions, and consisting of Adam
Winthrop, William Payne, Samuel Thaxter, and Jona-
than Dowse, Esquires, was appointed, and directed to
use all convenient speed in selecting another place for
the object. It was undoubtedly in consequence of this
remonstrance, that, on the fifteenth of the following
May, the philanthropic townsme:ii of Boston passed the
following vote : " That the Selectmen be impowered
to Lease out a piece of Land on Dere Island not Ex-
ceeding one acre, for a Term not Exceeding ninety-nine
years, to be improved for the Erecting an Hospital or
Pest House there for the reception & entertainm' of
sick persons coming from beyond the Sea and in order
to prevent the spreading of Infection." It does not ap-
pear that Deer Island was taken at that time for the
puj'pose; but it is certain, that on the thirtieth of July
of the same year (1717), Samuel Bill and his wife Sarah,
for £100 in bills of credit, did convey to the treasurer
of the province, Jeremiah Allen, Esq., a portion of laud,
" being part of the southerly end of Spectacle Island,
65
514 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
SO- called, and is bounded northerly by said Bills land,
ten feet to the northward of the cellar wall lately built
there, to erect a house on for the Province to entertain
the sick, and is on the cleft or brow of the southerly
head or highland of s* island forty-four feet wide, and
from thence to run on a line about south-southwest
ninety feet, where it is also forty-four feet wide, and
thence to continue the line on the easterly side streight
down to the sea, and from s* ninety feet on the westerly
side to widen gradually on a streight line to the sea or
salt water, where it is to be sixty feet wide, together
with the liberty of landing on the southerly beach point,
and thence to pass and repass to and' from the said
granted land."
The foregoing acts of the Provincial Legislature,
Town Meeting of Boston, and Committee of the Gen-
eral Court, were the first steps towards the establishment
of the Boston Quarantine, which was so ably sustained
by subsequent acts of the Greneral Court. It is true
that in the year 1701 an act was passed requiring se-
lectmen to provide for persons sick with infectious dis-
eases, and also impowering justices to prevent persons
coming on shore from any vessels visited with sickness,
as may be seen by examining the act itself, being the
nineteenth chapter passed in the thirteenth year of Wil-
liam the Third, 1701. To this an addition was passed
on the fourteenth of February, 1717-18, which was the
act required by the committee already mentioned above,
and which is known as the fourth chapter of the fourth
year of George the First. After stating that a conven-
ient house had been provided by the province on Spec-
tacle Island for the reception of such as shall be visited
with contagious sickness, in order to keep them from
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 515
infecting otiiers, the act provided that the keeper of the
Hght-house and the commanding officer of Castle "Wil-
liam should notify all vessels coming near them, wherein
any infectious disease is or has been, to come to anchor
near the house, or hospital, at Spectacle Island, and that
all infectious goods should be put into the hospital. All
the repairs to the establishment, and whatever should
be necessary for the accommodation of the persons de-
tained, were to be provided for by the selectmen of Bos-
ton, at the immediate expense of the province. Not-
withstanding what has been expressed in the act alluded
to, it appears that matters must have gone on slowly at
the island, as an order was passed by the General Court
on the tenth of December, 1720, " that the selectmen of
the town of Boston be desired to take care for the fin-
ishing of the Public Hospital on Spectacle Island, so as
to make it warm and comfortable for the entertainment
of the sick." From this time things went on well at the
hospital; repairs, when needed, were made, and every-
thing required for comfort was provided by the town,
and paid for by the province. In January, 1735-6, a
committee was appointed, and further impowered on the
twenty-fourth of March following, for agreeing with the
owners of any convenient place as they may think suit-
able for removing the hospital to, in the harbor of Bos-
ton. This committee, after being reminded of their
duty on the twenty-fifth of November, reported on the
second of December, 1736, that they had performed
their duty, and recommended, "that the sum of five
hundred and seventy pounds be granted and paid out
of the public treasury to the Honorable John Jeffries,
Esq., and the other selectmen of Boston, by them to be
disposed of for the consideration purchase of a certain
516 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTbKICAL
island in the harbor of Boston, called Kansford's Island,
lying between Long Island and the main land near the
town of Hull, to be improved as ' a Hospital for the
Province." At the same time Mr. Treasurer Foye was
authorized to execute and j)ass a deed of sale to Kichard
Bill, Esq., of Boston, of all the right, title, and estate
of the province in that part of Spectacle Island, with
the buildings and appurtenances, where the hospital
then was, on the receipt of the, sum of one hundred and
thirty pounds. On the thii'teenth of December, 1737,
the committee reported that they had built a hospital
upon Rainsford Island; therefore, that upon Spectacle
Island became of na use to the province, and was ac-
cordingly sold to Kichard Bill, of Boston, and conveyed
to him by deed dated seventeenth February, 1738-39.
By the above mentioned conveyance, Mr. Bill came
in full and absolute possession of the whole island, he
having acquired the title of the remaining portion some
time previous, as already stated, from- his brother Sam-
uel. On the second of February, 1741-2, he sold his
whole interest in it to Edward Bromfield, Esq., a gentle-
man of note at that time; and since then Spectacle Isl-
and has not been improved for public use, but, with the
exception to be mentioned, has reverted to the ordinary
purposes of agriculture and pasturage, and occasionally
for the convenience and entertainment of persons on
pleasure excursions down the harbor.
"When Mr. Bromfield purchased the island, there was
upon its northern portion a house and barn and other
accommodations. The house has recently been fixed up
after a fashion, and put to a new business, unknown,
until quite recently, to our community. A vessel styled
after the proprietor, the Nahum Ward, plies frequently
DESCRTPTIOX OF BOST0N". 517
between the island and one of the South Boston
wharves, laden with a most remarkable cargo, which,
when passed through certain processes of manufacture,
yields a valuable return to an enterprising firm, al-
though the island, in consequence of the manufactory,
has ceased to be so much a place of resort as formerly.
Although good Mr. Bromfield, when he got the island
and assumed the mortgages upon it, may have supposed
he bought a " dead horse," which would be of very little
use to him, yet undoubtedly the present occupant thinks
dead horses very valuable property, when put to legiti-
mate uses in the way of trade.
The next island in course is Long Island, a descrip-
tion of which should be attempted in the next chapter;
but, for the purpose of keeping connected the subject of
quarantine, the writer proposes to say a few words about
Rainsford Island, which is easily reached from Spectacle
by moving along a short distance through the western
way. This passage, which can only be used by large
vessels at high tide, branches off from the Main Ship
Channel at Castle Island wharf, and runs in a south-
southeast direction till it passes the southerly extremity
of Long Island; then in a direction northeast by east
between Long and Rainsford Islands, nearly to Gallop's
Island; then southeasterly by the southerly side of
George's Island; and then east-northeast to Boston
Light House, at the mouth of the harbor.
CHAPTER XLI.
BAINSPOED ISLAND AND THE OLD QUAEANTTNE.
Old Quarantine Ground at Rainsford Island • • • Wilson's, or Lark Hock • • •
Quarantine Rocks, Sunken Ledge, and Hangman's Island • • • Form and Di-
mensions of Rainsford Island • • ■ Its Topography • • • Early History of the
Island ■ ■ • Formerly under the Jurisdiction of Hull • • • Owned by Edward
Raynsford • • • Sold to the Lorings of Hull in 1692 • ■ • Quarantine in 1736 • • •
Rainsford Island selected and purchased in 1736 •• First Hospital erected
in 1737 ■ ■ ■ Removal of Quai-antine in 1852 • • • Gallop's Island fitted for
Quarantine Purposes in 1866 • • • Location of Hospitals • ■ -Rainsford Island
as a Place of Resort • • • Traditions • . • Old Bury ing-Ground • • • The State In-
stitutions on the Island abandoned.
Staetdstg from the northerly wharf of Spectacle Island,
which, it wUl be remembered, projects westerly from the
north peninsula, and pursuing for about a mile and a
quarter a southeasterly course through the Western
Passage, which bears various names, such as the Back
Way and Western Channel, the reader will come to the
southwest point of Long Island, south of which is situ-
ated the Old Quarantine Ground, and Uttle over a mile
distant is Rainsford Island, which has also borne the
names of Hospital Island and Quarantiae Island. From
this point he can proceed to Rainsford Island at any
tide, by taking a northeasterly course through the Back
Way between it and Long Island, and then a circuitous
course around its northeastern head, by the way of Wil-
. son's or the Lark Rock, until he finds its wharf on its
southerly side. At high tide, when the large shoal is
covered with a sufficient depth of water, the wharf can
DESCKIPTIOTJf OF BOSTON. 519
be reached by a shorter cut, directly from .the southwest,
without passing between it and Long Island; but this
way is somewhat dangerous to inexperienced persons,
on account of the Quarantine Rocks, Sunken Ledge, and
Hangman's Island, lying in the extensive shoals just
south of the Old Quarantine Ground; yet this last is,
to those acquainted with the dangers, and well skilled
in the way of avoiding them, the favorite approach to
the island. Still another mode of approaching the
island is through Broad Sound Channel by a very
roundabout way.
Eainsford Island is about half a mile in length from
east to west, and very narrow for its length. Its form
is quite fantastical, and may be likened to a mink, with-
out much stretch of the imagination, if the Point is
taken for the head, and West Head and the numerous
' projections on its southern side for the legs. By the
way of the channel it is seven and a quarter miles from
the city; but the shorter passage measures a little less,
perhaps shortening the distance three quarters of a mile.
In a direct line from the end of Long wharf, southeast-
erly, it is distant five miles and three quarters, while it
may be reached on the ice, in cold winters, from South
Boston Point, by a walk of four miles. It is supposed,
by estimation, to contain eleven acres of ground. Its
!North Bluff, so called, where is situated the chief part
of the land which in any degree is supplied with avail-
able soil, is quite elevated, being about thirty-five feet
above the mark of high water. At the western extrem-
ity is a prominent point of land called Small Pox Point,
east of which, and projecting southerly, is a bold prom-
inence, which consists of a ledge of slate stone, and has
from very early times been known as West Head. These
520 TOPOGRAPHICAL AifD HISTORICAL
heads are connected with a narrow strip of beach, less
than fifty yards in length, which in former times was
frequently overflowed at high tides, but which is now in
a measure protected from the influence of storms and
surges by a sea-wall, which has been erected for the
purpose at a great expense.
The early history of this island is not so definite as
is desired. From what has been said in previous chap-
ters, it is known that in the early days of the colony
(about 1635), the General Court granted, as occasions
demanded, the islands of Boston harbor to different
towns, and also to individuals. Deer Island, Long Isl-
and, Hog Island, and Spectacle Island were granted to
Boston, IS^oddle's Island to Samuel Maverick, Govern-
or's Island to John Winthrop, Thompson's Island to
Dorchester by mistake, and then confirmed to David
Thompson, the true claimant, and other islands to other
proprietors, as will be seen hereafter. In some way Rains-
ford Island came under the jurisdiction of the town of
I^antasket, which, on the twenty-ninth of May, 1644, was
named Hull, by the following order : " It is ordered,
that IS^antascot shall be called Hull." In all probability
the grant was included in the following court order,
passed on the second of June, 1641: "It is further or-
dered, that the iland called Pedocks Hand, & the other
ilands there not otherwise disposed of, shall belong to
IS^antaskot, to bee to the use of the inhabitants & fisher-
men, so soone as they shall come to inhabite there." Be
this as it may, it is certain that Elder Edward Raynsford
was very early in the old colony days the undisputed pro-
prietor of the island; and, for vfant of better evidence,
it is believed that he had it of the town of Hull, and
perhaps in accordance with the request of Mr. Owen
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 521
Kowe, a wealthy tradesman of London, and a member
of the Massachusetts Company, who, on the eighteenth
of February, 1635-6, wrote to Governor Winthrop, re-
questing that "Mr. Eansford may be accommodated
with lands for a farme to keepe my cattele,- that so my
stocke may be preserved." The chief use of the islands
was for the pasturage of cattle; and, as Elder Eayns-
ford had charge of those sent over by Mr. Kowe, it is
not improbable that he obtained a grant of the island
for the purpose.
The good old Elder lived to a respectable old age,
having acquired a competent estate, with many children
and grandchildren to share it; and after serving his day
and generation, as some of the old chroniclers say, he
died on the sixteenth of August, 1680, at the age of
seventy-one years, leaving his estate to his widow and
children, to be improved by the widow during - her life,
and to go to the children at her decease. ' She, good
woman, survived her husband eight years and then
died; for the gravestone in King's Chapel Burying-
Ground tells us, that Mrs. Elizabeth Eaynsford died
on the sixteenth of ISTovember, 1688, aged eighty-one
years. At her decease the property of the Elder was
divided, and Kainsford Island, which at his death
was valued at only £10, was assigned, together with
other property, to the children of Captain William
Greenough, of Boston, a noted shipwright, whose
second wife Elizabeth, then deceased, was daughter
of the Elder. Although these children, I^ewman and
Edward Greenough, were living. Captain Greenough,
their father, on the thirteenth of January, 1691-2,
conveyed the estate in the island to "John Loring
and Benjamin Loring, of Hull alias ]Srantasket, yeo-
(6
522 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
men," for the sum of twenty-two pounds current
money of N"ew England. The description in the
deed styles it, " a certain island commonly called or
knowne by the name of Raynsford's Island, s'cittuate,
lying and being between Pettock's Island and Long Isl-
and in the Massachusetts Bay aforesaid, consisting of
two hills of land parted with a beach between each
other, which beach is sometimes overflowed at high
water, being butted and bounded southerly by Pettocks
Island aforesaid, northerly by said Long Island, easterly
by the town of Hull afores'd, and westerly by a neck of
land called Mannings Moone iN'eck," together with all
" the beach^ flBatts, stones, profits, privileges, timber
trees, rights, comodities, heriditaments, emoluments, and
appurtenances." Possession was given on the twenty-
second of January of the same year. From the partic-
ularity of the deed, it may be inferred that the slate
stone at the West Head may have been put to some
kind of use, as well as the timber trees and grass. From
this time, for the space of forty-five years, the island re-
mained in the possession of these Lorings and their
heirs, until it was conveyed to the province, as will be
seen hereafter.
In the preceding chapter the incipient stages of
the quarantine estaljlishment at Boston were briefly
sketched. Spectacle Island affording a position for the
commencement of the undertaking. After nearly
twenty years' use of this locality, there was a feeling in
the community that the right place had not been se-
lected; Spectacle Island was too near the town, and was
among other occupied islands ; it had no good road near
it for the anchorage of detained vessels, and was also
suitable for pasturage, containing as it did about sixty
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 523
acres of good grass land. Therefore, on the twenty-
second of January, 1735-6, a committee was appointed,
who reported, on the second of December, 1736, as was
before stated in the last chapter, for selling the land on
Spectacle Island, and for purchasing Eainsford Island j
and £570 were appropriated for the purpose. In ac-
cordance with the directions of the General Court of
the province, the island was purchased, and a deed was
passed on the seventh of December following, signed by
John Loring and wife Elizabeth, Samuel Loring and
■wife Jane, Caleb Loring and wife Rebecca, Benjamin
Loring and wife Elizabeth, John Loring, Jr., and wife
Elizabeth, and David Loring and wife Hannah, all of
Hull, conveying the same for the sum above mentioned,
and with the same description as in the deed from
Greenough to Lorings before given, with the following,
"to be used and improved for a hospital for the said
Province."
On the fourth of February, 1736-7, it was voted by
the House of Representatives, and concurred in by the
Council, "that Mr. Speaker and Mr. Cooke, with such as
shall be joined by the honorable Board, be a committee
to build a suitable and convenient House on Rainsford
Island, lying between Long Island and the Main Land
near the town of Hull, to be used and improved as a
publick hospital for the reception and accomodation of
such sick and infectious persons as shall be sent there
by order." Governor Jonathan Belcher assented to
the vote, and Hon. William Dudley, and Hon. Samuel
"Welles, councillors, were joined to the committee on the
part of the council. The committee seem to have taken
the matter in hand at once, for we find on the thirteenth
of December, 1737, they made a report, a minute of
524 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
which was recorded, and an order passed in the follow-
ing words : —
"A Report of a Committee of this Court lately ap-
pointed for building an Hospital on Ransford-Island,
showing they have built an House there of four Rooms
on a Floor, four upright Chambers and convenient Gar-
rets, and Cellars well-finished and a Well, and suitable
Conveniences for the Reception of the Sick, as Occasion
may be, dated, Boston, tenth of October, 1737, and
signed William Dudley, in the ISTame and by the order
of the Committee, was. laid on the Table, Read and Or-
dered, That the present Select Men of the Town of
Boston be and hereby are fully authorized and ap-
pointed a committee to treat with some suitable Person
to keep .the Hospital lately built by order of this Court
at Ransford-Island for the reception of sick and infec-
tious Persons, and that the said Person be desired and
impowered to take all proper Care of such Persons as
may be sent to the said Hospital, for twelve months
next, and that the Committee agree with the Person for
taking care of the sick, &c., for his Time and Service
herein for the year; and that they render an Account of
the Issues and Profits which may arise by the Produce
on the Island the next season, to this Court in the Fall
Session of the next year."
The members from the town of Boston were impow-
ered on the nineteenth of December, 1737, to prepare a
bill for regulating the public hospital on Rainsford
Island, which they presented on the twenty-first of the
same month, being an act in addition to the one passed
in 1701. This seems to have met with some opposition,
as it was not finally passed until the twenty-first of
June, 1738. Since then various acts have been passed
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 525
by the Provincial and State Legislatures on the subject
of quarantine; so that Massachusetts may be now re-
garded as having the best laws on the subject, as well
as the best regulated establishment, in this country.
Until the year 1852, when the State adopted a system
of State Almshouses, Eainsford Island was used as a
quarantine establishment; since then the city of Boston
has been obliged to change its quarantine ground, and
the new roads for this purpose are situated near Deer
Island, the present residence of the Port Physician, the
position having been selected at the time of the severe
raging of the ship fever, in the summer of 1847.
The present quarantine ground is, as has before been
stated, near Deer Island. In view of the possibility of ■
the occurrence of malignant cholera, the city, in the
spring of 1866, purchased the buildings erected on Gral-
lop's Island, the United States government no longer
requiring them for military purposes, and passed an ordi-
nance on the first day of June, 1866, extending the
quarantine grounds so as to include Gallop's Island.
In the olden time the pest house was situated on
]S^orth Bluff, and more recently the Small-Pox Hospital
was built upon "West Head. Under the new regime on
the island new buildings have been erected, and the old
ones repaired and applied^ to new purposes, agreeably to
the requirements of the present institution. Perhaps it
will be well, as a matter of record,' to mention in this
connection the present positions of the buildings upon
the island. On the Great Head, upon the easterly part
of the l^orth Bluff, as it is called, is situated an airy
looking house, which in recent years has been occupied
by the superintendent of the institution. West of this
are two buildings, the most southerly of which was built
526 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTORICAL
in the year 1819, and is designated as the Old Hospital,
the Mansion House of quarantine days; while that just
north of it is commonly known as the New Female Hos-
pital. A short distance south of these, towards the new
wharf, is a smaller building called the Cottage. Ifot
far from this, and projecting southerly over the exten-
sive flats, is a long wharf, the ordinary means of ap-
proaching the island and its institution. Upon this
head are several other small buildings, as a bake-house
and dead-house. In former times the Old Mansion
House was carried on as a public house, for the special
accommodation of persons arriving from sea, and for the
family of the Keeper of the island and of the Resident
Physician. Just beside the new wharf, and a short dis-
tance west of it, can be seen the remains of the old
wharf, which was used previous to the building of the
present one. After passing the narrow neck, or beach,
and upon what is called West Head, is a long, low
building, known in former times as the Bowling Alleys,
and south of this is a pretentious looking building,
somewhat resembling a Grecian temple. West of this
is the burial-ground, and northwest, upon the shore, at
the extreme part of the point, is the present Small-Pox
Hospital or Pest House, and from it projects southerly
a small wharf. The buildings on the large or eastern
head are chiefly used for the women, and those on the
small or western head for the men.
In modern times, previous to the new use of the isl-
and, it was a famous resort in the sultry part of the
summer season, when the prevalence of infectious dis-
eases did not prevent; and the Old Mansion House was
crowded with occupants from Boston and the neighbor-
ing towns, as boarders, a privilege which was accorded
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 527
to island keepers bj the authorities. These summer
parties, which often filled to overflowing the Fever Hos-
pital (or the Bowling Alleys, as most generally called),
and the Grecian Temple (or Small-Pox Hospital), the
buildings since used for the men, will not soon be for-
gotten by those who partook of the enjoyments under
the hospitable roofs of Quarantine Island.
Traditions are extant which would lead to the iafer-
ence that Raiasford Island had been much used in the
olden time for burial purposes; but these statements are
not to be relied upon, and we may rest assured that the
island was never employed for any such purpose, further
than for the interment of such persons as have died there
from infectious disorders, or have been connected with
the institution. In the old graveyard upon the island
there are many stones which, if they could speak, would
tell strange stories. Some of these date back more than
a hundred years. The remains of many of the old
keepers of the island repose there in quiet slumber.
The days are past, but not out of remembrance, when
persons aflfected with several of the most loathsome in-
fectious diseases were sent to the "island" almost cer-
tainly to die; the enlightenment of the present day,
however, forbids all such outrages. The State, since its
late connection with the island, has expended large sums
in improvements and in buildings, amounting to about
1100,000. At the close of the year 1866, the State
institution was abandoned, the officers having been dis-
charged, and the inmates removed.
CHAPTEE XLn.
LONG ISIiAJS^D.
Dimensions of Long Island • • • Ancient Description, and Position and Ap-
proach • • ■ Its Form and Topography ■ • • The Cove • • ■ Sculpin Ledge • • •
Ancient History of the Island • ■ • Island granted to Boston in 1634 ■ • -Laid
out into Lots in 1640 • • ■ Early Betterment Law • • ■ Rent for the Free School
• • ■ Rent Relinquished • •' • Claim of the Earl of Sterling, in 1641 . • • In Pos-
session of John Nelson ■ ■ • Sold to William and Benjamin Browne in 1690
• • • Curious Deed • • • Mr. Nelson's Death, and the Division of his Estate
in the Island, in 1721 ■ • • Island purchased by Charles Apthorp, and subse-
quently by Barlow Trecothick ■ • • Bought by James Ivers in 1790 • • • Other
Owners • • ■ Light-House • • • Long Island Hotel.
Immediately between Spectacle and Eainsford Isl-
ands lies Long Island, a little less than a mile southeast
of the former, and somewhat more than half a mile
northwest of the latter. This island is about a mile and
three quarters in length from northeast to southwest,
and about a quarter of a mile in breadth. It derives its
name from its extreme length, when compared with its
other dimensions, or, as Mr. William Wood says, in his
l^ew England's Prospect: "The next Hand of note is
Long Hand, so called from his longitude." The same
author, in 1635, writing of the islands in the harbor,
says : " These lies abound with Woods, and Water, and
Meadow-ground; and whatsoever the spacious fertile
Maine affords. The inhabitants use to put their Cattle
in these for safety, viz. their Rammes, Goates, and
Swine, when their Come is on the ground." On its
northwest it is separated from Governor's Island and
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 529
Castle Island by President Eoads; on the north, from
Deer Island by Broad Sound Channel; on the northeast,
from IS'ix's Mate and Gallop's Island by extensive shoals;
and from George's Island and Rainsford Island, by the
Back "Way on the southeast. It is approached usually
on its northwesterly side, where the water is deepest,
and where a wharf has been built, the landing-place
being about five miles from the end of Long wharf.
Long Island may be likened in form to a military
boot, fronting westerly; Long Island Head, sometimes
called East Head, where the Light-House is, being the
top, Bass Point the heel, and South Head the toe. It
contains, by estimation, about two hundred and sixteen
acres of land, of which about thirty-five are on East
Head. This head is somewhat circular in form, and is
very elevated, being seventy feet above the level of
high- water mark; and it has a very abrupt bluff at its
northeast, which is constantly wearing away by the ef-
fects of storms and currents, to the great injury of the
harbor. The portion of this head which is unprotected,
and which is furnishing material to fill up the channels,
is about six hundred and fifty feet in extent. On the
southeasterly side of this is a cove, which was much
used in former times as a harbor for the island, afford-
ing proper shelter for small boats, it being protected
from sea breakers by a high projecting beach, which,
during the last twenty years, has been fast disappearing.
A small wharf jutting out southerly within this cove,
has been of much service to pleasure parties approach-
ing the island by the Western Way. This head is sep-
arated from the main island by a low neck of marshy
ground. The main island is composed of elevated land,
gently rolling into eminences, and terminating at South
67
530 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
Head iu a considerable bluff, forming the toe of the
boot, l^orthwest of this head is the southerly peninsula
of Spectacle Island; between these is Sculpin Ledge,
signalized by Buoy 'No. 2 Ked, making an approach this
way from the western passage extremely dangerous.
The usual way to approach Long Island is by pass-
ing through the Main Ship Channel. By this time the
reader of these chapters on the harbor is sufficiently ac-
quainted with the position of Buoys No. 7 Black and
jIS'o. 8 Eed, just beyond Fort Independence, and a short
distance south of the westerly end of the Lower Middle
Shoal. If he passes between these, and proceeds in an
easterly direction for a quarter of a mile, he will come to
a point in the channel from whence he can take a south-
easterly course, passing between Spectacle Island on the
south and President Roads on the north, and go directly
to the Long Island wharf, about a mile and three quar-
ters distant, the wharf being about three quarters of a
mile due south of the main ship channel.
The history of this island bears a strong resemblance
to that of many others in the harbor. It was granted to
Boston, as has already been stated in a previous chap-
ter, together with Deer Island and Hog Island, on the
first of April, 1634, -for the annual rent of two pounds
for the three ; which grant was afterwards confirmed the
fourth of March foUowmg, with the same, and Spectacle
Island added, for the diminished sum of four shillings
for the four, it being undoubtedly understood to be
merely a nominal sum or consideration. Very soon
after the acquirement of the island, the town of Boston
began to apportion it out to various persons for im-
provement; and the felling of the trees, with which it
was well wooded on the arrival of the first settlers of the
DESCEIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 531
town, took place in real earnest, and it was not long
before it was so divested of its forests as to become only
fit for the pastnrage of cattle, sheep, and swine. On the
twenty-fourth of the twelfth month of the year 1639,
that is to say, in February, 1639-40, at a town meeting
of the inhabitants of Boston, the island was directed to
be laid out into lots for planters. The record of this
transaction is in the following words, on the fortieth
page of the first volume of town records, and. in the
handwriting of Elder Thomas Leverett : " At this meet-
inge o*^ brother Edward Rainsford & Willyam Hudson
are appointed to accompany y° surveyor to lay out the
planting ground at Long Hand, & they are to beginne
at the east end; & if any have bestowed any labor vpon
y' w°^ shall fall to another man, he whoe shall enjoy y°
benefitt thereof shall eyther allow for y^ charge, or
cleare soe much for y"" other." Here we find an early
practicall application of the principle of the betterment
law, with a view to fair treatment of pre-occupants and
squatters. After a while the town concluded to relin-
quish the island to the planters, they paying a yearly
rent for the benefit of the free school ; and we find that
on the nineteenth of April, 1649, thirty-seven persons,
whose names are given in the record, " doth bind them-
selves and theire successors to pay six-pence an accre for
theire [land] at Longe Hand bye y^ yeare for euer; and
y' to be for y° vse of the schole, y' soe it maye be
proprietye to them for euer, and they are to bringe in
there pay to y" townes treasurer the first of February
for euer, or else there land is forfeit vnto y" townes dis-
posing." It appears, however, in 1655, that " a consid-
erable part of y" rent due to the vse of y" schoole for
Long Hand & Spectacle Iland " — for the other neigh-
532 TOPOGEAPHICAIi XSTD HISTOKICAL
boring island came into the same category — " is nott
brought in by y^ renters of y^ land according to y' con-
tract with y'' towne," and the matter is placed in the
hands of the constable to distrain for the rent. How
successful the constable was in this business is not re-
lated, but things went on so badly, that in the year
1666-7, on the eleventh of March, the town gave up
all its rights in the island, and nuUified the agreement
about the rent of sixpence an acre, relinquishing it en-
tirely to the renters on the condition of paying up the
back rent for the benefit of the school, which it is sup-
posed was done, as the fee of the island is soon found
firmly established in private hands, free from all encum-
brances of rents of every description.
Most all of the islands in the harbor had at some pe-
riod of their history claimants in the shape of Indians;
and Long Island, as early as the year 1641, was claimed
by no less a dignitary than the Right Honorable Wil-
liam, Earl of Stirling, who on the twenty-eighth of Sep-
tember of that year recorded a protest, by his agent,
James Forrett, against Edward Tomlins and others as
intruders on Long Island. This claim came to nothing,
and the title proved good to the grantees from the
town.
In course of time the title became vested, by the pur-
chase of the renters, in Mr. John Nelson of Boston, —
the heroic person, who, in 1689, at the head of the sol-
diery, made Sir Edmund Andros surrender himself and
the fort on Fort Hill to the incensed colonists, whose
rights he was then usurping. Mr. Nelson was a patriot
of some considerable note in his day; he was a near rel-
ative of Sir Thomas Temple, who made a considerable
figure this side of the Atlantic in colony times, and was
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 533
also a connection of Governor William Stoughton,
whose niece, Elizabeth, he married. After gaining pos-
session of the island (with the exception of about four
acres and a half, which Mr. Thomas Stanbury, a shop-
keeper of Boston, and one of the original renters,
claimed), he sold it to Messrs. William Browne and Ben-
jamin Browne, of Salem, for £1,200, conveying it by a
curious deed, dated on the fourth of June, 1690, extracts
from which will be given, as furnishing a good descrip-
tion of the island as it was one hundred and seventy-
six years ago. By a subsequent transaction between
Mr. IS^elson and the Brownes, the deed of conveyance
became in effect nothiag but a mortgage, which was
subsequently annulled, on the twenty-fourth of Septem-
ber, 1724, by an instrument executed by Colonel Samuel
Browne, of Salem, acting as executor on the estates of
the Brownes who had died, William on the twenty-third
of February, 1715-16, and Benjamin on the seventh of
December, 1708. The deed alluded to above is very
curious in its description of Long Island, and is cer-
tainly worth committing to print; John l^elson, of Bos-
ton, merchant, and wife Elizabeth, convey "all that cer-
tain island, tract, or .parcel of land, meadow, or pasture
comonly called or knowne by the name of Long Is-
land, scituate, lying and being within the Massachusetts
Bay in 'New England aforesaid, containing by estima-
tion two hundred acres of land (be the same more or
less), butted and bounded !N"ortherly, Southerly, East-
erly and Westerly by the sea, or howsoever otherwise
the same is now butted or bounded or reputed to be
bounded; which s* island, or tract of land was formerly
granted by the towne of Boston unto sundry inhabitants
thereof, and since purchased by the said John lifelson.
534 TOPOGRAPHICAL AKD HISTORICAL
now in the tenure, holding or occupation of one Henry
Mare, together with all and singular the houses, out-
houses, buildings, barnes, stables, orchards, gardens,
pastures, ffences, trees, woods, underwoods, swamps,
marishes, meadows, arrable land, wayes, water-courses,
easements, comons, comon of pasture, passages, stones,
beach, fflatts, wharffes, profits, privileges, rights, Hber-
ties, immunities, commodityes, hereditaments, emolu-
ments, and appurten"^* whatsoever to the said island,
land, houses, and premises, or any part or parcel thereof
belohgiag, or in any wise appertaining, or therewithall
now or at any time heretofore usually sett, lett, used, oc-
cupied or enjoyed, or reputed, taken or knowne, as part,
parcel or member thereof, or of any part thereof," &c.,
reserving the four and, a half acres already mentioned as
claimed by Mr. Thomas Stanbury. The term of the
grant was for twelve months, the Brownes "yielding and
paying therefor the rent of One Pepper Corne upon the
last day of the said twelve months (if the same be then
lawfully demanded ") . As one of the Brownes had been
one of Andros's councillors the previous few years, and
the other was ripening for a seat in the Provincial
CouncU, it may be easily imagined how so bombastic a
document could have been drawn up on so small an oc-
casion, as if it were a whole province or even continent
that was to be granted by letters patent, with the broad
seal appendant.
Like many charters, the appendix so modified it that
the deed served only as a mortgage deed, and the fee in
the estate reverted to the heirs of Mr. Nelson; for he
died on the fifth of December, 1721, and the estate fell
to his heirs, and was divided into seven parts; two of
these descended to John and Mary, the heirs of his
DESCKIPTIOK OF BOSTON. 535
oldest son, Temple IN'elson; one to Nathaniel Hubbard
by his wife Elizabeth; one to the heirs of Henry Lloyd
by right of his wife Eebecca; one to John Steel by
right of his wife Margaret; and one to Robert Temple
by right of liis wife Mehitable. Eobert Temple bought
Tip four of these shares; and then he and the others
conveyed by separate deeds the whole island to Mr.
Charles Apthorp, of Boston, merchant, who died in pos-
session of it on the eighteenth of November, 1758, being
sixty years of age. The Apthorp heirs subsequently ,
sold to Barlow Trecothict, Esq., an alderman and Lord
Mayor of London, who had married the eldest daughter
Grizzell.
After the death of Trecothick, the island passed, on
the eleventh of June, 1790, into the possession of his
brother-in-law, Charles Ward Apthorp, Esq., of New
York, who, on the thirteenth of June, 1791, sold it to
James Ivers, of Boston. Mr. Ivers died in Boston on
the thirteenth of June, 1815, aged eighty-eight years,
devising his real estate to his two daughters, Hannah,
the wife of Jonathan Loring Austin, and Jane, the wife
of Benjamin Austin, and their heirs. On the first of
October, 1847, the Ivers heirs conveyed all of the island,
except the East Head, to Thomas Smith, of Cohasset;
and finally it became vested in the Long Island Com-
pany, which was incorporated by an act of the legisla-
ture, passed the first of May, 1849.
In 1819 a lighthouse was established on Long Island
Head. Its tower, twenty-two feet in height, is built of
iron, painted white, with a black lantern containing nine
burners, which is about eighty feet above the level of
the sea, and yields a fixed light that can be seen on a
clear night about fifteen miles. It was refitted in 1855,
536 TOPOGEAPHICAL AUD HISTOKICAL
and has for its object the guidance of vessels up the
roads of the harbor. It is situated in a square enclos-
ure of ground, on the summit of the Head. Withiu the
square is a comfortable stone house, and other small
buUdings, for the accommodation of the keeper, and a
remarkably good well of fresh water. This square is
encompassed on the northerly and westerly sides by the
remains of an old redoubt which are fast disappearing
from view. The prospect from this Head is surpassed
by none that can be obtained from any of the eminences
upon the other islands in the harbor.
Long Island is one of the pleasantest places in the
harbor for summer residences, and undoubtedly before
long it wUl prove a desu-able resort for such purposes.
The hotel erected by the Long Island Company is com-
modious and convenient, and has at times been popular.
The recent use of the island by the State, as a place of
rendezvous for Massachusetts soldiers, previous to tlieir
being mustered into the service of the United States,
has in a great degree prevented the island from being
used according to the intentions of the laud company
which attempted its settlement. During most of the
last century it was improved as a farm, and families re-
sided upon it; but lately it has been put to little use
except for pasturage. Should the Long Island Com-
pany succeed, we may yet expect to see upon the Island
a flourishing village of rustic cottages and more impos-
ing villas.
Having made a short survey of the largest island in
the harbor, the writer is now ready, to take a hasty view
of the few remaining ones, before eoncludiug his de-
scriptions.
OHAPTEK XLHI,
NIX'S MATE, THE NAEEOWS AND OTHEE SHIP PASSAGES
Nix's Mate, formerly an Island of Twelve Acres • • • Granted to Captain John
Gallop in 1636 ■ • ■ Rescue of the Body of John Oldham • ■ • Distance of Nix's
Mate from Boston • • • Its Form and Construction ■ • • Tradition about its
Name • • • Account of Piracy of William Fly, and his Execution in 1726 • • .
Nix's Mate, a Place of Execution for Pirates • • • Execution of Quelch, Haw-
kins, Bellamy, Anchor, and White • • ■ Notice of Captain Gallop • ■ • Various
Passages • • ■ North and South Broad Channels • ■ • The Narrows • ■ • Hunt's
Ledge • • • Toddy Rocks ■ • ■ Thieves' Ledge • • • Good Fishing Grounds ■ • •
Other Ship Passages.
Eetuening in a northeasterly direction to the Main
Ship Channel, the reader will come in sight of a pecu-
liarly shaped monument, a tall pyramid, upon a square
stone base, the whole about thirty-two feet in height,
and resting upon what, at low tide, appears to be an ex-
tensive shoal covered with stones of a size suitable for
ballast for vessels. This shoal, about an acre in extent,
is what remains of a once very respectable island, as far
as size is concerned j for it is seen, by referring to the
Massachusetts Colony Records, that, on the eighth of
September, 1636, "there is twelve acres of land graunted
to John Galop, upon !N^ixes Hand, to enjoy to him &
his heires forever, if the iland bee so much." How
much land Captain Gallop actually found cannot now
be ascertained exactly; but that there was once enough
to answer for pasturage ground is well known, through
traditions very reliably transmitted from a period less
£8
538 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOKTCAL
than a hundred years back, when the island was used
for the purpose of grazing sheep. Mr. Gallop was a
noted pilot in his day, and is said to have been better
accpainted with the harbor than any other man of his
time. On the fourth of September, 1633, he piloted into
Boston harbor, by a new way, probably the Black Rock
passage, the ship Griffin, containing, among its passen-
gers, Rev. John Cotton, Elder Thomas Leverett, and
many others, who afterwards proved to be some of the
most desirable of the !N"ew England colonists. To his
ability as a pilot and fisherman he added that of a good
fighter j for, on one occasion, in July, 1636, he, with his
two young sons, John and Samuel, and his boatman, he-
roically fought fourteen Indians, and rescued the body
of his friend John Oldham, whom the savages had most
cruelly murdered. Although Mr. Gallop lived at the
north end of Boston, near the shore, where his boat
could ride safely at anchor, he owned Gallop's Island, as
a farm, a meadow lot on Long Island, and a pasture for
his sheep upon Nix's Mate. How unkind it is, at this
late time, to rob him of the good name he gave his isl-
and, and to call it, in a Frenchified manner, Galloupe's
Island! One would almost believe that old Captain
John and his good wife Christabel (although one died
in January, 1649-50, and the other on the twenty-
seventh of September, 1655) would return to earth and
remonstrate against the outrage.
N"ix's Mate is about five and a half miles southeast-
erly from Long wharf, and would be one of the great
dangers of the harbor were it not for the monument
which stands upon its ruins. This consists of a solid
piece of stone masonry, forty feet square and twelve
feet high, which can be ascended on the south side by
DESCEIPTION OI' BOSTON. 539
steps, all the stones being securely bolted together by
copper fastenings ; and upon this is a wooden octagonal
pyramid, twenty feet in height, painted black. This
structure is a modern erection, its exact date not known.
It was probably erected in the early part of the century.
On the third of March, 1810, the General Court passed
an act to protect the monument and to prevent the
removal of rocks, sand, clay or gravel from the island
under a .penalty now in force. A long hook-like shoal
extends from it, southwesterly, nearly half a mile. The
northeasterly part of !N'ix's Mate was in former times a
low bluff, and was known to the pilots of the olden time
as Iforth End Point; and not far from this, on the edge
of the shoal, is attached a black buoy, numbered 9, as a
warning to mariners, and a guide to a change of course
to a southeasterly direction through the N^arrows.
There is a tradition connected with the history of
this island, probably of modern date, which has no facts
to sustain it. The story is, that the mate" of a certain
Captain !N"ix was executed upon it for killing his master,
and that he, to the time of his death, insisted upon his
innocence, and told the hangman that in proof of it the
island would be washed away. As the island bore the
name of 'Nis. certainly as far back as the year 1636, and
as no man was executed in the Massachusetts colony for
murder or piracy so early as this, there is no good reason
for believing that the name of the island originated in
the manner given in the tradition. That the island in
later times was used as a place for the burial of execu-
ted pirates and mutineers upon the sea is too well
known to be disputed; an account of a case which hap-
pened many years ago may not be out of place in this
connection.
540 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
A snow, as it was called in the early days of the
colony, set saU from Jamaica in May, 1726, bound for
Guinea, under the command of John Green, a master
mariner. At one o'clock on the morning of the twenty-
seventh of the same month, one William Ply, then boat-
swain of the snow Elizabeth, who, together with Samuel
Cole, Henry Greenvill and others, had conspired to seize
the captain and mate and then go a-pirating, put their
design into effect by most barbarously droAvning the cap-
tain and his mate Thomas JenMns. After this Fly took
command of the vessel, the name of which he changed to
Fame's Revenge, and then, beiag well stocked with gun-
powder, rum and provisions, set saU, first to the Carolinas
and thence to 'New England, in pursuit of plunder, and
more particularly in search of a better vessel. On the
third of the following month, June, he took a sloop
which he found at anchor off the coast of !N^orth Caro-
lina, in which was one William Atkinson, a passenger,
who afterwards proved to be the happy instrument of
bringing the wretches to justice. It was not long after
this that Atkinson, with the assistance of several other
forced men, succeeded, by a stratagem, in seizing the
three pirates mentioned, together with another man
named George Condick, all of whom he put in chains
and brought to Boston, where they were tried on the
fourth and fifth of July, 1726, and found guilty of
piracy, and were on the spot sentenced to be hung, the
captain, William Fly, in chains; but the others, Cole,
the quartermaster, and Condick and Greenvill, were re-
lieved from this extreme disgrace. Fifteen forced sea-
men, taken on board the piratical vessel, were acquitted
and discharged. An account of the execution, which
took place at Charlestown Ferry, is thus given in the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 541
Boston News-Letter, published on the fourteenth of
July, 1726: "On Tuesday the twelfth instant, about 3
P. M., were executed here for Piracy, Murder, &c., three
of the condemned Persons mentioned in our last, viz.,
William Fly, Capt. Samuel Cole, Quarter-Master, and
Henry Greenvill; the other, viz., George Condick, was
.Reprieved at the place of execution, for a Twelve Month
and a Day, and is to be recommended to His Majesty's
Grace and Favor. Fly behaved himself very unbecom-
ing even to the last; however, advised Masters of Ves-
sels not to be Severe and Barbarous to their Men, which
might be a reason why so many turn'd Pirates; the other
Two seem'd Penitent, beg'd that others might be warned
by 'em. Their Bodies were carried in a Boat to a small
Island call'd !N"icks's-Mate, about 2 Leagues from the
Town, where the abovesaid Fly was hung up in Irons,
as a Spectacle for the Warning of others, especially Sea
faring Men; the other Two were buried there." The
burial of these men, and the gibbeting of Captain Fly,
who had been boatswain under Captain Green, may
have given origin to the tradition.
The infamous notoriety which this island bore from
tradition was equally shared by other localities. Bird
Island and its . shoal, and the flats at the confluence of
Charles Eiver into the main channel, are frequently al-
luded to as the places of execution and burial of crimi-
nals. John Quelch, and his six companions in piracy,
were hung on the thirtieth of June, 1704; Thomas
Hawkins, a young man of the most respectable connec-
tion in the province^ was executed, with his nine associ-
ates, on the twenty-seventh of January, 1689-90; Samue^
Bellamy and his six pirates, paid their forfeit in ^'^j.
1717; and John Rose Archer and William Whi^^ ^^^'^
^t^^
V
542 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
gibbeted on an island on the second of June, 1724, for
piracy. These criminals probably met their deserved
fate at some of the above named places. Murderers
and burglars were executed anciently on the Common
or IN'eck.
The execution of Quelch and his partners in crime is
thus mentioned in the Boston IS'ews-Letter, printed
three days after the event. A broadside was also
printed and distributed at the same time, and is pre-
served in the archives of the Massachusetts BUstorical
Society. The execution took place on Charles River
flats, Boston side. "On Friday" [30 June, 1704] "was
carried to the Place of Execution Seven Pirates to be
Executed, viz.; Capt. John QuelcTi, John Lambert,
Christopher Scudamore, John Miller, Erasmus Peterson,
Peter Poach & Francis King; all of which were Exe-
cuted, excepting the last named, who had a Reprieve
from his Excellency. And notwithstanding all the
great labour and pains taken by the Reverend Ministers
of the Town of Boston, ever since they were first Seized
and brought to Town, both before and since their Trial
and Condemnation, to instruct, admonish, preach and
pray for them; yet as they led a wicked and vitious life,
so to appearance they dyed very obdurately and impeni-
tently, hardened in their sin.
"His Excellency intends to send an Express to Eng-
land, with an Account of the whole matter to Her
Majesty."
Captain John Gallop, the first grantee of I^ix's Mate,
came to Boston as early as 1630, in which year he was a
townsman of Dorchester. He was soon after a resident
of Boston, Avhere he had a house and wharf-right, and
also had a grant of meadow land on Long Island of four
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 543
acres very early j for these, together with Gallop's Is-
land, are mentioned in his inventory taken on the
twenty-sixth of February, 1649-50, probably a month
after his decease. How he became dispossessed of
IS^ix's Mate does not appear, as no conveyance of it by
him or his heirs is to be found on record.
From [tiTix's Mate the reader can proceed northeasterly
through either the North or the South Broad Channels,
between Deer Island on the north and Lovell's Island
on the south, into Broad Sound, and thence to sea.
But the usual course out of the harbor is southeasterly
through the Main Ship Channel, between Lovell's Island
on the north and Gallop's Island and George's Island on
the south, where the channel is called The IS'arrows ; and
by pursuing the way southeasterly, leaving the Beacon
(or Bug Light) on the Great Brewster's Spit and Buoy
No. 6 Red to the north, and Buoys No. 7 and 5 Black
to the south, and passing out to sea between the Brew-
sters and Shag (or Egg) Rocks on the north, and the
Centurion (No. 8 Black) and Hunt's Ledge and Toddy
Rocks (No. 3 Black) off the shore of Hull, and Point
Allerton and its Beacon and Buoy No. 1 Black on the
south. A due east course of about three miles and a
half will strike upon Thieves' Ledge, a noted fishing
place. The proper course to this spot will be to pro-
ceed due east from the buoy until Green Island can be
seen at the north of the Outer Brewster, and a tree on
Little Hog Island (just south of Hull) can be noticed
over the low land on Nantasket Beach just south of'
Point Allerton. A good fishing ground for flounders is
said to be exactly midway between George's Island and
"Windmill Point at Hull. About a mile southeast of
Point Allerton is another well-known fishing ground.
544 DBSCEIPTION OF BOSTON.
There are other passages out of the harbor be-
sides those above mentioned. The Western, or Back
Way, alluded to in a previous chapter, leads from the
southeasterly side of Long Island and from Eainsford
Island, through the northerly part of N^antasket Roads,
southwest of Gallop's and George's Islands, and be-
tween the Centurion and Hunt's Ledge, to the main
ship channel. Ships have been known to pass from the
harbor by the way of Point Shirley Gut. Governor
Winthrop states, in his invaluable journal, that "the
Barnstable ship went out at PuUen Point to Marble
Harbour," (Marblehead,) on the twenty-second of Sep-
tember, 1632, By the same authority we learn, as stated
before, that Captain John Gallop 'brought in the Griffin
a new way by Lovell's Island, at low tide, then called
Griffin's Gap. This gap was probably what is now
called Black Hock Channel, which connects with Hypo-
crite Channel, that leaving Alden's Buoy and the Devil's
Back at the north, leads to sea between Green and Calf
Islands.
CHAPTEE XLIY-
GALLOP'S AND LOVELL'S ISLANDS.
The Narrows ■ • • Gallop's Island • • • Granted early to John Gallop ... Its Form
• • ■ Its Approach and Appearance • • • Its early Owners • • ■ Purchased by the
City of Boston in 1860 ■•• Famous as a Place of Rendezvous for Pleasure
Parties • • • Used for Government Purposes • • • Attached to Quarantine Es-
tablishment in 1866 • . • Sea-wall commenced in 1868 • • • Lo veil's Island • • ■
Its Position, Form and Size • • • Origin of its Name • • • Its Topography • • •
Whiting Ledge, Earn Head, and Man of "War Bar • ■ • The Great Rock, and
a Remarkable Shipwreck • • • History of Lovell's Island • • • Granted to Charles-
town in 1636 • • • Sold to Elisha Leavitt in 1767 •• • Purchased by Boston in
1825, and sold to United States Government • • • Modern Uses of the Island • • •
Sea-wall at Ram's Head ■ • • "Wreck of the Magniflque in 1782 • • • The poor
Pilot turned Sexton . • . The Man of War America • • • Injury to the Narrows
caused by the Wreck.
Leaving Buoy ISTo. 9 Black, just north of Nix's Mate,
and proceeding down the harbor (taking the channel
described in a previous chapter as The !N^arrows), about
three quarters of a mile southeast of the Mate will be
seen Lovell's Island on the northeast, and Gallop's
Island on the southwest.
Of these, Gallop's Island appears very early under
the jurisdiction of the town of Hull, and in the actual
possession of Captain John Gallop, at whose decease, in
January, 1649-50, it was apprised at £12 in value, and
was estimated to contain about sixteen acres. This
island, which on the chart very much resembles in form
a leg of mutton, with its shank pointing easterly to the
peculiar structure familiarly known as Bug Light, holds
54:6 TOPOGEAPHICAL AST) HISTOEICAL
an important position in the harbor, forming with Lov-
ell's Island at its north the barrier of the Il^arrows, —
the deep channel for the ingress and egress of all the
large vessels when heavily freighted.
Gallop's Island is approached on its southern side,
which lies very commodiously to the !N^antasket
Eoads at its south, a most noted place of anchorage.
The north side ' is a very abrupt and high bluflf, upon
which, during the Revolution, earthworks were thrown
up for defensive purposes. The eastern part of the
islaAd is formed into a low Beachy Point, so called,
being composed chiefly of small stones and gravel. This
has always been noted as one of the most fertile of the
islands of the harbor, and has, from time immemorial,
been cultivated as a farm, in the days of the old quaran-
tine regulations, the occupant supplying the vessels in
the Hospital Roads with vegetables and milk, and pure
water from a never-failing spring. Early during the
last century it was jointly owned by Elisha Leavitt of
Hingham, a large landholder, and James Brackett of
Quincy. Mr. Leavitt died in 1790, leaving his half to
his grandson, Caleb Rice of Hingham, who subse-
quently purchased of Mr. Brackett his half, and in
April, 1812, conveyed the whole to Lemuel Brackett of
Quincy, for $1,630. Mr. Brackett and his wife, Sarah,
by two deeds, dated first of October, 1814, and first of
July, 1819, conveyed the same to Peter !N^ewcomb, the
then tenant of the island, for $1,815. Mr. I^ewcomb
died on the twenty-second of April, 1833, aged fifty-
two years, and was buried at Hull, leaving the estate to
his wife Margaret, who survived him some years, and
then dying, left the estate to her son Charles, who sold
it to the city of Boston on the nineteenth of May, I860,
DESOEIPTIOX OF BOSTON. 547
for $6,500. Since the decease of Mrs. !N'ewcomb the
island has been a famous place of resort for pleasure
parties, and the name of Snow, one of its most noted
occupants, will long be remembered by the numerous
persons who have partaken of his good cheer and re-
markable style of hospitality.
Soon after the breaking out of the late war, the island
was lent to the general government as a rendezvous
for enlisted soldiers ; and its green hill was covered with
tents and barracks, and its turf was trodden down,
and its pleasant appearance almost blotted out. With
the exception of a very small portion of Long Island,
which at one time was used for a similar purpose, it was
the only place within sight of the quiet city that exhib-
ited conclusive evidence of actual war; for the forts
were so well managed, and their warlike inmates so
carefully kept within their walls, that the innocent look-
ing guns from the ramparts gave no alarm to those
engaged in business or in seeking pleasure in harbor
excursions. At the close of the war, the establishment
at Gallop's Island became unnecessary, and the island
was deserted by the soldiery, and the barracks conse-
quently vacated. This seemed opportune ; for the city,
in view of the danger of threatening infectious disease,
appeared to require more tfian ordinary quarantine ac-
cbmmodations. An agreement was entered into with
the United States authorities by which the city came in
possession of the government barracks; and an ordi-
nance was passed by the city council, which took effect
on the first of June, 1866, by which Gallop's Island was
annexed to the quarantine establishment of the city.
Fortunately this prudent measure of the city govern-
ment was never put into use by the advent of the much
548 TOPOGRAPHICAI, AND HISTORICAL
dreaded disease ; but the city very properly added much
to the eflS.eiency of its already possessed resources. In
consequence of the wearing away of the high bluff on
the northerly side of the island, it became necessary that
a sea-wall should be constructed for the protection of
this part of the island. This waU was commenced in
1868 by Major-General J. Gr. Foster, and will probably
be completed in 1870.
The next object that demands attention is Lo veil's
Island, which lies northeast of the I^arrows, and much
resembles in form a dried salt fish. As it is bounded
on the southwest by the IKTarrows, so it is on the east
by Black Rock Channel. It is about three-quarters of a
mile in length from northwest to southeast, and about
one-third of a mUe wide in its greatest breadth. It took
its name, undoubtedly, from Captain WUliam Lovell,
who was of Dorchester in 1630; and it contains one large
hUl, with marshes to its north, east and south, and
several small salt-water ponds. "Whiting Ledge is at its
southerly point; and Eam Head (whose shoal is denoted
by Eed Buoy No. 10 and Black Buoy 'No. 5) is a projec-
tion from its northerly point, where there has been erected
a sea-wall to prevent the washing away of this exposed
part of the island. At its extreme westerly point is
Man of War Bar, which in the latter days of the Revo-
lutionary War proved to be a great impediment to the
navigation of the harbor. On the top of the hill may
be seen by every passer-by a large boulder that has
served many generations as a comfortable cooking
place. A little more than forty years ago, in mid-
winter, a packet vessel from Maine struck upon Rams
Head in the dead of night, causing immediate ship-
wreck; and, although all the passengers, fifteen in num-
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 549
ber, succeeded in landing and procuring shelter beside
the Great Rock, they all froze to death before morning,
it being one of the coldest nights of the year, the ther-
mometer indicating in the neighboring towns a temper-
ature several degrees below zero. On the morning
succeeding this dreadful event, the bodies were found
closely huddled together in the eternal sleep of death.
Two young persons who were about to be married, and
who were coming to Boston for making marriage pur-
chases, were found dead beside the rock locked in each
other's arms. Few, in their hilarious moments, under
this benevolent boulder, little dream of the agony of
that awful night.
The earliest mention of this island is to be found in
the Massachusetts Colony records, where, under date of
the twenty-eighth of October, 1636, the following entry
occurs : " Lovels Hand is graunted to Charlestowne pro-
vided they imploy it for fishing by their owne townes-
men, or hinder not others." Any one who knows the
island now, would hardly expect to find upon the records
such an entry as the following: " The iland called Lov-
els Iland is given unto the inhabitants of Charles
Towne, Ss their heires & succeass" forever; |)vided,
that halfe of the timber & fire wood shall belong to the
garrison at the Castle, to be impved wholly there.
This was ordered with consent of the deputies of
Charles Towne." There may be, however, some per-
sons living who can remember the large tree that for-
merly stood on the south point of the island, as it was a
mark used by all the pilots of the olden time in guiding
them up the harbor. Similar trees, which have likewise
disappeared, were preserved upon nearly all the islands
for the same purpose.
550 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
On the fourth of June, 1767, this island was sold by
a vote of the inhabitants of Oharlestown, passed on the
second of March preceding, to Elisha Leavitt, of Hing-
ham, for the sum of £266 13s. 4d. " together with the
dwelling house and all other buildings and fences
thereon standing." Mr. Leavitt left it, in 1790, to his
grandson Caleb Kice, before mentioned; and from him
the estate passed into the possession of the city of Bos-
ton on the second of May, 1825, together with George's
Island, both for the sum of |6,000; and the city con-
veyed it immediately to the United States Grovernment
for the same amount of money. At the time of pur-
chase by the city, this and Gallop's Island were in the
occupancy of John Spear, who had erected fences and
buildings upon them.
In modern times, the chief use to which the island
has been put is that of pasturing horses; yet there are
many persons who can well remember the time when it
served as a run for tame rabbits, that in almost count-
less numbers wandered over its pasture ground, and
supplied the markets with dainties for the palate,
and the young Boston boys and girls with beautiful
and harmless pets.
The washing away of this island early called the at-
tention of Boston to the protection of its headlands and
points; and in 1843, on petition of the city government,
a resolve was passed by the General Court of the Com-
monwealth, instructing its Senators and Representatives
in Congress to exert themselves to procure the passage
of measures which should prevent further injury to the
harbor from this cause. By the exertion of these mem-
bers of Congress, an appropriation of $15,000 was ob-
tained for the protection of Lovell's Island, and the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTOK. 551
same was expended for the erection of the sea-wall at
Ram's Head, by Brigadier-General Sylvanu-s Thayer,
then Colonel of Engineers. In 1849, an additional
amount of about $5,000 was expended by the same officer
in the construction of stone jetties. A further sum of
$2,000 was used by Colonel Grraham, also of the Engi-
neers, during the years 1864-1866, for work done upon
the same wall. Between the years 1866-1869 inclusive,
$38,000 were expended by Major-General Henry W.
Benham in repairs of the old wall, and in the con-
struction of a new wall for the southeast head of the
island.
Perhaps it would seem wrong, if, in this connection,
the famous shipwreck of 1782 should be passed over in
silence. It will be remembered by the older inhabitants
that Boston harbor was frequently visited by the naval
forces of France (then the Revolutionary ally of the
United States) for supplies and repairs. . The Count
D'Estaing was here in the fall of 1778, and a part of the
fleet of the Count de Grasse in 1782, just after his un-
fortunate and unsuccessful attempt in the West Indies,
where he was so completely and dreadfully defeated.
Admiral Yaubaird, with fourteen sail of this fleet, arrived
in Boston harbor on the eleventh of August, 1782, being
a division of the unfortunate fleet of the Count. On
entering the harbor through the liTarrows, the pilot
(with shame be it said, a Bostonian) conducted the
Magnifique — as its name implied, a magnificent French
seventy-four — against the bar at the western head of
Lovell's Island, and there it sank; and there its skeleton
lies at the present day, imbedded in sand. Several at-
tempts have been made to obtain treasures from this
wreck, but they have not proved to be in any degree re-
552 TOPOQEAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
munerative. One attempt, made about thirty or more years
ago, gave no return except specimens of very beautiful
wood, of which the vessel was built. In July, 1859, another
trial was equally unsuccessful. Truly, copper, lead, and
cannon-shot in considerable quantities were obtained;
but except the beautiful sight of immense quantities of
perch and other small aquatics, the divers got vet-y little
else, except now and then the bite of a savage lobster,
who held on to the poor fellows' fingers as tenaciously
as does the bull-terrier sometimes with his more fero-
cious grip. The French fleet left the harbor on the
twenty-fourth of the following December, and the pUot
was transferred " up town " to become a sexton and im-
dertaker, he having served, as it was thought, a suffi-
cient apprenticeship in burying. This distinguished in-
dividual was for many years sexton to the l^Tew N^orth
Church, then under the pastoral care of the famous
John Eliot; and it was no unconunon thing to find, on
Sunday mornings, chalked upon the meeting-house
door, the following significant lines: —
" Don t you run this ship ashore,
As you did the seventy-four."
The loss of the French man-of-war was a serious
matter for young America. Congress built a seventy-
four gun ship, called "The America," at Portsmouth,
the first line-of-battle ship ever built in America; and it
was launched on the fifth of Il^Tovember, 1782, and its com-
mand awarded to Commodore John Faul Jones. This
vessel was presented to Louis XVI. the same year to re-
place the lost Magnifique. But it came finally to a poor
market, for it was captured fi'om the French by the
English, and became a part of the great English navy.
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 553
The bar where the Magnifique was lost, and which has
sometimes been called Man of "War Island, has been filled
up by the action of the tides and currents to such an ex-
tent that a large portion of it has been converted into solid
land, and the place in which the main part of the wreck
of the ship is buried is now never overflowed at high
water , by the ordinary tid-es. During the operation of
removing the southwest portion of this island, under the
direction of Major-General J. Q. Foster, U. S. Engi-
neers, during the years 1868 and 1869, for the purpose
of widening the main ship channel, large pieces of planks
and portions of massive oak timbers were struck at
depths of twenty-one to twenty-five feet, and brought
up by the machine. These were evidently fragments of
the old seventy-four.
70
CHAPTER XLV-
GEORGE'S, PETTICK'S, AND OTHER ISLANDS.
Broad Sonnd Channel, and its Branches, North and Soath Channels • ■ • Middle
Ground • ■ • Black Hock Passage and Hypocrite Channel • ■ • George's Island,
formerly Pemberton's Island, and its Ancient History • • • Bought by Boston
in 1825, and conveyed to the United States • • • Size and Topography • • •
Fort Warren ■ • • Old Earthworks • ■ • Approach to George's Island • • • Its
recent Use • . . Pettick's Island, and its Form and Topography ■ • • Prince's
Head, and Pig's and Harry's Bocks ■ • • Sheep, Grape, and Slate Islands • • •
Pumpkin (or Bumkin) Island, properly Ward's Island, Devised to Har-
vard College in 1682 • • . Islands in Hingham Harbor, Langley's Ragged,
Sarah's and Button Islands • • • Nut Island, sometimes called Hoffs Tombs
...Raccoon Island- •■ Main Ship Channel ■■■ Outer Light... Brewster's
Spit . • . Corwin Rock • • • Spit (or Bug) Light, built in 1856 • • • Centurion
and Kelley's Rocks • • . Shoal and Kelp Ledges • • • Nash's Rocks • • . Thieves'
Ledge • • • Ancient Description of Entrance to the Harbor • . • The French
Men-of-War, the Magniflque and the Somerset.
To the north of Lovell's Island, described in the last
chapter, Broad Sound Channel diverges into JS'orth and
South Channels, which pass by the Middle Ground and
proceed directly to sea in a northeast course between
N"ahant and the cluster of small islands, that, w:ith the
Brewsters, form the group at the entrance of the harbor.
At the east, however, of Lovell's Island is Black Eock
Passage 5 which, running out in a northeasterly direction,
separating it from the Spit (or Bug Light) on the long
bar of the Great Brewster, passes into Hypocrite Channel
that leads to sea easterly between Calf and Green Islands.
Exactly south of Lovell's Island lies George's Island,
which helps make the boundary of the Narrows on the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 555
southern side. This island was early in the possession
of James Pemberton, an inhabitant of Hull; and it ap-
pears from the following record, of the twenty-seventh of
May, 1622, that his claim to it was very early disputed :
"In answer to the petition of James Pemberton, who
pduced seueral testemoneyes for his infest & pprietie
to an iland called Pembertons Hand, it is ordered by
this Court, that, if Pemberton, his attumey, heires, or
assignes, shall make proofe vppon oath, according to
law, that he had possession & improuement of the s^
iland by the consent & approbation of the antient inhab-
itants or planters residents in or about the Matachusetts
Bay aboue fower & twenty yeares agoe, then the s^ iland
shalbe, & is declared to be his, & his heires for euer, the
oath to be taken at the next County Court, who shall re-
corde the same & certify the next session of this Court
thereof." Mr. Peniberton produced the required proof,
and a record was made on the nineteenth of the follow-
ing October, that " The Court doth judge that the testi-
monyes j)duced to proue the iland mentioned in James
Pembertons, & called by his name, to bclonge to him,
doe fully proue the same, & doe therefore declare the s^
iland to be his propriety."
Mr. Pemberton died at Maiden on the fifth of Febru-
ary, 1661-62, and in course of time the estate of the
island, which was then known as Pemberton's Island,
passed into the possession of Samuel Grreenleaf, who died
on the seventh of August, 1737, aged fifty-six; and the
estate, on the death of his wife Martha, on the twenty-
second of February, 1757, at the age of seventy-eight
years, fell to their daughter Hannah Greenleaf, whose
executor sold it to Elisha Leavitt on the seventh of
April, 1765, for the sum of £340, lawful money of the
556 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
Province. Mr. Leavitt devised it, as has been said be-
fore, together with Lovell's Island, in 1790, to Caleb
Eice, from whom in 1825 it passed to the city of Bos-
ton. Both of these islands are now the property of the
United States.
In all the descriptions of this island, it is said to con-
tain about thirty-five acres. Following the course of
the Ship Channel, it is exactly seven miles from the end
of Long wharfj although on the charts, its distance,
in nautical measure, is found to be a little over six
miles. It had on its east and northeast sides an ele-
vation nearly fifty feet above high water mark, with an
easy descent in the other directions, which, together
with its situation, made it peculiarly adapted for the pur-
poses of a fortress. The side exposed to the beating of
the sea has been somewhat protected by a sea-wall, and
a very strong fort, by the name of Fort Warren, has
been erected upon it. The building of the fort was
commenced by the United States Government in April,
1833, the survey having been commenced on the
thirteenth of the preceding September. Its walls
are constructed of Quincy granite, nicely hammered,
the inferior material for foundations and rough work,
however, having been brought from Cape Ann. A
portion of the casemates are covered with earth, piled
up in artistic manner, and well sodded. Over the
main entrance, and within the fort, is a tablet bear-
ing the following inscription: —
FOET WAEREN, 1850.
This is not the first attempt at fortifying George's
Island. In the autumn of the year 1778, while the ves-
sels comprising the fleet of the Count D'Estaing were
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 657
riding at Nantasket Roads, an apparently formidable
earthwork was thrown up on the eastern side of the
island, for the protection of vessels passing into the har-
bor against any attack of the English cruisers which
were then coasting in the neighborhood. Very little
could be found of these works when the erection of the
present fort was commenced.
The approach to George's Island is on the westerly
side, where the water is deepest, and where a wharf has
been built for the purpose. At the early part of the late
war, the fort was used for rendezvous purposes j and
some of the best regiments recruited in Massachusetts
were thoroughly drilled within its walls before being
sent into the field, where they all performed such honor-
able and distinguished services. During the late years
of the rebellion, the fort was used as a prison for rebels
held in durance.
About a mile south of George's Island is situated
Pettick's, Pethick's, or Peddock's Island, about a mile
long, and shaped like a young nondescript animal. The
first known of it is found under date of the third of
September," 1634, in the old records, thus; "Peddocks
Ileland is graunted to the inhabitants of Charlton
[CharlestoAvn] to enioy to them & their heires, for the
space of one & twenty yeares, for the yearely rent of
twenty shillings pvided that if there be a plantacon
in the meane time setled by the Court att l!^atascett,
then the' pre"' graunt to be voyde."" On the fourth of
March, 1634-5, the rent of twenty shillings was reduced
to twelve pence. The town of l^antasket having been
commenced in June, 1641, Pettick's and the neighboring
islands were confirmed to it; and within the next year it
was divided into lots of four acres each, and given to
558 TOPOGEAPHICAL AJ^D HISTORICAL
those who took two-acre lots at j^antasket, afterwards
called Hull. This island has always from that time
been kept as private property; and on the twenty-eighth
of April, 1684, the Indian Josiah relinquished all his
claim to the estate in the right of his father and grand-
father. The island is divided into two hills, called the
East and West Heads, between which there is a smaller
hill ; and just south of this there is an island bluff, called
Prince's Head, south and east of which are Pig's and
Harry's Eocks. A pilot for the various approaches to
"Weymouth resides upon the south side of the East
Head of this island, which is not more than a quarter of
a mile southwest of Windmill Point at Hull; and here
he has his buildings and the approach to the island.
The southerly point of the island is only about half a
mile distant from Hough's I^eck, a portion of the town
of Quincy.
South of Pettick's Island, and near the entrance to
Hingham harbor, are several small islands. Of these.
Sheep Island (sometimes anciently called Sun Island)
contains two acres, and must have been a very poor
place for the keeping of sheep, although in the olden
time it was valued and used for that purpose. Grape
Island, with its two hills and fifty acres, is separated from
Weymouth and Crow Point in Hingham by the mouth
of Weymouth Back River. Slate Island, containing
about twelve acres, has furnished slate stone (whence
its name) for building purposes ; and, although the ma-
terial has not been of a remarkable quality for the pro-
tection of roofs, it has done good service for underpin-
ning and for cellar walls. These islands are situated in
the order mentioned, and lie west of the channel that
leads to the steamboat wharf at Hingham.
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 659
On the easterly side of Hingham channel lie Little
Hog Island, and Pumpkin (or BumMn) Island. The
first of these is a small oblong island of about ten acres,
lying just south of Hull, and near its shore.
Pumpkin Island, sometimes called Bumkin or Bom-
kin Island, but really entitled to be known as Ward's
Island, is of considerable importance. This has also
been supposed to be the Kound Island granted to the
town of Weymouth on the ninth of March, 1636-7, by
the following brief order: "Round Band & Grape Band
are graunted to the towne of Weymothe." The island
is variously estimated to contain from thirty to fifty
acres of good pasture land, and is beautifully situated
in Hull shoals, a short distance north of World's End,
that curious round peninsula attached by a slender bar
to Planters' Hill in Hingham. Before entering Hing-
ham harbor, it is the large portion of land which is
passed lying at the left hand. In course of time, this
beautiful island is found in the possession of Mr. Samuel
Ward, who was very early in colony days a land-holder
in Hingham, Hull, Weymouth and Charlestown. How
early, and consequently how long, Mr. Ward enjoyed
this possession is not known- From the jottings of
Rev. IN'oadiah Russell, while a tutor of Harvard Col-
lege, it appears that on the thirty-first of August, 1682,
"Mr. Samuel Ward of Charlestown died and gave 4ZJ.
per annu. to the college." Be this as it may, no such
gift appears in his last will; although it may refer to the
devise of Bomkin Island. Mr. Ward executed his last
will and testament di Charlestown, on the sixth of
March, 1681-2, in which is contained" the following:
" It. I give the Island leying Betwixtt hingam and hull,
called Bomkin Island unto the coUidge; and my mind is
560 TOPOGRAPHIC AI, AND HISTOEICAI.
that it be called By the name of wards Island." As
late as the eighth of the succeeding February, he in-
dorsed on the back of the same instrument the following
explanatory note: " The Island that I have given to the
CoUdge which Leyeth Betwixte hingam and hull called
BomMn Island; my mind is that it shall be and Remain
for eveer to harford Coledge in newenglandj the Eentt
of itt to be for the easmentt of the charges of the Diatte
of the Studanttse that are ia commonse." At the re-
quest of his daughter, Martha Lobdell of Hull, "the
estate of the sayed Ward ia hull" was appraised, and
the last item in the inventory was, " It. more an Island
knowen by the name of bumMng Island at ner hull,
80.00.00." This island did actually come into the pos-
session of Harvard College, and it is now valued
at about twelve hundred dollars, and produces an in-
come to the university of fifty dollars a year, which is
fully equal to that yielded to Boston by the famous
Franklin Medal Fund, the endowment of the great
Bostonian.
Pm-suing a course due south through Hingham har-
bor, after passing the strait between Planters' Hill on
the east and Crow Point on the west, the reader vnll
notice, first, Langley's Island, then Ragged Island and
Sarah's Island, and lastly Button Island; after which he
will soon reach the steamboat wharf.
About three mUes west of these islands, south of
Pettick's Island, is !N^ut Island, containing about six
acres, connected by a bar with Hough's Xeck, on which
is Braintree Great Hill, and north of which it lies; this
was frequently called, in old times, HoflPs (or Hough's)
Tombs. South of this, and east of the Great Hill, is
Raccoon Island, which has about ten acres of land. A
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON". 561
short distance to the south of this is Eock Island Cove
and the small village of Germantown.
Having described, somewhat fully, the islands of the
harbor, and the various passages around and among
them, as well as the numerous small coves or harbors
connected therewith, it will not be improper, before
closing the subject, to say a few words concerning the
group of islands which is situated at the entrance lying
just north of Hull, and separated from it by the Main
Ship Channel. But before proceeding to this descrip-
tion, it may be well to give the reader an idea of its
principal entrance, usually known as the Maiu Ship
Channel, lying between the promontory on the south on
which is situated the town of Hull, and the cluster of
islands on the north known as the Brewsters, and form-
ing the most important part of the singular group to be
described.
This entrance is about two miles long, and little over
a mile in width, the deepest water being on the northern
side, near the Great Brewster, and its appendages, — the
Little Brewster (upon which is the Outer Light), and
the Long Spit (at the western extremity of which is
Bug Light).
In going out of the harbor, having left the !N"arrows,
the first obstacle that in former days had to be avoided
is Corwin Rock, that lies on the south, in the flats
directly on the east side of George's Island. This
rock, and also Tower Kock, about one hundred feet
distant, which have always been considered among the
great dangers of the harbor, were removed during the
years 1868 and 1869 by submarine drilling and blasting,
under the direction of Major-General Foster, to the
depth of twenty-three feet at mean low water. A
71
562 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
short distance farther on is the odd-looMng struc-
ture, representing a light-house upon iron stilts.
This is on a large rock, at the extreme western
end of the spit, and is sometimes known as the
Spit Light, and more frequently as Bug Light, although
it is generally known to seamen as the "Light at the
I^arrows." It has a fixed red light, and can be seen in
pleasant weather about seyen miles. The structure is
painted of a dark color, and its lantern is about thirty-
five feet above the level of the sea. It was built in
1856, and is intended, when in range with Long Island
Light, to lead the mariner clear of Harding's Ledge, a
inost dangerous obstacle about two mUes out at sea.
The Black Buoys N'os. 7, 5 and 8, on the south, warn
of the danger of the Centurion and Kelley's Kocks ; and
Red Buoy !N"o. 6, on the north of the passage, of the
shoal and kelp ledges of the Great Brewster's spit.
Farther on, before the light-house is reached, are If ash's
Rocks; and then, about two and a half miles beyond
the light-house is Thieves' Ledge, very dangerous to
seafarers, but a good fishing ground for pleasure
parties.
In this, connection it may be well to refresh the
reader with an idea of the mouth of the harbor as it ap-
peared ui the olden time. Mr. WUliam "Wood, in his
book entitled "New Englands Prospect," printed in
1 634, says, " It is a safe and pleasant Harbour within,
ha,ving but one common and safe entrance, and that not
very broad, there scarce being roome for 3 ships to
come in board and board at a time; but being once
within, there is anchorage for 500 Ships. This Harbour
is made by a great company of Hands, whose high Clifi's
shoulder out the boistrous Seas, yet may easily deceive
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 563
any unskilfull Pi ote; presenting many faire openings
and broad sounds, which aflPord too shallow waters for
any Ships, though navigable for Boates and small pin-
naces. The entrance into the great Haven is called
N'antascot, which is two leagues from Boston; this place
of itselfe is a very good Haven, where Ships commonly
cast Anchor, until "Wiade and Tyde serve them for other
places ; from hence they may sayle to the River of Wes-
sagusGus, Naponset, Charles River, and Mistiche River,
on which Rivers bee seated many Townes. In any of
these fore-named harbours, the Seamen having spent
their old store of "Wood and "Water, may have fresh
supplies from the adjacent Hands, with good timber to
repaire their weather-beaten Ships: Here likewise may
be had Masts or Yards, being store of such Trees as are
useful for the same purpose."
This ancient description may appear too fanciful for
the modern reader, who has quietly passed through the
great channels of the harbor, and never seen the large
trees which would be required to perform the wonders
described by Mr. "Wood, but it was undoubtedly true
when written; and it is hardly to be expected, with the
present size of the merchant vessels that sail from this
port, that three should attempt a passage through the
!N^arrows abreast. The uncertainty of this entrance
without experienced pilots was deeply felt at the time of
the Revolutionary war, when the Magnifique was lost.
So was it a few years previous, when the Count d'Es-
taing, on the twenty-fourth of August, 1778, entered
the harbor. During his short stay, for he left on the
fifth of ]S"ovember following, one of his vessels, the
Somerset, carrying sixty guns, foundered on the thir-
tieth of October.
CHAPTEE XLYI.
ISLANDS AT THE MOUTH OF THE HAEBOE.
How the Tslands at the Mouth of the Harbor obtained their Names • • •
Granted to Hull in 1G41 • • • Some of them granted to John Leverett in 1652
■ • • The Great Brewster • • • Little Brewster • • • Boston Light-bouse, first built
in 1716 • • • Light-house Keepers, Worthylake, Hayes and Ball • ■ • Light-house
injured by Fire in 1761- • • Destroyed in 1775, Repaired and Blown Down
in 1776 ■ • • Bebuilt in 1783-4 • • • Island ceded to the United States in 1790 • • •
The Middle Brewster and its Houses • • • The Outer Brewster, with, its Spring
and Artificial Channel • • ■ Egg Rocks • • • Calf Island, with its Grove and
Beaches • ■ • Little Calf Island • • • Green Island and its Singular Inhabitant ■ • ■
Rocks and Ledges ■ • • The Graves • • • Thieves' Ledge • • • Harding's Rocks
• • -Minot's Ledge Light-house.
The last chapter completed the description of what is
strictly called Boston harbor; but this would be in-
complete, should the group of islands at its entrance
be passed by without notice. These islands lie be-
tween the Main Ship Channel on their south, the
Middle Ground on their west. Broad Sound on their
north, and the ocean on their east. Most of them
took their name at the time Mr. Isaac AUerton, the
famous agent of the Plymouth Colony and a pas-
senger in the May Flower in 1620, coasted by them
on his way to Salem on a visit to the Massachusetts
Bay.
Most all of these islands were granted to the town
of Nantasket, now Hull, on the second of June, 1641 ;
yet, by the following record of the twelfth of October,
1652, it is evident that Captain John Leverett, who was
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 565
afterwards Major-General of the Colony, and subse-
quently its Governor, became the legal possessor of
some of them: "Vppon the petition of Cajp' Joh:
Leuerett, this Court doth graunt vnto him all those
small Hands lying within the bay betweene AUerton
Poynt & !N"ahant, not hereto fore graunted; his father
putting in money into the common stocke in the begin-
ning of this plantation, for which he neuer had any con-
sideration." Here is noticed an act of justice done to
the eldest son of a good old man, who had died a credi-
tor to the colony; for it appears by the records of the
First Church in Boston, that "the Elder, M' Tho:
Leueritt died the 3 : of y° 2 mo : 1650," having been
particularly serviceable to the church, town and col-
ony. On the eighth of March, 1685-6, Robert Coomes
of Hull, mariner, and Sarah his wife, for the small sum
of £4, convey to John Loring of Hull the Brewsters
and other islands, stating in the deed of conveyance
that they had been granted to said Coomes by the town
of Hull.
The first of these islands, as the harbor is left, is the
Great Brewster, which contains about twenty-five acres
of land, a great bluff very imperfectly protected by a
sea-wall being very prominent on its easterly and south-
easterly parts, which form what is called its Southeast
Point. This island was purchased in !N'ovember, 1848,
by the City of Boston, of Mr. Lemuel Bracket, and a
certain portion of it was ceded in January, 1849, to the
United States for the purpose of building a sea-wall for
the protection of the harbor. From this extends west-
erly, a mile and a half, a long spit, formed of debris,
which is dry at low tides, and upon the extremity of
which is the Beacon or Bug Light, mentioned in a pre-
566 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
vious chapter. Southeast of the main body of the G-reat
Brewster, and connected with it by a bar which is ex-
posed to view at low water, is Light-house Island, fre-
quently in ancient writings called the Beacon Island,
and sometimes the Little Brewster. It owes its impor-
tance to its imposing position, and as having in early
times been selected as the site of the chief lighthouse
of the harbor. This has its West Point.
The inhabitants of Boston began very early in the
last century to take into consideration the subject of
establishing a light-house at the entrance of their harbor,
so large had become their commerce with foreign coun-
tries, and their trade with all the other seaport towns of
the American colonies. On the ninth of March, 1712-13,
as was customary with the good people of the town, a
meeting of the inhabitants, qualified to act in the town's
affairs, was called and held; and, among other matters
of business, the question of providing for a lighthouse
was introduced, and it was "voted, that the considera-
tion of what is proper for the town to do ab* a Light-
Hous, be referred to the select men." In the course of
time the matter was introduced into the meetings of the
General Court, the town of Boston proposing to put up
the building and maintain the light by rates levied upon
commerce, as will be seen by the following vote, passed
by the townsmen in general town meeting, held on the
thirteenth of May, 1713, ''Voted, That in case the
Gen" Court shall see cause to proceed to the establish-
ment of a Lighthouse for the accommodation of vessels
passing in and out of this harbour. That then the Select-
men or the Representatives of this town be desired to
move to the s^ Court that the Town of Boston as a
Town may have the prefference before any perticuler
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 567
persons in being concerned in the charge of erecting &
maintaining the same, and being Intitled to the Proffits
and Incomes thereof."
On the ninth of June, 1715, the General Court of
the province passed the following: " Ordered, That a
Lighthouse be erected at the charge of this Pr'ovmce, at
the Entrance of the Harbour of Boston, on the same
Place and Rates proposed in a Bill, projected for the
Town of Boston's doing it, accompanying this vote,
and that a Bill be drawn accordingly." On the four-
teenth of the same month it was ordered in the House
of Kepresentatives, "that' Mr. William Payne, Col.
Samuel Thaxter, and Col. Adam Winthrop, with such
as the Honourable Board shall joyn, be a Committee to
Build a Light House, at the Entrance of the Harbour
of Boston, pursuant to the Votes of this Court" j and
the order was sent up to the council for concurrence,
and Hon. William Taller and Addington Davenport,
Esq., were added from that body, and the order ap-
proved by Governor Joseph Dudley.
A bill was introduced into the House on the seven-
teenth of the same June, entitled " An act for Building
and Maintaining a Light-house upon the Great Brew-
ster, called Beacon Island, at the entrance of the Har-
bour of Boston," and was passed through the various
stages of legislation, until it was finally enacted in July.
The act, as passed, commenced and ran on as follows :
"Whereas, the want of a Light-house at the entrance
of the Harbour of Boston, hath been a great discour-
agement to navigation, by the loss of the lives and
estates of several of His Majesties subjects; for preven-
tion whereof: Be it enacted by His Excellency the
Governor, Council, and Eepresentatives in General
568 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that
there be a light-house erected at the charge of the Prov-
ince, on the southernmost part of the Great Brewster
called Beacon Island, to be kept lighted from sun-set-
ting to sun rising. That from and after the buUding of
the said light-house, and kindling a light in it, useful for
shipping coming bito or going out of the Harbour of
Boston, or any other harbour in Massachusetts Bay,
there shall be paid to the receiver of imposts, by the
master of all Ships and Vessels, Except Coasters, the
Duty of One Peny per Ton, Inwards j and also One
Peny per Ton, Outwards, and no more, for every Ton
of burden of the said Vessels before they Load or Un-
load the Goods therein." The remainder of the act
states what the measure of the vessel shall be, and also
what shall be accounted coasters; and after providing
for the collection and recovery of duties, together with
other necessary details, declares that the keeper, who
shall be appointed from time to time by the General
Court, " shall carefully and diligently attend to this
Daty at all tunes in kindling the Lights from Sun-set-
ting to Sun-rising, and placing them so as they may be
most seen by vessels comuig in or going out," etc.
Englishmen would say that this act was passed the first
year of the reign of King George the First.
In consequence of the determination to build the
light-house, application was made to the proprietors of
the undivided land of Hull for a grant of the Little
Brewster (or Beacon Island) for the purpose. The re-
sult of the request may be seen in the following extract
from the Hull Proprietory Records, as determined upon
on the first of August, 1715, and entered upon the rec-
ords by Mr. Joseph Benson, the clerk:
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTOK. 569
" At a legal meetting of the proprieters of the undi-
uided land in Township of Hull held one munday the
first day of August: Liutenaht Goold Seenior was
chosen Morderattor for the work of the daye.
"At y" s* meeting Co" Samuel Thaxter applied
himself to the s* proprieters in the name of the Com-
mittee appointed by the great and ganarall corte in there
sessions In June 1715 for the bidding of a light house
one Beacken Island so caled adioyning to the greate Bru-
sters northerly from the toun of Hull and being part of
theire tounship the s* proprieters being censable that it
will be a ganarall benifit to Trade and that thay in per-
tieuler shall rape a greate benifite thereby haue at the
s'* meeting by a Unanimus voate giuen and granted the
S* Beecan Island to the prouince of the Massatusetts
Bay for the use of a light house for euer: To Be dis-
posed of as the gouerment shall see meet: prouided that
the s* proprieters of the greate Brusters be teept
harmless."
The committee appointed to take care for the build-
ing of the light-house not having leisure, as the Gen-
eral Court Kecords state on the twenty-fifth of Decem-
ber, 1715, to oversee and direct that work, it was
"ordered that the oversight of that work be committed
to M' "William Payne and, Cap* Zachariah Tuthill, to
carry on and finish the same agreeable to the Advice
and Direction they shall from Time to Time receive
from the said Committee, and that the sum of Sixty
Pounds be allowed to them for the whole of that service
when it shall be compleated." This order of the House
was concurred in by the council, and consented to by
Lieutenant-Governor "William Tailer, — he who had.
been appointed the chairman on the part of the council.
72
570 TOPOQEAPHICiii AJSTD HISTORICAL,
In this stage of affairs it became necessary that a com-
petent keeper should be selected and appointed; there-
fore, on the twenty-fifth of June, 1716, the commission-
ers were empowered to procure a suitable person for the
purpose, who was to be allowed fifty pounds a year, his
salary to begin " when the lights are set up."
The commissioners charged with the duty of build-
ing the light-house undoubtedly attended faithfully to
the business; for, on the seventh of l^ovember, 1716,
the first day of the fall session of the General Court,
Mr. William Payne presented to the House an account
of the charge of building the same, amounting to
£2,385, 17s. 8d. half-penny, whereof £1,900 had been
paid, which was referred to a committee, who, on the
seventeenth of the same month reported favorably, and
the account was allowed and the balance ordered to be
paid.
The first light-house keeper was George Worthylake,
a husbandman, forty-three years of age, who had been
brought up in the harbor; for his father, who bore the
same name, had been for many years previous a resident
of Pemberton's Island, now called George's Island. He
himself appears to have dwelt upon Lovell's Island at
the time, where his farm was, and where his son resided
after his death. How much was paid him for his ser-
vices the first year has been stated already; but for his
second year he was allowed seventy pounds, he having
petitioned the General Court for an increase of salary
on account of the loss of fifty-nine sheep, which were
drowned during the winter of 1716 and 1717, they hav-
ing been driven into the sea by a storm, through want
of his care of them, when obliged to attend the light-
house. Mr. Worthylake was unfortunately drowned.
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 571
together with his wife Ann, and daughter Enth, on the
third of JiTovember, 1718. This incident was the origin of
the ballad, called the Lighthouse Tragedy, which Frank-
lin says he was indticed by his brother to write, print
and sell about the streets; and which he also says sold
prodigiously, though it was "wretched stuff." N^ot-
withstanding the great sale, and consequently extensive
distribution of the ballad, not a copy of it is known to
exist, nor has tradition transmitted to us a single line of
its verses. The unfortunate Mr. "Worthylake had hardly
been placed in his grave on Copp's Hill, before several
petitions were sent to the General Court, requesting the
appointment of persons to the of&ce. That of Mr. John
Hayes, a mariner, recommended on the sixth of Novem-
ber, 1718, by the merchants of Boston as an experienced
mariner and pilot in the harbor, and as an able-bodied
and discreet person, prevailed; and he was chosen to
office on the eighteenth of the same month.
It is supposed that the light-house went on well
under the management of Captain Hayes, for we hear
nothing particularly about it until the twenty-second of
August, 1733, when Captain Hayes, tired of the posi-
tion, resigned his office to take place on the eighth of
!N^ovember; and Mr. Robert Ball, recommended by the
Boston merchants, was elected on the twenty-third of
August, to fill the place. Captain Ball dwelt upon the
island, and appropriations were made frequently during
the years of his service for repairing the light-house,-
and also his dwelling-house.
l^ature seems to have provided a most remarkable
site for this useful structure. The Light-house Island
(or Beacon Island) might well be called a huge island
rock; for it contains in surface about two or three acres,
572 TOPOGRAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
on three-quarters of an acre only of which is soil, and
is only connected with the Great Brewster by means of
a narrow bar, which is covered by the ocean at the high
tides. The main ship channel, which passes by it, under
the name of Light-house Channel, is quite narrow and
deep; so that ships have to pass within a very short dis-
tance of the island on entering and leaving the harbor.
The old light-house was much injured by fire in 1751,
and was repaired with considerable care and expense, so
that it answered the purpose for which it was intended
until its final destruction, in 1776. It had been struck
several times by lightning, and it was with much diffi-
culty that prejudices could be overcome so as to allow
of its protection by lightning rods.
During the American Revolutionary War this build-
ing fared hard. While it was in the possession of the
British, the Provincials frequently burnt its combustible
parts, the tower built of brick being allowed to stand.
Major Benjamin Tupper, with a party, went from Milton
on the nineteenth of July, 1775, and destroyed aU its
woodwork and the glass lantern; and after it was
repaired by order of the British Admiral Graves, he
destroyed it again on the thirty-first of July of the same
year. The British were compelled to evacuate the town
of Boston on the seventeenth of March, 1776; they did
not, however, immediately leave the harbor, but for a
short time did all the mischief they could to the Castle
and to the buildings upon the several islands within
their reach. On the thirteenth of June, 1776, nearly
three months after the British were obliged to take
refuge on board their vessels, the Continentals began to
bring their guns to bear on their enemy, and on the
fourteenth, Mr. Ezeldel Price narrates, "about six
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 573
o'clock (by some accident or mistake the cannon could
not be fired before), the cannon began from Long Island
to play upon the shipping which obliged them to weigh
their anchors, and make the best of their way out of
their harbor. As they passed !N"antasket and the Light-
house, our artillery gaye them some shot from iN^antas-
ket HUl. The enemy sent their boats on shore at the
Light-house Island, and brought from thence a party,
there placed, of Regulars; after which they destroyed
the Light-house, and then the whole fleet made aU the
sail they could, and went to sea, steering their course
eastward." The commander of this ship, the Renown,
of fifty guns. Captain Bangs, after taking off his men
from the island, left a quantity of gunpowder so ar-
ranged that it took fire in about an hour afterwards, and
blew up the brick tower.
On the eighth of !N"ovember, 1780, G-ovemor Han-
cock sent a message to the legislature, recommending
that a light-house should be erected at the entrance of
the harbor upon the site of the old one, which had been
in ruins more than four years. In due time the legis-
lature acted upon the recommendation, by aj)pointing a
committee, from whicJi, after much urging, they obtained
a report on the eighth of October, 1783. From this re-
sulted -the building of the light-house, and the passage
of an act relating to light-houses. This building was
erected of stone, and was sixty feet high, or seventy-five
with the lantern. The diameter of the base of the
tower was about twenty-five feet, and that of the top
fifteen feet. The wall at the bottom was seven and a
half feet thick, and the top two and a half feet; making
the outside conical, with a cylindrical opening in the
centre of ten feet, for stairs, etc. The lantern, octago-
574 TOPOGKAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
nal in shape, was fifteen feet high, and about eight and
a half in diameter. It was Uluininated by four lamps
holding each a gallon of oil, and having four burners to
each. Until the United States took jurisdiction of the
light-houses on the coast, it was under the control of the
Governor and Council, and its expenses defrayed by the
duty upon vessels, called " light money," which was a
shilling a ton on all foreign vessels, and two pence half-
penny on American vessels clearance. Light-house
Island was ceded to the United States on the tenth of
June, 1790.
The present light-house has been refitted several
times since its erection in 1783. In 1856 the apparatus
was renewed by H. !N". Hooper & Co., of Boston, and
consisted of fourteen twenty-one inch reflectors, ar-
ranged to show two faces of illumination of seven
reflectors each, the whole made and fitted in the most
perfect manner, and, when lighted, each face displayed
during a revolution (for the lights revolved) an area of
about sixteen square feet. It was considered by ship-
masters as the best on the American coast. In Janu-
ary, 1860, the old tower was raised in height, now
measuring in altitude about ninety-eight feet above the
sea level, and new illuminating apparatus adopted. The
white tower with its black lantern and revolving light,
which can be seen at a distance of sixteen nautical
miles, if the weather be fair and the sky clear, is an im-
posing object, with its neighbor, the fog bell, when
viewed from vessels entering or leaving the harbor.
The wharf conveniences to the Light-house Island are
amply sufficient for their intended purposes.
Northeast of the Great Brewster is the Middle
Brewster, composed almost entirely of rocks; but it has
DESOEIPTIOI^ OF BOSTON. 575
upon it about ten acres of fair soil fit for cultivation.
This island has several rudely-constructed houses upon
it, which mostly are sustained by props, to prevent their
being blown down by the wind, which at some seasons
of the year rages violently at the mouth of the harbor.
In these tenements reside the families of fishermen and
other seafaring men.
Farther east lies the Outer Brewster, apparently a
huge mass of rocks; yet within its rough exterior is
contained an oasis of about five acres of good soil, and
a natural pond and spring of fresh water. A small
house in this fertile spot is occupied in summer, but not
in winter, on account of the unapproachable condition
of the island. This island is one of the most romantic
places near Boston, far surpassing ]N"ahant in its wild
rocks, chasms, caves and overhanging cliffs. An artifi-
cial channel, hewn in the rock by the late Mr. Austin,
nearly divides it into two islands. This was intended
as a haven for small vessels, and, with the gate at its
mouth, it furnished a good dock when occasion re-
quired. The owners of this property have, from time to
time, expected to realize much by the sale of stone for
building purposes. This island has its ]N"orth Point, and
formerly had Eastermost Tree at its east head. Between
the Outer and Middle Brewster is a small passageway,
called Flying Place.
South of the Outer and Middle Brewsters lie the
Egg Rocks, frequently called the Shag Rocks. These
are. dangerous to mariners, and have caused shipwrecks,
which a beacon-light would have prevented. The great
calamity of l^ovember, 1860, when the Maritana was
lost, and twenty-six men perished, should be a sufficient
warning for the United States authorities to proceed at
576 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
once to the erection of some STiitable protection against
such dreadful losses.
As the Brewsters make the northern boundary of
the mouth of the harbor, so does Point Allerton form
the southern. This remarkable headland is fast wearing
away; but it is hoped that the sea-wall to be commenced
in 1870, under the direction of Major-General Foster,
wUl, when completed, prevent this great injury to the
harbor.
]S^orth of the Brewsters is Calf Island, containing
ten acres and three houses, once known as Apthorp's
Island, probably La respect to Mr. Charles Apthorp,
once the owner of Long Island and other property in
immediate connection with the harbor. On this island
is a very pretty grove of wild cherries, some pleasant
beaches, and wild basaltic rocks. At its easterly point
are rocks called Pope's Rocks, and Iforth Rocks.
North of it is what is generally called the Little Calf,
which is uninhabited.
Just north of the group above described is Green
Island, perhaps the least pleasantly situated of all the
islands at the mouth of the harbor; yet it is not unin-
habited. It was known a hundred years ago as the
!North Brewster, and contains one apology for a house.
At the time of the destruction of the Minot's Ledge
Light-house, in 1851, the tide rose so high that its two
inhabitants had to be rescued by one of the pilot boats.
On this island has resided for many years a strange
being, singular in his habits, and possessing a very inde-
pendent spirit. Mr. Samuel Choate was not far from
seventy years of age, when, in February, 1865, the in-
clemency of the season was so great that he was tem-
porarily compelled to leave his chosen abode of twenty
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 577
years, and accept the protection of the Harbor Police.
It appears that, in his younger days, he was an ordinary
seaman, and that, about the year 1845, he established
himself upon the island, where he dwelt in a rudely-
constructed hut, sustaining himself by fishing, and sub-
sisting on fish, lobsters, and muscles. For many years,
inducements were offered him to pass his winters where
he could be made more comfortable, but to no effect,
until the severity of the weather was such that he
must necessarily have perished but for his timely
rescue. He had been brought up to Boston once before
on the eighth of July, 1862, when his boat had been
broken to pieces ; but preferring his hermit life, returned
again to his island. On the eighth of February, 1865,
he was sent to the almshouse at Bridgewater, where he
subsequently died. This island has what is called its
South Point.
West of Green and Calf Islands are Alderidge's
Ledge, Half-Tide Kocks, the Devil's Back (dry at low
water), Maffit's Ledge, and Barrel Rock. This last
named rock, which was a great obstruction to naviga-
tion on account of its dangerous position, was entu-ely
removed by Major- General Foster in 1869. It was
an immense boulder of Medford granite, and was un-
doubtedly carried there by some ancient glacier. East
of Shag Hock is Boston Ledge, marked by Red Buoy
1^0. 4. East of the Outer Brewster are Tewksbury Rock
and Martin's Ledge, the latter marked by Red Buoy No.
2. I^ortheast of Green Island are Sunken Rocks, and,
still farther to the east, are the Graves, so truly and
fearfully named, although they have been supposed to
have derived their name from Admiral Graves, who
touched them in the days of the Revolution. Farther
73
578 DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
out to sea, easterly, about three miles, and north and
south of the main ship channel, are Thieves' Ledge and
Harding's Kocks, the most dangerous obstacles to the
entrance of the harbor. The Big Hardiag is four feet
high, as seen at low water. About six miles southeast
of the Harding's is Minot's Ledge Light-house. The
original structure was erected in 1843; this was de-
stroyed by the great storm on the sixteenth of April,
1851, and the deposit for the foundation-stone of the
new buildiag was made on the second of October, 1858,
and its light first exhibited on the fifteenth of Novem-
ber, 1860.
"With this chapter, the description of the harbor
closes; nevertheless, another chapter will be given, for
the purpose of showing the ancient sailing directions
for vessels entering the harbor, and for a condensed
sketch of the usual route out of the harbor.
CHAPTEE XLVn.
EECAPITtrLATOET DESCEIPTION OP.THB HAKBOE, ASD DISTANCES.
Recapitulatory Description of the Harbor •■• Ancient Sailing Directions for
Entering the Harbor • . . Synopsis of Preceding Description ■ • • Starting
Point, Liverpool Wharf. • • Fort Point Channel • • . Objects in View • • • Main
Ship Channel, First Course • • • Second Course • . . Courses to Castle Island
and Governor's Island • • • Objects in View • • • Several Courses • • • Coui'ses to
Thompson's and Spectacle Islands • • ■ Back Way • • • Third Course • • • Cour-
ses to Long Island and Deer Island • • • Courses to Nahant, and over Broad
Sound • • • Hypocrite Passage • • • Fifth Course • • • The Narrows ■ • • Course to
Bainsford Island • • ■ Sixth Course, to the Sea • ■ • Table of Sailing Distances
• • • Table of Linear Distances.
The reader having been carried out " beyond the Light,"
it will be proper to pilot him back again to Boston, and
for this purpose his attention is called to the following
sailing directions, which are those that were in use at the
close of the Revolutionary War. They show conclu-
sively that the harbor, and its various channels, were as
well known to the mariners of the olden time, as they
now are to those of the present day. Rev. John Mal-
■ ham, the author of IS'avigation Made Easy and Familiar,
and of other works on naval affairs, says in his ]S"aval
Gazetteer, that, "Boston in Massachusetts, N. America,
is situated on a peninsula at the bottom of a spacious
bay, which is covered with small islands and rocks, and
defended by a castle and battery. It forms a crescent
about the harbour, and has a beautiful prospect from the
sea. The Brewsters Islands are on the N side of the
passage. The only safe channel into the harbour is so
580 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
narrow, that 3 ships can scarcely pass in a breast, and it
is full of islands; but 500 ships may anchor within, in a
good depth of water. There are proper marks to guide
ships into the fairway. A light-house, with one lan-
thprn, is on Light House Island at the entrance of the
bay for that purpose; it is the first island to the N of
Point Alderton, and between them is the fair way of the
channel in directly "W about a mile within the Point, in
9, 8, 7, and even 5 fathoms.
"From this situation, there are two channels to the
town, which lies !N" "W- The northernmost is first to iN"
~W, by W, about a mile, nearly towards the IVIiddle of
the B side of George's Island; then more ^N for half a
mile, keeping nearly parallel with the coast of that
island, so as to avoid the rocks on that side of the island
on the larboard, and the spit of a sand that runs W
from the Great Brewster (which is to K W from Light
House Island;) it then turns more westerly to the S W
side of LoVel's .Island, keeping in 5 fathoms at low
water tUl ofi" that point, where there is a fathom less.
Keep up nearly 1^ on the "W side of Lovel's Island till
abreast of the N end of it, and then veer away ]^ "NV,
and soon after W, in 3 and 4 fathoms alternately round
Nick's Mate Island, the northernmost of two small islands
on the larboard. The southernmost is called Gallop'
Island, the N E end of Long Island is nearly ~W of that
about a mile; steer about "W, as far as the middle be-
tween that and the !N end of Spectacle Island, about a
mile farther also to the "W, and then N N "W, till almost
close with a small island, called Castle Island on the
larboard. Between this and Governor's Island on the
starboard, sail about N N W, till abreast of the ]^ end
of the Starboard Island; this part of the passage has
DESOKIPTION OF BOSTON. 581
the least depth, not above 2 fathoms at low water;
from hence proceed N W, till pretty near the S end
of an island on the starboard called llfoddle's Island,
almost 2 miles, when Boston will lie directly "W about
a mUe.
" The southernmost channel, goes off to the S of "W
along the S end of George's Island, and then JiJ" "W,
leaving that and Gallop's Island on the starboard. Then
the course turns away S W, nearly in the middle way
between the S E side of Long Island on the starboard,
and some small islands, and sands on the larboard.
Kound the S W point of that island, and turn again IST
"W by 'N, nearly at an equal distance from the E end of
Moon Island on the larboard, which is rocky, and the
said point. Here is the shoalest part of this channel.
Then run up about N" !N" W tUl abreast of the E end of
Thompson's Island on the larboard, and then Isj" W to
clear the W point of Spectacle Island on the starboard.
Having cleared this, run up N" till Castle Island, before
mentioned, bears !N W, when the two channels again
unite.
"The IN" "W winds prevail here from October till
February; and during that season, as they generally
blow very strong, and are excessively cold, ships can
make no port on this coast. Eegard must also be had
to the setting of the tides and currents between the
islands; and unless persons are well acquainted, pilots
may be considered as necessary."
^Notwithstanding the wintry prevalence of the north-
west winds, there are others, the northeast, that do great
damage to the harbor, by producing the abrasions which
wear away the headlands. Fortunately the ingenuity of
man, empowered by the fostering care of the general
582 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
government, is in a fair way to protect the harbor from
these unwelcome results, and, by deepening and widen-
ing its channels, and removing its dangerous obstacles,
to make it one of the best, as well as most capacious, of
the great ports of America.
Perhaps, before leaving the subject of Boston har-
bor, it will be well to review the preceding description,
and reduce the whole to a synopsis so brief that it can
be easUy read during a trip "down the harbor"; and,
for this purpose, the reader will proceed on his voyage,
leaving the penrasula at Liverpool wharf, the well-
known starting-point of the Hingham steamboat.
Taking departure from Liverpool wharf, the reader
will find himself in the channel which separates the
southeasterly part of the peninsula from the extensive
flats of South Boston. This passage proceeds from
South Bay (or Roxbury harbor), and is known as Fort
Point channel, in consequence of flowing by the site of
the ancient fort on Fort Hill, and the South Battery (or
Sconce) formerly situated where now are Lidia and
Kowe's wharves.
"When a little off from land, he can see, on the north,
Charlestown Navy Yard (between Charles and Mystic
Rivers) , the city of Chelsea, and !N'oddle's Island (now
East Boston) ; on the south, over the flats, is south Bos-
ton, which was detached from Dorchester in 1803, and
annexed to Boston. On the east, he can see, at low tide.
Bird Island shoal, with its Beacon and Bed Buoy No. 6,
near East Boston, and Apple Island (with its tall trees)
miles off m the distance. These he will leave on his left
hand in proceeding down the harbor; for, just after get-
ting into the stream of the Main Ship Channel, he must
change his course and take a direction southeast by east.
DESCRIPTIOK OP BOSTON. 583
Oa the south side of this channel, at his right hand, he
will pass by Slate Ledge in South Boston Flats, marked
by Black Buoy !N'o. 11, and the Upper Middle, a shoal
in the same flats, marked by Black Buoy "No. 9, a noted
object in the main channel, a very little short of two
statute miles distant In a straight line from the end of
Long wharf.
At Black Buoy No. 9, the course is to be changed
to southeast by south; and leaving Governor's Island
and its fort (named after Governor John Winthrop) on
the left, and the Upper Middle Shoal on the right, the
reader wUl pass along about a mile and a quarter before
coming to another change of direction. Li this course
he will pass by Red Buoy 'No. 11 (at the southerly
point of the flats of Governor's Island), and here he
can make for Castle Island wharf on his right, and visit
Fort Independence ; or he can pass on to the end of the
course, leaving on his left the Lower Middle Shoal with
its Buoys (l!^os. 10 and 8 Eed), and Buoy No. 7 Black.
From this point there can be seen, on the north. Gov-
ernor's Island, Apple Island, Snake Island, Point Shir-
ley, and Deer Island with its buildings for the city
institutions; and on the south Thompson's Island, with
its buUdings of the Boston Asylum and Farm School
for Indigent Boys, and Spectacle and Long Islands,
At this point, between Red Buoy No. 8 and Black
Buoy No. 7, three courses may be taken; the westerly
one running a little west of south to Thompson's Island
wharf, the southerly one in a south-southeast course
(through the Back Way, between Thompson's and
Moon Islands on the right, and Spectacle and Long
Islands on the left), and the easterly one running
direct for the mouth of the harbor, leaving President
584 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Koads on the left, and Spectacle and Long Islands
on the right.
The last of these courses is about two miles and
three-quarters long, and is the Main Ship Channel. Its
direction by the compass is east three-fourths south, and
its eastern extremity is near Black Buoy l^o. 9, three-
quarters of a mile northeast of Long Island Light, and
close by the north edge of the shoal called l^ix's Mate,
on which the black pyramidal monument stands. Be-
fore reaching this point (by a mUe and a half), the
reader can approach the wharf of Long Island on his
right, or the wharf of Deer Island on his left, the for-
mer being about a mile distant, and the latter a mile and
a half. In a direct line, these wharves are two miles
apart. While in the neighborhood of l^ix's Mate,
Rainsford Island, with its old hospital. and quarantine
buildings, can be seen on the south, and Lovell's, Gal-
lop's, and George's Island on the southeast, and the new
Quarantine Road and the Middle Ground at the north.
After passing IS^ix's Mate, there are many courses
that may be taken; one, northeast one-half east, passes
over the Middle Ground directly to N^ahant, and to sea;
one east-by-west one-half north, proceeds also to sea,
while it leads to Hypocrite Passage; the southeasterly
course leads through the Narrows, between Lovell's
Island and Bug Light on the left, and Gallop's and
George's Islands on the right. This last course, which
is the Main Ship Channel, is about two miles long, in a
slightly curved line, aud terminates midway between
"Windmill Point at Hull, and the Outer Lighthouse,
which are two miles apart.
Rainsford Island is approached from the Back Way
by a northeast-by-east one-half east course, or from the
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 685
Zlfarrows in a southwesterly direction. Fort Warren,
on George's Island, is reached from the IN^arrows by a
southerly course, as is also Petitick's Island and Hull.
The way to Hingham passes between these last-named
places, and is exceedingly tortuous South of George's
Island lie !N"antasket Koads, and east of it is the main
channel which leads out of the harbor, running near the
Bug Light and Black Buoy 'No. 5, and Red Buoy No.
8, among Rocks and Ledges. From this point the
course is due east about two miles ; thence the direction
is turned to a course running east-southeast to sea.
The following table of sailing distances, given in
statute miles, will show how far the wharf or landing
point of each of the principal islands is from the east-
erly end of Long wharf.
Miles.
East Boston Ferry ^
Bird Island Shoal . . . . . . ... .1
Slate Ledge Buoy 1
Upper Middle Buoy . . If
Governor's Island .....••••2
Castle Island 2^
Lower Middle Buoy (west) . . . . • . • 2J
Lower Middle Buoy (east) ••••<•> 3^
Thompson's Island . . . . . . . . • ^i
Spectacle Island ....4
Moon Island 5
Apple Island (by Bird Island Passage) ..... 2|-
Apple Island (by Main Ship Channel) 4^
Long Island 5
Deer Island (by Bird Island Passage) ..... 41-
Deer Island (by Main Ship Channel) 5^
Point Shirley (by Bird Island Passage) ..... 4
Point Shirley (by Main Ship Channel) ..... 6
Snake Island (by Main Ship Channel) 7
Nix's Mate 5f
74
586 TOPOGBAPHICAI< AND HISIOBICAL
Miles.
Lovell's Island ^k
Gallop's Island H
George's Island 7
Eainsford Island (Back Way) H
Eainsford Island (by Main Ship Channel) 8
Bug Light "^i
Pettick's Island 8J
Hull . . ■ 8i
Outer Lighthouse 9
Point Allerton 9i
Outer Brewster lO^
The Graves (by MaLa Ship Channel) 12J-
The Graves (by Broad Sound) lOi
The Graves (by Black Rock Channel) 11 J
Thieves' Ledge 11|
Harding's Ledge llj
Minot's Ledge Lighthouse 16f
Frequent inquiry is made, by persons passing down
the harbor, as to the exact linear distance of certain
objects from one another; therefore, in tliis connection,
it has been deemed advisable to prepare the following'
short table from measurements made in statute miles.
The reader must take notice, however, that it requires
about one and one-eighth statute mUes to make a nauti-
cal mile, such as is used by mariners in their computa-
tions: —
MUes.
From Long wharf to Fort Winthrop 2
From Long wharf to Fort Independence 2^
From Long wharf to Fort Warren 6^
From Long wharf to Deer Island wharf . . , . • 4y
From Long wharf to Long Island Light ..... 5J
From Long wharf to Gallop's Island, ..... 6J
From Long wharf to Bug Light 7J
From Long wharf to Hull ••.....?*
From Long wharf to Boston Outer Light 8i
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
587
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
From
Long wharf to the Graves . . .
Long wharf to Harding's Ledge,
Long wharf to Point Allerton . . .
Fort Independence to Fort "Winthrop
Fort Independence to Long Island Light .
Fort Independence to Fort Warren •
Long Island Light to Bug Light
Long Island Light to Boston Outer Light
Long Island wharf to Deer Island wharf .
Windmill Point in Hull to Boston Outer Light
Hull wharf to Hingham wharf . . .
Point Allerton to Boston Outer Light
Boston Outer Light to Thieves' Ledge
Boston Outer Light to Nahant wharf .
Boston Outer Light to Harding's Ledge
Harding's Ledge to Minot's Ledge . .
Miles.
11
9
1
n
2
H
2
6
2f
5
The reader having made his way out of the harbor
and to sea, can easily return, if he pleases, through
Hypocrite Passage, over Broad Sound, through Shirley
Gut, to the harbor.
OHAPTER XLYin.
ANCIENT STYLE OF BUILDING, AND THE OLD LANDMAEKB.
Ancient Landmarks, mostly demolished • • ■ Disappearance of their peculiari-
ties ■■• Location of the First Houses ••• First Buildings framed •••Mud
Houses . . • Stone and Brick Houses rare at first • • • Wooden Structures with
thatched roofs • • • Peculiar roofs • • • Change of Style of Building in 1679 • • •
Houses with Jetties and Pendills ■••Rough-cast Buildings ••• Different
styles of Laying Bricks in different Periods • ■ • Construction of the Houses
of the First Settlers • • • Chimneys and Fireplaces, Arrangement of Rooms
. • • Style of Windows • • • Window seats and Buffets • • • Peculiarity of the
Old Public Buildings •••Public Buildings erected before the year 1800.
Boston, like all other old places, has been noted in
times past for its peculiar landmarks, as exhibited in its
old buildings. The greater number of these have been
demolished, to make way for the improvements, which a
rapidly increasing business, and, consequently, a largely
augmented population, have made necessary. The
period when these changes came about was that which
immediately succeeded the old town regime, during the
first few years after the adoption of the city charter, in
1822. Landmark after landmark has disappeared in
rapid succession, and a few only of those that were erect-
ed during the first century of the town's corporate exis-
tence can now, in 1870, be found; and these have been
so much altered in their appearance by modern art and
innovation, that it is difficult to perceive any of their
old characteristics, and the peculiarities of the style of
construction which prevailed at the different periods of
the town's history. ]S"one of these have any notable
associations connected with them.
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 589
^Nearly all the first houses were erected on the high-
way to Eoxbury (which is the present "Washington
street), and upon the portion of Tremont street that is
north of Winter street, with a few on the highways at
the north end of the town, one of which was early kaown
as the " way leading from the orange tree to the ferry "
(now Hanover street) , and the other as the " lowermost
highway," being a narrow lane that occupied the street
now known as !N^orth street. These streets were crossed
by a few other short ones, and the whole, at first, were
within a small limit, bounded on the !N'orth by the pres-
ent Prince street, and south by Eliot street. For the first
twenty years, there was hardly a building west of the
present Tremont street, the most populous part of the
town being on the streets above mentioned, with some
small houses around the great cove, and here and there
one in the neighborhood of Milk and Summer Streets,
and Fort Hill, then known as Corn Hill. Consequently
in these regions stood the old buildings, the ancient
landmarks of the town, so many of which were removed
during the time of the mayoralty of the elder Mr. Quincy.
The first settlers of Boston were generally persons
who had been of consideration in the old country, and
were not a set of merely mercenary adventurers ; there-
fore, when they began their town, they generally built
framed houses. Mud-houses were, indeed, known in
the early days of the town; but these were very few in
number, and, of course, were only occupied by the
poorest and most abject of the colonists, — or, more cor-
rectly speaking, by their menials only. A few houses
were built of stone, and some of brick; but these were
exceptions to the general rule, until Boston had become
over twenty years of age.
590 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
The first wooden structures were mostly one story
in lieight, and liad tliatclied roofs. As time wore on, tlie
houses of those that could ajQford the luxury had two
stories in front, with a shingled roof that ran nearly to
the ground behind, leaving but one story to be seen.
Subsequently, hipped, or double, roofs were in fashion;
and after the great fire in 1679, houses were constructed
with projecting stories, called jetties, and these were
ornamented at their corners with pendills. About this
time, building assumed a new style; the houses with jet-
ties were many of them rough cast, covered with cement
and small pebbles, and some with broken glass instead.
Brick houses, three stories in height, with arched win-
dow caps, came in vogue about the same time, the fre-
quency of fires making it necessary that a style of
building more secure than that which had previously
prevailed should be adopted in the thickly settled parts
of the town. Gables, and occasionally towers, were first
noticed in Boston about this time. The mode of laying
bricks had its fashionable periods, also. The earliest
style was the old English bond, which consisted of
courses of bricks laid lengthwise, alternating with
others laid endwise. A more common style that suc-
ceeded consisted of a row of bricks laid endwise after
every seventh laid lengthwise. About the time of the
Revolution, a very neat style was commenced, known to
bricklayers as the Flemish bond, in which every row
was laid with alternate bricks lengthwise and endwise,
so as very neatly to break joints and preserve the bond.
This last mode was contmued some time into the present
century, and then was superseded by the present style
of bricklaying, in which the long edge of each brick is
shown. Experts can undoubtedly determine very nearly
DESCKIPTION OP BOSTOK. 591
the age of brick buildings, by carefully noticing the
bonds of the brickwork, as each style prevailed in use
a little more than half a century.
The houses of the olden time were generally con-
structed with a large chimney in the centre. This
supplied all the rooms with fireplaces, and the kitchen
with an oven and ash-pit. The fireplaces were all sub-
stantial and capacious, many of them sufl3.ciently commo-
dious to accommodate the greatest part of the family
during the cold seasons of the year. These were neatly
paved with square tiles, of baked clay, and each had its
mantle-shelf. Small Dutch tiles, decorated with views
and artistic designs, ornamented those belonging to the
parlors and sitting-rooms, and the hearths were laid with
brick or sandstone tUes. Good housewives kept the
bricks neatly reddened, and the stone jambs nicely
painted with stone-dust. Although the bricks were
generally cemented with plaster, made of shell-lime, the
bricks of the chimneys and ovens were laid with clay.
The entrance to the houses was through a small
porch into a small entry, which, by means of small doors
at the right and left, communicated with the front rooms,
one of which served as the parlor, or more generally as
the sleeping-room of the old folks, and the other as the
common room, which served for sitting-room, eating-
room, or work-room, as occasion required, and commu-
nicated with the kitchen, pantry, dairy, and several
bed-rooms; the last of which were sufficiently warmed
from the common room. A portion of the garret, or
second story, when one could be afforded, was appropri-
ated for the spinning-wheel and loom, and the remainder
to lodging-rooms and store-rooms. The windows were
small, and the panes of glass correspondingly diminu-
592 DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON.
tive, — sometimes oblong, and not unfrequently of a
diamond, or lozenge shape. Window-seats oftentimes
supplied the place of chairs, and buffets in the comer of
the rooms answered well for the modern china-closet.
The old public buildings and houses of worship
were just as peculiar in their architectural appearance
as were the houses of the people. Of those that date
back previous to the year 1800, the Old State House, at
the head of State street, erected in 1712; Christ Church,
in Salem street, dedicated in 1723 ; the Old South meet-
ing-house, the corner-stone of which was laid on the
thirty-first of March, 1729; King's Chapel, built in 1749-
1754, Brattle street meeting-house, dedicated in 1773,
and the State House, first occupied by the legislature
on the eleventh of January, 1798, are all of this class
that can be seen at the present day.
Some of these ancient landmarks of the early days
of the town were quite notable ; and, although they have
passed away from eight, yet they remain in the remem-
brance of many of the older inhabitants. An attempt
will be made in a few of the succeeding chapters to
rescue these, while yet there is time, from the oblivion
which would necessarily overtake them, unless an effort
should be made at the present time, while the memory
is yet sufficiently strong, to describe them as they last
appeared to those who remember them well.
CHAPTEE XLIX.
THE PROVINCE HOUSE.
The Province House, one of the last of the Ancient Landmarks of the Colony
and Province '•• At first the private residence of Peter Sargeant • • • An-
ciently first in the possession of Thomas MiUard • ■ ■ Mr. Millard's Neighbors
• . • Estate purchased, in 1672, by Col. Samuel Shrimpton, and sold to Mr.
Sargeant in 1676 ■ • ■ Boundaries and Extent of the Estate • • • House built by
Mr. Sargeant in 1679 • • • OflTered for sale on the death of Mr. Sargeant • • •
The Province in need of a Governor's House, and action of the Legislature
in reference to the purchase of Mr. Sargeant's House ■ ■ • Purchase in X716
• • • Appropriation for Ornamental Hangings • • • Description of the Mansion
House • • • How occupied during Provincial times ■ • ■ luefiVjctual sale to
John Peck, in 1796 • "Granted to the Massachusetts General Hospital in
1811 • • • Leased for ninety-nine years to David Greenough, Esq., in 1817 • • •
Alterations by Mr. Greenough • • • Hawthorne's Description of the House in
its worst days • • ■ Alterations in 1851 • • • Destruction of the Building by
Fire in 1864 • • • No recognizable vestige of the Old Province House left.
As Boston was, in the olden time, the chief town in
!N^ew England, so it was also the place of residence of
the most wealthy of the colonists, and contained many
costly mansion houses, as well as the necessary buildings
for managing the affairs of the colonial and town govern-
ments. Among the most distinguished of these edifices
was that long known as the Old Province House, so
designated on account of its age, and the purpose to
which it was put during the time that Massachusetts
was under the administration of the Provincial Govern-
ors, who were appointed by the sovereign power of the
mother country agreeably to the provisions of the sec-
ond charter, which was granted in the year 1691, for
uniting the Colony of 'New Plymouth with the Colony
76
594 TOPOGEAPHICAL AST) HISTORICAL
of Massachusetts Bay, in Kew England,- and forming
the Province of the Massachusetts Bay.
This old landmark, or what remains of it, is the last
link of any great importance that can be traced back
through the Revolutionary period of our country's
history, and through the Provincial days of Massachu-
setts, to Colonial times. It has been generally supposed
that it was erected, in earlier times, by the existing gov-
ernment of Massachusetts, for governmental purposes.
But such is not the case. It was built, as a private enter-
prise, by one of the most opulent merchants of good old
Colony times, Peter Sargeant, Esq. He had purchased
the land, on the twenty-first of October, 1676, of Col.
Samuel Shrimpton, one of the largest landholders of the
town, for the small sum of £350. In the Book of Pos-
sessions, which dates back as far as the year 1643, it
appears that Thomas Millard, who was a planter (so
styled in those days) , had, for one portion of his posses-
sion, an estate on the " High Street," or great highway
leading to Koxbury, described as " one House and Gar-
den bounded with Francis Lyle north, Thomas Grubb
south, Arthur Perry west, and the Street east."
It may be interesting to some to know of whom the
little coterie, the immediate neighbors of Mr. Millard,
the planter, consisted. His nearest neighbor on the
north was Mr. Lyle (or Lysle) , a noted surgeon barber,
who could undoubtedly " breathe a vein " or clip the hair
to pure puritanic measure, as the case might be. Lyle's
estate separated him from Samuel Hough, a disgusted
and retired clergyman, who dwelt at the corner of the
street that led to the Beacon, and which is now known
as the southerly corner of School street, on Washington
street. On the south was the residence of Mr. Grubb,
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 595
the leather-dresser; and on the rear, in a house fronting
on the present School street, was Mr. Perry, the tailor.
In the course of events, Mr. Millard died; and his
estate, which was encumbered, passed into the hands of
Col. Samuel Shrimpton, a noted landholder, in 1672, the
title not being perfected until 1674. Col. Shrimpton, as
said before, sold the estate to Mr. Sargeant in 1676, at
which time it measured eighty-six feet on the street,
two hundred and sixty-six feet southerly on Paul Batt,
the village glazier, seventy-seven feet westerly on the
estate of the heirs of John Blowers, deceased, and two
hundred and sixty-six feet northerly on land of the heirs
of Thomas Robinson, also deceased.
After Mr. Sargeant had acquired a perfect title to his
estate, he commenced building his house in the most
substantial manner; and he completed it in the year
1679, and affixed upon the famous iron balustrade over
the front door his initials and date, thus:
16 P.S. 79.
Mr. Sargeant was a Londoner, and came to Boston
in 1667. He was as remarkable in his mari-iages as in
his wealth; for he had three wives, his second having
been a widow twice before her third venture; and his
third also a widow, and even becoming his widow, and
lastly the widow of her third husband. Mr. Sargeant
died on the eighth of February, 1713-14, and his widow
took her third husband on the twelfth of May, 1715,
Simeon Stoddard, Esq. ; and here was a fair race, — for
she was his third wife, as well as he was her third hus-
band ; and, although he lived till the fifteenth of Octo-
ber, 1730, and then died in his eightieth year, she kept
along until the twenty-third of September, 1738, eight
years later, but died ten years younger in point of age.
596 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
When the widow married Mr. Stoddard, she had no
further use for the place, for her new husband had one
about as desirable ; and therefore the estate was offered for
sale. About this time (in March, 1713) Elizeus Burgess,
Esq., an English gentleman, received from the King a
permission to be Governor of the Province j and,.in view
of his comfort, for the Colonel was exceedingly popular
with the Provincials, the Legislature desired to procure
for him a commodious and dignified residence in the
capital of the Province,
For this pm*pose a committee was appointed to
ascertain what house could be procured, and on the
third of June, 1715, "Capt. Noyes, from the committee
appointed to consider of a suitable place for the reception
& entertainment of Col. Burges upon his arrival to this
Government, Reported that inasmuch as there is no
suitable house to be let, and the Mansion House, land
& garden, &c., of Peter Sargeant, Esq., deceased is
now upon sale: The Committee are of opinion that it
would be for the interest and benefit of this Province to
purchase the same for their use and improvement."
On the fourteenth of the same month the House of
Representatives passed the following preamble and
order : —
"Whereas this House have credible intelligence
that his Excellency Col. Elizeus Burgess is commissioned
by His Majesty to be Governor of His Majesty's Pro-
vince, and may in a few weeks be expected to arrive
here,
" Ordered, That Mr. Speaker, the Representatives of
the Town of Boston, and Col. Thaxter, be a committee
to provide a suitable Place for His Excellency's present
recption, and entertainment when he shall arrive, and to
DESCETPlION OP BOSTON. 597
invite him thereto ; and compliment His Excellency in
the name of this House upon his safe arrival."
The Governor and Council approved of the project,
and the sura of £2300. was appropriated for the pur-
pose on the 17th of December. In consequence of
this action the committee proceeded at once to make
the purchase, and the heirs of Mr. Sargeant passed
the deeds, on the eleventh and twelfth of April, 1716,
to Jeremiah Allen, the Treasurer of the Province, to
Jeremiah Dummer, the Treasurer of the County of
Suffolk, and to Joseph Prout, the Treasurer of the town
of Boston. In June of the same year the sum of £20
was appropriated for the purchase of ornamental hang-
ings for decorating the house, in order to make it suf-
ficiently grand for the new governor.
"When the Mansion-House became public property it
was a magnificent buUding; no pains had been spared
to make it not only elegant, but also spacious and con-
venient. It stood somewhat back in its ample lot, and
had the most pleasant and agreeable surroundings of
any mansion-house in the town. It was of brick, three
stories in height, with a high roof and lofty cupola, the
whole surmounted by an Indian Chief, with a drawn bow
and arrow, the handiwork of Deacon Shem Drown — he
who made the grasshopper on Faneuil Hall. The house
was approached over a stone pavement and a high flight
of massive stone steps, and through a magnificent door-
way, which might have rivalled those of the palaces of
Europe. Trees of very large size and magnificent pro-
portions shaded this princely mansion, and added much
to, its elegance and imposing appearance. In front of
the yard stood an elegant fence with highly ornamented
posts; and at each end of this, on the street, were small
598 TOPOGKAPHICAL A^B HISTOBICAL
buildings, which in the days of the magnificence of the
Province House served as Porters' lodges.
Although Col. Burgess was proclaimed Governor
of the Province in 1^'ovember, 1715, he never canle to
America to perform the duties of the office but resigned
the appointment in 1716, Hon. WUliam Tailor, the Lieut.
Governor, acting in his place untU Col. Samuel Shute
received the appointment in October, 1716, and probably
became the first gubernatorial occupant of the Mansion
House.
During the time of the Provincial government, it
seems to have been used by the governors j but, after
the expulsion of Lord Howe on the evacuation of Boston
on the seventeenth of March in 1776, it was converted
into accommodations for our own officers, for the trans-
action of public business. In 1796, after the building
of the new State House on Beacon street, the Province
House was sold to John Peck; but the bargain fell
through on account of inability of the purchaser to make
payment, and, in 1799, the whole estate was reconveyed
to the State J and subsequently, on the twenty-fifth of
February, 1811, was granted by the State to the Massa-
chusetts General Hospital, whose trustees, on the first
of April, 1817, leased it to David Greenough, Esq., for
the term of ninety-nine years, and for the annual rent
of two thousand dollars, or an outright sum of $33,000,
which last sum he elected on the first of October, 1824,
to pay.
Subsequent to the lease (in 1817), this aristocratic
mansion was put to almost all sorts of purposes;
and soon after Mr. Greenough's lease the stately trees
were taken down, and a row of brick houses and stores
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 599
built upon the street, excluding it from view until ap-
proached through a narrow archway, leading to its front
door and the houses which had been erected in the rear
of the estate. The following interesting extract from
Hawthorne's " Twice Told Tales " will give a vivid de-
scription of the old relic, as it could have been seen in
later days, during its worst period of degradation, just
before the last great alteration of its walls entirely
destroyed its identity: —
" One afternoon last summer, while walking along
Washington street, my eye was attracted by a sign-board
protruding over a narrow archway, nearly opposite the
old South Church. The sign represented the front of a
stately edifice, which was designated as the ' Old Pro-
vince House, kept by Thomas "Waite.' I was glad to be
thus reminded of a purpose, long entertained, of visiting
and rambling over the mansion of the old royal Govern-
ors of Massachusetts; and entering the arched passage,
which penetrated through the middle of a brick row of
shops, a few steps transported me from the busy heart of
modern Boston into a small and secluded court-yard.
One side of this space was occupied by the square front
of the Province House, three stories high, and sur-
mounted by a cupola, on the top of which a gilded
Indian was discernible, with his bow bent and his arrow
on the string, as if aiming at the weathercock on the
spire of the Old South. The figure has kept this atti-
tude for seventy years or more, ever since good Deacon
Drowne, a cunning carver of wood, first stationed him
on his long sentinel's watch over the city,
" The Province House is constructed of brick, which
seems recently to have been overlaid with a coat of light-
colored paint. A flight of red freestone steps, fenced
GOO TOPOaEAPHICAI< AND HISTOEICAL
in by a balustrade of curiously wrought iron, ascends
from the courtyard to the spacious porch, over which is
a balcony, with an iron balustrade of similar pattern
and workmanship to that beneath. These letters and
figures — 16 P. S. 79 — are wrought into the iron work
of the balcony, and probably express the date of the
edifice, with the initials of its founder's name. A wide
door, with double leaves, admitted me into the hall or
entry, on the right of which is the entrance to the bar-
room.
"It was in this apartment,! presume, that the ancient
Governors held their levees, with vice-regal pomp, sur-
rounded by the military men, the councillors, the judges
and other oflB.cers of the crown, while all the loyalty of
the province thronged to do them honor. But the room,
in its present condition, cannot boast even of faded
magnificence. The panelled wainscot is covered with
dingy paint, and acquires a duskier hue from the deep
shadow into which the Province House is thrown by the
brick block that shuts it in from Washington Street. A
ray of sunshine never visits this apartment any more
than the glare of the festal torches, which have been
extinguished from the era of the Revolution. The most
venerable and ornamental object is a chimney-piece set
round with Dutch tiles of blue-figured China, represent-
ing scenes from Scripture j and, for aught I know, the
lady of Pownall or Bernard may have sat beside this
fireplace, and told her children the story of each blue
tile. A bar in modern style, well replenished with
decanters, bottles, cigar-boxes, and net-work bags of
lemons, and provided with a beer-pump and a soda-
fount, extends along one side of the room After
sipping a glass of port-sangaree, prepared by the skil-
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 601
ful hands of Mr. Thomas Waite, I besought that worthy
successor and representative of so many historic person-
ages to conduct me over their time-honored mansion.
" He readily complied; but, to confess the truth, I
was forced to draw strenuously upon my imagination,
in order to find aught that was interesting in a house
which, without its historic associations, would have
seemed merely such a tavern as is usually favored by
the custom of decent city boarders and old-fashioned
country gentlemen. The chambers, which were prob-
ably spacious in former times, are now cut up by parti-
tions, and subdivided into little nooks, each affording
scanty room for the narrow bed and chair and dressing-
table of a single lodger. The great staircase, however,
may be termed, without much hyperbole, a feature of
grandeur and magnificence. It winds through the midst
of the house by flights of broad steps, each flight termi-
nating in a square landing-place,' whence the ascent is
continued towards the cupola. A carved balustrade,
freshly painted in the lower stories, but growing dingier
as we ascend, borders the staircase with its quaintly
twisted and intertwined pillars, from top to bottom. Up
these stairs the mUitary boots, or perchance the gouty
shoes, of many a governor have trodden, as the wearers
mounted to the cupola, which afforded them so wide a
view over their metropolis and the surrounding country.
The cupola is an octagon with several windows, and a
door opening upon the roof. From this station, as I
pleased myself with imagining. Gage may have beheld
his disastrous victory on Bunker Hill (unless one of
the tri-mountains intervened), and Howe have marked
the approaches of Washington's besieging army; al-
though the buildings since erected in the vicinity
76
602 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOETCAL
have shut out almost every other object, save the
steeple of the Old South, which seems almost with-
in arm's length. Descending from the cupola, I
paused in the garret to observe the ponderous
white oak framework, so much more massive than
the frames of modern houses, and thereby resem-
bling an antique skeleton. The brick walls, the mate-
rials of which were imported from Holland, and the
timbers of the mansion, are still as sound as ever; but
the floors and other interior parts being greatly decayed,
it is contemplated to gut the whole and build a new
house witliin the ancient frame and brick work. Among
other inconveniences of the present edifice, mine host
mentioned that any jar or motion was apt to shake down
the dust of ages out of the ceiling of one chamber upon
the floor of that beneath it.
"We stepped forth from the great front window into
the balcony, where, in old times, it was doubtless the
custom of the king's representative to show himself to
a loyal populace,, requiting their huzzas and tossed-up
hats with stately' bendings of his dignifled person. In
those days, the front of the Province House looked
upon the street; and the whole site now occupied by
the brick range of stores, as well as the present court-
yard, was laid out in grass plats, overshadowed by trees,
and bordered by a wrought-iron fence. "Now the old
aristocratic edifice hides its time-worn visage behind an
upstart modern building. . . . Descending thence, we
again entered the bar-room."
In 1851, the whole building was changed in appear-
ance, its interior having been remodelled for the purpose
of accommodating a company of vocaKsts ; and it was
at this time that the outside was covered with a coat of
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 603
yellowish mastic. The old Indian chief, the wonder of
the small children of by-gone days, has been removed to
the town of BrooHine, where, perhaps, he will shoot his
arrow, as rumor says he formerly used to do, on hearing
the clock strike one.
When the great change came over the building,
there was a great exertion in procuring relics of the
"old Governor's house"; and parts of it were eagerly
sought for and obtained by savers of memorials of the
past. The old iron fence, which formed a balcony over
the principal entrance to the mansion, and which was
pronounced by competent judges — as well by amateurs
as by connoisseurs — to be the most beautiful specimen
of wrought iron work in the country, was removed. A
large part of the wainscoting was purchased by B. Per-
ley Poore, Esq., and removed to Indian Hill, in I^ew-
bury, where it has been used for the finish of one or
more rooms of the famous antiquarian palace, which he
is constructing there from the noted buildings which the
ruthless hand of " improvement " is so fast removing; so
that what the late eminent scholar Hawthorne has pre-
served in legend, an antiquarian, with a fervid interest
in the past, will strive to reproduce in reality.
On Tuesday evening, the twenty-fifth of October,
1864, this noted building was destroyed by fire, leaving
the walls standing, but all else consumed, except a
portion of the wood work, which in its scorched and
smoked condition was of little value. The fire origina-
ted in an upper story of the building, and was supposed
to have been the work of an incendiary. For some time
previous it had been used as a place of amusement.
The loss of this old landmark of the olden time is much
regretted by the lovers of antiquity. "Would that the
604 DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON.
old relic of the days of our fathers could have been al-
lowed to remain; and that the walls with a rejuvenated
interior could have passed down to many successive
generations, as a memorial of the days that tried men's
souls! Although the building has been repaired since
the fire, it has been so altered, and covered with exter-
nal coatings of mastic, as to be entirely different from
what it was so late as 1864, not a feature of the old
house being left for recognition.
CHAPTER L.
THE GBEEN DEAGON" TAVBKK.
The Green Dragon Tavern, a noted Landmark in the early days of Boston • • •
Used in the American Revolution for Private Meetings • ■ • Its Site, and the
History of the Estate • • • In possession of James Johnson in 1643 • . • Sold
to Thomas Hawliins, baker, in 1662 • • • Forfeited to Sampson Sheafe in 1672
• • • Conveyed to Lt. Gov. William Stoughton about 1676 ■ ■ ■ At the death of
Stoughton, in 1701, title passed to Mrs. Mehitable Cooper • • • Sold to Dr.
William Douglass in 1743 • • • Death of Dr. Douglass in 1752, and the title
vested in Mrs. Catherine Kerr • • • Sold to St. Andrew's Lodge in 1764 ■ • •
Description of th^ building • ■ • The Old Green Dragon ■ ■ • Its loss in 1828,
and substitute in 1855 ... Uses and occupants of the Building ••• Lodge
data • • • Tea Party of 1773 • • • Building used as a Hospital in 1776 ■ • • Its
Destruction in 1828.
But a few steps from Hanover street, in that portion
of Union street which leads towards the site of the old
mill-pond, formerly stood an ancient building of con-
siderable notoriety, known in the olden time as the
Green Dragon Tavern, and even until quite recently
retaining this distinctive name. It was early a noted
landmark even in the first century of Boston's history;
and, as time wore on, it became as famous as any private
edifice — if such it could be called, considering the pub-
lic uses to which it was frequently put — that could be
found upon the peninsula. If its early occupancy and
use brought it into notice, so also was new fame added
to that which it had already acquired by the patriotic
gatherings held within its sombre walls during the dark-
est days of the American Eevolution, when Samuel
Adams, James Otis, Joseph "Warren, Paul Eevere, and
other true sons of liberty in their secret councils planned
606 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAi
the deliverance of their country from thraldom and the
grievous oppressions of Great Britain.
This old relic of ancient times disappeared from its
lot near the close of the last year of the mayoralty of
the elder Quincy; and its appearance is fast fading out
of the remembrance of those who in their early years
were well acquainted with its most hidden recesses. The
estate on which it stood now belongs to St. Andrew's
Lodge of Freemasons, and its history can be traced back
to the first settlement of the town. It is a portion of
the three-quarters of an acre of marsh and upland orig-
inally granted to James Johnson, a glover, who settled
in Boston as early as the year 1635, and who was distin-
guished among his contemporary townsmen as a deacon
of the church, and as captain of the Artillery Company
in 1656, — a company which by its age and ancient
renown has acquired the designation of the "Ancient
and Honorable ArtUlery Company." The property
is first mentioned in 1643, in the Book of Possessions
of the first settlers of the town, on the twentieth page,
and is there described as '' three-quarters of an acre of
marsh & upland, bounded with the Cove on the !N"orth
& the East, John Smith West, & John Davies South."
The Cove is elsewhere, in the volume quoted, called the
" Cove or Mill Pond " ; and the contiguous estate on the
south, which separated Mr. Johnson's estate from the
street (now Hanover street), was the original grant
made to John Davies, a joiner, consisting of a house
and garden. Davies, on the twenty-eighth of June,
1645, conveyed his house and garden to John Trotman,
whose wife Katherine, as the attorney of her husband,
sold the same on the same day to Thomas Hawkins, of
Boston, at that time a noted biscuit baker, but subse-
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 607
quently an innholder, and on this lot was a few years
afterwards built the " Star Inn," probably kept in those
early days successively by Mr. Hawldns and his good-
wife Rebecca, John Howlet and his wife Susanna, and
Andrew IJl^eal and his wife Millicent. TheN'eals died in
possession of the corner about 1709, having purchased
of Howlet's widow, who bought it of Hawkins ; and the
estate passed from their heirs by sale to John Borland,
who in his turn passed it down to Francis Borland, Esq.
After Mr. Hawkins had come in possession of the
Davies lot, he became desirous of obtaining the Johnson
lot also ; and subsequently purchased it of Mr. Johnson,
through the intervention of his cordwainer, Thomas
Marshall, on the tenth of October, 1662. Hawkins soon
began keeping an ian upon his newly acquired estate
and probably put additional buildings on the lot, as he
subsequently mortgaged it to Rev. Thomas Thacher, the
future pastor of the Old South Church (just establish-
ing), on the sixth of December, 1667; and, on the
twenty-ninth of May, 1671 j Thacher, who had married
the widow of Jacob Sheafe, the most opulent Bostonian
of his day, assigned the mortgage to Sampson Sheafe,
Esq., who had married Elizabeth, one of the daughters
of his wife. Mr. Hawkins put a second mortgage on
his estate on the fifteenth of June, 1671, to secure
money borrowed of Mr. Sheafe, and died in the latter
part of the year 1671; and his widow Rebecca (his
second wife) relinquished her right of dower on the six-
teenth of January, 1671-2, the estates having been for-
feited to Mr. Sheafe for non-fulfilment of the payments.
Some time previous to the fifteenth of June, 1676, the
Grreen Dragon Tavern estate passed into the possession
of William Stoughton, a man having excellent traits of
608 TOPOGEAPHICAL AKD HISTORICAL
character, although in a judicial capacity, which he held
before his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of the
Province, he was most wickedly intolerant in the trials
of the miscalled witches; for which cruelty and barba-
rism his gift of Stoughton Hall to Harvard College will
not in the slightest degree compensate.
Lieutenant-Governor Stoughton, the son of Israel
Stoughton of Dorchester, was a person of considerable
ability. He was educated at Harvard College, gradu-
ating in 1650, and he passed some time in studying for
the ministry, but relinquished the design of becoming a
preacher after having delivered the annual election ser-
mon in 1668, preferring the field of politics to that of
religion. In May, 1692, he entered upon the duties of
Lieutenant-Governor, having been appointed to the po-
sition under the second Massachusetts charter establish-
ing the Province, at the same time that Sir WUliam
Phips was commissioned as Governor. In ^N^ovember
1694, on the return of Governor Phips to England, he
became acting governor, performing the duties untU the
arrival of the Earl of Bellomont in May, 1699 ; and suc-
ceeding him in the same capacity in July, 1700, and so
continuing until the seventh of July, 1701, when he died
at the age of about seventy years. He died possessed
of a large landed property in Boston, comprising in part
the Green Dragon Tavern estate, the Star Inn estate,
and the Old Blue Ball estate, where the father of Frank-
lin resided after the birth of the great Bostonian, — the
last-named estates being at the opposite corners of Han-
over and Union streets. He devised this property to his
nieces, the Green Dragon Tavern and Franklui corners
faUing to Mehitable, the wife of Captain Thomas
Cooper, the father of Rev. William Cooper, one of the
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 609
early pastors of Brattle Square Church. Mrs. Cooper
was a very distinguished person. She was the daughter
of James Minot of Dorchester, by his wife Hannah, the
sister of Lieutenant-Governor Stoughton, and was born
in Dorchester on the seventeenth of September, 1668.
Captain Cooper, her husband, died at sea in 1705, and
she married for her second husband Peter Sargeant,
Esq., he who built for his mansion house the old Prov-
ince House. On the death of Mr. Sargeant in 1714,
she married her third husband, Simeon Stoddard, Esq.,
who died in 1730, leaving her a third time a widow in
her sixty-second year; and she died, a widow, on the
twenty-third of September, 1738. At the time of Mr.
Cooper's death in 1705, the Grreen Dragon estate was
valued at £650.
On the eighteenth of August, 1743, about five years
after the decease of Mrs. Stoddard, her son, Kev. Wil-
liam Cooper, sold the Green Dragon Tavern estate to
Dr. William Douglass, not only a noted physician, but
also the author of the very celebrated " Summary "of
New England History. Dr. William Douglass was
born in Gifford, in the county of Haddington, a short
distance from Edinburgh, Scotland, and died in Boston
the twenty-first of October, 1752, aged, as nearly as can
be ascertained, about sixty years. He came to Boston
in 1716, but did not make a permanent settlement here
until the year 1718. He first dwelt in Hanover street,
near Mr. Welstead's meeting-house; but at his decease
the house in Green Dragon Lane was styled his mansion
house, and was the only one on the estate not let by
him to tenants. His father George was a portioner
(distributor of tithes) in Gifibrd, near Edinburgh, and
the factor of John, Marquis of Tweedale. His father's
77
610 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
children were : Cornelius (a surgeon and portioner), who
had a son Cornelius (a joiner), who removed to Boston
after the decease of Dr. Wm. Douglass; Dr. William,
the second child; George, who died in youth; and Cath-
erine, who married a person named Kerr (sometimes
written Carr) , and who came to Boston with her nephew,
and afterwards married a Mr. Eobinson. Catherine
Kerr, the sister, and Cornelius Douglass, the nephew of
Dr. William Douglass, shared his property equally by a
division made the twenty-seventh of September, 1754,
and recorded with Suffolk deeds. Lib. 88, fol. 76. Dr.
Douglass left about £3,185. Over twenty dozen gloves
were bought for his funeral.
In this noted old house Dr. Douglass wrote his fa-
mous books, and in it he died. By an agreement of his
heirs, made the twenty-seventh of September, 1754, and
recorded with the Suffolk Eecords, the old mansion-
house fell to Catherine Kerr, and she, a widow, by deed
dated the thirty-first of March, 1764, conveyed it, for
the consideration of £466. 13s. 4:d., to Moses Deshon
and others, members of St. Andrew's Lodge of Free-
masons. Since this date the estate has been in the
possession of the Lodge.
The old tavern stood on the left side of the street,
formerly called Green Dragon Lane, now the northerly
portion of Union street, leading from Hanover street to
the old mill-pond, now filled up and built upon. It was
built of brick, and in its latter days was painted of a
dingy color. In front it showed only two stories and
an attic; but in the rear, from the slope of the land and
the peculiar shape of the roof, three stories, with a base-
ment, were perceptible. It covered a piece of land fifty
feet in front and thirty-four in depth, and had connected
DESCBIPTION OB" BOSTON. 611
with it a large stable and other out-buildings. In re-
cent times the lower story was used as" the common
rooms of a tavern, while in the second,. on the street
front, was a large hall used for public as well as for Ma-
sonic purposes. The attic story afforded ample accom-
modations for sleeping apartments. The chimneys were
substantially built in the side walls, and were of the
style usually found in houses built at the close of the
seventeenth century. The attic windows on the front
part of the roof, and the walk raUed in on the upper
part, added much to the appearance and comfort of the
building, which, in its best days, must have been com-
modious, and comfortably arranged.
The whole estate comprised a large lot of land, the
main portion being situated back of Green Dragon
Lane, with other estates in front, and extending north-
erly to the old mill-pond. The extensive yard was
much used by the boys who dwelt in the neighborhood,
as a playground; and hei'C it was, undoubtedly, that the
youthful Franklin first essayed his mechanical feat of
building his stone wharf, alluded to in his autobiogra-
phy. The old tavern-stable became in its latter days
a well-known convenience; and served many years as
a livery stable kept by men well acquainted with their
business.
In front of the building there projected from the
wall an iron crane, upon which was couched a Green
Dragon. This peculiar mark of designation was very
ancient, perhaps as old as the building itself. It was
formed of thick sheet copper, and had a curled tail ; and
from its mouth projected a fearful looking tongue, the
wonder of all the boys who dwelt in the neighborhood.
When the building was taken down, this curious relic
612 TOPOGEAPHICAJL ASD HISTORICAL
of the handiwork of the ancient mechanics of the town
disappeared, and has never since been found, although
most searching inquiries and diligent examiaations for it
have been made among workmen and in the collections
of the dealers in old material. In 1854, a committee of
St. Andrew's Lodge was appointed to put in the new
buildmg, that stands upon the site of the old one, a me-
morial to commemorate the old house, and they inserted
in the wall, on the first' of I^'ovember, 1855, a stone
effigy, elaborately carved in sandstone in a most skilful
and artistic manner, by a workman in the employ of Mr.
Thomas J. Bailey, of this city; and this magnificently
sculptured emblem now proudly supplies the place of
the old weather-beaten dragon, which had for nearly a
century and a half withstood the storms and tempests
of the hard New England seasons, and outhved the vio-
lence of political mobs and the rudeness of inimical sol-
diery in the time of the war, — a fit object to perpetuate
in some degree the remembrance of the old hall, ia
which the patriots of the American Revolution used to
meet, and also to designate the Masons' Hall of by-gone
days.
The old mansion-house must have been erected not
far from the year 1680, when many substantial buildings
of a similar kind were put up. In 1695, and perhaps
earlier, it was used as an inn by Alexander Smith, who,
and his widow also, died as its occupants in 1696. Han-
nah Bishop had a license in October, 1696, for keeping
a tavern in it; and she was succeeded by John Gary, a
brewer, in October of 1697, who certainly was its occu-
pant as late as 1705, although Samuel Tyley appears to
have been the tenant of Lieutenant-Governor Stough-
ton, at the time of his decease in July, 1701. In 1734,
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 613
Joseph Kidder, who came from the Three Cranes in
Charlestown, was the keeper. It would not be surpris-
ing if Thomas Milliken, a member of St. Andrew's
Lodge, was also at some time a landlord of the Green
Dragon Tavern; for he was a victualler by occupation,
and was mainly instrumental in its purchase for the
Lodge, being chairman of the committee authorized on
the eleventh of January, 1764, to buy it. On the thirty-
first of the month, of the same year, the deed was
passed by Mrs. Catherine Kerr to Moses Deshon and
others; and on the thirteenth of April the Lodge held
for the first time a monthly meeting in the hall. On the
fourteenth of June, 1764, the hall was formally named
"Freemasons' Hall," and from that time, for a long
series of years, was the regular place of meeting of the
Lodge. It would be useless, were it even possible, to
name the various persons who carried on this famous
tavern; suffice it to say, that at times it was the most
popular of the old houses of "entertainment for man
and beast" in the town, and was noted for being a
favorite hall for festive as well as political occasions.
Undoubtedly the famous "Tea Party" of 1773 had its
origin within the walls of this old mansion; for it is
known that several of the most active spirits engaged in
it were members of the Masonic Lodge that held its
meetings there monthly. A Lodge meeting called for
the thirtieth of iN'ovember, 1773, being St. Andrew's
Day, was closed without the transaction of business in
consequence of the fewness of the brethren present,
and the following words in a distinct hand were entered
on the page with the record, " (N. B. Consignees of
Tea took up the Brethren's time.) " The meeting which
was to have been held on the sixteenth of December —
614 DESCEIPXION OP BOSTON.
the day of the destruction of the tea — was also given
up for the same reason.
From the following document, signed by the Lieu-
tenant Governor, it appears that in the Revolutionary
war the building was sometimes used for other pur-
poses : -:-
Boston, Feb. 24th, 1776.
To the Rev'd Doc'r Caner, Col. Snelling, Maj. Paddock,
Cap. Gore, & Cap. Gay,
Gentlemen — Having occasion for a large commo-
dious House for the Purpose of a Hospital in which the
poor — Infirm and Aged can be lodged upon the Charity
in which you are appointed Stewards — and having the
Consent of the Proprietors in Town of the House Com-
monly called the Green Dragon to apply that to this
Purpose, you are hereby required to take possession of
said House and prepare it as a Hospital for the Reception
of such objects as shall require immediate Relief, for
which this shall be your authority. Thos. Olivek,
In October, 1828, as the travel from Charlestown had
much increased, and as the filling up of the mill-pond
had given room for many buildings, and therefore re-
quired the widening of Green Dragon Lane, the old
building was taken down by order of the city authorities,
and a considerable part of its site taken for the proposed
widening; and then passed almost from remembrance
the appearance of one of the most noted and interesting
landmarks of the early days of the town. On its site,
and covering the whole estate, a large warehouse has
been erected by the Lodge, which is now, in 1870,
occupied as a carriage depository.
CHAPTER LI.
THE BIBTHPLACE OF FKANKLIN.
The House In which Franklin was born, situated in Milk street ■ • • First in the
Possession of Robert Beynolds • • • Ancient Boundaries of the Estate, in
1643 • • • Mr. Eeynolds* neighbors • ■ • Extent of the lot • • • Estate fell to
Lieut. Nathaniel Reynolds in 1670 ••• Mortgaged in 1682 to Hugh Drnry,
and in 1691 to Simeon Stoddard • ■ • Josiah Eranklin a tenant • • • Particular
boundaries of the Estate in 1691 • ■ ■ Decease of Nathaniel Eeynolds In 1708,
and Estate passed to his son Nathaniel . • ■ Sale to John Fosdick in 1725 ■ • •
Death of John Fosdick in 1744, and the Estate in the possession of his son
James • • • Death of James Fosdick in 1776, and the Estate passed to his
daughter Sarah Foster • • • The Estate released to Thomas Pons in 1782 • • •
Sold to John Sweetser in 1794 • • • Death of Mr. Sweetser in 1802, and Estate
devised to John S. Lillie • • . Particular Description of the House • • ■ De-
struction of the House In 1810 • • i Changes made since the occupancy of
Franklin.
Close by the large and comfortable mansion-hotises
that formerly lined the southerly side of Milk street, once
stood a modest little wooden building, which from its
associations soon eclipsed in notoriety and interest its
more imposing neighbors. It was the humble tenement
that first gave shelter to the infant Franklin, on the sixth
of January, 1705-6, according to the old style of reck-
oning time, and which, by the correction caused by the
alteration of styles, is now considered the seventeenth
of January, 1706, liT. S. In the days of Franklin's
father, the estate was quite small, the whole house not
covering more land than would now be required for a
genteel parlor, being only twenty feet on the street.
The first that is known of the estate can be read in
the old " Book of Possessions," now carefully preserved
with other valuable records in the city archives. The
616 TOPOGEAPHIGAL AND HISTOKICAL
entry in this book reads, that the possession of Robert
Eeinolds in Boston was " one house & garden bounded
with Edward Fletcher south, the High Streete west, the
Fort Streete north, & John Steevenson east." The
High street of 1643 was. the Marlborough street of our
fathers, and the Washington street of to-day. So was
the Fort street (so called because it led to the fortification
on Fort Hill) the modern Milk street. The easterly
neighbor of Mr. Eeynolds was John Stephenson, whose
widow married for her second husband Mr. William
Blaxton, the earliest English resident on the peninsula.
Mr. Fletcher, on the southerly side, was a cutler by
trade, and undoubtedly served his customers with good
razors, as well as the more substantial tools for crafts-
men, which perhaps would cut as well as his sermons,
with which he sometimes edified those who were willing
to listen to them.
The lot of Mr. Reynolds was more extensive at the
time of the first grant than at the time that Josiah
Franklin, chandler, was the occupant of its easterly por-
tion; for it extended westerly as far as the present "Wash-
ington street. Mr. Reynolds was a shoemaker by occupa-
tion, and was very early (in 1634) a resident of Boston,
and sometimes of Watertown, and for a short time of
Wethersfield, Ct.; but he returned to Boston, where he
died on the twenty-seventh of April, 1659, leaving his
estate to his wife Mary, son I^Tathaniel, and four daugh-
ters. The house and land in Milk street, then valued at
£110, was devised to the widow, to revert at her decease
to his only son Nathaniel. The widow survived her
husband about ten years, and died on the eighteenth of
January, 1689-70, and Nathaniel came in possession of
the Milk-street estate.
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 617
It appears that the second Mr. Eeynolds was not as
thrifty as his father, although he followed the same trade
of making and repairing shoes; for, on the fourth of
ifovember, 1683, he was compelled to mortgage his estate
for security to pay £50, to Hugh Drury, at which time
it was in the occupancy of Mr. Robert Breck, and the
infamous Daniel Fairfield was an abutter on part of the
easterly side. Soon after this transaction, Lieut. Rey-
nolds, for he had the title, removed to Bristol, R. I., and
mortgaged the estate to Simeon Stoddard, Esq., on the
eleventh of December, 1691, for the like sum of £50,
Mr. Drury discharging the former mortgage on the
fourth of the following January. At this last men-
tioned date, the estate is described by Lieut. Reynolds
and his wife PriscUla, as " all that their messuage or
tenement with all the lands wherein the same doth
stand, and is thereunto belonging, (in the present tenure
and occupation of Josiah Franklin, chandler), scituate,
lying and being neer unto the Third Meeting house at
the southerly end of the Town of Boston aforesaid, as it
is now fenced in, butting and bounded north-easterly
partly upon the street or lane leading from the long
street by b^ meeting house down towards Theodore
Atkinson's housing and land and partly upon the land
of Jonathan Balston, S E''' on land of s* Balston, S
W'y & 'N W'y on land of s*. Reynolds." The lot is
further described as "measuring in front on s* street
from land of s* Balston to further side of the iN'orthwest-
ernmost gate-post of s^ messuage 32 foot &-a half, be the
same more or less; &from thence to run upon a south-
westerly line to the corner of the fence by the well (in-
cluding halfe the well) 39 foot 8 inches, bs the same more
or less ; & from thence to run upon a streight south-
78
618 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
easterly line by the fence 11 foot, be the same more or
less; & from thence to run upon a straight southwest-
erly line next s* Eeynold's land 26 foot and one half, be
the same more or less ; & from thence to run upon S E'''
line by the fence next to s^ Reynold's land 68 foot & an
half, be the same more or less; & from thence to run
upon a N E'^'line by & ]to the land of y" s* Balston 36
an halfe, be the foot & same more or less; & from thence
to run upon a streight K W^ line by the land of s*
Balston 47 feet, be the same more or less; & from
thence to run on a northeasterly line to the afores** street
by the land of s* Balston 31 foot, be the same more or
less." Eeference is made to the will of his father
Eobert, dated 20, (2) 1658. This was discharged on
the twentieth of April, 1693.
Lieutenant Nathaniel Reynolds died about the year
1708, leaving his estate in MUk street to his sons
l^^athaniel, John, and Philip ; and the two last named con-
veyed their right in it to their elder brother Nathaniel
for £100, by deed dated the thirty-first of May, 1717.
The last-mentioned Nathaniel died on the twenty-ninth
of October, 1719, and on the twenty-first of May, 1725,
his widow, then the wife of David Ames of Bridge-
water, whom she married in 1722, sold the estate to
John Fosdick, It was while the first-named Nathaniel
Reynolds was the owner of the Milk-street estate, that
Josiah Franklm became the tenant, probably about the
first part of the year 1685, when he arrived from Ban-
bury, in O:^ordshire, old England; and, as he dwelt
there until the new possessor, Nathaniel Reynolds, the
second of the name, desired it for his own use, he prob-
ably continued to be the tenant until the year 1712,
when he bought of Peter Sargeant, Esq., the house at
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 619
the corner of Union and Hanover streets, known as the
Blue Ball. In 1717, Mr. Eeynolds was certainly the
occupant of his own house; but, at his decease, his
widow removed to her native town, Bridgewater, leav-
ing the house to some new tenant, perhaps to Mr. Fos-
dick, to whom she sold it in 1725, as before mentioned.
It was on a portion of this lot that Mr. Franklin had
permission, on the twenty-seventh of April, 1692, to
erect a small building eight feet square. The language
of the record is as follows : " Granted Libertie to Josiah
Franldine to erect a buildinge of Eight foote square
vpon the Land belonging to L* !N^atha: Reynolds, neere
the South Meetinge house."
Mr. John Fosdick died on the second of May, 1744,
and his property was subsequently divided, on the fourth
of February, 1745-6, between his two children, James
Fosdick, gentleman, and Sarah, the wife of Jeremiah
Belknap, leatherdresser; the Milk-street estate falling to
Jamefe, and other property to Sarah. James Fosdick,
who died in 1776, his wife having died in November,
1775, executed a will on the twenty-seventh of January,
1773, devising his real estate to his wife, if she survived
htm, and at her decease to revert to his children. Both
parents having died, the property was amicably divided
on the sixteenth of April, 1779, and the " old tenement
in Milk street" fell to the heirs of Sarah Foster, the
only daughter* who had married Ebenezer Foster, and
died after hei- father made his will. In 1782 the heirs
of Mrs. Foster conveyed their title to Thomas Pons, a
jeweller, who, in 1794, with Daniel Wild and his wife
Sarah, in her own right, conveyed the same to Mr. John
Sweetser, merchant, for three hundred and fifteen
pounds lawful money. Mr. Sweetser, who died in 1802,
620 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOBICAL
gave the estate to his nephew, John Sweetser LilKe,
who was the owner of the house when it was destroyed
by fire in 1810.
The old FranHin House in MUk street — for by
this name the famous old tenement will always be
remembered — was a quaint-looldrig bidlding. The fol-
lowing description, written several years ago for another
purpose, will describe its appearance in its declioing
days : —
After leaving "Washiagton street, and proceeding a
short distance into Milk street, on the right hand, or
southerly side, will be noticed a lofty warehouse, built
of granite in a durable form and manner, and bearing,
in raised letters beneath its cornice, "Birthplace of
Franklin." This building occupies the site of the old
wooden house which tradition, supported by good testi-
mony, asserts to be that in which Boston's most distin-
guished son was born, on the sixth of January, 1705-6,
according to the old style of reckoning time, as entered
in the town book of the records of births. The main
house resembled in form some of the tenements of the
olden time which have been preserved till now. Its
front upon the street was rudely clapboarded, and the
sides and rear were protected from the inclemencies of a
[Kfew England climate by large rough shingles. On the
street it measured about twenty feet; and on the sides
(the westerly of which was bounded by the passageway,
and contained the doorway approached, by two steps)
the extreme length of the building, including a wooden
lean-to used as a kitchen, was about thirty feet. In
height the house was about three stories, the upper
being an attic, which presented a pointed gable towards
the street. In front, the second story and attic projected
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 621
eomewhat into the street over the principal story on the
ground floor.
On the lower floor of the main house there was one
room only. This, which probably served the Franklins
as a parlor and sitting-room, and also for the family eat-
ing-room, was about twenty feet square, and had two
windows upon the street; and it had, also, one upon the
passageway, so near the corner as to give the inmates
a good view of "Washington street. Besides these
windows there had been others ia the days of its early
proprietors which opened upon the easterly side of
the house, the seats of which were retained until the
destruction of the building. In the centre of the
southerly side of the room was one of those noted large
fireplaces, situated in a most capacious chimney, which
are so well remembered as among the comforts of old
houses; on the left of this was a spacious closet, and on
the right, the door communicating with a small entry in
which were the stairs to the rooms above and the cellar,
the latter of which was accessible to the street through
one of the old-fashioned cellar doors, situated partly in
the sidewalk.
On the ground floor, connecting with the sitting-
room through the entry, was situated the kitchen, in a
ten-foot addition to the rear part of the main building.
The only windows from this part of the house looked
back upon a vacant lot of land in the extreme rear of
the lot which served as a yard and a garden plat.
The second story originally contained but one cham-
ber, and in this the windows, door, fireplace and closet
were similar in number and position to those in the par-
lor beneath it. Some of the later tenants divided this
room by a wooden partition, forming a small bedroom
622 TOPOGEAPHICAL AJSTD HISTORICAIi
of the westerly portion, which received light only
through the side window facing "Washington street.
The attic was also, originally, one unplastered room,
and had a window in front on the street, and two com-
mon attic windows, one on each side of the roof, near
the back part of it. This room was, also, at an un-
known time, divided by a partition into two apartments,
one in front and the other in the rear.
Such was, undoubtedly, the condition and appear-
ance of the house at the time when the parents of
Franklin dwelt within its walls, with their large family
of children, several of whom received their first light
beneath its roof; and such it continued about one hun-
dred years after the Franklins left it for a house of their
own at the former site of the Blue Ball, at the comer of
Union and Hanover streets. But this old and much
honored building, though it had stood from the colonial
period of Massachusetts history, through the provincial,
and had withstood the efiects of the Revolution, never-
theless was destroyed at last, on Saturday, the twenty-
ninth of December, 1810, by fire communicated to it
from the livery stable then situated at the comer of
Hawley street, and kept by Stephen L. Soper. At the
time of the fire the house was owned and occupied by
Mr. John S. Lillie, whose son, Mr. Thomas J. Lillie,
was bora in it, and who well remembered every particu-
lar about the house, its interesting traditions, and final
destruction. It was at this time that the Old South
Meeting-house took fire, and was saved by the exertions
of our late fellow-citizen, Isaac Harris, Esq., for which
he received a silver testimonial.
During the last days of the old house, the whole
interior of the building, and especially the lower room.
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 623
presented a different appearance from what it did in the
days of Franklin's father, — various improvements and
changes having been made by the owners of the estate
between the years 1712 (when Franklin left it for the
Blue Ball) and 1810, when it was entirely consumed
by fire.
Among the more perceptible changes of the estate,
was the selling off of a very large portion of the land
not built upon, two rectangular pieces only being left, —
the one measuring twenty feet by thirty-six feet, and the
other about forty-eight feet by thirteen feet, — for the
accommodation of the modern iti-dwellers. Besides
this reduction of the estate, other damages of more im-
portance to the tenant took place. The windows on the
eastern side of the house were closed, the neighboring
land being used for a stable; the candle vats in the
cellar were covered over; the bed-chamber was made
into two by a partition, as was also the room in the
attic story. With these alterations others may have
been made, extending even to the fireplace. It was
absolutely necessary that the " common room " — as the
parlor was usually designated in the early days of
Boston, when one room was sufficient for parlor,
sitting-room, and dining-room — should have a good
old-fashioned fireplace, large enough for the comforts
of a family of many children, together with the parents
and occasional visitors.
For the days of Mr. Lillie, sixty years ago, when the
estate had been shorn of its first commodious propor-
tions,' and when a cord of wood was a rarity with many
of the Boston families, the curtailed fireplace would
be much more appi'opriate, and undoubtedly more
comfortable than one of larger dimensions, such as was
624 TOPOGBAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
generally to be found in houses in the days of Josiah
Franklin, over one hundred years before.
Undoubtedly the old Blue Ball, which for so many
years marked the Union-street residence of the Frank-
lins, was also an ornament to the Milk-street building,
and hung suspended from an iron crane projecting from
the corner of the house. This noted ball was about
twelve inches in diameter, and had upon it the following
inscription: —
JOSIAS
1698 1C98
FRANKLrN".
On the twenty-fifth of December, 1758, the old house
was entered by burglars, and many articles of clothing,
together Avith a sum of money, no doubt considerable to
the tenants, stolen. The occupant at the time was James
Fosdick, Jr., a paver, son of James Fosdick, the owner.
The following advertisement, which was published a few
days after the affair took place, will give some idea of the
costume of the family living in it at that time, — about
forty-six years after the Franklins left it, to dwell in the
old Blue Ball in Union street. Milk street, it appears,
was then at the south end of Boston : —
440Tolen out of the House of the Subscriber, living at the South End of
O Boston, on Monday Evening last, a blue Damask Sack Gown with
close Cuffs, lin'd with white Stuff most to the Top, a flowered Silk Capuchin,
with a Pink colour'd Lining, a Garlick Shift with Holland Sleeves, a white
Fustian Jacket, without Sleeves; also 15 dollars, and a 50 s. piece. Who-
ever will discover the Person or Persons that took the above things, so that
they may be brought to Justice and convicted, shaU receive TEN DOL-
LARS as a Reward.
g^" If any of the above Apparel be offered to Sale, it is desired the'y may
be stopped, and Notice given to the Printer hereof.
James Fosdick, jun'r."
The above advertisement should have been dated on
Thursday, the twenty-eighth of December, 1758. The
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 625
Monday preceding this date was Christmas Day. It
will be perceived that the thieves of the last century, in
" cruel Provincial Times," had no more reverence for the
day than did the law-makers of the preceding century,
" in good old Colony times," who, being terribly tried by
the manner in which the day was observed in 1658, about
two centuries earlier, passed the following order at the
very first General Court held subsequently: —
"For pventing disorders arising in seuerall places
wi*''in this jurisdiccon, by reason of some still observing
such ffestiualls as were superstitiously kept in other
countrys, to the great dishonnor of God & offence of
others, it is therefore ordered by this Court and the au-
thority thereof^ that whosoeuer shall be found observing
any such day as Christmas or the like, either by for-
bearing of labour, feasting, or any other way, vpon any
such accounts as aforesajd, euery such person so offending
shall pay for euery such offence fine shillings, as a fine to
the county,"
It was from this noted old house that Franklin was
taken to the Old South Meeting-house, on the day of his
birth, and baptized.
CHAPTEE Ln.
THE BLUE BAIiL IN UNION STBEET.
The Old Franklin House In Union street- • • James Everell the original Grantee
• • • Everell's Possession in 1643 • • • Portions of the Estate sold to Henry
Maudesley and Josiah Cobham • ■ • Maudeslcy's Estate passes to Edward
Brack in 1653 • • • Then to Robert Breck in 1654 • • • Breck sold to Roger Sea-
ward in 1655 • • • Dimensions and bounds of the estate in 1655 • • • In the
Possession of John Gill in 1673, when he conveys it to Hon. William
Stoughton • • • Division of Stoughton's estate in 1704, and the estate set off
to Thomas and Mehitable Cooper • • • In the occupation of James Fowles,
etc.', in January, 1706 • • ■ Sold to Josiah Franklin in 1712, and bounds at the
time • • . Death of James Fowles in 1720 • • • Death of Franklin in 1745, and
of his widow in 1752 • . • Estate advertised for sale in 1762 • • • Estate ad-
vertised in 1753, to be sold In four lots • • • Purchased in 1754 by Wil-
liam Homes, and sold by him to Jonathan Dakin in 1757 ■••Passed from
Dakin to his son Joseph in 1761, and to his sou Thomas in 1780 • - -Passed
to Anthony Duraernil - • • Estate conveyed to Joseph Bradley in 1809, and to
Tilly Whitcomb in 1811 •••Old brick house demolished in 1858 •••The
Franklin House taken down many years ago • • - The Old Blue Ball • • • Ben-
jamin Franklin, and his ancestors • - - The Franklin Obelisk - - - The Old
Wooden House ■ • . The Franklin Graves In Christ's Churchyard in Phila-
delphia.
DuErRG the seventy-five years that immediately suc-
ceeded the settlement of Boston in 1630, the various
streets and public avenues had no fixed and determined
names; consequently all the estates that bordered upon
them were described, as bounded, on " the street, " or
lane, "running" from some well-known landmark to
another,— some enjoying the distinction of being des-
ignated as the " high street, " " the highway," or " the
main street," leading from or to some noted place on the
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTOK. 627
peninsula, just as fields were bounded in the country by
lines running from a " marked tree," a " pile of stones,"
or a "stake," and sometimes from or by "the written
tree." One of the old landmarks of Boston, concerning
which much has been said and written, was situated at
an angle caused by the crossing of two of these streets
at what was considered two hundred years ago the
centre of the town, but now the North End. One of
these streets, now called Union street, was early known
as " the way leading from the conduit to the milne"; and
the other, Hanover street was " the street leading from
the 'orange tree' over the mill bridge to the ferry."
The conduit was situated near Market Square, where
Elm and North streets would meet if extended; and the
milne (or South MUl) stood near Hanover street, and
beside MUl Creek, (or canal), — now filled up to form
Blackstone street. The " Orange Tree " was the name
of a house standing at the head of the street, probably
so called from a sign-board connected with Mr. Jeremy
Houtchiu's old house; and the ferry was Winnisimmet
Ferry- ways, the starting point of Mr. Williams's boat for
that portion of Chelsea which anciently bore the name
of Winnisimmet. The old landmark that formerly
stood at this corner gained its notoriety as being on the
site on which stood for many years the residence of
Josiah Franklin, the father of the philosopher, and was
known to many as the Blue Ball, on account of the old
sign that hung suspended at its corner, from the time
Franklin obtained possession of the estate, until the
destruction of the house in 1858.
In the early days of Boston the old Franklin House
in Union street was on a portion of the considerable
"Possession of James Everill within the limits of Bos-
628 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
ton." The estate was described in 1643 as " one house
& houselott with the streete Eastwards & Northwards,
the lane Southwest, John Button, IS^icholas WiUis &
George Burrell Southeast." Mr. Everell, a shoemaker,
dwelt on the westerly and southerly part of his large
estate, and mortgaged it in 1648 and 1649 to Gov-
ernor Thomas Dudley for £30 and £75, and in 1652 to
Governor Simon Bradstreet for £150. These mort-
gages were subsequently discharged, and the FranMin
portion of the estate sold to Henry Maudesley about the
year 1653, and the contiguous portion to Josiah Cob-
ham, a Webster, in 1659. In 1653, Mr. Maudesley's
property become embarrassed, and his estate was taken
from him by Edward Breck, of Dorchester, who con-
veyed it to his son Robert Breck, of Boston, on the
twenty-third of May, 1655 ; Mr. Breck sold it to Eoger
Seaward, a seaman, for the small sum of £36 5s., at
which time it was described as " all that corner dwelling
house situated in Boston next to the now dwelling
houses of James Everell, with the garden place back-
side, and cellar place digged, containing 96 foote facing
on the Norwest streete, & 37 foote Easterly to the
streete leading Southerly to the Docke, bee it more or
lesse as it is now bounded, the land of the said James
Everill lying on the Southeast & Southwest side
thereof."
Prom Mr. Seaward the estate passed to John GUI, of
Dorchester, who conveyed it, on the thirtieth of April,
1673, to Lieutenant-Governor Stoughton, in exchange
for a corn mill, commonly known as " Naponsett Mill,"
and several parcels of land, partly in Milton, and partly
in Dorchester. Mr. Gill described his estate as "all
those his houses & tenements, which are situate in Bos-
DESCEIPTION OP BOSTON. 629
ton neere unto the bakers' armes, together with all that
land upon which they stand be it more or less as it is
now bounded, Eastward & !N"orthward by the common
streete, Westward by the house of Josiah Cobham,
Southward by the land of saide Cobham & the house &
land of John Cotta, with all the privileges," etc. Cotta
had bought his estate of Simon Lynde, Esq., a noted
land purchaser of that day, who had previously pur-
chased it of Mr. Everell.
Mr. Stoughton died on the seventh of July, 1701,
leaving this and other estates in its immediate vicinity.
His property was divided, four years after his
decease, on the seventeenth of July, 1704, between
"William Tailer, Esq., of Dorchester; John !N'elson,
Esq., and wife Elizabeth, of Boston ; Rev. John
Danforth and wife Elizabeth, of Dorchester ; and
Thomas Cooper, merchant, and wife Mehitable, of Bos-
ton. To TaUer, l^elsons, and Danforths were given
tracts of land in Dorchester and Oxford ; while to
Cooper and his wife Mehitable, who was the daughter
of his sister Hannah, wife of James Minot, were given
all " his housing and land" in Boston, viz: "one brick
messuage or tenement, conunonly called and known by
the name of the Green Dragon, in the occupation of
Samuel Tyley now being, with the stables, outhousing,
land, members, privileges and appurtenances thereto be-
longing; one other brick messuage or tenement adj^ to
the former with the land, members, & app"** thereof in
the occupation of Duncan, being; one other wooden
messuage or tenem* and tenements below the Green
Dragon next to the mill-pond with the lands, members,
and appur°*' thereof, in the occupation of John Dra-
per and John Gavett being, one other wooden mes-
630 TOPOSEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
Ruage, or tenement and tenements abutting on the Great
Street called Mill Bridge Street, over against the Stan-
Tavern, with the land, members, and appurtenances
thereof, in the occupation of James Fowles, &c., being;"
and also rights in Dorchester and one-quarter of the
land in Oxford. The last portion of the estate men-
tioned — that "abutting on the Great Street" — was the
Franklin comer.
Mr. Cooper did not long survive the acquisition of
his large landed property, but died at sea in 1705; and
in the inventory of his estate, taken on the first day of
January, 1705-6, five days before the birth and bap-
tism of Franklin, the corner estate was stUl in the pos-
session of " James Fowles, &c," On the nineteenth of
December, 1706, not long after the death of Captain
Cooper, his widow Mehitable became the wife of Peter
Sargeant, Esq., of Boston, — who so magnificently built
the large brick house in Marlborough street, which was
sold to the State for a Province House; and with her
went the old corner estate, and its wooden tenements.
At this point of time the great interest in the history
of the estate commences ; for on the twenty-fifth of Jan-
uary, 1711-12, when the renowned Franklin was only
six years of age, Peter Sargeant, Esq., of Boston, and
his wife Mehitable, formerly wife of Thomas Cooper,
merchant, of Boston, and one of the heirs, devisees and
executors of Hon. WUliam Stoughton, of Dorchester,
for £320, in good current bUls of credit paid by Josiah
Franklin, of Boston, tallow chandler, " as also for divers
other good causes and considerations," sell to said Frank-
lyn "all those their houses and tenements with the apur"*',
and all the land whereon they stand, and is there-
unto belonging and adjoining, situate, lying, and being
DESCEIPnON OF BOSTON. 631
in Boston aforesaid, butted, bounded, and measuring as
foUoweth, viz': — at the front or Eastward end by Union
street so called, measuring there in breadth thirty-eight
feet or thereabout; on the ^N'orthward side by Hanover
street so called, measuring there ra length ninety-three
feet or thereabout; on the rear or Westward end by
land formerly of Josiah Cobham, dec*, in the present
tenure & occupation of Joseph Smith, saddler, where it
measureth in breadth twenty-three feet five inches or
thereabout; and on the Southward side by land formerly
the said Cobham's, and the house of and land formerly
appertaining to John Cotta, now wholly on this side the
inheritance of the heirs of Thomas Bridge, late of Bos-
ton aforesaid, marriner, dece*, where it measureth ia
length about eighty-seven feet or thereabout."
Such was the description of the estate on Union and
Hanover streets sold to the father of Franklin, and which
for a period of forty-one years remained in the possession
of the Franklin family. At the time of the purchase, Mr.
Franklin mortgaged the estate for £250, and again in
1722 for £220, to Simeon Stoddard, the first mortgage
being paid before the second was made, and the last
cancelled in due time.
How long Mr. James Fowle, the tailor, was a tenant
of a portion of the estate is not exactly known; but it is
certainly true that he dwelt somewhere in Boston eight
years after Josiah Franklin bought the property, for he
died on the thirteenth of August, 1720, at the advanced
age of eighty-four years, his wife having died three
years previous. Who the other tenants of the estate
were have not been ascertained, although it is sure there
were as many as four in all, as there were originally four
tenements upon the estate.
632 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
Josiah Franklin made his will on the twentieth of
October, 1744. In this instrument he styles liimself
"tallow chandler." The paragraph that relates to his
dwelling-house is as follows : " I give to my loving wife
Abiah Franklin all the income or rents of my whole
estate and goods, and the use of the two rooms we now
live in, allowing the lodgers to be in as it is used, she
allowing out of it the interest that will be due to my
creditors while she lives." The will was not proved in
court until the seventh of August, 1750, more than five
years after his decease. The inventory of his estate
was not taken until after the decease of his widow, two
years later. In this last-named document his house and
land in Union street are appraised at £253 6s. 8d. His
library contained two large Bibles, Mr. WUlard's Body
of Divinity, one Concordance, and a parcel of small
books, valued in all at £3 Os. 8d.
After the decease of Mrs. Franklin, which occurred
in May, 1752, the heirs concluded to sell the real estate,
and advertised the estate in N^ovember, 1752, and,
subsequently, not finding a purchaser, published the
following advertisement in July, 1753 : —
" To be sold by public Vendue, on Tuesday the 21st
of August next. Four Lots of Ground, with the
Buildings thereon, fronting on Hanover and Union
Streets, at the Blue Ball, viz. one Lot (^o. 1) of
Seventeen Feet Four Inches Front on Hanover Street,
and twenty-five Feet deep. One ditto (No. 2.)
Twenty-one and a half Feet Front on said Street, and
Twenty-five and a half Feet deep. (No. 3.) Twenty-
seven Feet Front on said Street, and Thirty Feet deep.
(No. 4.) a Corner Lot, Twenty-eight Feet Front on
Hanover Street, and Thirty-eight Feet Front on Union
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 633
Street, very well situated for Tradesmen or Shopkeepers,
being in the Heart of the Town, and the Buildings
conveniently divided as above, having originally been
different Tenements. The Title is indisputable; the.
sale to begin at four o'clock in the Afternoon, on the
Premises, one quarter Part of the Money to be paid at
the signing of the Deeds. Twelve Months Credit will
be given, if required, on Security and paying ■. Interest
for the Remainder. By John Franklin and "William
Homes."
This advertisement bears date on the twenty-third
of July, 1753; but the estate was not sold until the
fifteenth of , April, 1754, when John Franklin, as
surviving executor, conveyed it to William Homes for
£188 13s. 4:d., a much smaller sum than Mr. Franklin
paid for it in 1712; it then having " dwelhng-houses,
edifices and buildings," upon it.
Mr. Homes sold the estate to Jonathan Dakin on the
second of June, 1757, for £266 13.9. 4d Mr. Dakin
died in 1761, and his house was yalued at £300. Jo-
seph Dakin, son of the above, died in 1780, when the
valuation reached £9,000, the depreciation of currency
being such that it took from £40 to £75 in bills of
credit to pay a debt of £1 in gold. In 1789, Thomas
Dakin, son of Joseph, occupied the house. These
DaMns were very industrious and prosperous black-
smiths, and undoubtedly did much for the benefit of
the estate.
From the Dakins the estate passed into the
possession of the heirs of Thomas Dakin, who sold it
to Anthony Dumesnil, who conveyed it to Joseph
Bradley in 1809, and he to Tilly Whitcomb in 1811.
After remaining about forty-seven years in other hands,
80
634 TOPOGKAPHICAIi AND HISTOEICAL
it was bought by the city, and the building on the comer
demolished on the tenth of E"ovember, 1858, and the
portion on Union street taken for widening the street.
i^iTearly all of the remaining portion of the original
estate was taken by the city for widening Hanover
street, by an order approved by the mayor on the thirty-
first of December, 1868.
From the will of Josiah Franklin, made in 17M, the
advertisement published in 1753, and the small consider-
ation for which Mr. Dakin purchased it in 1757, there
can be very little doubt that the house ia which the
great philosopher dwelt during his youth was built
of wood, and that it was taken down by one of the
Dakins, and that the brick building recently demolished
was erected long after the decease of the parents of
Franklin. There was nothing remarkable in the appear-
ance of the old brick house, that bore the name of the
Blue Ball, except that Mr. Dakia saw fit to preserve
the old Franklin sign/ although he subsequently gUded
the ball, leaving for more recent occupants to paint
upon it the original name and date, " Josias Franklin,
1698."
Questions are frequently asked about the paternity
of the great Bostonian, little else being generally knovm
of the elder Franklin than that he was an industrious
soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, and that he resided in
Boston at the commencement of the last century. It is
too often the case, that those who make such a figure in
the world as our celebrated townsman, have an obscure
origin; and not unfrequently a dark cloud completely
envelops their humble birth.
The Franklin family is traceable back at least four
generations in England, the earliest direct ancestor
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 635
bearing the name Thomas, and residing in the parish of
Ecton, in Hamfordshoe hundred, Northamptonshire,
where the immediate relations of the emigrant dwelt at
the time of his removal to America. There is good
reason for believing that the family may have had a still
more ancient origin in France, where the name is found
in records as far back as the fifteenth century, spelt
according to the orthography of the country.
Thomas and Margery were the great-great-grand-
parents ; Henry and Agnes, the great-grandparents;
and Thomas and Jane the grandparents. These, with
the single exception of the last-named Thomas, spent
their humble but industrious lives in the very small
parish of Ecton. Thomas died at Banbury, in Ox-
fordshire, where his youngest son Josiah (father of
Benjamin) resided after the birth of his first child.
Josiah Franklin, or, as his name was more frequently
spelt, Josias, soon after the birth of his daughter Eliza-
beth, his first born, removed from Ecton to Banbury,-—
a name familiarized to many of us by its frequent
mention in the nursery rhymes of our early days.
There he dwelt with his first wife Anne, until he came
to Boston, not far from the early part of the year 1685.
When Mr. Franklin came to 'New England, he brought
with him his daughter born in Ecton, and two children
bom in Banbury. Four other children were born to him
in Boston, by his wife Anne, before she died in 1689.
On the twenty -ninth of N'ovember, 1689, Mr.
Franklin married, for his second wife, Abiah Folger,
daughter of Mr. Peter Folger, of Nantucket. She bore
him ten children, the youngest of whom, excepting two
daughters, was Benjamin.
The elder Franklin resided until about the year 1712
636 TOPOGEAPHICAL AITD HISTOEICAI.
in Milk street, in the small tenement described in a
previous chapter. Aboiit this time he removed to the
house, at the comer of Union and Hanover streets. In
both of these houses he carried on his trade, and in the
latter he died, on the sixteenth of January, 1744-5.
Mrs. Abiah Franklin died in 1752, aged eighty-five
years. At the time of her decease she undoubtedly
dwelt in the Union-street house ; for we find, under date
of the sixth of !N^ovember, 1752, the following adver-
tisement: "To be sold, a house and Land known by the
name of the Blue Ball, very commodious for trade,
measuring on Union Street 38 Feet, on Hanover Street
93 Feet; any one intending to purchase may apply to
Wm. Holmes, Goldsmith in Boston. It will be sold
either the Whole or in Part, as will best suit the
Purchaser."
Franklin's parents were interred in the Granary
Burial Ground, next to Park-street Church, in Boston,
A description of the monument which marks their last
earthly resting-place will be found on page 218.
In the old wooden house, then, that a hundred years
ago stood at the corner of Union street, and whose site
is now hourly trod over by man and beast, and over
which roll many times a day the unromantic horse-cars
of modern enterprise, dwelt the youthful Franklin with
his aged parents, and thirteen brothers and sisters. Per-
haps the old cellar, which was exposed to view in 1856,
with its rough and solid walls, and its huge oven, may
have been a relic of the old mansion ; and as a letter-
writer once said, it was here that Franklin " shocked the
worthy member of the Old South Church, his father, by
proposing, in his infant economy of time, to say grace
over the whole barrel of beef they were putting down,
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 637
in the lump, instead of over each piece in detail as it
came to the table." Certainly it was from this old place,
that he ventured, when he made his first investment,
in buying the whistle j and from here that he essayed
his first attempt at mechanical work, when he built
the cobblestone wharf on the shore of the old mill
cove, from the yard of the Green Dragon; and certainly
from here he wound his weary way to the old Latin
School in School street, then under Master Nathaniel
"Williams, who could preach sermons, administer medi-
cines, or flog knowledge into boys, as the nature of
the case might require.
But the Great Man is dead, and his ashes repose qui-
etly in the noisiest part of the city of steady habits.
In the comer of. the cemetery of Christ Church in Phila-
delphia, at the corner of Arch and Fifth streets, may
be read, by looking through the railing, the well-known
inscriptions side by side : —
Benjamin )
and >- Pranklin
Deborah )
1790
Eichard ■>
and >■ Bache
Sarah. )
1811
A pUg^image to this sacred spot will also disclose the
grave of his son Francis, who was baptized on the six-
teenth of September, 1733. The inscription on the
stone is as follows :—
FEANCIS r.
Son of Benjamin & Deborah
FRANKLIN
Deceas'd Nov. 21, 1736,
Aged 4 Years, 4 Months & 1 Day.
He was consequently born on the twentieth of July,
1732. Another stone, which stands in the same part
638 DESCBIPTION OP BOSTON.
of the yard, may have some interest connected with it.
It bears the following : —
In Memory of
JOHN READ
Who Departed This life
September ye 2, 1724,
Aged 47 years.
This unpretending memorial marks the grave of the
father of Mrs. Deborah Franklin, as the first mentioned
did that of herself and husband, and its twin that of
her daughter and husband.
CHAPTER Lin.
THE OLD FEATHER STORE.
The Old Feather Store demolished In 1860 • • -The Great Fire of 1679 . . ■ Fire
Engine of 1654 • • • Old contrivance for Extinguishing Fires ■ • • Old Wells
and Conduit ••• Building Ordinance of 1679 ••• Building erected by Mr.
Stanbury In 1680 • ■ • Description of .the Building • • • Originally Two Tene-
ments • • • Title to the Estate • • • In Possession of Henry Symons in 1643 • • •
Owned by Susanna Walker in 1662 • • • Susanna married Thomas Stanbury
lu 1668 • • . Quitclaimed to William Antram in 1711 • • • Conveyed to Elizabeth
Cushing In 17S4 ■ • • Sold to John Greenleaf in 1766 • • • The Estate fell to his
danghter Elizabeth, wife of Daniel Greenleaf, in 1778, then to Thomas
Greenleaf in 1853, and to his heirs in 1854 • • • Occupants of the Old Building
• • • Kew Building erected in 18ti0.
Enteepeisb and thrift sometimes make sad havoc with
the ancient landmarks. Such was the case on the tenth
of July, 1860, when the old building that formerly stood
on the corner of !N^orth street and Market square, was
taken down; and sad, indeed, was many an old
Bostonian on learning that another of the well-known
landmarks of the ancient town had to be removed, as so
many of its neighbors of the olden time had been served
before, — even though it was to give place, in the
onward march of improvement, to one of the solid and
substantial structures of which the metropolis of 'N'ew
England is so much noted, and of which its citizens are
so justly proud, as they display the good taste of
Boston capitalists in the chief essentials of architectural
science, while at the same time they exhibit conclusive
marks of general and individual prosperity .
640 TOPOGKAPHICAIi AND HISTORICAL
As each of these reminders of the olden time, when
many of the first-comers were hale and hearty, and
active on the stage of life, are doomed to destruction, it
is not unnatural that the sentiment of regret should he
awakened within the breasts of those who have been
accustomed to regard them with a feeling almost
bordering upon veneration. Among the most notable
of these ancient vestiges which time and the hand of
man had spared for so many years, was the old building,
of late years familiarly known as the " Old Feather
Store," that stood fronting upon Dock Square, at the
southerly, side of the entrance to the present ^N^orth
street, — the Ann street of by-gone days. The irrevo-
cable word, however, was at last uttered, and the old
relic of good old colonial times had to bow its hoary
head and be known no longer to man as of the things
that are.
It may not be generally known that the year 1679
was rendered particularly remarkable by the many
attempts made by incendiaries to destroy the town of
Boston. The accounts of these efforts that have been
transmitted by diarists would lead to the supposition
that no measures which ingenuity could contrive or an
evU desire suggest, were left untried for the accomplish-
ment of such a wicked purpose. At midnight, on
the eighth of August of the above-mentioned year,
commenced at an ale-house, near the great drawbridge
(as it was called), in that part of liTorth street, then
known as Drawbridge street, the Conduit street of the
first settlers, one of the most destructive. fires that ever
occurred in the town, l^early all the trading part of
Boston was consumed by the flames, extending from the
Mill Creek, which occupied the same place where
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTOK. 641
Blackstone street now is, westwardly to Dock square,
and southerly to Oliver's Dock, which was situated near
the open place now called Liberty square. !Not one
house nor shop upon this space was spared; and even
the vessels that were at the time lying in the Town
Dock, which was situated in the centre of the burnt
district, were with their lading entirely destroyed. The
fire lasted about twelve hours ; and, as the town had at
that time only one fire-engine, — that procured of Mr.
Joseph Jencks in March, 1654, — and, moreover, as the
buildings were chiefly constructed of wood, the loss was
very great. In the olden time the main dependence, in
such emergencies, was upon the long handled hooks and
the ladders, which had been in use about twenty-five
years, and with which every householder was obliged to
be provided, and also upon the large swabs which were
attached to poles twelve feet long, with which water was
splashed upon the burning walls and roofs. As it
happened, about eighty dwellings and seventy shops
and warehouses, together with several vessels, were
consumed by the fire. Had it not been for the conduit
in the neighboring square, and the dock also near by
(which during part of the time was dry, being dependent
upon the tides for a supply of water), the destruction,
of property must have been much greater; for the
nearest public wells were then, one at the States Arms
Tavern in State street, then known as Water street (for
the Water street of the present day was the Springate
of our forefathers), another where the Town Pump
formerly stood, in that portion of Washington street
nearly opposite the hat store of Messrs. Bent & Bush
(then known as the High street leading to Koxbury,
and more recently as Cornhill), a third at Mr. Thomas
81
642 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
Venner's pump near the conduit in Union street (then
the way leading from the conduit to the mill), and
situated very near to the Town Dock (or BendalFs
Cove, as it was formerly called).
At the time of the fire, Mr. Thomas Stanbury had a
wooden building standing upon the corner of Draw-
bridge street, facing the conduit square; and although
two of its sides faced upon the way called Fishraarket
street which separated it from the dock, it was doomed
to share the fate of those in its immediate vicinity, and
therefore fell a sacrifice to the devouring flames.
In consequence of the severe loss to the town, the
General Court of the Colony at its next session,
commencing on the fifteenth of October immediately
succeeding the great calamity, passed the following
act: —
" This Court, hauiag a sence of the great ruines in
Boston by fire, and hazard still of the same, by reason
of the joyning and neereness of their buildings, for
prevention of damage & losse thereby for future, doe
order & enact, that henceforth no dwelling house in
Boston shallbe errected & sett vp except of stone or
bricke, & couered with slate or tyle, on penalty of
forfeiting double the value of such buildings, vnless by
allowance & liberty obteyned otheruise from the
magistrates, comissioners, & selectmen of Boston or
major parte of them. And, further, the selectmen of
Boston are hereby impowred to heare and determine
all controuersies about properties and rights of any
person to build on the land wherein noAv lately the
housing haue been burnt doune, allowing liberty of
appeale for any person grieved to the County Court."
Of course Mr. Stanbury in rebuilding had to follow
DESCEIPTIOK OP BOSTOK. 643
the order of the General Court as nearly as he could;
yet at the same time he was bound, m duty to himself,
to erect a building with as square rooms as possible on
his irregularly shaped lot, and as large also as his
indulgent townsmen would allow him to do. This he
could not do with stones nor with brick, as he wished to
adopt the then new and fashionable style of building
with jetties, or, in other words, with projecting stories.
He therefore resolved to erect a roughcast building; for
this would not only answer his purpose, but likewise
that of the law. The lot of land was irregular shaped,
measuring thirty-two feet northerly on Drawbridge
street, about thirty-nine and a half feet easterly on the
contiguous estate formerly belonging to the widow of
Rowland Storey, about sixteen feet southerly on the
Fish Market facing the Town Dock, and about forty
feet westerly also on the Fish Market. He built the
basement story strictly upon the lines of his boundaries;
but, as will be seen by looking at the many views of the
buUding which have been published, he projected the
second story over the basement into the street, in such a
manner as to give ample and well formed rooms to the
main part of the building. Indeed, in one place (in
front) he made the projection of this story about six
feet, although he confined the general extent of the
jetty to about two feet only. He surmounted the whole
with a story of gables, which also projected over the
story beneath, — three of the gables appertaining to the
main building (two fronting JS^orth street, and one the
square) , and two belonging to the smaller portion of the
building, one gable facing west, and the other Faneuil
Hall to the south. At all the corners of the jetties he
left square pendills, as they were anciently called, being
644 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
parts of the corner timbers of the building. The
diflFerent stories of all parts of the building were not
very high studded, the lowermost being about eight feet
in height, in order to prevent the infringement of a town
order, passed in July, 1663, for the regulation of jetties
and pendills.
The old warehouse, as it stood at the time of its
demolition, presented very nearly the appearance which
it may reasonably be supposed to have exhibited in its
early days. Its framework was of a very hard kind of
oak, roughly hewn, and had never been remodelled or
altered in form, except by the construction of a slanting
roof in connection with the most southerly gable. A
small addition, only, having recently been made on the
Market square side, in consequence of an enlargement
of the lot by a small piece of land surrendered to the
estate by the city, the form of the whole structure
externally was about the same as when the building was
erected in 1680, one hundred and eighty years before.
The outside of the building was covered with a strong,
and, as time has proved, durable cement, in which was
observable coarse gravel and broken glass, the latter
consisting of fragments of dark-colored junk bottles.
At the upper part of the principal gable on the Dock
square front the date of the time of erecting the build-
ing, 1680, was distinctly impressed into the rough-cast
cement in Arabic figures, together with various
ornamental devices. The building was originally
constructed so as to admit of its being used as two
tenements, which seems to have been the actual ease as
far as can be ascertained. Both parts fronted upon the
public square, where each had separate entrances; and
each had a smaller door respectively on the side next to
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 64i
their contiguous street. Each had, also, a staircase ol
its own, but the chimney was in common for both parts
of the building. Internally the finish of the building
was in the style peculiar to the time of its erection. All
the timbers and beams projected into the rooms, and
were neatly finished with mouldings, and the walls were
plastered upon split cedar laths secured immediately to
pine casings. Each of the stories of the main part was
divided into two rooms, so that in the days of its glory
there probably were three rooms on each story, and nine
in the whole structure.
The title to this estate commences with the set-
tlement of the town. The first owner appears from the
records to have been Mr. Henry Symons, who was
admitted as a townsman on the thirtieth of January,
1642-3; and, on his decease, which occurred in the
following September, bis widow Susannah, about the
year 1644, married Isaac Walker, a stibstantial mer-
chant, and with him improved the estate until they
conveyed it by two separate deeds to their daughter
Susannah (born on the third of October, 1646). The
first of tliese deeds, dated on the eighteenth of Septem-
ber 1662, conveyed the easterly portion of the estate,
which was occupied at the time by the grantee as a ehop;
the second deed, dated on the twenty-seventh of IVi arch,
1666, just as Susannah was about to marry Mr. Tl-.omas
Stanbury, a respectable shopkeeper, conveyed the remain-
ing portion, bounded by Conduit street on the north, the
Dock on the south, and the Highway nfext to the Dock's
side on the west, on which were then two shops. These
two conveyances, the record of which is preserved in the
fourth and fifth volumes of Sufiblk Registry of Deeds,
give substantially the same extent of bounds which the
646 TOPOGEAPHICAX, AND HISTOEICAL
estate has at the present day. The marriage of Thomas
Stanbury and Susannah Walker took place about the
year 1668, and on the twenty-sixth of October, 1672,
their second chUd, Abigail, was bom. This daughter
married for her first husband Richard Franklin, on
the twenty-seventh of September, 1697; and he dying on
the fourth of December, 1704, she married, for her second
husband, William Antram, a distiller, who subsequently
removed to Providence. On the third of January,
1710-11, Mr. Stanbury, who had, while he held the
estate, erected the building now standing on it, conveyed
the same to his son-in-law Antram, by a quitclaim deed,
his daughter Abigail having died on the twenty-eighth of
!N^ovember, 1708. The heirs of Antram, two sons and
two daughters, by a similar title, and " for divers good
causes," deeded the same to Elizabeth, wife of Benja-
min Gushing of Providence, hatter, on the twentieth of
April, 1764. After the decease of Mrs. Gushing, her
husband and children, Benjamin Gushing, and Benjamin
Gushing, Jr., of Providence, R. I., hatters, and Ann
Rawson, the wife of Dr. Eliot Rawson, of Middletown,
Gonn., made conveyance of the same property to John
Greenleaf of Boston, a noted apothecary in his time, by
deed dated on the fifteenth of September, 1766. Mr,
Greenleaf died in August, 1778, leaving all his property
to his wife, Ann (Wroe) , daughter Elizabeth, born on
the fifteenth "of ]S'ovember, 1765, and son Thomas, born
on the fifteenth of May, 1767. The estate near Dock
square fell with other property to Elizabeth, who, on the
twenty-fifth of May, 1786, married her cousin, Daniel
Greenleaf, son of her uncle William. Daniel Greenleaf
was a well-known apothecary at the commencement of
the present century, and was born on the twenty-ninth
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 647
of September, 1762. At his decease, on the twenty-
fifth of March, 1853, in the ninety-first year of his age,
the property fell to his cousin Thomas, who had also
been an apothecary. This last-named gentleman died
at his residence in Quincy, on the fifth of January, 1854,
at the great age of eighty-six years and seven months,
and the estate fell to his children, the present pro-
prietors of the old building.
As far as can be ascertained at this day, the various
parts of the building were occupied as stores. For
some years after 1680, the year of building, it was
occupied by Thomas Stanbury as a shop and ware-
house; in 1708, and some years later, it served William
Antram for all the purposes connected with hat making;
about 1731 it appears to have been used by James Pitt,
subsequently the owner of the adjoining estate; in 1778
it was in the occupancy of Andrew Codnor and Mr.
Croswell; in 1784 of Mr. Bush; and in 1789 of Samuel
Eichards, hardwareman, and Samuel Wallis, dealer in
"West India goods. A short time previous to 1796, Mr.
Daniel Greenleaf took , possession of the Ann street
part for the sale of medicines, and continued in busi-
ness in it until he sold out to Mr. James T. Loring,
about the year 1800. Mr. Loring soon vacated the
premises, and took the Market square corner of the
buUding, and was followed by Jonathan Phillips in the
Ann street comer, who used it as a hardware store in
1803. In 1806, and for many subsequent years, the
6ame part of the building was occupied successively by
Mr. Daniel Pomeroy, Messrs. Pomeroy and Simpson,
and the sons of Mr. Simpson (John K., Daniel P., and
William B., as a feather store), — hence its designation
as the " Old Feather Store." Since this time it reverted
648 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL
to one of its foi-mer purposes, the sale of hats, and was
last in the occupation of Mr. Charles J. Lovejoy, dealer
in clothing. About the same time that Mr. Pomeroy
became tenant, he let a small portion of his part of the
store to Mr. "William Tileston, formerly one of the Alder-
men after the adoption of the city charter, who carried on
the indigo trade within its very small limits for about
three years.
Mr. James T. Loring, with whom our respected
fellow-citizen, Daniel Henchman, served his apprentice-
ship, died in 1805, and was succeeded in his store, on
the market-place comer, in the same business, succes-
sively by Thomas "Weld in 1805, Pardon Brownell in
1810, William Kidder, who left in the fall of 1817,
■Rathaniel E. Holden, who left in 1827, and by Mr.
Thomas Hollis, the well-known druggist in Union
street, who had possession of the business during the
absence of Mr. Holden from the fall of 1821 to the fall
of 1824. In 1827 Mr. Samuel Leeds took the store for
the ti'ansaction of the shoe business, the same having
been used for a few months previous by a clothing
dealer J and after doing business for some years, he' took
into partnership Mr. "William "W. Allen, to whom he
relinquished business about the year 1850. When the
old building was taken down in July, 1860, a substantial
brick building, five stories in height, was erected on its
site; but, notwithstanding the neat appearance of the
new edifice, there will be found very few persons who
will not sincerely regret the disappearance of the old
feather store, whose familar appearance was always
agreeable to their sight, and was considered a good
tpye of the warehouses of the olden time, almost the
latest relic of the colonial period.
CHAPa?EE LTV.
THE JULIEN HOUSE IN MILK STREET.
The Julien House, a noted Restaurant, 1794 to 1823 • • • Book of Possessions
1643 • • ■ Possessions in Milk street, 1643 • ■ • Estate of John Spoor • • • Spoor's
- Mortgage to Nicholas Willis, 1648 • • • The Estate in the possession of Henry
Bridgham, 1656 • • • Condition of the Estate when acquired by Mr. Bridg-
ham • ■ • Deacon Bridgham's Death, in 1671, and the Division of his Estate
in 1680 • ■ • The Milk-street Estate fell to Dr. John Bridgham, of Ipswich,
who died in 1721 • . . The Estate given to Joseph Bridgham, and by him sold
in 1735 to Francis Borland • ■ • Death of Mr. Borland, in 176.S, and Division
of his Estate in 1765 • ■ ■ Sale of the Estate to Thomas Clement in 1787 • • •
Estate purchased by Mons. Julien, in 1794, and the establishment of the
Restaurant . • . Death of Mons. Julien in 1805, and of his wife Hannah in
1815 • • • Restaurant kept by Frederic Rouillard till 1823 • • . Old House
demolished in 1824 ■ • Tenants of the Old House • • • Description of the
Julien House ■ . • Mons. Julien and his wife.
FKOifTiKG southerly on Milk street, and situated on the
westerly side of Congress street, there formerly stood an
ancient building quite noted during the first twenty-four
years of the present century. It was a quaint-looking
old house, and was universally known by Bostonians, in
its, latter years, as Julien's Restaurant, — deriving the
name from an individual very much distinguished by his
accomplishment in his humble, but useful, calling in
life; for few of the silver-haired Boston boys of
seventy summers will be willing to acknowledge being
ignorant of the person or the fame of Mons. Jean
Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien, the very worthy
and attentive keeper of the famous restaurant at the
angle of the streets opposite the Milk-street openings
650 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
into Congress and Federal streets, where the creature
comforts were so liberally dispensed.
The old building shared the fate of almost all of the
ancient landmarks of Boston soon after the adoption of
the city charter, and was taken down to make room for
modern improvements, in July, 1824 ; and, unques-
tionably, its disappearance was more grievous to the
epicures of Boston, than that of any other that has
been demolished during the last centui^-^
In the olden time, great inconvenience having arisen
from the want of a proper record of the grants of land
that had been made by the town authorities throughout
the colony, the General Court, on the ninth of Septem-
ber, 1639, passed an order "to record all mens houses &
lands, being certified vnder the hands of the men of
every towne, deputed for the ordering of theire afiaires."
In consequence of this important, as well as prudential,
provision of the early legislators, an inventory, some-
what imperfect, was taken of the ownership of the real
estate in Boston. A considerable portion of this has
been carefully preserved with the town records, and
the volume containing the valuable minxites has been
usually designated as the " Book of Possessions,"
because each man's real estate was set down in it as
"the Possession of • within the Limits of Boston."
From the dates given in this interesting volume, it
appears that the facts were collected and recorded about
the year 1643; yet later dates of transfers are entered
upon its leaves. It is much to be regretted that a
second volume, which is supposed to have contained
records of the earliest conveyances of some of these
possessions, has been lost, not having been remembered
as among the old records by any person conversant with
DESCBIPTION OP BOSIOK. 651
the town archives. A simple casual reference to this
second volume is all that is known of it, tradition even
failing in pronouncing its former existence. By the dis-
appearance of this record, the connecting link of title
between the original grant and the present possession
has been lost.
From this old record the early owners of the estates
in MUk street are easily ascertained. On the northerly
side of the street commencing at the High street to
Eoxbury (now known as "Washington street), and
running to the water side of the town, were the
"Possessions" of Governor John Winthrop, Mr. Wil-
liam Hibbens, one of the Assistants, and John Spoor.
These extended from MUk street (then known as the
"Way to the Fort," or the "Fort street") to Spring
Lane (the ancient Springate) and " the creek" that ran
through the present Water street, easterly to Oliver's
Dock. Two other small estates, those of Richard
Sherman and Atherton Hough, wedged into that of Mr.
Hibbens on the MUk street side. On the southerly side
of the Fort street, and fronting towards the north, were,
in course, the estates of the following persons : Eobert
Eeinolds, cordwainer; John Stevenson, shoemaker;
!N^athaniel Bishop, currier j IN^icholas Parker j Elder
James Penn, at one time the beadle; John Kenrick,
yeoman; WUliam Dinsdale; Eobert Eice, and William
Pell, tallow-chandler. The last of these was by the
water's edge, bounding easterly upon the cove; and
crossed over northerly so far as to form also the east-
erly boundary of Mr. Spoor's large lot.
Of the lots on the northerly side of Milk street,
Governor Winthrop's is very nearly the same as the
"Old South Church's" estate; the Governor's house
652 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
having stood on the site of the stores comprised in
South row, while the meeting-house covers what was
anciently known as the " Governor's Green." The Hib-
bens' lot extended to Devonshire street (formerly known
as Jollrflfe's lane, because John JoUiffe, Esq., an ancient
town recorder, dwelt upon one of its comers). The
Spoor lot included the site of Julien's building, and
extended to the water as aforesaid, taking in, of course,
the square now bounded by Congress street and Bath
street, in old times the tan-yard of the Bridghams of
three generations, and subsequently of Joseph Calef.
On the fourteenth of October, 1648, John Spoor
mortgaged his "Possession" to Mr. !N^icholas Willis,
of Boston, for £66, and the estate was described as his
dwelling-house in Boston, together with one acre of
land thereto belonging, next adjoining unto the house
of Mr. "William Hibbens. The mortgage record exhibits
no proof that the instrument was ever cancelled, nor is
there any evidence of any conveyance from Spoor,
either by deed or by the settlement of his estate. In all
probability the lot fell, on account of non-fulfilment of
the terms of the mortgage, to Mr. Willis, or was given
to Henry Bridgham in exchange for another lot. Mr.
Willis died about 1650; for in June of that year power
of administration of his estate, with a will annexed, was
granted to Peter Oliver, Elder James Penn and James
Johnson. Mr. Willis was a mercer, and was admitted,
together with his wife Ann, to the fellowship of the
First Church of Boston, in July, 1634. What became
of him after acquiring the mortgage of Mr. Spoor's
land is not known; but it is very evident that the
estate passed to Deacon Henry Bridgham, soon after
he obtained it, as Mr. Bridgham was in possession of the
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 653
lot in 1655, when poor Anne Hibbens sold her late
husband's lot (he died on the twenty-third of July,
1654) just about ten months before she was inhumanly
hung for pretended witchcraft. Mr. Bridgham, before
he obtained possession of the Spoor lot, had a house
and land on the westerly side of Washington street, a
short distance south of School street, which he sold on
the twelfth of January, 1648-9, part to Mr. Spoor, and
the remainder to Richard Tappan; and, unless he had
then become the owner of his Milk street acquisition, he
would have been houseless, and at the mercy of others
for a home. On the twelfth of May, 1648, "Willis sold
his ancient possession (not the Spoor lot) to Christo-
pher Clarke ; and this is the last that is heard of him,
except a mention of the appointment of administrators
for the settlement of his estate, which there is no
recorded evidence of having been performed. Perhaps
this evidence may have been lost with the second Book
of Possessions, which may have also contained the
conveyance of Spoor's lot to Bridgham, either from Mr.
Spoor or the mortgagee Mr. Willis. This loss of ancient
records is very grievous to antiquaries, although con-
veyancers are sometimes satisfied that their old titles
are sufficiently protected by the law of limitation.
When Mr. Bridgham became possessed of the Milk-
street estate, there were upon it the buildings probably
erected by Mr. Spoor. These were sufficient for the
purposes of the good deacon and his wife Elizabeth,
and his six sons until they became grown up. Then the
deacon considered it prudent to set his house in readi-
ness for his departure, and he commenced in the year
1670 to build a new mansion-house a little farther down
the street, and nearer to his tan-yard, in which his
Q54: TOPOGKAPHICAIi AND HISTOEICAI.
worldly affairs had met with so much success, and
which was bounded easterly by a narrow lane, in his
day known as Tanners' Lane, but since called Bath
street, on account of the bathing establishment which
was conducted there for many years. Mr. Bridgham's
will, executed on the eighth of I^ovember, and proved
on the thirteenth of the succeeding April, exhibits his
prudence and foresight. By this instrument he be-
queaths to each of his six sons the sum of one himdred
pounds, and devises his real estate to his wife, to be
improved by her during her life, she and her son
Jonathan to carry on the tan-yard, and to see to the
education, and instruction in the trade, of her sons
Joseph, Benjamin, Samuel and James. The oldest son,
John, had been educated at Harvard College, and was
settled as a physician in the town of Ipswich. He
further provided that (in his own language), "the new
house that I have raised & proceeding in the building of
itt, my will is that out of the estate it be finished, made
habitable, at the discretion of my wife & overseers."
He also gives his wife power to devise the estate, if she
dies his widow; and allows her to choose which of the
two houses to live in and improve, if she sees fit to
marry again, namely, the one " I now live & dye in,"
and the new house. Mr. Bridgham died on the twelfth
of March, 1670-1, and his widow Elizabeth in Septem-
ber, 1672; and on the twentieth of July, 1680, their real
estate was divided between three sons, John, Jonathan
and Joseph, the other three having died. To Dr. John
Bridgham was allotted the portion upon which the new
house stood. This extended so far east as to include
the westerly portion of the present Congress street.
This sti'cet was laid out and opened about the year
DESCEU'lION OF BOSTON. 655
1763, under the name of Dalton's lane; and the por-
tion of the present Devonshire street, lying between
Milk and Water streets, was very early laid out by John
JoUiflGe, at one time town recorder.
On the eighth of October, 1719, Dr. John Bridg-
ham, who inherited the estate on the corner of Congress
street, executed a deed of gift, to take effect at his
decease, conveying the estate to his nephew, Joseph,
the son of his brother Joseph, the Elder of the First
Church, whom he calls " student," probably forgetting
that he had graduated at the preceding commencement
at Harvard College. Dr. Bridgham died at Ipswich on
the second of May, 1721, therefore the estate fell to
Joseph, who, after leaving College, became an apothe-
cary, keeping his store in Boston. On the twenty-
fourth of February, 1734-5, Mr. Joseph Bridgham sold
the estate to Francis Borland, of Boston, merchant, for
the sum of iEl,200. At the time of its conveyance it
measured one hundred and six feet southerly on Milk
street; seventy-six feet easterly on the estate set off in
1680 to Mr. Bridgham's Uncle Jonathan; one hundred
and twenty-eight feet no;rtherly on the land set off to
his father, the Elder; and westerly by three lines
running southerly forty-three feet, then easterly eighteen
feet, and lastly, southerly thirty-four feet to Milk street,
the estates of the widow Bridge and Joseph Russell,
lying west thereof. To this Mr. Borland added a small
strip, measuring ninety-five by eight and a half feet, on
the north side of the estate, by purchase of James
Dalton, on the thirteenth of August, 1763. This
addition reached the whole length of the lot, which had
been abridged by the laying out of the new street from
its east side a short time previous.
Go6 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HlSTOBICAIi
Francis Borland died on the sixteenth of Septemher,
1763, at his house in Boston, in the seventy-second year
of his age, having been born in Boston, on the twenty-
eighth of December, 1691. He was a noted merchant
of Boston, and married, on the twenty-second of
September, 1726, Jane, daughter of Hon. Timothy
Lindall, formerly of Boston, but at that time of Salem.
Mr. Borland inherited a large landed estate" from his
father John, who died on the thirtieth of March, 1727,
aged sixty-eight years, and by his mother Sarah, a
daughter of Andrew !N^eal, the keeper of the famous
old Star Tavern which stood at the corner of Hanover
and Union streets two hundred years ago. To his
patrimony he added much by purchase, and was the
owner of much land in the centre of the town, a
considerable tract of which was situated at the comer of
Milk street, extending southwardly into Congress street.
By his wUl, dated on the seventh of March, 1763,
he devised the estate in Milk street, at the corner of
Congress street, to his son, Francis Lindall Borland,
who was absent, and feared to be dead, and gave other
property to his wife Phebe, his son John, and the
children of his daughter Jane Wiuthrop, deceased. His
daughter Jane, who had married John StUl Winthrop
on the fourth of September, 1750, had died on the fifth
of April, 1760, leaving a family of young children. On
the death of Mr. Borland's widow, as well as of his son
Francis Lindall Borland, the real estate lapsed, and fell
to John and the "Winthrop children, and was divided in
September, 1765, among the heirs.
These heirs, among whom were the mother of Hon.
David Sears and the father of Hon. E. C. Winthrop^ by
deeds dated on the fifteenth of May, and the twenty-sixth
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 657
of June, 1787, for £600, conveyed the Congress-street
corner to Thomas Clement, of Boston, housewright; and
Mr. Clement, in turn, for £2,000 of the then depreciated
lawful money of the country, sold the same on the
twenty-first of July, 1794, to Jean Baptiste Gilbert
Payplat dis Julien, of Boston, restorator. The mes-
suage and land conveyed to Mons. Julien was the same
bought by Francis Borland of Dr. Joseph Bridgham in
1734, and of Captain James Dalton in 1763, with the
exception of the strip of land, about thirty-two feet
wide, taken from the estate for laying out that portion
of Congress street, formerly called Dalton's lane.
Mons. Julien, undoubtedly, took possession of his
estate at the time of his purchase; but did not live long
afterwards, for he died on the thirtieth of June, 1805,
leaving his property to his widow Hannah and to his
two daughters Charlotte and Harriet, both of whom
were then under fourteen years of age. On the twen-
tieth of March, 1805, dower was set off to the widow;
and on the fifteenth of December following, she died,
and the estate passed to the two daughters, who, on the
twenty-eighth of June, 1823, both being single women
and residing in Charlestown, conveyed it to the Com-
mercial Insurance Company in Boston, for the sum of
$12,160; since which time it has been divided into two
lots, and sold again.
It has been shown that the Julien estate was
originally in the possession of Mr. John Spoor, a
husbandman, at least as early as the year 1643. He
may have had it earlier, as he, and his wife Elizabeth,
were admitted to the fellowship of the First Church in
Boston, on the fourteenth of April, 1639. This Spoor
(or Spurre, as his name was sometimes spelled ) was an
83
658 TOPOGEAPHICAX, AND HISTORICAL
unruly fellow j for by the records of the church, neatly
kept in the handwriting of good old Elder Thomas
Leverett, it appears that " John Spurre, for his insolent
bearing witness against Baptisme and singing and y"
church covenant as noe ordinances of God, was with y*
consent of y" church admonished the 1. 4:mo., 1651."
This admonition was of little avail, as on the thirteenth
of the following month, July, he was excommunicated.
"What became of him subsequent to this church disci-
pline does not appear. He had parted with his land
lying between the old Fort street and the Springate,
and it was then, undoubtedly, in the possession of Mr.
Henry Bridgham, a noted tanner, and the respectable
deacon of the church from which Mr. Spoor had been so
summarily ejected for being as free in his religious
opinidns, as his late associates had been in theirs a few
years previous in England.
Deacon Henry Bridgham, when he was admitted to
the membership of the church in Boston, on the thirty-
first of March, 1644, upon letters from Dorchester, was a
single man ; and he was a tanner by trade, as were in subse-
quent times his children and grandchildren. He dwelt on
the estate, and carried on his business on the easterly por-
tion of it, as did afterwards his posterity, and after them
Mr. Joseph Calef. Soon after his settlement in Boston,
he married his wife Elizabeth, by whom he had a large
family of children, six sons of whom grew up, although
three only lived to inherit their father's estate. He un-
doubtedly bailt the Julieii house in the year 1670, and his
widow moved into it the next year, and died in it in 1672.
The Bridgham heirs undoubtedly dwelt in the house
until it was sold out of the family to Mr. Francis
Borland; and about this time the Calefs, who were also
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 659
tanners, took the house and the tan-yard. While Mr.
Joseph Calef was the tenant, in the spring of the year
1760, that terrible series of fires occurred in the town
which proved so destructive to property. On the twen-
tieth of March occurred by far the greatest that had
taken place since the great fire of 1679. This began in
' the morning in a dwelling-house near where the present
bookstore of Crosby & Damrell is, in "Washington
street, and destroyed almost all the houses and shops
east of it to the water-side. By a singular providence
the old Julien house, with a few others, escaped the
conflagration. During this occupancy Congress street
was laid out from Milk street to Water street.
Mr. Thomas Clement, a housewright, occupied the
old house a few years before he purchased it in 1787 of
the Borland heirs, and retained possession of it until he
sold it to Mons, Julien in 1794.
When Mons. Julien purchased the house he fitted it
up for the purpose of a restaurant; and as such it was,
used by himself until his decease in 1805, when the
same business was carried on in it by his widow until
December, 1815, when the house was hired by Frederic
Kouillard for the same purpose. This last-named
person kept the restaurant until 1823, when, it having
being sold to the insurance company, he removed to the
old house at the corner of Devonshire street, lately
known as the Stackpole House, on account of its having
been the residence of William Stackpole, Esq., one of
the noted merchants of the past generation. Previous
to removing to the ancient house, which he made so
famous, Mons. Julien had kept a similar establishment
in Congress street, near Lindall street, and opposite the
old Quaker meeting-house.
660 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOETCAL
The Julien house was taken down in July, 1824, and
the present substantial building erected on its site by
the late Dr. Edward H. Bobbins.
The old Bridgham (or Julien) house was framed
and buUt of wood, pretty much in the style of the
buildings erected in Boston before the year 1700. It
was two stories high with an attic story of gables. The
building was very nearly square on the ground, and had
a square, projecting porch as high as the main structure.
The second story projected with a jetty over the first,
as did the attic over the second. An entry extended
the whole length of the building from the Milk street
front to the rear, and parlors and kitchens were on both
sides of it. The second story and the attic contained
sleeping apartments, and there was a small room in the
projection over the porch. The roof was a compound of
gables, six in number, three in front, one at each side
and one facing the back-yard in the rearj the roof of the
last having a double slant, very much like that of houses
of half a century later. A very large, irregular-shaped
chimney protruded from the centre of the roof. The
whole of the house was surrounded with green, fenced in.
In this old buUding the epicures of the day were
sure to find good entertainment, and perhaps no estab-
lishment in the country ever gained such a famous
reputation for excellent cooking and good cheer as did
that kept continuously in the old Julien House by
Mons. Julien, his wife, and Mr. Rouillard.
Mr. Julien died, after a short illness, on the thirtieth
of June, 1805. The inscription on his gravestone will
be found on page 241.
The fact that Mrs. Julien carried on the establish-
ment ten years after the decease of her husband, has led
BESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 661
many to think that Mr. Julien lived much later; and the
old sign over the porch door, JULIEN^, might have
continued the delusion down to the time the buUding
was demolished. The famous Julien soup, which still
finds a place on most of the sumptuous bills of fare, is
all that remains to keep in remembrance this worthy
man. The following tribute to his memory will be
read with satisfaction by those who remember his noted
house of entertainment: —
"Mons. Julien's Eestorator, which, during his life
time, was so long and justly celebrated among strangers
and inhabitants of the first distinction and taste, as well
as for the urbanity of its respected host, as for the
excellence of his various entertainment, will be con-
tinued open as a house of elegant resort, under the care
and direction of the widow of its late proprietor, and
we have no doubt will preserve the high character it has
acquired for many years. The sudden death of Mons.
Julien was a subject of much regret to all who had
known him, either when employed in the discharge of
his professional labors, or who had witnessed him in the
more interesting scenes of domestic and social life.
With an education, and an intellect which would have
adorned a higher sphere iii society, he performed all the
relative duties of his place with meek assiduity and
winning politeness. In his connection with man and
his manners, he never stooped to pride, nor aspired to
ostentation. In his intercourse with his fellow-men he
was honest to his own promises, and benevolent to the
wants of others. An extensive class of the poor of this
town will often, in their orisons to that being 'who doeth
the ravens feed,' breathe a pious blessing on the memory
of the charitable Julien."
662 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
Mrs. Julien, the widow, died of consumption on
"Wednesday, the fifteenth of December, 1815, aged sixty-
three years. Her decease is thus noted in the Boston
Daily Advertiser of December 20th: — "Died, Mrs.
Hannah Julien, relict of the late Mr. Julien, who for
many years was celebrated for keeping the best Res-
torant in Boston. Her remains were entombed on
Sunday last."
CHAPTEK LY.
THE OLD STONE HOUSE IN CBOSS STREET.
Deacon Phillips' Old Stone House, erected about 1650 • • • The Old Streets at
the North End •• • Devise of Elislia Goodnow to Boston, in 1849 • • • Decease
of Mr. Goodnow in 1851 • • Estate claimed in 1860 • • • Description of the Old
Stone House • • • The Estate originally in the possession of John Milom • ■ •
Sold to Deacon John Phillips in 1648 • • • Decease of Mr. Phillips in 1C82 ■ • •
Estate owned afterwards by the Monntjoys, Mortimores and others • • •
Purchased by Edward Proctor, and sold to William Williams In 1793, then
to Thomas Williams in 1810, then to Deacon John Sullivan in 1816 • ■ ■
Neighbors of Deacon Phillips • ■ • Alterations of the Old Building • ■ • Popu-
lar Rumors about the Stone House • • • The Building demolished in April,
1864.
Geeat as have been the alterations of the streets of
Boston within the last fifty years, there has been com-
paratively very little change in those originally laid out
at the North End. Some of these have, indeed, been
widened and straightened j but most of them now run
in the same directions they did two hundred and thirty
years ago. When Boston was first laid out with high-
ways and byways, a marginal street, upon the water's
side, near the Great Cove, was designated as " the Fore
street" J another, running nearly parallel to it, and
beside the Mill Cove, was called the Back street; and a
third, lying between these, had three names, as it was
intersected at right angles by two other streets. These
byways were known as " the Cross Street," and the
"Black Horse Lane" (now Prince Street); and the
long street, anciently designated as the way leading
664 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAI,
from the Orange Tree to the Winnisimmet Feny, had
afterwards the names of Hanover, Middle and I^'orth
streets, partially owing to their position. These ancient
streets, and the lanes and alleys leading from them, were
lined with the estates of the first settlers of the town.
On Cross street there formerly stood one of the
ancient landmarks, that was permitted to remain stand-
ing till quite recently. The following account of the
old building and the estate upon which it stood was
prepared for another purpose, and is now reproduced
for preservatioii and for more general publication.
On the twelfth day of July, 1849, Mr. Elisha Good-
now, a benevolent citizen of Boston, executed his last
will and testament, and, after providing for his family
devised and bequeathed all the rest, residue and remain-
der of his estate, real and personal, not otherwise
disposed of, to the city of Boston, its successors and
assigns, to be held in fee-simple forever, directing, in
the words of the instrument, that it should " be sold by
the said city and converted iato money, and that the net
proceeds be held and kept carefully invested by it until
a hospital for the sick shall be established within the
present limits of the Eleventh or Twelfth Wards of the
city of Boston, and that the whole principal and interest
of the last devise of said residue, and of the funds and
property in which the same and the proceeds thereof
may be vested, shall then be applied to and for the
benefit of such hospital, in such manner, and upon such
terms and conditions as the said city, its government, or
officers, shall deem most judicious: Provided, however,
that one-half the said fund shall be applied for the
establishment and perpetual maintenance of free beds in
such hospital, which shall always be at the disposal and
DESCBIPTION OF BOSTON. 665
under the control of the government and officers of the
said hospital for the time being. And by such hos-
pital, I [the testator] mean an institution similar to
the Massachusetts General Hospital, suitably endowed
and properly managed, and not such public hospital as
may be established or maintained in connection with the
City Almshouse or House of Correction, or other muni-
cipal establishment, or for the care and relief of paupers
supported by the city."
The testator, Mr. Goodnow, died on the eighteenth
of June, 1851, aged fifty-seven years and five months,
and the wiU was duly proved on the eleventh of August
following, and from that time the fee of the real estate
thus devised became vested in the city of Boston. It
was not untU May, 1860, that the City Council took any
action in reference to the matter; and it then appeared
that the city had come into possession of a valuable piece
of real estate, situated on the easterly side of Cross
street, between Hanover and 1^'orth streets. Upon this
estate was then standing the oldest building remaining
in Boston, for it was certainly more than two hundred
years since the Old Stone House in Cross street was
erected. The city authorities having recently resolved
upon widening Cross street, and having, on Wednesday,
the thirtieth of March, 1864, sold the materials of the
building, with a view to the sale of the land on the
fourteenth of the following month, it will not be amiss
to review the history of this old relic of past ages, and
leave on record a description of its appearance before
its final demolishment, which took place immediately
afterwards.
To casual observers the building appeared to be
constructed of wood. This was not so. It was built
84
6G6 TOPOGBAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
chiefly of stone, the common rocks found in the native
soil of the peninsula having been broken into various
shapes and sizes, and laid into place in the rough form
left by the maul of the workman. In its original state,
■when it was known as the " Stone House of Deacon
John Phillips in the Cross street," it was low in struc-
ture, a portion of it only containing two stories. The
massive chimneys, with their spacious fireplaces, con-
structed of large coarse bricks and stones, of uncommon
size, were, as far as practicable, on the outside of the
building, and portions of the house were covered with
thick slate stones at the top of each of the stories. At
the back part of the stone house stood a wooden
lean-to, subsequently erected by one of the numerous
tenants of the old mansion.
This old estate appears originally to have belonged
to John Milom, a cooper, who sold it to Mr. John
Phillips, biscuit baker, on the sixteenth of June, 1648,
at the time he removed hither from the neighboring
town, Dorchester. At this time the estate consisted of
a " dwelling house & shop & garden in Boston, bounded
on the northeast with John Hill, the lane southwest,
Tho. Yow northwest, & the cove southeast." In
February, 1652, Mr. Phillips, who in 1650 had become
deacon of the second chiirch in Boston, purchased other
estate of Augustine Clement, the same having belonged
successively to John Milom, George Dell, Mark Hands,
John Sweet, and John Farnham; and thus having satis-
factorily enlarged his domain, dwelt within these strong
walls until he was called to his final earthly home on
Copp's Hill, on the twenty-second of December, 1682,
at the good old age of seventy-seven years, leaving his
lands and other worldly estates to his grandchildren,
DKSCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 667
making reservations for the maintenance of Sarah, the
wife of his old age, and for his only daughter Mary,
the wife of George Mountjoy, sometime of Boston, but
chiefly known for his early endeavors at Piscataqua.
His goodwife Sarah, who survived him, and whom he
married in 1676, very shortly after the decease of
Joanna, the wife of his youth, was the widow Minor.
In a marriage contract, dated on the sixth of January,
1675-6, he made provision that, in case she survived
him, she should have '" the south part of his stone house,
situated in Boston, that is to say, the low room in which
he now liveth, or the room called the hall, which is in
the west end (which of them the said Sarah shall make
choice of) with one-half part of the cellar which is
under the south part of the said house, with the cham-
ber and garret over the south part of the said house,
with the woodhouse in the yard thereunto belonging,
with one-third part of the garden, thereunto adjoining,"
etc., " with liberty of the wharf" on the south side of
the estate, running down to the cove.
On the decease of Deacon Phillips the estate passed
down in the possession of the Mountjoys, the Morti-
mores, the PuUings and others, descendants of the
deacon, being divided and subdivided, generation after
generation, in a manner which has caused much per-
plexity to modern conveyancers, until it came to
Edward Proctor and others; then, in the year 1793,
"William "Williams became the owner of the portion of
the estate upon which the old house stood, who sold it
to ,. Thomas Williams in 1810, who in turn sold it to
Deacon John Sullivan in 1816. Since this time the
estate has been conveyed several times, and its history
has become well known.
668 TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
The old stone house estate was quite small, meas-
uring in 1765 only about twenty-eight and a half feet
by thirty-one feet; scarcely large enough for the house
and outhouses that stood upon it. In after years, it
was enlarged, as in former it had been curtailed, by
divisions among numerous heirs.
When goodman Phillips resided on the old lot, his
neighbor, towards the then middle street, was John
Turell, whose estate passed down to his son Samuel,
and grandsons John and William ; then successively to
James, William and Abraham Codnor, and then, in
1799, to Ebenezer Wells. The neighbor on the north-
easterly side was George Burrill; and his estate
passed in succession to George and Samuel Burrill,
Mrs. Martha Lewis (afterwards Goldthwaite), John
White, and others. On the southeasterly or !N"orth
street side, Mr. Phillips may be said to have had no
neighbors, because his estate extended across the street
(formerly Fish street) to the water; but, a short time
before his decease, he sold a lot on Cross street, just
southeast of the stone house, to Captain Christopher
Clarke, which has been owned in order of time by
Joseph Townsend, Thomas Gross, the heirs of Gross,
John Fayerweather, Henry Stanbridge and others.
Other portions of the Phillips estate on ]N"orth street
were subsequently owned by the PuUings, the Thomp-
sons, and in later times by Eeeds, ChurchUl, Lormg,
Martin, Kast and Sanford.
In more recent times, some of the owners of the old
stone house added to the height of the building by
placing upon it another story, constructed chiefly of
brick; and also changed the appearance of the exterior
of the ancient structure by covering nearly the whole of
DBSCKIPTION OF BOSTOK. 669
it with boards, clapboards and shingles, lengthening
and topping off the chimneys to make them conform to
the modern innovations.
When the old building was taken down, and its
massive walls, two or more feet thick, were removed, the
ancient oven and its immense chimney, in which the good
old deacon of primeval days had baked his undoubt-
edly delicious corn-cakes and honest weighted biscuits,
was exposed to view. These stood on the easterly part
of the house, the chimney, as before mentioned, on the
outside of the building, and both constructed of stone
found on the soil, and of uncommonly large bricks, all
laid in clay, although a subsequent tenant had pointed
many of the seams with shell mortar, unquestionably
indigenous to the neighboring cove, and perhaps cal-
cined- on the spot. The antique tiles, that formerly
decorated the comfortable parlor and best chamber of
goodwife Phillips, were (many of them) in good preser-
vation, and would have made a respectable appearance
in reception rooms of a more modern date. These wete
five inches square; and were constructed of white
enamel, with various devices in the natural colors
represented. Two of these, now before the writer,
display, the one a hunting scene, with a sportsman and
his dog, gun, and game; and the second a rustic love
scene, very highly colored and artistically executed.
The tiles of the present day appear insignificant in ex-
ecution, when compared with these charming relics of
bygone days.
Popular rumor has induced many credulous persons
to believe that this old mansion was used during the
early days of the town as a fortress; and many think it
may have been once employed as a jail. But there is
670 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAL.
no evidence whatever that it was ever put to either
purpose. Indeed, on the contrary, from the days of
Deacon Phillips down to the present time, nearly all the
tenants are known; and, moreover, the location of the
jail, in its various positions, is also well known. The
building was never needed for such purposes, and there
is no reason to believe the unauthenticated surmises
which would lead to such conclusions.
All of the original estate of Deacon Phillips, lying
upon Cross street and west of North street, having
come into the possession of the city, in consequence of
the bequest of Mr. Groodnow and purchases made in
1860, at the time of widening Iforth street, the city
authorities wisely came to the conclusion to sell the
same, and it was divided into seven lots, which were
sold at public auction on Thursday, the fourteenth of
April, 1864. All that remained of the old buildings,
except the cellars, disappeared before that time.
CHAPTER LYL
THE OLD CORNER BOOKSTORE.
The Old Book Store on Washington and School streets. • • The Centre Quad-
rangle of the old Town, 1643 • • ■ The ancient Inhabitants of the Lots • • . The
Old Corner, and its Surroundings ■ • • William Hutchinson its first known
owner in 1634 • . • Removal of Hutchinson to Rhode Island in 1638, and sale
of the lot to Richard Hutchinson • • • Boundaries of the Lot in 1643 • • • Estate
owned by JohnEvered in 1658j and^by Henry Shrimpton in 1661 . . • School
street laid out in 1640 • • • Corner Estate devised by Shrimpton to his daugh-
ter Abigail in 1666 . • -Sold to Thomas Crease in 1707 • • ■ Mrs. Bourne's House
destroyed by fire in 1711 . . • The present Brick House bnilt by Mr. Crease
In 1712 • . -The Estate sold to Peter Luce and Nicholas Davis in 1727- • •
Sold in 1755 to the Executors of Thomas Palmer . . . Sold to Edward Sohier
and wife In f784 . . . Estate passed to Elizabeth Inches, and conveyed by her
In 1795 to Herman Brimmer • . . Since 1795 owned by the Brimmer and Inches
families • • . The old tenants and their neighbors • • • Modern Tenants . • •
Description of the Building.
HiSTOBiCALLT Considered, there is no part of the
peninsular portion of Boston that is so rich with anti-
quarian associations as the large quadrangle which has
Court street for its northerly boundary, Washington
street for its easterly, School street for its southerly, and
Tremont street for its westerly. In the olden time, the
first-mentioned of these streets was for obvious reasons
called Prison Lane, and subsequently, until the close
of the Revolutionary "War, was known as Queen street,
and then designated as Court street, on account of the
situation of the old Court house, which formerly fronted
upon it. The street forming the easterly boundary was
early known as " the Market street," and sometimes as
" the highway leading to Roxbury," and in later years
672 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOKICAL
as " Comhill" ; all of which names have been given up
to adopt that of the father of the country. School
street was early known as " the lane leading to Gentry
Hill," and very early received its present name, on
account of the building anciently erected and used as
the first school-house. The street on the west of the
quadrangle was first known as " the highway to the
Common," then Common street, and finally Tremont
street.
This quadrangle was divided into lots, some of
which were retained for public purposes, and the others
were granted to the first settlers for house-lots and
gardens. On Tremont street, running north, were, as
early as 1643, the burying ground, and the lots of
Henry Messinger and Richard Croychley, the latter
being at the corner of Court street. Following in
course on Court street were the estates of Mr. Croych-
ley, Richard Tapping, the prison and its yard and
garden, and John Leverett. Turning the comer, and
proceeding southward, were the estates of Mr. Leverett
oji the corner, then of Richard Parker, the meeting-
house (on its second site), Valentine Hill, Robert
Sedgwick, and Richard Hutchinson. On School street
there were only three estates, — those of Mr. Hutchin-
son, and Thomas Scottow, and the old burying-place.
Richard Truesdale, Thomas Clarke and Robert Turner
had rear estates in the same square near where Williams
Court now is.
It is the purpose of the present writing to give a brief
account of one of the ancient landmarks that now stands
upon the southeast corner of this great quadrangle.
There are very few persons, who have dwelt any
considerable time in Boston, who are not familiar with
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 673
the appearance of the old corner etore . on Washington
and School streets, for many years past, occupied as a
book-store, and so well known as the head-quarters of
the principal literary spirits of Boston and of the
neighboring towns and cities. But it is not supposed
that all who frequent the store are acquainted with the
history of thp ancient building and of the estate upon
which it stands J nor does it appear reasonable that
those who are accustomed to pass by this ancient
mansion ever stop to consider and realize how much of
the old history of New England has been enacted, as
well as published, in the immediate vicinity of the
interesting spot. The now gay Washington street was
in the olden time simply known as the highway to
Eioxbury, and upon the opposite side of this highway,
over and against the site of the old corner store, dwelt
the notables of the town, — the governor, the elder of
the church, the captain of the artillery comj)any, and
the most needful of the craftsmen and artificers of the
humble plantation; and at a short distance from it were
the meeting-house, the market-house, the town-house,
the school-house, and the ever-flowing spring of pure
water.
In the early days of the colony, all the land upon
the peninsula of Boston became the property of the
town, and subject to the disposal of the townsmen, or
of the selectmen chosen to manage the town's affairs
when so directed by positive vote. The town's-people
may have reserved portions to be kept open forever as
common land, but no part of the tOAvn was ever given
by deed or will to the inhabitants with any condition of
possible or probable reversionary interest as has been by
many supposed. The corner in question, or rather the
85
674 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
large estate upon it, extending quite to the present City
Hall square on School street, and a considerable dis-
tance on "Washington street, northerly, somehow or
other became during the earliest days of the town the
possession of Mr. Wijliam Hutchinson, the husband of
the famous Ann, and subsequently one of the Assist-
ants in the Rhode Island Plantation, and himself the
ancestor of a long line of distinguished descendants
who held the most important positions in the Massa-
chusetts colony, both in civil and military life.
Mr. Hutchinson could not have had the grant before
September, 1634, the time when he, with his wife and
children, arrived in 'New England; nor could it have
been made to him much later, as it would have been
noted among the grants recorded in the town's first
book of records, the portion of which in preservation
commenced on the seventh day of the same September
(1634) ; and in 1638, about four years after coming to
Boston, he removed to Khode Island. Soon after his
banishment from the Massachusetts colony, on account
of the peculiar theological views of Ms remarkable wife,
the following record was entered upon the town's book,
iinder date of the twenty-ninth of July, 1639 : " Also
there is leave granted to o'' brother Edward Hutch-
inson y* younger in behalfe of his father "Will""
Hutchinson, to sell his house in this towne to M'
Richard Hutchinson of London, lynning draper." "When
this estate was sold to Mr. Hutchinson in 1639, it
contained about one-half of an acre, and was bounded
on the east by the street leading to Eoxburyj on the
south by the lane leading to the common; on the west
by the land belonging to Mr. Thomas Scottow (after-
wards purchased by the town on the thirty-first of
DESCEIPTION OF BOSTON. 675
March, 1645, and called the " School-house estate," and
now the " City Hall square ") , and northerly by land of
Major-General Robert Sedgwick.
Richard Hutchinson, who in the mean time became a
famous ii'onmonger in London,. and so wealthy as to be
able to lose, in 1666, by the great fire in that city, the
sum of sixty thousand pounds, without being ruined,
sold the property on the eighth of March, 1657-8, to
Mr. John Evered alias Webb, a merchant of Boston,
for the small consideration of seventy-five pounds. On
the twenty-fourth of May, 1661, Mr. Evered conveyed a
portion of the lot — measuring fifty-nine feet upon the
highway to Roxbury (now "Washington street), and one
hundred and fifty feet upon School-house Lane (now
School street), which lane had been laid out as a public
highway on the thirtieth of March, 1640 — to Mr. Henry
Shrimpton, another Boston merchant, for forty pounds;
and the same was then fenced in by Mr. Shrimpton as a
garden, and a garden-house was erected upon it. Mr.
Shrimpton dyijag in July, 1666, devised the estate to his
daughter Abigail, with three hundred pounds to build a
house with. The daughter married Mr. Zachariah
Bourne, and they dying, the property passed into the
possession of their two daughters, who resided in
Westminster, England, and who, on the third of AprU,
1707, conveyed the estate to Mr. Thomas Crease, an
apothecary, together with its buildings and edifices, the
same probably erected by Mrs. Bourne in compliance
with the provision of her father's will.
On the third of October, 1711, at the great fire
which destroyed the old meeting-house and the Town
House, these buildings were burnt to the ground, and
soon afterwards the old brick building, now standing at
676 TOPOGBAPAICAL AND HISTOEICAL
the coruer, was erected by Mr. Crease. Mr. Crease,
on the first of July, 1727, sold the estate to Mr. Pe-
ter Luce and Mr. Nicholas Davis, for twelve hundi-ed
pounds, and these purchasers dividejd the land, setting
off to Mr. Davis, on the third of the following March, a
portion measuring twenty-eight feet on Cornhill (as the
street was then called), and ninety-one feet on School
street, together with the " dwelling-houses thereon
standing." The easterly and southerly boundaries of
the estate have remained the same since this date, and
the northerly and westerly (which were more extensive
than their opposites), have been somewhat modified by
sales, until the whole lot has been reduced to its
present dimensions.
Mr. Davis, who was styled a merchant, having a son
Anthony, who, on the nineteenth of Jvlj, 1730, was
about to marry Elizabeth Adams of Dorchester, the
eldest daughter of Mr. "William Adams of Barbadoes,
recently deceased, pledged the estate in trust to Mr.
William Barwick for the benefit of Anthony and Eliz-
abeth; and Barwick, on the sixth of September, 1751,
gave power to Francis Brinley, Esq., to convey the
estate to Anthony Davis, the beneficiary. Two years
after this, on the thirtieth of October, 1753, the old man
Nicholas Davis, who at the time resided with his son
Anthony, released all his right in the estate to him,
and the trusteeship was annulled on the sixteenth of
November of the same year, Anthony and his wife,
like dutiful children, having reconveyed on the thirty-
first of October, to their father Nicholas, a life estate in
the same.
In this condition the old corner remained until the
fifth of January, 1755, when Anthony and his wife sold
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 677
the estate to Messrs. James Boutineau and Ifathaniel
Bethune, executors of the will of Thomas Palmer, —
who died about the year 1751, — for the benefit of
Thomas and Eliakim Palmer, two minor children of the
testator. By this purchase the estate again became
the property of descendants of the Hutchinson family;
for Abigail, the wife of Thomas Palmer, the elder, was
the daughter of Eichard Hutchinson, who owned the
garden-lot from 1639 to 1658, and grandmother to the
two young Palmers for whose benefit it was bought in
January, 1755. The oldest Thomas Palmer, a man of
considerable importance in his day, married Abigail
Hutchinson, on the twenty-ninth of January, 1696-7,
and died in October, 1740, leaving two sons, Eliakim
and Thomas, and a daughter Sarah, the wife of Mr. Job
Lewis; of these, Eliakim, born 22 March, 1707-8,
graduated at Harvard college in 1727, and died in
London, 17 May, 1749; and Thomas, born 2 December,
1711, married Mary Mackintosh about the year 1740,
and died before January, 1752, being absent in England.
Thomas Palmer, the third of the name, born in Boston,
on the seventh of August, 1743, also graduated at
Harvard College in the class of 1761, and was the
owner of the corner store, which, on the eighteenth of
October, 1784, he sold to Mr. Edward Sohier and his
wife Susanna (Brimmer) for sixteen hundred pounds.
From Sohier it passed to Elizabeth, the widow of Mr.
Henderson Inches, and from her on the first of January,
1795, to Mr. Herman Brimmer. Since this time it has
remained in the Brimmer and Inches families. The last
named Thomas Palmer was a loyalist, and passed the
latter part of his life at Berkeley square in London,
where he died on the eleventh of July, 1820.
678 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
The present building must, from all that can be
learned, have been erected about the year 1712, by Mr.
Thomas Crease, an apothecary; and, in all probability,
was used as a dwelling-house with a small shop on the
Cornhill side, from a very early period after it was built.
In 1789, when the first Boston directory was pubUshed
by John Norman, it was occupied by Mr. Herman
Brimmer, merchant, and Mr. John Jackson, broker,
and was then known as 'No. 76 Cornhill, No. 1 of the
same street being nearly opposite. Mr. Brimmer's
nearest neighbor on the same side of the street was Mr.
John Cunningham, Jr., broker, at 75; and the next,
running north, were Mr. Samuel Hill, engraver, at 74;
Mr. Bartholomew Kneeland, shopkeeper, at 73; Mr.
Nathaniel Balch, the noted hatter, at 72; Mr. "William
Davis, shopkeeper, at 71; and Mr. Oliver Brewster, also
a shopkeeper, at 70.
Here Herman Brimmer, a bachelor, dwelt as late as
the year 1800 (he died on the sixth of October, 1800,
aged sixty-one) , although Messi-s. Samuel M. and Minot
Thayer kept a shop there as early as 1796, and until
1816. After this, in 1817, the front part of the building
was used as an apothecary shop by Dr. Samuel Clarke,
the father of Rev. James Freeman Clarke, — the old
corner having reverted to its original purpose. While
Mr. Clarke kept store in the front room, he occupied for
a part of the time the whole of the building as a dwelling-
house, the entrance being through a gateway and yard
on School street, the front door being in a portion of
the house that run back from the main building. In
1824, the name of Cornhill was changed to "Washington
street, and the old store was variously numbered until it
took No. 135; and here Mr. Clarke remained keeping
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 679
shop until 1828, when he was succeeded by the booksel-
lers who have added so much to its notoriety.
After Dr. Clarke left the premises the building was
much changedj Messrs. Carter (Eichard B.) & Hendee
(Charles J.) used the front room as a book-store in
1828, and Mr. Isaac R. Butts moved his printing-office
from Wilson's Lane to the chambers soon afterwards.
Carter & Hendee continued in the store, part of the
time with Mr. Edwin Babcock as partner, until 1833,
when they removed to 131 up stairs, and were succeeded
by Messrs. Allen (John) & Ticknor ("William D.) in
1833 to 1837. Prom this time the Old Corner Book-
store was in the occupancy of Mr. "William D. Ticknor,
alone until 1844, and subsequently of himself and part-
ners, Messrs. John Reed, Jr., and James T. Fields,
until the fall of 1865, when, the senior partner having
died, the new firm of Ticknor (Howard M.) & Fields
(James T.) removed to a new store purposely fitted up
for them in Tremont street, and Messrs. E. P. Dutton &
Co. took possession of the famous premises, removing
from their old place of business on the opposite side of
the street. Messrs. Dutton & Co. were succeeded in the
old store by Messrs. Alexander "Williams & Co., on the
first of September, 1869.
The original building was constructed of brick, and
was two stories in height, the roof having a double pitch
towards Cornhill (Washington street) and backwards,
with two attic windows on the easterly side. Prom the
main building projected backwards the portion of the
house that originally served the residents for family
purposes. In front of this last-mentioned part, and
extending on School street westerly from the old
building, is another portion of somewhat modern con-
680 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAIj
struction, which has accommodated within its walls
many tenants of very various occupations.
Great interest has been expressed in regard to the
preservation of this old specimen of the first recon-
struction of the buildings of the ancient CornhiU, after
the destruction of the old tenements and shops in 1711;
and it is to be hoped that the Old Brimmer Mansion will
be allowed to remain, for many years to come, standing
in its present form, with its quaint appearance and the
well-known designation — "The Old Corner Book-
store."
CHAPTER LYn.
THE TEIANGULAB WABEHOUSE.
Irregular Shape of the Peninsula . . . The Great Cove and Its Creeks . • • Ben-
dall's, or Town Dock ■ • . Original Possessions near the Great Cove ■ • •
Bellingham's Marsh • • . Swing, or Turning Bridge- • • Euebuck Passage • • •
Swlngbridge street • • • Conduit street • • . The site of the Old Triangular
"Warehouse • • • Bounds of Bellingham's Marsh in 1643 • • • The Marsh sold to
John Shaw, Joshua Scottow, and James Everill • . . Afterwards the Posses-
sion of Bichard Wharton • • ■ Mr. Wharton's Wives • • • The Original Build-
ings on the lot destroyed by fire in 1679 • • • Triangular Warehouse built
about 1680, by Mr. Wharton • • • Description of the building • • . Decease of
Mr. Wharton in 1690 • • • Warehouse sold to John Borland in 1701 ■ • • Ancient
Description of the Estate ••■Death of Mrs. Wharton, in 1712 ...The
Borlands, owners of the estate until 1784 • • • Released to Samuel Wallis in
1784 • • • Conveyed to Charles Miller, Jr., in 1793 • • • Sold by Miller to the
City In 1824 ■ • • Warehouse taken down in 1824 • • • Exact Position of the
Site of the Old Warehouse ■ ■ • Uses of the Building • . • Incorrect Traditions
about the erection of the building.
!»■ the early days of Boston, the peninsulap part of the
town was very irregular in form, its four sides being
indented with variously shaped coves. These have
been frequently alluded to in these chapters, as being
among the distinguishing features of the place in the
olden time. The cove on the easterly side, generally
known as the Great Cove, because its shore made a
large sweep landward from the N'orth Battery to the
Sconce (or South Battery), was much the most impor-
tant for the purposes of the townsmen; and the land
upon its border was, therefore, very early granted to the
inhabitants for house-lots and gardens, that were also
682 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
improved for wharves and docks for maritime purposes.
From its northerly side a natural creek led to the Ifortli
Cove, which, soon after the settlement, was converted
into a mill-pond, and the creek widened and walled with
stone, and its name changed from "Mill Creek" to
"the Canal." From its southerly side another creek
extended some considerable distance into the land, divi-
ding at Liberty square, and sending one of its branches
towards Franklin street, and another to the foot of
Spring lane. At Kilby street, near Hawes street, a
bridge was early erected either as "Oliver's Bridge" or
as "the bridge over Mackerill Lane." Between the
mouths of these two large creeks was a third, which
extended as far inland as Dock square, and became,
soon after the settlement of the town, the principal dock
for vessels. This was known at first as Bendall's Docl",
and subsequently as the Town Dock.
The chief mercantile business of the town was
transacted near this dock, although the small trading
and hucksters' shops were generally in the " highway,"
and scattered throughout the streets pretty generally.
The cove lots were granted to the principal men of the
town; and the following persons had their meersteads
bordering upon it, in the following order, commencing
at the north : Thomas Clarke, Thomas Joy, Isaac Culli-
more, Christopher Stanley, Bartholome'w Pasmore, John
Gallop, Matthew Chaffin, Sampson Shore, John Hill,
John Milom, George Foxcroft, Edward Bendall, Valen-
tine Hill, "William Davis, Isaac Grosse, David Sellick,
James Oliver, and Edward Tyng.
A little to the northwest of the dock was a large
marsh that extended as far as Union street. A part of
this was known to the early settlers .as Bellingham's
DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON. 683
Marsh, and a more considerable piece was the " Common
Marsh." Just west of the cove a street was laid out, —
the Merchants row of the present day; and this con-
nected, by a bridge over the dock (the old swing bridge
anciently called tlie turning bridge), with a narrow lane,
long known as Swing Bridge street, and qtiite famous
in the early part of the present century as the "Roe-
buck Passage," which led to Ann street, now North
street, and first known as Conduit street, and sometimes
anciently as the Fore street.
Bounded on one side by the last-named passage,
there used to stand one of the most noted of the ancient
landmarks of Boston, the Triangular Warehouse; and
it is the purpose of this chapter to give a short descrip-
tion of the venerable building, as in former days it was
considered one of the greatest architectural curiosities
of the town. A few words about its ancient site will
not be uninteresting in connection with the description
of the queer old structure. The land on which it stood
was, as early as town grants were made, in the posses-
sion of Richard Bellingham, the noted magistrate of.
the olden time, whose marriage with Penelope Pelham
caused so much trouble to the wise law-makers of 'New
England.
Mr. Bellingham's Marsh is described in the Book of
Possessions as a "piece of Marsh bounded with John
HUls & the Highway on the west, the Common Marsh
on tlie north, John Lowe on the east, Henry Symons,
John Hills & the cove on the south." A portion of this
came into the possession of John Shaw, and Mr. Bel-
lingham sold the remainder in equal parts to Joshua
Scottow and Christopher Lawson on the fourth of June,
1644. Mr. Shaw conveyed his portion to James Everill
684 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
on the twenty-fifth of October, 1648; and Mr. Everill
sold it to Joshua Scottow on the thirtieth of May, 1650.
The lot of marsh conveyed by Mr. Everill to Joshua
Scottow was of a triangular shape; and upon one angle
of it was subsequently erected the old warehouse.
In course of conveyanciag, the estate in question
passed into the possession of Richard Wharton, a
gentleman of considerable importance and distiaction in
the last half of the seventeenth century, Mr. Wharton
was a merchant, and at one time was owner of many
estates in Boston and a large tract of half a million of
acres at Pegypscot. Something may be inferred of his
social position from the fact that his three wives were
daughters of the most important men in JSTew England.
About 1659 he married Bethia, the daughter of William
Tyng, one of the wealthiest men in the colony; after
her decease he married, in 1672, Sarah, daughter of Eev.
John Higginson, of Salem; and after her death, which
occurred on the eighth of May^ 1676, he married for his
third, Mai'tha, daughter of the second John Winthrop,
the Governor of Connecticut Colony.
The great fire of 1679 destroyed the old buildings
in the neighborhood of the dock, and among others the
warehouse belonging to Mr. Wharton. Consequently
he rebuilt it, about the year 1680, of bricks with slated
roof, accordmg to the new requirements. The construc-
tion of the building was somewhat singular. It was
built in a triangular form, according to the shape of the
lot, with hexagonal towers at the angles surmounted
with pyramids, topped off with stone balls, one of which
has been preserved by Samuel Leeds, Esq., of South
Boston. The roof of the centre part of the building
was also of the same form, and similarly topped off with
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. 685
a massive wooden ball. The whole structure was two
stories in height, although each of the towers had three
stories. The lower story was constructed with arches,
and a singularly arched cellar was below the building.
The warehouse was surrounded with streets, or passage-
ways, the main one laid out very early, and the others
in the years 1683 and 1685. "Water was supplied to
the estate from the old conduit situated between Elm
and N^orth streets.
The attic story was extremely high in its centre, and
was very roughly left by the buUder. In the olden time
it was used almost entirely for storage purposes j but in
later years the tenants made it subserve more active
purposes, employing its extensive floor as a sail loft.
When first built, this part of the old warehouse was
reached through a scuttle by a ladder. .
Wharton died in 1690, reduced in circumstances j and
his warehouse was sold to John Borland by the admin-
istrator of his estate, Ephraim Savage, Esq., by a ' deed
of conveyance, dated the twenty-seventh of March, 1701,
under a license of the Superior Court of Judicature,
granted on the twenty-sixth of October, 1697. This
deed describes the size and form of the building as fol-
lows : the grantor " doth fully, freely, clearly and abso-
lutely give, grant, bargain, seU, alien, enfeoff, release, con-
vey and confirm unto the said John Borland, and to his
heirs and assignee^ forever, all that Triangular Brick
warehouse, having three tuiTcts covered with slate in ye
three angles or extream parts thereof, situate, standing
and being near unto the mouth or entrance of the Town
Dock, heretofore called Bendall's Dock, in Boston
aforesaid, with the land, cellars, and all and every the
rooms, divisions and apartments both below and above,
68d TOPOGKAPHICAL AND HISTOKTCAI,
within the walls and under the main roof of the said
building, and under the slate and roofes, which said
warehouse was part and parcel of the estate left by the
before named Kichard. "Wharton, and is now in the
tenure and occupation of the said John Borland and of
Grove Hirst, Ellis Callender, and John Soames, being
bounded on the Westerly and Iforth Easterly sides with
highways, measuring on the said Westerly side forty-
two foot or thereabouts, more or less, and on the said
IN"orth-easterly side forty-seven foot ten inches or there-
abouts more or less, and bounded on the southerly side
with the wharf before the said warehouse, and measures
on that side forty foot or thereabouts more or less, each
angle or corner of said warehouse being eight foot wide,
together also with the said wharf lying before the ware-
house aforesaid, between that and the mouth or entrance
into the said town dock, and all rights," etc.
The above deed to Mr. Borland reserved to Martha,
the widow of Mr. "Wharton, her right of dower or thirds
in the estate. She died on the twenty-sixth of Septem-
ber, 1712, and Mr. Borland's title to the estate became
perfect. Mr. Borland was an Englishman, who came to
this country at the close of the seventeenth century,
probably from Glasford in I^Torth Britain, where his
brother Francis, a clergyman, resided. He married
Sarah, the daughter of Andrew !N^eal, a noted tavern-
keeper in Boston, and died on the thirtieth of March,
1727, aged sixty-eight years ; Sarah his widow, born on
the first of April, 1665, died in Boston, on the nineteenth
of November, 1727, nearly eight months after her hus-
band. By Mr. Borland's will all his property fell. to his
only son Francis, who married, at Salem, Jane, .the daugh-
ter of John Lindall, sometime of Boston, but later of
DESCKIPTION OF BOSTON. 687
Salem, on the twenty-second of September, 1726. Mr.
Francis Borland died, after a lingering sickness, on the
sixteenth of September, 1763; and the warehouse fell to
his son John, who was born on the fifth of September,
1728, and married Anna "Vassall of Charlestown on the
twentieth of February, 1749. Mr. John Borland died,
in consequence of an accident, at the commencement of
the Revolutionary "War, and the triangular warehouse
became vested in his son John Lindall Borland, who,
being a loyalist, left the United States, and became a
lieutenant-colonel in the British army. He died on the
sixteenth of IN"ovember, 1825, having by deed, dated on
the first of September, 1784, released all his title in the
estate to Samuel "Wallis, of Boston. Mr. Wallis sold
the warehouse on the first of October, 1793, to Charles
Miller, Jr., who, then a resident of !N'ew York, sold it
on the twelfth of May, 1824, to the city of Boston.
About this time the old building was taken down to
make room for the improvements near Faneuil Hall, and
for the erection of buUdings on Iforth Market street.
The exact position of the warehouse was at the present
corner of North Market street and Merchants row, the
site of it extending some distance into both of these
streets.
In its earlier and more palmy days this singularly
constructed building was used for mercantile purposes
only. But as time wore on, and it became old and out
of repair, it was put to various purposes ; one part was
xised for an iron store, another for a junk shop, and the
attic sometimes for a store-room, and sometimes for a
sail-loft. Novel writers assign to it other purposes, and
Cooper, in Lionel Lincoln, describes it as the resi-
dence of one of his characters.
688 TOPOGEAPHICAL AND HISTOEICAI,
Some traditions have asserted that the strange build-
ing was erected by London merchants; in this they
were correct only so far, that it was erected by a
Boston merchant, who had formerly been in business in
England. Mr. Wharton owned the estate when the
original wooden building was standing upon it that was
destroyed by fire. He also owned it when it had upon
it the warehouse. It is a fair inference, that, being an
enterprising merchant, he buUt his own warehouse. Its
peculiar form will never be forgotten by those who were
accustomed to visit its apartments on business, in the
days when Boston was under town government.
"With this old edifice, and those described in the
preceding chapters, disappeared from sight the most
remarkable of the private buildings erected in Boston
during its first seventy years. A few similar relics of
the olden time, though of less note, remain, but hardly
in any other condition than that of ancient material,
the forms and all the peculiarities of their original con-
struction having been sacrificed by the demands of
progress. Even at the present time of Avriting (1870),
the improvements of streets and thoroughfares, espe-
cially of Hanover, Devonshire, and EHot streets, and the
removal of the whole of the old fort hUl, have made vast
devastation with the old dwelling-houses of the fathers.
The highways have been widened, straightened and
extended; and many of the places which were formerly
so familiar to Bostonians, and which possessed so many
pleasant associations of the past, have been laid bare of
their buildings, which have necessarily been removed, so
that these sites now form a portion of the principal ave-
nues of the city, and are constantly traversed by persons
unconscious of the important and interesting events of
DESCRIPTION OP BOSTON. -689
the past which have been thereon enacted. The taking
down of the old triangular warehouse was for one of
the first of the great improvements of Boston after the'
adoption of the city charter. To this the citizens are
indebted for the Quincy Market and the neighboring
broad streets which have proved to be so advantageous
to their business. "WTien the new avenue, which is now
approaching completion, shall be finished, a large
amount of territory wUl be added to the most valuable
part of the city, for business purposes, and the laying
out and constructing of Atlantic Avenue will be one of
the most noted of the numerous public improvements of
the city.
INDEX.
INDEX,
Abbott, J. G-., 361.
AbergiDians, tribe of Indians north of Charles
River, 17.
Adame, Rev. Amos, 275; Elizabeth, 676; John,
495; Samuel, 172,225,380,381, 409, 412, 605;
William, 676.
Adams street, 115.
Addington, Isaac, 193.
Ahaton, William, Indian, 511.
Alford, John, 178.
Alger, Cyrus, 425.
Alien, Hannah, 226 ; James, 226,236; Jeremiah,
513, 597; John, 679; Martha, 237: William
W., 648.
AUerton, Isaac, one of the May Flower Pil
grima, agent for the Plymouth Colony, 435,534.
AUerton, Point, a promontory in Boston Har-
bor, 8, 435.
Almon's Map, 95.
Almon's Remembrancer, 95.
Almshouse, on Gentry street, 211, 309, 310 ; on
Barton's Point, 107, 310 ; on Deer Island, 470.
American Atlas, 94.
American continent, discovery of by Columbus,
5; early discoveries by Norse and Icelandic
navigators, 7 ; their explorations of the coa^t
south to New Jersey, 7 ; their probable land-
ing on the coast of Maasachusutts, 8; their
attempt at colonization frustrated by Indians,
9; doubtful authenticity of the reported early
discoveries of America, 10; the voyages and
discoveries of John and Sebastian Cabot,! I,
their voyage to Maryland in 1498, 11 ; dis-
covery of New York harbor in 1524 by John
de Verazzani, 11; Pophara and Q-ilbert's
-colony at Sagadahoc, Maine, 13; annoyance
from Indians and abandonment of the settle-
ment, 13; success of iE'rench colonists in
Canada, 13.
Ames, David, 618.
Amory, Rufus G., 343; Thomas C. jr., 369,
Anabaptist Church, 63.
Anabaptists, 87. ^
Ancient Building, style of, in Boston, 588.
Ancient and Honorable Ariillery Company, 161.
See Artillery Company.
Androsa Anne, 193.
AndrOHS, Sir Edmund, 167,234,492, 533, 534; his
claim as governor of New England; hisabuge
of the people, and his seizure and expulsion;
his wife, Lady Anne, buried in the King's
Chapel burying-ground, 193; resistance to his
claim on Deer Island, 469.
Angel, the, in Cornhill, 42.
Ann, the ship, 15.
Ann street, 113, 114.
Ann street Ward, 138.
Annexation, of Roxbury to Boston, 34; of Dor-
chester, 34 ; of Dorchester Neck, 33 ; of Wash-
ington Village, 33.
Annin and Smith's map, 97.
Annin, William B., 97.
Annin's small map, 98.
Antram, William, 646, 647.
Apple Island, particulars of its history and also
of its owners, 456-9. Story of one of its own-
ers, William Marsh, and purchase of the prop-
erty by the city of Boston, and its present
uses, 459-60.
Apprenticeships, made compulsory in 1735, in
cases of vagrant and destitute children, for
educational purposes, 132.
Apthorp, Charles, 250, 535, 576; Charles Ward,
535; erizzell, 635.
Aqueduct — Jamaica Pond Company's — origin,
completion and abandonment of the project
412-14. See Conduit.
Aqueducts, 406, 412-414. .
Arbella, the lady. See Johnson.
Arbella, vessel, sailing of and arrival of at
Salem with Wiuthrop and the charter, 23.
Arboriculture on the Common. Decayed trees
removed by Mayor Josiah Quincy, suuior, and
Mayor John P. Bigelow, and elms planted on
Park street and Charles street malls, and on the
Common paths, 330-31 ; care paid to the trees
by Mayors Otis, Lyman and others, 331; the
solitary button- wood tree, 331 ; the number of
trees on the Common in 1869, 331 ; the famous
Gingko tree, 331; classification, naming, and
labeling of the trees, 332 ; suggestions for the
procurement of varieties of trees suited to the
soil and climate, 332. See Malls and Paths.
Architectural peculiarities in Boston in early
times, 590, 691.
Arlington street, laying out of, 359.
Archer, John Rose, 541.
Area of common, 318.
Arlstides, Statue of, 383.
Arkstree and Merkus, 93.
Armstrong, Samuel T., 324, 377.
Arnold, Benedict, 75.
Arrivct, engraver, 93.
Artillery Company, 161, 399, 454, refused the use
of Boston common for drill during the revo-
lutionary war; claim of the company to the
ownership of Copp's Hill; cancellation of the
claim, 161.
Artillery Election, 453.
Artillery Park, 313.
Artillery, South End, 425.
Assessors and tything men, 153.
Asylum for Indigent Boys, 506.
.Athenaeum, 211.
Atherton, Major Gen. Humphrey,, appointed
colonial officer ; his tragical death and monu-
mental epitaph in the old burying-ground on
Stoughton street, Dorchester, 282, 283.
Atkinson street, 126.
Atkinson, Theodore, 617; WilUam, 540, 541.
Atkinson's Pasture, 126, 163.
Atlantic Avenue, laid out in 1888 ; description of
the improvement, 119.
Atlantic Neptune, 101.
Austin, Benj., 535; Hannah, 535; Jane, 535;
Jonathan L., 535; Nathaniel, 426; Thomas,
■ 256. ■
Avenues near the chapel burying-ground, 19&.
694
INDEX.
Babcock, Abraham, 317 ; Edwin, 679.
Buche. Sarah, 637; Richard, 637.
--Back liay, l.!l, 122, 125, 157, 307.
Back street, 109, 063.
Baker, Edmund J., 104 ; John, 198.
Baker and Tilden'8 map, 103.
Baker'd Corner, 133.
Balch, Katbaniel, 678,
Bali, Cupt. Robert, the third keeper of the Bea-
con Light, 571.
Ball, Thomas, his statue of ^Washington on the
Public Garden, and its dedic-ation, 364.
Baldwin, Loammi, 421, 424; Thomas, 225.
Ballad by Franklin, 446.
Ballard, John, a noted resident in oldeu times ;
his share in constructiug the Paddock (or
Granary) Mall, 370.
Balston, Jonathan, 617.
Balstonc, Wm , 295, 299.
Bangs, Capt., 573.
Bannister's Gardens, 93, 106,
Banks, Ni.thaniel P., 361.
Baptist meeting houses, 109.
Barracks, 445 ; on the Common, 239.
Barrel!, Joseph, the improver of the Franklin
Street territory. 382, 3S3.
Barren's Point, 422.
Barricade, the, 118, 119.
Barriers against the encroachment of water at
Soutb end. 141.
Barristers' Hall, 384.
Barton, James, 107.
Barton's Point, 106, 107, 134, 417.
Barton's Rope Walk, 135.
Barwick, Anthony, 676; Elizabeth, 676; Wil-
liam, 676.
Bastablc, on old map as the site of Salem, 16.
Batus, John D., statue presented by him for a
fountain in the Public Garden, 364,
Bath street, 134.
Batteries, 116. 119.
Batterymarch street, 116.
Bay of Boston, 61.
Beach, John, 421.
Beacon, 44, 61. See Beacon HiU.
BL-acon HiU, 110, 138, 15.', 424; its look-out, beacon
and guns, 44 ; its ancient name, conspicuous
appc.irance, and topographical position, 170;
its eastern slope the f.ishionable quarter in old
times, 171; erection of the Old Hancock
House, 171 ; modern changes and removal of
the beacon poles, 172; origin, description,
purposes of the beacon, 173; monument erect-
ed on the site of the beacon pole, and the
inscription thereon, 175-6; the monument
taken down in 1811, and the tablets set up in
the Doric Uall i;\ the State House, 177 ; site of
the old monument defined, 178 ; lands on Bea-
con liill sold by the town, and modern changes
in the locality, 179, 181.
Beacon HillMoimnient andits inscription, 175-6;
removal of the tablets to the Htate House, 177 ;
reconstruction of the monument contemplated
bythe Bunker Hill Monument Association, 177;
the spot on which the Beacon Hill monument
stood easily identified at the present day, 178.
Be!)con Lighthouse, its construction on the Little
Brewster, granted by the town of Hull for that
purpose,. 566-9; accidents to the light, and
attacks on It andits final destruction in 1776,
by the British, 572-3 ; erection of a now one
ill 1783, and its description, and also that of its
apparatus, 573-4.
Beacon Pole, blown down in 1789, 159, 172, 174.
Beal, Benj.,385; Samuel, 112.
Bean, Aaron H., 385.
Bearers at Funerals, 265.
Beasts, wild, 51.
Bi'anrain's map, 101.
Bodgood, Jeflfery, 135.
Beer Lane, 130.
Beehee, J. M., 172.
Beecher, Thos., 476.
Belcher, Edward, 300; Jonathan, 212,523,495;
Joseph, 427.
Belknap, Jertmy, 225, 619.
Bell Alley, 133.
Bell, Edward, 201.'
Bi'llamie, John, 38.
Belles Islt; (Breed's Island), 447. •
BelUn, map publisher, lul.
Bellin, Jacques Nicholas, 93.
Bellingham, Richard, Governor, 225, 299, 683;
his burial place in the Old Granary Ground,
214; his remains found afloat in llie tomb
vault, 214; story of his irregular marriage,
214; his evasion of trial and stoppage of the
prosecution, 215.
BelUnghaiii'd Marsh, a portion of the marsh
land extending from the Town Dock to Union
street, 682; the old triangular warehouse
built thereon, 684.
Bellomont, Earl of, 608.
Belmont Square, 386, 446.
Bendall, Edward, 467, 682.
Bendali's Cove, 642.
Bcndall's Dock, name given to the dock that
reached up to Dock Square, 682, 683.
Benham, Gen. H. "W., 551.
Bennett, J., 94.
Benson, Joseph, 568.
Bent, Adam, 257. 425.
Bent aud Bush, 641.
Bernard, Governor Francis, 173.
Berry, Grace, 203.
Bethune, George, 212, 424; Nathaniel, 677.
Betterment law, its principle pnictically applied
in 1640, in laying out Long Island into parcels
for plantations, 531.
Bewick Company's Map, 97.
Biarne, Biorne, Biron, ancient navigator, 7.
Bigelow, Henry J., 364; Jacob, 266; J. P., 330,
331, 350, 384, 385, 400.
Bight of Leogan tivern, 404.
Bill, James, 467; Elizabeth, 512; Richard, 516;
Samuel, 511, 512; the sole owner in 1680 of
Spectaclel6land,by the purchase of Indian and
other claims, 511 ; his family, 512; Thomas, 510.
Binney, Amos, 427.
Bird Island (shoal), its position between East
Boston and Governor's Island in the harbor —
probably once a place for execution, 443.
Birun, his discovery of Newfoundland and the
Gulf of St. Lawrence in the 11th century, 7.
Bishop, John, 201 ; Nathaniel, 651.
Bishop's Alley, 247.
Bite tavern, the, a corruption of the word
"Bight" — its original name being "the Bight
of Leogau,"404.
Black Horse Lane, 663.
Black Jack, negro servant, 460.
Bb.ckstone, William, 24, 25.
Black stone square, 3S2.
Blackstone street. 111, 640.
Ulackstone*s Neck, 32.
Bliickstone's Point, 25.
Blickstone's Spring, 25.
Btake, James, 289.
Blantaine, William, 409.
Blaxton, William, 106, 294-6, 391, 503, 616; the
first Englishman resident in Boston, 24; his
sale of land to the early colonibts, 294; bis
removal to Study Hill, near Providence, in
1634, and death there in 1675; sale of all his
interest in the peninsula of Boston, 295. See
Blaukstone.
Blaxton's Cows, 296.
Blaxton's Garden, 106, 126,181, 383.
Blaxton's House, 296.
Blaxton's Point, 106.
Blaxton's Sale, 297, 301.
Blaxton's Spring, 181, 389.
INDEX.
695
Blind Lane, 131,135, 380.
Block House at Castle Island, 496.
Bloit'e Lane, 315.
Blowers, Jolin, 595.
Blue Bull, 405, on Union street, 626, 638 ; resi-
dence of Josiah Franklin, and its old sign,
627; description and various ownerships of
the estate, 627-31 ; sale of the estate by the
Franklin heirs, and its subsequent owners,
630-34.
Blue Hills, 169.
Bluff Head, 437.
Board of Health, 153.
Bogs in Boston, 411.
Buling Green, 12t5.
Bollan, Frances, 250.
Bond, George, 266; Nathan, 413.
Bonner, Capt. John, 60, 92, 407, 473.
Bonner's Map, 92.
Bonney, Pt-lham, 358.
Book of l'osscssione,408.
Boon, Nicholas, 380, 381.
Borland, Francis, 607, 655, 656, 657, 659, 687;
Krancia L., 656; John, 607, 685, 686, 687; John
Lindall, 687; Phebe, 656.
Boston, Borough of, 26, 27.
Boston Cemetery, 254.
Boston, description of, by "William "Wood, 38;
by Edward Johnson, 42; by John Josselyo,
45; by a French Protestant refugee, 46; by
Edward Ward, 63; by John Dunlon, 59; by
Daniel Neal, 60 ; by Jeremy Dummer,64; by
the Abbfe Robin, 67; bjr St. John de Creve
Cceur, 77 ; by the Marquis de Chastellux, 77;
by Briaeot de "Warville, 83.
Boston Free Bridge, 425.
Boston Massacre, the victims of, their graves in
the Old Granary burial-ground, 225.
Boston Mill Corporation, 110.
Boston Neck. See Neck.
Boston, origin of name, 53; purchase of, 58.
Boston Sconce, battery at Great Cove, 116; its
constrnction and objects described by a com-
mittee of the General Court, 117.
Boston South Bridge, 422.
Boston Stone, its situation in Marshall's Lane,
4U5.
Boucher's Corner, 133.
Boundaries between Boston and Roxhury-
changed, 34.
Bourne Melatiah, 276; Rev. Shearjaahub, 276;
Zachariali, 675.
Boutcher, Mary, 209.
Boutineau, James, 677.
Boutwell, George S., 361.
Bowditch, Azel, 363.
. Bowdoin, James, 212, 225.
Bowdoin square, 126.
Bowdoin's Corner, 134.
Bowen, Abel, 92, 97.
Bowen's Map, 97.
Bowling Green, 109, 126, 163.
Boylston street, extension of in 1843, and the
southern boundary fixed, 358.
Boynton, George W., 92, 97.
Brackett, James, 546; Joshua, 79; Lemuel, 546,
565.
Bra<^lbury, Thomas, 117.
Bradford. Governor, 433.
Bradford's Corner, 133, 134.
Bradley, Joseph, 633.
Bradstreet, Gov. Simon, 295, 296, 628.
Braintree, establishment of the town in 1640, its
bounds, 33.
Brattle Close, 228.
Brattle l*asture, 228.
Brattle Square, 112, 228.
Brattle Square Meeting-House, 53, 264.
Brattlp, Thomas, 60, 63, 229, the founder of
Brattle Street Church, and treasurer of Har-i
vard College; his father the richest Boston |
merchant of hia day; bis brother WilHam, the
pastor of the first church in Cambiidge, 192;
Elizabeth, 229; William, 192.
Bruzier's Building 381.
Breck, Edward, 628 ; Joseph, 402 ; Robert, 617,
628.
Breed, Ebenezer, 426; John, 448.
Breed Family, the owners of Hog Island, and
sale of the estate, 448.
Breed's Bridge, 448.
Breed's Island, 427, 447.
Brenton, William, 166.
Brereton, Sir William, hia claims to the owner-
ship of Noddle's Island, 444.
Brevoort, J. C, 47.
Brewer Fountain, 215.
Brewer, Gardner, 172; Nathaniel, 385,
Brewster, Oliver, 678 ; William, 436.
Brewster, the Great, description of the island
and its ownerships, 565.
Brewsters, the islands in Boston harbor, po
named after the family of William Brewster,
the ruling elder of the First Church of New
Plymouth, 436.
Bridewell, 65, 2U, 309, 310.
Bridge, Cambridge, 83.
Bridge, Charley Kiver, 83, 107,138.
Bridge, Dover Street, 107.
Bridge, Foot, Hi.
Bridge, South Boston, 121.
Bridge, The Great, 83.
Bridge to Pitrpont's Farm, 420.
Bridge, Thomas, 191, 6j1.
Bridges, 89, 113,137 406; Charles River Briflgo;
Cambridge or West Boston Bridge ; Groat
Bridge on the Brighton road, 83 ; Mill Bridge
and Draw Bridge, 113; Haymarket Bridge;
Market Street Bi idge ; Traverse Street Bridge ;
Causeway Street Bridge; the Swing Bridge
and Oliver's Dock Bridge, 114; proposal in
1785 to build Charlestuwn and C-imbridge
Bridges, 417; incorporation of Charlea ltivt*r
Bridge Company, names of the corporation
and conditions of the act, 417; the bridge
opened to public travel, and attendant ci-re-
monies.418; the bridge becomes public prop-
erty and travel over itfree, 419; incorporation
of West Buston (or Cambridge) Bridge Com-
pany, its powers, privileges and obligations,
419-20 ; construction and opening, in 1793, of
the bridge, 420; the proprietors sell out their
franchises, 421; the bridge made free, and
public rejoiciiiga in consequence, 421; incor
poratiou of Canal (or Cragie*s) bridge, and
building and opening thereof, with cliarter
provisions, 421-2 ; incorporation of the South
or Dover Street Bridge Company, its construe- .
tion, cost and opening, and surrender of the
charter and property to thfe 'city of Boston,
422; petition of Boston and Roxbury Mill
Corporation f jr authority to construct the
Milldam Bridge and Western Avenue, and
coincident proposals, 423; the act granted, its
terms, and the managers appointed to carry
them out, 424; difilculties o'f the l.ibor of con-
struction, the material employed, and the
accomplishment of the project, 424; ceremo-
nies on opening the bridge in 1826, and tolls
removed and the avenue made a public high-
way, in 1868, within the city limits, 425 ; War-
ren Bridge company incorporated in 1828, and
the bridge built and opened same year, 426;
Its control, assumed by the State, various
changes in its management, and final opening
free to the public, 426 ; assessment of expenses
of repairing and maintaining the draws on
the cities of Boston and Charlestnwn, 427;
incorporation of the Chelsea Free Bridge in
1834, its construction and opening, rebuilding
and change of name to ''Chelsea Bridge,"
427 ; gift of land for a free highway by Dr.
696
INDEX.
Benjamin Slrurtleff, 427; East Boston Free
Bridge and Chelsea Point Bridge, severally
built by incorporations and purcliased by
tlie city of Boston, 4:27 ; the Mount Washing-
ton Avenue Bridge across Fort Point Channel
accepted in 1835 by the city government, 428 ;
the Broadway Bridge now (1870) in course of
construction, and the cost of its erection, 428;
notices of sundry proposed bridges, 429 ;
Maiden Bridge between Charlest^wn and
Maiden in 1787, and opened the same year,
and the tolls taken otf iu 1860, and the bridge
made free, 429; olden time approaches to
Boston, 429-30. See Boston Free, Boston
South, Breed, Broadway, Cambridge Canal,
Charles River, Chelsea, Chelsea Frte, Chelsea
Point, Cragie's, Dover Street, Draw, East Bos-
ton, Essex, Federal Street Foot, Granite
Great, Hancoclc Free, Mackerel, Maiden, Mav-
eric. Mill, Oliver, Pri&on Point, Koxbury,
South Boston, Swing, Turning, Warren, West
Boston.
Bridge- ward, 130, 137.
Bridgham, Beoi., 654; Elizabeth, 654; Henry,
652, 653, 658 ; his possessions on Milk street,
653-4; builder of the Julien house, 658 ; James,
654 ; John, 654, 655 ; Jonathan, 655 ; Joseph,
654, 655. 657 : Samuel, 654.
Briggs, Billings, 385, 463; L., 293.
Brighton, 83.
Brimmer, Herman, 677, 678; Susanna, 677.
Brimmer Mansion, 680.
Brimmer's, T., 119.
Brinley, Francis, 676.
Briscoe, Wm., 300.
Brissot do Warville, J. P., his letter from Boston
in 1788, describing the place, 83-89.
British Camp Fires, 310.
British Soldiers buried in Central Burying-
Ground. 239.
Broad Channel, a sound which separates the
rocky lodges in the mouth of Boston Harbor
from Deer Island, 437.
Broad Street, 119.
Broadway Bridge (now under construction), its
location and contract price, 428.
Bromfield, 193 ; Edward, owner by purchase, in
1742, of Spectacle Island, 616.
Bromfield Tomb, 192.
Brookline, Town of, 83.
Brooks, Gov. John, 338 ; Noah, 425; Peter C,
357.
Brown, Elisha, Iiis opposition in 1769, to the
British Ti'oops in Boston, and successful pre-
vention of their making bis house a military
barrack, 220 ; his death in 178.), and inscription
on his gravestone in the old Granary burying-
ground, 221 ; Stephen, 122; William. 357, 424.
Browne, Benj,,f>33; Samuel, 633; William, 533.
Brownell, Bishop, 250 ; Pardon, 648.
Buffun, Joshua, 231; Robert, 231.
Bug (or spit) XValford and others; first Q-eneral Court of
Assistants held in Charlestown on the 7th of
September 1630, 26.
Charlestown Bridge, 417.
Charlestown Ferry, 79, 132, 417,
Charlestown Neck, 83.
Charlton, 24, 33.
Charter, First, 17, 18.
Charter, Second, 18.
Charter Street Burying-G-round,-201.
Charter Street Ward, 138.
(Jbarters, the Colonial, granted by James IT. of
England in 1606, for the establishment of the
First and Second Colonies of Virginia, sever-
ally to the London and Plymouth Companies,
17 ; the Massachusetts Bay Charter granted
by Charles I., 18; the original ofthe latter pro-
served in the Massachusetts archives, 18.
Chart of Boston Bay, 101.
Charts, 102.
Charts of Boston Harbor, 100.
Cbastellux, Marquis de, his account of Boston in
1782, 77 ; his approach to the town described,
78 ; Winnisimmet and Charlestown ferries,
79 ; his description of the women of the town
of Boston, 79 ; social customs of the people,
79 ; their aversion to the Jinglish language, 80 ;
proposal to adojpt Hebrew as the national
tongue, 80; his visit to Harvard College, 80;
difiiculties of the journey from Boston thence,
81 ; brief description of Cambridge, 81 ; the
system of education pursued at the University
complimented, 82; the Tuesday club, 82;
topographical mistakes of the Marquis, 83.
Ohauncey , Rev. Dr., 86, 263.
Checkley, Rev. Samuel, 63.
Cheesbrough, William, 295.
Cheese, 88.
Cfaeever, Abijah, 421.
Chelsea, 33, 95, 133, 439, 447 ; the town boun-
daries set off in 1738-9; incorporated as a cily
in 1857 ; its subdivisions, 33.
Chelsea Bridge, 429.
Chelsea Free Bridge, 426.
Chelsea Point, 437.-
Chelsea Point Bridge, 42" ; built by a corpo-
ration, opened in 1839, and puruhase and laying
out by the city as a highway, 427.
Ch^ilsea Street Bridge, 427.
Chesbrough, E. S., 386.
Cheshire, 88.
Chester Park, 38.i.
Chester Square, 386.
Chickatabut, indian, 301, 469.
Chilton, Mary. 189, 390.
Choate, Samuel, the Q-reen Island hermit, 576,577.
Chocolate Mill, 113.
Christ Church, 245; 250, 592
Christ Church Cemetery, 245, 247.
Christmas, and other festivals, fines imposed on
such as celebrated them, 625.
Christopher Islands, 449.
Chucks, cognomen given to Boston boys, 125.
Church, Benj,, 408, 409.
Church G-reen, 131,380.
Church of St. Francisco, 6.
Church Square, 381.
Church vault Cemeteries, interments under
Christ Church in 1723, and subsequently, 245;
an embalmed body found in one of the tombs
about fifty years ago, 246; epitaph on the
monument of the first rector of Christ Church,
247 ; Major Pitcairue, the leader of the British
at the battle of Concord, anil -who was mor-
tally wounded ut Bunker Hill, temporarily
interred under Christ Church, 247.
698
INDEX.
Churches, 63, 65, 70, 86.
Churches, first church of the Massachusetts Bay
organized in Charlealown, 29 ; greater part of
this church removed to Boston. 25 ; churches
established at Watcrtown and Dorchester, 29,
42; fourth church established at Boston, 43.
Ciiy Engineer's annexation map, 99.
City Engineer's map, 99.
City Engineer's new map, 99.
City Hall, 186, 249, 384; erection of and dedica-
tion, 365 ; old building taken down in 1863, 196.
City Ifall Square, 673.
City Hospital, 664.
City Institutions, 470,
City Wharf, 111.
Clap, Col. Ebenezer, 257; Ebenezer, 289; Capt.
Roger, 3u, 194, 287, 491; his account of the
voyage of the Mary and John from Plymouth,
England, to Hull, and landing of the company
on Nantasket beach, 3Q; exploration of Charles
Itivcr and tradins; interviews with Indians, 31 ;
keeper of the Castle in Boston Harbor, in-
scription on his tombstone in King's Chapi-l
graveyard, 195 ; his description of CasiU
Island Fort, 478-9; Elder HopestiU, his (rravf-
stone and epitaph in the Stonerhton Street
buryin^-ground in Dorchester, 288.
Clapp, Ebenpzer, a noted Dorchester antiquary,
'2.$'^; William Warland,his interest in improv-
ing the trees on thu Common and Public Gai'-
den, 366.
Clark (Clarke), Albe C, 293 ; Henry a., 463
Christopher, 653, 668; James F., 678; John J.,
267; Dr. John, 204; Rev. John, 264; Samuel,
673, 679; Thomas, 223, 672, GS2; Rev. Mr., 86;
Walter. 229, 23t; William, 204.
Clark's Wharf, 115.
Clement, Augustine, 666; Thomas, 657, 659,
Clerks of the Market, 153.
Cobham, Josiah, 628,629, 631.
Cocheco, 16.
Cochituate Lake, 392, 414.
Coddington. Wm., 156, 298, 299.
Codman, Rev. John, his bequest of a burying
lot to the t^econd parish in Dorchester, 291.
Codnor, Abraham, 668; Andrew, 647 ; James,
66S; William, 66S.
Coflfee House, 88.
Coffin, Shubael, 374.
Coffins, 264.
Cofran, John, 426.
Cogan, John, 166.
Colbron, William, 166, 299, 300.
Coibron'aEnd.SOO.
Cold Lane, 133.
Coleman, William, 127.
Coliseum, 324.
Cole. Morrill, 427; Samuel, 353, 540, 541.
Collins, Ijamuel, 231.
Colman, Rev. Benjamin, 63.
Colombia, 5.
Colonnade Row, 179, 307, 308.
Colson, Adam, 79.
Colton, J. H., 99,
Cotton's Map, 99,
Columbia Square, 382.
Columbian Artillery Company, 200.
Columbian Magazine, 64.
Columbus, Christopher, his first expedition of
discovery, 3; his fleet and associate comman-
ders, 4; discovery Oct. 12, 1492 (O. 8.), of San
Salvador, 5 ; return to Spain , 5 ; second voyage
to the new world and foundation uf Isabella
in Hispaniola, 5; third voyage in 1498, and
discovery of ti:e American main land ; fourth
voyage, return to Spain and death, 5 ; exhuma-
tion and final interment of liis body in Havana,
Cuba, 6; Statue of, 383.
Commencement of the year, 151.
Commerce, early, of Boston with Spain and the
Arnvricau Islands, 50; commerce of the town
in 1781, 73-74; restrictions on trade by the
English government a principal canse of the
Revolution, 74.
Commercial Point, 157.
Commercial AVharf, 119, 139.
Common, Boston, 114, 121, 124, 131, 134, 135,
212, 223, 236, 283^ 294, 354; its description in
early days by Josselyn ; strict regulations of
the authorities relative to its use, 46; its pur-
chase from William Blaxton (or Blaekstoue)
by the earliest colonists, 295 ; removal uf Mr.
Blaxton to Providence and his decease there,
295; his sale of allhisinterestin the Boston pc-
ninsuia,235; Ihe town assessed fur the purchase
money, 295 ; no deed probably taken, or, if
taken, lost, 295 ; deposition of John Odlin and
others relative to the purchase of the Com-
mon, 296; every householder taxed six shil-
lings for its payment; laying out of the lands
I}urchased as a training field and pasturage
for cattle, 296 ; the purchase money invested
in cattle by Mr. Blaxton, 29-3 ; the deposition
of John Odlin and others witnessed by Gov.
Bradstreet and Judge Sewall, 297 ; its great
importance in absence of any legal record,
237 ; brief sketches of Odlin, Hudson, Walker
and Lytherland, the parties to the deposition,
297 ; proposed division of the Common lands
in 1634, 298; the secret ballot used, 298;
several of the leading town authorities turned
out of office, 2JS ; a second election made
necessary, 298 ; early conflict between labor
and capital, 299; dictum uf the church regard-
ing the manner of settling the question of
dividing the town lands, 2J9 ; restriction of
the ancient area of the Common in 1534
and resolution preserving it within its pre-
sent limits in 1640, 300 ; ancient boundaries
of the Common lands not invaded since that
date, 300; release of the Indian claim upon
the lands confirmed by W impatuck, the
sachem, 301 ; the lands held by royal granc
under the colony charter, by purchase from
the Indians, and also from William Blaxton,
301; sufficiency of the title, 302j equal risht>)
of commonage granted to the iohabitanis of
the town, 303_; these rights to be held there-
after only by the heirs of those granted this
privilege, 303 ; only seventy milk cattle allowed
to be grazed on the Common, 303; only one
horse allowed to graze as a privilege to Elder
Oliver, 303; no inhabitant to have theright to
sell, but only to lea^e his right of commonage,
303; no gift, sale or transfer of privilea;e
allowed oi>ly by consent of the Inhabitants,
303; town herd appointed, 304; saniuiry order
of the selectmen with reference to street?, and
regarding nuisances on the Common lands,
303-4; limit to modern officials, 305 ; not to be
leased or sold by the city council, 305 ; inves-
titure of tbc powers of ma^agingthcCommon
in ancient and in modern times, 305-'5; slight
curtiiilraent of the original hounds, 307; area
and boundary lines, 307; the o'd hay-market
at the corner of "West and Tremont etre«ts,
308; the Washington Gardens, amphitheatre
and circus betwetn W-st and Winter streets,
308; Long acre, the old manufactory house
and the Massachusetts Bank, opposite the
Park Street Church, 3D8; reduction of the
area of the Common by the setting off of tbo
Old Granary burying ground and Beacon aul
School streets, 30S-9 ; Gentry (or Sentry) i^treet
nnw Park street, laid out, 309; the Old Gran-
ary building described, as also its Uso3 until
its destruction. 309 ; its site where Park Street
Church now stands, 309; the Almshouse and
Workhouse, their location and description,
310; Park street in its old time aspect, 310;
Beacon street and its ancient residences and
residents, 311; the foundation stone of the
INDEX.
699
State honse laid, 311; trogtem botmdary of
Beacon street, 311; the gtiu house of the
*'Sea Feucibles," 311; the west side of the
Common, Kox hill, and the rope walka, 312;
city pound, hay-scales, and- stables, 312; re-
mnval of liidge hill, 312; the southerly side
of the Common, the hearse house andartilli-ry
gun-house, 312-13 ; old residents In that vicinity,
313; the Masonic Temple, 313; improvement
of the southeast corner of the Cummou, 313;
removal of the hotel Pelham fifteen feet west-
erly, 313 ; Ciire of the early residents for the
temporary fencing of the Common lands, and
for the proper means of access and egreas, 313;
more permanent arrangements made in 1734,
315; planting of trees on the Common and
their mutilation, 315; all entrances to the
Common but one ordered to be closed, 315-16 ;
the Common fences burned by the British sol-
diery during the siege of Boston, 316 ; another
■wooddn post and rail fence built about 1784.
and i's mode of constructioi:, 317 ; its destruc-
tion by the great gale of September, 1815, and
its restoration, 317; removal of the inner
fence of the Treraont street mall, 318; the
measured area of the Common, 318; an iron
fiMice built round the Common in 1836 318 ;
the cost of the improvement, 318 ; lengths of
the respective malls, 319. See G-reat "Eim,
Great Tree, Mails. New Mall, Old Kim, Paths,
Public G-arden, Title to, Topography.
Common Burying- Ground, 211, 237,
Common Field, 300.
Common Marsh, 683.
Commonage, 303.
Commonwealth Lands, 125.
Companies of horse, 127.
Conant, Roger, 16, in early times his name given
to Governor's, or Winthrop's Island, 449.
Cunant's Island, 443, 449.
Condick, George, 540, 541.
Conduit, the old 397 ; its necessity suggested in
the earlier days of the colony, 399 ; bequest of
Capt. Robert Keayiie for a conduit of water to
help in cases of fire, 399; privjleges granted
the town for the procurement of water by
William Tyng, 400 ; incorporation of a con-
duit company in 1652, and provisions for use
of the water at fires, 401 ; description of the
conduit, its situation, capacity, sources of
supplies and uses of the building, which cov-
ered it, 401, topographical details connected
with tlie old conduit, 402; no marks of the
conduit left, 403; its uses, and incapacity for
public wants, 403; its surroundings, 403-5.
Conduit Street, 401, 640, 645. 683.
Conflagration , serious, in 1760, destroying prop-
erty from Washington street east to the sea-
shore, 659.
Constables and tything men, 46, 127, 153, 186 ;
their establishment in connection with military
watches in the early days of the Colony, 127.
Conversation, 63.
Cooke, Elisha, 193. 231, 250, 523.
Coolidge, Joseph, Jr . 421.
Coomea, Robert, 565; Sarah, 565.
Cooper, J. Fennimore, 687; Mehitahle, 608, 629,
63C; Rev. Dr., a zealous preacher of Ameri-
can independence, description of his church
audience in 1778, by De Warville, 87 ; Thomas,
608, 629, 630.
Cooper's A'ley, 115.
Copeland, Daniel W., 186.
Copley, John S., 96, 311.
Copley's Hill. lU.
Copp, Elder David, 201; William the cobbler,
the owner of part of the hill hearing his name,
after which it was called, 160.
Copp's Corner, 133.
Copp's Hill, 115, 125, 197 (Windmill or Saw
hill), its situation, 158; its height and boun-
daries, 159 ; the hill fftrmcrly tho si^e of a
windmill, whence one ut' its names, lo9; its
final title derived from the owner, Wiilium
Copp, the cobbler, 16fl ; redoubt built on
Copp's Hill by the English during the siege of
Boston, and its armament, 161; claim of own-
ership by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery
Company and discharge of their mortgage,
161; the Old Burying-ground on the hill, its
adornment with trees and its ancient monu-
ments, 162 ; (sec Copp's Hi 11 Burying- Ground. )
Copp's Hill Burying-Ground, 23i), 233.
Cordwell, William, 324.
Corn Court, 404.
Corn Market, 404.
Cornhill, 158, 163, 167, 672.
Cornhill, Loudon, 39.
Cornhill Ward, 138.
Corn-millfi, firwt erected on Mill Cove about
1643, their lociitioii, 112.
Corwin, George, 117.
Corwin Rock, south of the main ship channel in
George's Island flats, 561.
Costume, description of in 1758, iu Boston, 624.
Cotea, Thomas, 38.
Cotter, John, 629, 631.
Cotting, Uriah. 357, 424.
Cotton, Edward, 97; Rev. John, 26,27, 77,130,
IPl, 298, 455, 538; arrival at Salem from Eng-
land in 1633, with other ancient colonists from
Boston, 27.
Cotton's Hill, 171.
Council for N. England, 16.
Count D'Estaing, 551, 556, 563.
Count de Grasse, 551.
Courses, in the Harbor, ancient and modern,
582-5.
Court, Antoine, 46.
Court House, 65.
Courts, 64.
Cove Lots, on North Cove, names of early
grantees, 682.
Coverly'a Doggerel, 455,
Coves, 36, 43, 108, 115; their original features
and the changes improvement has mude upon
them, 1 8. See Bcndall, East, Great, Mill,
North, South, West.
Cow Lane, the ancient name of High Street,
one of the approaches to the defences ou Fort
Hill, 134, 135,163.
Cow Pond, 463.
Cows on the Common. 303, 304.
Cox, Mr., 417,
Coytmore, Thomas, 487.
Crabtree, John, owner of lands adjoining Mill
Pond, and constructor of the causeway across
Mill Pond 109.
Cradock, Matthew, first Governor of the Maasa-
chusetta Company, 16, 18.
Grafts, N. Henry, 99.
Crasie, Andrew, 421.
Oragie'a Bridge, 107, 421.
Craige, David, 380, 381.
Crane, Samuel D., 362 364, 369.
Crease, Thomas, the builder of the Old Corner
Bookfitore. 675, 676, 678.
Creek-Ward 130 137.
Creve Coeur. J. Hector St. John, 77.
Crocker, Mather, 206.
Cromwell, Capt., 489.
Cromwell's Head, 79.
Oroswell, Mr,, 647.
Croychley, Richard, 672.
Cruft, Edward, 357.
Crumwell, Capt., 401.
Cuba, 6.
Culllmore, Isaac 682.
Cunningham, John, jr., 678.
Curtis, Charles P., 266, 360
Cushing, Benj., 646; Elizabeth, 646; John, 318;
Thomas, 212, 220.
700
INDEX.
Cushman, Robert, 16.
Customs, 51.
Cutler, Elizabeth, 246.
Culler, Kiiv. Thoinae, 246.
Cutler's Corner, 133.
CuttyhuQk Island, 12.
Dafforn'a Corner, 114.
Daiile, Esther Latonice, 225; Martha, 225 ; Pierre,
the French Protestant pasior, his grave dis-
covered in the Old Granary burying-ground in
1860, inscription on bis monumental slab, 223;
brief sketch of his history, 225.
Dakin, Jonathan, 633, 634; Joseph, 633 ; Thomas,
633 ; James, 655, 657.
Dalton, John, 354.
Dalton'a Lane, 655, 657.
Damnation Alley, 404.
Dana, Francis, 419.
Danforth tlizabeih, 629 ; John, 629; Rev. John.
2S8; Rev. Samuel, colleague of John Eliot, the
Indian Apostle; his family burial place, 276.
Darby, Eliezer, 380. 381.
D.irling, Betsy, 207 ; David, 207.
Darracott, George, 360.
Davenport, Addington, 567; Daniel, the sexton
of Dorchester, 290 ; his care of ancient monu-
mental stones, sketch of his history and
epitaph, 290-1; Elizabeth, 191; John, 191;
Richard, C^pt,, 477, 478, 479, 487, 489, 490;
commander of Castle, killed in 1665 by light-
ning, 479 ; Truecross, 489; William, 290,
David, Indian, 468.
Davits, John, 606; R. B., 98.
Davis, Anthony, 676; Elizabeth, 410; Isaac,
342; Isaac P ,357,423, 424; John, 266 ; Nicho-
las, 676 ; Thomas, 240; Thomas "W., 79, 104;
William, 394, 491, 678, 682.
Dawfs, Hon. Thomas, author of the inscription
on Beacon Hill Monument, 177 ; Col. Thomas,
189.
D'Estaing, Count, visit of his fleet to Boston in
1778, for supplies, 551.
De Grasse, the Count, his visit in 1782, to Boston
harbor, 551.
De Ruither, the Dutch Admiral, his expected
hostile \'isit to Boston harbor, and preparation
for bis reception, 478.
De Warville, Brissot, 83.
Dearborn, Nathaniel, 97, 100, 102.
Dearborn's Maps, 102.
Dean, Maj., 424.
Deane, Charles, 100.
Deer Hunting, account of on Deer Island, in
1634, by ^Villiam Wood and John Josselyn,
464.
Deer Island, shape and boundaries, 462; physi-
cal features, 463; early grant of, and others in
the harbor to Boston, 464; the island a v?ood-
iiig place for the people of Boston in 1636, and
Fuhsoquenily, and the disadvantage which has
consequently arisen, 465; improved for main-
tenance of the free school in 1642, 466; the
various lessees of Deer Island, 467-8; Indian
Quit Claim of, 468 ; selected for the erection
of a Pest House, 469; House of Industry and
other institutions established, 470; divihiou of
chiiritable and reformatory institutions and
other contemplated improvements, 471.
Deer Park, 307, on the southeasterly comer of
the Common, established in 1863, on the site of
the old artillery gun house, 313.
Dell, George, 666.
Denmark, 6.
Dennegri, Gaspard, 244. 383.
Deposition of t»dUn and others, 296.
Derby Square, 385.
Dermer, Thomas, his visit to Plymouth in 1620,
and restoration of the captive Squanto, stolen
during Smith's vifit to Maine in 1614, and
deuth by wounds received from Indians, 14.
Des Barros, J. F. W., 101, 102.
Deshou, Moses, 610. 613.
Devil's Back, a rock in Boston harbor, 436.
Devon, County, 18.
Dewerson, Richard, 411.
Dexter, Aaron, 421.
Dickinson, 8. N., 98.
Difference of time at Boston, Washington and
Greemvieh, 35.
Dinsdale, William, 651.
Directory map, 97.
Distilleries, 88.
Divisions of Boston, North and South Ends,
their bounds of separation, 124; epithets ap-
plied to the dwellers in the several localities,
- titles given to the various sections, the West
End, New Boston, East and South Boston,
the New T^and, the Back Bay and Common-
wealth lands. Mill Dam and Mount Vernon
lands, 125; the town divided in 1715, into
eight wards, 130; their names and boundaiir-s
given and defined in Burgiss's map, 131; redi-
vision of Boston in 1735, into twelve wards,
131; the new wards and their houndariKS, 133-5 ;
names of the new wards, 138; addition of
twoM'ardsby the annexation of Roxbury in
1868, and of one by the annexation of Dor-
chester in 1870, 135-6; latest ward divisions,
145:
Dock, 112, 114, 116, 133, 137. See Bendall, Town,
Oliver,
Dock Square, 116,134, 401, 404, 641.
Dock, town, 111.
Dorchester, 29, 30, 31, 33, 38, 39, 42, 44, 95, 100,
103, 104, 136, 144, 164, 169, 269; incorporated
as a town in 1630, and annexation in 1S68 to
-Boston, 34; portions of the town set off to
Quincy and Hyde Park, 35 ; third church of
the Massachusetts colony planted there, 42;
curious description of the town, 43 ; thelargest
town in New England in 1634, 39 ; description
by an old writer, 42 ; the inhabitants the first
on the New England coast to establish fisher-
ies, 40.
Dorchester Bav, 156.
Dorchester Burying- Grounds, 280-293 ; seven in
number, and their several designations, 280;
the first burial-place and memorials of the
fathers, 281 ; curious mouuraenuil inscripiioiis,
281-91; monument to Major Gen. Humphrey
Atherton, his prominence as a colonial oflS^ccr,
his tragic death, pompous funeral, and the in-
scription on his memorial stone, *.i83 ; William
Poole (or Pole), one of the earliest school-
masters and town clerks of Dorchester, his
tomb and curious epitaph, 2S4; John Fos-
ter, the mathematician, printer, and school-
master, designer of the *' Indian " seal of the
colony, 2S4-^ ; epitaph on the monument of
Rev. Richard Mather, progenitor of tlie noted
Mather family, 285 ; acrusticjil epitaph on Elder
James Humohrey, 286 ; monument of Lieut.,
Gov. Stoughton, sketch of his history, his
benefactions to Harvard College ; translation
of his epittiph, said to have been written by
Cotton Mather, 286-7 ; epitaph on Mrs. Miriam
(Wood) Smith, an ancient school-mistress, 2S8 ;
tombs of the Royall family, and inscription on
the monument of Deacon James Blake, 2S9;
Sexton Daniel Davenport, sketch of his his-
tory, his epitaph by Rev. Dr. T. M. Harris,
the historian and antiquary, 290; the South
Burying-ground, the second established in
Dorchester, 291 ; the Dorchester Ceraelci-y
consecrated in 1848, the Koman Catholic
burying ground; Cedar Grove Cemetery: its
location, extent, and management; and a por-
tion of it set off for free interments : provision
for the embellishment of the grounds, 296-93.
Dorchester Cemetery, 291.
Dorchester Company, 16.
INDEX.
701
Dorchester, Eng., 16.
Dorchester Map, 104.
Dorchester Neck, 33, 125, 144, 223, 224, 254.
Dorchester Old Burying-Grouiid, 252, 28o;
Dorchester Point, 33, 125, 144, 252, 439.
Dorchester South Burying-Ground, 291.
Dorr, Joseph H., 357.
Double dating, 151.
Douglass, Cornelius, 610; George, 609; Dr.
"William, a Boston physician, author of " A
Summary of New England History," sketch
of his history, 609-10.
Dover, N. H., 16.
Dover Street Bridge, 107, 422.
Dowse, Jonathan, 513.
Draper, John, 629.
Draw Bridge, 113, 401, 404, 640, 642, 643.
Draw Bridge street, 402.
Dress, 71, 86.
Dripps, M., 98.
Dripps's Map 98.
Drown, Deacon Sheni, decorator of the Province
House, and constructor of the Puneuil Hall
grasshopper, 597, 599.
Drury, Hugh, 617.
Dudley, Joseph, 271, 274, 567; Paul, 83, 271, 274;
Thomas, 17, 165, 184, 271, 451, 828 ; Wiiiiiim,
523, 524.
Dudley Tomb, in the Eliot burying-ground,
and epitaphs and anagrams, 271-4.
Duel at Noddle's Island, 447.
Dumesnil, Anthony, 633.
Dummer, Jeremiah, 597 ; Jeremy, 64; William,
225, 492.
Dummer's Corner, 114.
Duncan, Mr., 629.
Dunton, John, personal reminiscences of, 59.
Dutton, E. P. and Co., 97, 102, 103, 679.
Duttotfs Maps, 102.
Dwelling houses in 1784, 138.
Dyer (Dyar, Dyre), Mary, 87, 113, 352, barba-
rous treatment of. and execution, on Boston
Common, 114; William, 166, 332.
Eagle Hill, 445. .
Eagle Point, 445.
Eames, Luther, 413.
East Boston, 99, 125, 144 (formerly Noddle's
Island), so called after the incorporation of the
East Boston Company in 1833, 125.
East Boston Buryxng-Ground, 261.
East Boston Cemeteries, 261, 263; two burial
lots purchased of the East Boston Company in
1838, 261; the extent and boundaries of the
ground used by the citizens of the ward, 261 ;
the Jewish burying-ground, its size and loca-
tion, and the peculiarities of the cemetery,
262; enlargement of the lot, 263.
East Boston Free Bridge, 427.
East Cove, 115.
EasternAvenne, 119, 120, 428.
Eaton, S. Dwight, 104.
Eckley Tomb, 226.
Eddy, Caleb, 111,357.
Education made compulsory in 1720, 129.
Egg (or Shag) Eocks, the description of, 675.
Eirec Kauda, Eric Eaude, Eric the Red, 7, 8.
Election Days on the Common, 464.
Elephant tavern, 401.
Eliot Burying-Gronnd, 270.
Eliot Jacob, 186; Rev. John, 45, 270, 272, 2,5,
276, 652; his settlement as pastor at Roxbury,
and his labors in preaching to and converting
the Indians, 46; his tomb in the old Eliot
burying-ground in Boston Highlands, and
inscription thereon, 275; Samuel, 349.
Eliot School, 205.
Elizabeth Islands, 12.
Elizabeth, Queen, 12.
Ellis Monument and Tomb, 202, 204.
EUiston'B Comer, 402.
Emerson, Geo. B., 337, 371.
Eminences of Beacon Hill, 171.
Bndicutt, John, 16, 17, 24, 223 ; his arrival in
New England in 1628, and settlement of Sa-
lem, 17.
Ehdicott Place, 112.
English Map, 08.
Enigmatical Slab in Dorchester Old Burying-
Ground, 282.
Entrances to Boston, 416, 430.
Episcopal Church, 63; First, 248.
Essex Bridge, 89.
Estes, Matthew, Jr., 231.
livening Transcript, 233.
Evans, B. C, 279.
Evercd, John, 675.
Everell (Everill), James, 400,401,443,627,628,
629, 883, 684.
Everett, Edward, Statue of, in the Public Gar-
den, 364.
Eustis, William, 225.
Ewer, Charles, 410.
Exchange, 62, 65.
Executions, places of, in early years, capital ex-
ecutions conducted on Boetou Neck and near
Maiden street, criminals buried under the gal-
lows, executions at South Boston and in
Blackstone square,- 244; for piracy on the
snow Elizabeth in 1726, atCharlestown Ferry,
540 ; John Quelch and six others, in 1704, at
Bird Island, and of Thomas Hawkins and
nine others at the same place about 1689-90;
of Samuel Bellamy and six others in 1717,
and of John Rose Archer and William White
in 1724, at Bird Island and other places ; de-
scription of the executions of Fly and others
and of Quelch and his associates, 541-2. See
Dennegrl, Dyer, Fly, Matoonas, Pirates, Phil-
lips, Quakers, Tully.
Eye Pond, 445.
Faden, William, 96, 101.
Fairs, 46.
Pairweather, John, 492.
Faneuil Hall, 65, 152, 404; built in 1743 and en-
larged in 1806, 120 ; not to be leased or sold hy
the city council, 305.
Faneuil, Peter, 22, 162, 225 ; his grave in the Old
Granary burying-ground, 226.
Farm School, 505.
Farnham, John, 666.
Farnsworth, Ezra, 358.
Farwell, J. E. & Co., 233.
Fayerweather, John, 668.
Feakes, Robert, 476.
Feather Store, 401.
Federal street, 112.
Federal Street Bridge, 426.
Fence for Common, 314.
Fenwick, Bishop, 258.
Ferdinand and Isabella, 3. *
Ferry, Boston and Charlestown, 37; compensa-
tion to Harvard College for its suspension by
the building of Charles Elver bridge, 417.
Ferries, 79, 429.
Fields, location of, in Boston in early times,
their names, 126. See Common, Fort, Massa-
chusetts, Mill, Mylne, Neck, New, New Mill,
Town.
Fields. James T., 679.
Finch, Lt. William, 447.
Fire, great incendi.iry, in Boston in 1679, and
nearly all the trading part of the town con-
sumed, history of the event, 640-2.
Fire Engine, the first one ever used in Boston,
and lire matters in olden times, 641.
Fire Swabs, 641.
First Church Pastors, tomb of, in King's Chapel
burying-ground, viz : John Cotton, John
Davenport, John Oxenhridge and Thomas
702
INDEX.
Bridge, and veneration of the people for their
memories, 1^1.
Fish Market, 404, 643.
Fish Street. 133, B88.
Fisher, B T., 47.
Fishery, failure to estahlish one In 1753 at Point
Bhirley, 437.
Fitch, Jeremiah, 407.
Fitch, Thomas, 236.
Fitch's estate, 314.
Fitch's fence, 316.
Fitch's Lane, 404.
Fitch's Pasture, its pnrehase In 1754 for the
Common, or Central, huryingground, 237.
Firewards, 153.
Flack, Cotton, 300.
FI.igg Alley, 404.
Flagstnff Hill, 390.
Fleet Street Ward, 138.
Fleet-Ward, 130, 137.
Fletcher, Edward, cutler and lay preacher in
Boston, 616.
Flint, Rev. Josiah, one of the early clergymen
of Dorchester, his death in 1680, 283.
Fly. William, 353, 640, 551.
Folger, Abiab, 635; Peter, 635.
Foot Bridge, 112.
Fore (fort) Point Channel, 107.
Fore Strei-t, 663. 583.
Forefathers, vignette of. 94.
Forest Hills Cemetery, 251. 266, 269 ; suggested
in 1846 by Mayor Clarke of Koxbury, 267; ac-
ceptance of the act of incorporation, 268;
purchase of the land and dedication of the
cemetery by the name of " Forest Hills," 268 ;
increase of its area, and conveyance of the
cemetery lands to the proprietors of the cem-
etery in 1868, by the city of Boston, 268.
Fort Field. 126, 163, 314.
Fort Hill, 36, 107, 115, 116, 120, 126, 168. 169. 162,
409; its position and enrly name, 163; failure
of attempts to modernize its title. 164; the
first place selected for a fort by the Massachu-
setts ISay Company. 164; commencement of
the fortification in 1632. supplied with ord-
nance by Q-ov. Winthrop in 1633, 164; the
people assessed to do labor in improving,
165-6; a windmill placed in 1642 by widow
Tuthill, 166; roads to the fort laid out, and
land grant to James Penn as an equivalent for
that tati-n from him at Fort Hill. 167 ; the
retreat of SirEdmund Androssinl689, andhis
seizure by the Bostonians 167; charity school,
or hospital for children ordered to be erected
on the hill in 1713 by citizens, 168; changes in
the locality within the present century, and
appearances now and a hundred years ago,
169; the removal of the hill ordered in 1865,
and the advantages of the improvement, 169.
Fort Hillers. 125.
^ Fort Independence. 438; the name assigned, in
1776, to Fort William, 495 ; appointed a place
of confinement for criminals. 496; substantial
stone fort huilt on the site of Fort William,
496.
Fort Point, 106, 107, 158
Fort Point Channel, 107, 428, 472 ; Roxbury har-
bor, Gallows Bay, South Bay, or Fore point,
107.
Fort Point (Sconce, or South Battery Point),
location and origin of its name, 107.
Fort Street, 163,651.
Fort Strong, East Boston, huilt by voluntary
service in 1776. of the several crafts and trades,
and its position, 446.
Fort Warren, 461.
Fort William, on Castle Island, commenced in
1701 and finished two years after, 493; re-
mains of the fort built up in the rear wall of
Fort Independence, 493; inscription on the
gate-way, 493; the fort Injured by the British
troops at the evacuation of Boston, 4?4; the
fort burned in March. 1776, tukeu possession
of by the provincial forces, .ind partially re-
stored, 495 ;' called '* Fort William and Mary "
in old times, 497.
Fort Saint George, 13.
Fort William and Mary, 497.
Port Winthrop, 451, 496.
Forts. See Castle, Copp's Hill, Fort Hill. Fortifi-
cations, Independence, Maverick, Redoubts,
Strong, St. G-eorge, Warren, William. William
and Mary, Winthrop.
Fortifications, the, in 1634, Wood's description,
43; proposed floating, in 1634, 475. 476.
Fortifications at Neck. 43. 93, 140; on Copp's
Hill, 161 ; on Fort Hill. 164. 168.
Fortune, the. 15.
Fosdick family, account of their Boston posses-
sions, 619.
Fosdick. James. 619. 624: John, 619: Sarah, 619.
Foster, Ebenezer, 619 ; Hopeetill,284: .Iohn,284,
456 ; Gen. J. G.. 548. 553. 561. 576. 577 ; Lydia,
456; Sarah, 619; William, 238. 308, 312. *
Foster Lane, 133.
Poster's Pasture, 316.
Poster's Wharf, 36.
l^ount.iins, 216, See Brewer, Blackstone Square,
Frog Pond.
Fountain in Blackstone Square, 382; in Frog
Pond, 414.
Four Points Channel, 107.
Fowle, James, 631.
Foxcroft, George, 682 ; Rev. Thomas, 63.
Fox Hill. 116, 312.
Fox Hill Spring, 390, 393.
Foye, treasurer, 516.
Francis, I,, 11.
Francis, Ebenezer, 357,
Frankland, Sir Henry, 249.
Franklin, Mrs. Abiah, mother of Benj.amln
Franklin, 218, 632; her death in 1762, in Bos-
ton, 636; Agnes, 635; Benjamin, 206, 219, 446,
the celebrated pririter, philosopher and states-
man, his birth in 1706. in Boston, 615; family
genealogy, 634 ; reminiscences of his youth, 636 ;
his deatii, burial at Philadelphia, inscription
on his tomb, and grave of his sou Francis, 637;
Deborah, 637, 638; Francis P., 637; Henry,
635; Jane, 635; John, 633; Josiah, chandler,
father of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, 218,-219. 615,
616,817,618, 619, 624, 627, 630, 631. 632, 634;
his old house in Milk street, 615; his purchase
of the Blue Ball estate in tJnion street, 627 ;
death and burial in the old Granary burying-
ground, 636; Margery, 636; Bichard, 646;
Thomas, 635.
Franklin Cemetery, 211.
Franklin Corner. 630.
Franklin family, 635.
Franklin House the old, in Milk street, its his-
tory, 616; description of the building, 620;
destruction by fire, 622; disposition of the
estate, 623.
Franklin Monument. 217.
Franklin's Parents, 405.
Franklin Square, 382.
Franklin Statue, 384.
Franklin Tomb, 217.
Franklin Urn, 383, 396.
Free School, first, 260.
Freemason's Hall, the title given to the Old
Green Dragon Tavern, after its purchase by
St. Andrew's Lodge, 613,
Freezing, extraordinary, of Boston harbor in
1634-6, as described in Gov. Winthrop's Tour-
nal, 465.
French Army, 78.
French Church, 63.
French Families, 50.
French Protestant Refugee, his description of
Boston in 16S7, 46 ; scarcity of labor and exist-
INDEX.
703
ence of negro slavery, 48 ; severe laws ngainst
Kidnapping and running off slaves, 48 ; detail
of the products of New England, 49 ; rigid
import rules, 50; bad reports of the Carolina!?,
51; depredations of wild animals, 51; demor-
alization among the people, 51.
French Protestants, 50,223.
French Squadron, 78.
Friedlos, adventurer, 7.
Friend and Aub, 98.
Friends. ^ See Quakers.
. Friendship, the, 449.
Frizzle, John, 249.
Frizzle's Lane, 249.
Frobisher Benjamin, 240: Mary, 240: William,
240,
Frog Lane, 237, 238, 300, 307. 312.
Frog Pond, 93, 411.
Front Street, 120.
Frost, Oliver, 358.
Frothiugham, Richard, 96.
Fuller, Stephen P., 92,
Funeral Ceremonies, ancient and modern ; first
funeral prayer ever made in Boston; first
funeral sermon ; simplicityof funeral arrange-
ments among the old iuhabitantfl of Boston,
263,
Funeral Gloves, 265.
Funeral Prayer, 263.
Funeral Processions, 265,
Funeral Rings, 265.
Funeral Scarfs, 265.
Funeral Sermon, 263.
Gales, 1815, 321 ; heavy in Boston In September,
in the years 1815, and 1869, respectively. 321;
damage to the trees on the common and to
property in the city. 323- 4.
Gallop, Christabel, 538; John, 637, 538, 542, 544,
682, a noted pilot in Boston harbor in early
times, anecdote of his bravery, the owner of
Gallop's Island, his residence and death in
Boston, 538 ; sketch of Gallop's history, 542.
Gallop's Island, form , position, approaches,
geological characteristics, fertility, and old
time ownership and uses, 546; oriirinal and
intermediate owners and sale to the city of
Boston, 546; a rendezvous for enlisted men
during the Southern war, and afterwards
annexed to the quarantine station, and a sea
wall erected for the protection of its northerly
part, 547-8.
Gallows, for execution, 244.
Gallows Bay, 107, 142; the name anciently ap-
plied to Dorchester Point or Neck, now South
Boston 439.
Galvin, John, 363, 364.
Gardens. See Bannister, Blackstone, Blazton,
Governors, Washington, Wheeler's.
Gardiner, Henry D., 427: Rev. J. S. J., 247.
Gardner, Isaac S., 255; Lyon, 166,
Gasometer, 120.
Gates, Sir Thomas, 17,
Gavett, John, 629.
Gay, Capt., 614; Ebenezer, 255.
Gazetteer Map, 96.
Gee, Hannah, 199; Joshua, 199.
Gee Tomb, 204.
Gee's Corner, 132.
General ^Election Day, 454.
Gentleman's Magazitie Map, 94.
Giorge's Island, situation in the harbor, origi-
nal and subsequent ownership, purchase by
the city of Boston and final sale to the United
States, 555-6; extent of, commencement of
the erection of Fort Warren thereon and
its description, 556; an earthwork erected
on the eastern side in 1778 to protect the har-
bor against English cruisers, 557 ; approaches
to the fort, and uses as a miltiary rendezvous
and as a rebel prison, 557.
Gorman Map. 93.
Geyer, John Just, 238.
Gibbons, Captain Edward, 166, 467, 479, 482.
Gilbert. Raldgb, 13.
Gill, John, 628.
Gillingham, Edward, 102.
Gilman, Peter, 207.
Gla«.ford, Eng., 686.
Goffe, Thomas, first deputy governor of the
Massachusetts Colony, 16.
Golden Candlestick, 404.
Gouldwaithe, Martha, 668.
Gomera Island, 4.
Goodnow, Elisha, a benevolent citizen of Bos-
ton, his bequest of valuable real estate for free
hospital purposes, 664, 665, 670.
Goodrich, 8. G., 98.
Goodrich Tomb, 204.
Gordon, WilUam, 102.
Gordon's War Map, 102.
Gore, Capt., 614; Christopher, 122, 225; Stephen,
141.
Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 15.
Gorbam, Nathaniel, 417,
Gosnold, Bartholomew, his voyage from Bristol,
England, and landing in Buzzard's Bay, 12 ;
his building of a fort on Cutiyhunk, 12 ; re-
turn home and arrival subsequently in Vir-
ginia with a colonizing expedition, 12 ; death
at Jamestown, "Virginia, 13.
Gould, A. A., 332, 366; Abraham, 253, 257.
Governor's Garden, 450.
Governor and Company of the Massachusetts
Bay, 16, 17.
Govei-nor's Green, the name applied to the site
of the Old South Church estate, 651.
Governor's House, 651.
Governor's (Conant's or Winthrop's) Island,
earliest owner, 449 ; appropriations to public
benefits and uses, and subsequent gift to Gov.
John Winthrop, and the conditions thereof.
449-50: wine and fruit the specified items of
rent, and their piodeof payment, 451; convey-
ance of to the TJ. S. Government, and the
erection of -the original Fort Warren, now
called Fort Winthrop, 451 ; great strength of
the new fort, and power of the water baiteries
over the South Boston flats, 452.
Graham, Col., 551.
Grammar Scbool-house, 308.
Granary Building, 65, 211, 215, 309; its situation
at the head of Park street in 1737, removal
to the site now occupied by Park Street
Church, and the adjoining graveyard named
after it, 210.
Granary (South Common or Middle) Burying-
Ground, 210, 226 ; establishment in 1660 as the
third of the burial-places in Boston, 210; cause
of its being established, 210 ; origin of name,
211; futile attempt to change its name, 211;
its ancient and present boundaries. 211 ; the
earliest tombs erected, 211 ; the burial-place of
Gov. John Hancock, and of the family of that
name, 211 ; tombef erected up to 1813, within the
ground, 213; unfortunate selection of the .site
for this cemetery, 214; its springy character,
curious illustrative anecdote, 214; means taken
for its drainage, vestiges of the old drain
found in 1868 on the site of the Brewer foun-
tain on the Common, 215; trees planted in 1830
on the grounds, 216; Tremontstreetiron fence
erected in 1840, 216; arrangements existing
for the ornamentation of the ground, 216; the
public admitted to them on Sundav evenings.
216; historical data associated with the Old
Granary burying-ground, 217; tomb of the
Franklin family, 217; laying of the corner-
stone and description of the obelisk, 217 ; copy
of th** inscrintion upon it, 218; hiNtorical notes
concerning Dr. Franklin's father and other
members of the Franklin family, 219; the
704
IKDEX.
oldest monumental stone, 219; heraldic dc-
vicea and inscriptions on the gravesiones,
220; the fatal Wooduridgc duel on Boston
Common, history of the event, 221-3; graves
of the fugitive French Protestants, 223; dis-
covery of the grave of their pastor, Pere
i'eter'Daille, 223; sketch of his history, 224:
curious restrictions respecting his burial,
225; names of noted persons buried in the
ground, Robert Treat Paine, John Hull, the
mint master, Ptter Faneuil, John Phillips, the
first mayor of Boston, Paul Revere, ihe victims
of the Boston massacre in 1770, and General
Joseph Warren, the hero of Bunker HiU, 225;
the oldest monumental inscriptiua ou the
ground, 226.
Granite Bridge, 157.
Grant tomb, 204.
Grant by the town of Hull, of the Little Brews-
ter for building a lighthouse.
Grape Island, near Hingham, 558.
Gravelly Point, 423.
Graves, Admiral, 572, 577.
Graves, the, dangerous rocks in the mouth of
Boston harbor, and their surruundlngs, 437.
Graveyard at Castle Island, 263; at Hainslord
Island, 263.
Graveyard Bluff. 463.
Graveyards, ornamentation of in recent time,
266.
Gray, Asa B., 337; Horace, 360.
Great Bridge, 83.
Great Cove, 36, 115, 120, 158, 162, 663; its loca-
tion, 115; its docks and batteries^ 116.
Great Creek, 445.
Great Elm, 93, 96. See Common.
Great Head, 4'i7.
Great Marsh, 445.
Great Patent of New England, 18.
Groat Spring, 390.
Great street, 630.
Great Tree, 93.
Green Dragon, 45, 438,
Green Dragon Tavern, 405; early history,
605, et seq. ; political gaiheringti 'tht^rein in
ante-revolutionary times, 605; the various
ownerships of the land whereon the tavern
was built, 605-10; situation of the tavern and
its appearance, 610 ; extent and surround-
ings of the estate, and lis ancient sign, 611;
sale of the property to St. Andrew^s Lodge of
Free Masons, 612; age of the Old Tavern and
its several occupants, 612-13 ; its uses for politi-
cal purposes, 613 ; the house used in 1776 for a
hospital, 614; tlie old building torn down and
a warehouse built on Us site, 614.
Green Dragon Lane. 609. 611.
Greejie, Gardiner, 171, 331,422; Thomas, 236;
John, 640, 641.
Green Hill, 43T,
Green Island, one of the Boston harbor islands,
436, 576.
Green Lane, 134.
Green Stores, 142.
Greenland, 7, 8, 10.
Greenleaf, Daniel, 646, 647; Elizabeth, 646:
Hannah, 555; John, 646; Stephen, sheriff,
173; Thomas, 255, 647 ; William, 646.
Greenough, David, lessee of iho Old Province
House estate in 1817 for ninety-nine years,
598; Edward, 521; Newman, 521 ; William, n
ahipwrighr, owner in 1688, by inheritance, of
Uainsford Island, 521.
Greenvill, Henry, 353, 540, 541.
Greenwood tomb, 204.
Grlerson, George, 101.
Griffin, the ship, 27, 107, 538.
Grist mills, 112.
Griswold, Bishop, 250, 253,
Grosso, Isaaci 682.
Gross, Thomas, 668.
Grover's Cliff, 437.
Grubb. Thomas, 594.
Guauahani Island, 4.
Gun Houses, 312, 313.
Gunbousc of Sea Fencibles erected in 1817, 311.
Gwynneth, Owen, his reputed discoveries in
the West Indies and Mexico, 9.
Gut Flam, 437.
Hakluyt, historian, 9.
Hale,-Nathan, 102.
Hales, John G., 97, 102.
Hales'sMap, 97.
Half Moon Island, in Qulncy flats, 507.
Hall, Jacob, 200.
Hallowell's Ship yard, 134.
Hancock Free Bridge, 421.
Hancock House, baiit in 1737 on the sonthcm
slope of Beacon HiU, 172.
Hancock, John, 171,178, 179, 212, 225. 325, 374,
375, 417, 573; his burial place in the Old
Granary ground, mortuary records of the
family, 212-13; Lydia, 335r Thomas, 171. 178,
212, 213, 236, 335. a noted Boston mprchant,
builder of the Old Hancock House, 311.
Hancock Street,172.
Hancock Tavern House, 404.
Hancock Tomb, 213.
Hancock's Cow Pasture, 311.
Haneock*8 Wharf, 115.
Hands, Mark, 666.
Hanover Street, 113, 126, 130, 133, 134,664.
Hanover Street Ward, 138.
Harbor, Boston, 8, 24, 27, 46, 47, 73, 431,587;
Its islands, roads, sounds, channels, rocks and
spits, 431, et seq. ; early visitors to, Icelandic
navigators at Cape Cod nearly nine hundred
years ago, and traditional visit to Point AUer-
ton, 433; description of, 431, 587.
Harbor Moutli, its description in the olden time
by AVilliam Wood, in his "New England's
Prospect." 562-3.
Harding, William C, 268.
Harding's Lodge, a dangerous rock in the month
of Boston bay, 436, 562.
Harris, Isaac, 622; John, 426; Rev. Thaddeus
M.,20O.
Harrison avenue, laid out (as Front street), in
1806, 121.
Harvard College, 75, 80, 89,95, 229, 420, 560; in-
digent scholars provided for by a tax on the
Cambridge Bridge Company, 4i0; first situa-
tion as described by Abbe Robin, use in 1775,
as a barrack by the English troops, library,
character of the professors and amusements
of the students, 75; visit of the Marquis do
Chastellnx to the (.'ollegc in 1782, and difficul-
ties of the journey from Boston, 81; compli-
ment to the efficiency of the University, 82;
Commencement in 1788, as described by Bris-
sotde Warvillc, 89. ■*
Hatch, Alderman Samuel, 327; Estoa, 457.
Hatter's Squarers, 126.
Hawea Burying-Ground, 257.
dawes, John, 254, 257,
Hawkins Lane, 134.
Hawkins, Rebecca, 607 ; Thomas, 541; Thomas,
a noted biscuit baker and taverner in old
times, 606-7.
Hawkins street, 109.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 599,603; William, 117.
Hayes, John, the second keeper of the Beacon
Light, 571.
Haymarket Square, 109, 111, 114, 172, 386.
Hayscales, 812.
Head Mansion House, 313.
Headlands, 106.
Hearse House, 312.
Hearses, 264, 2'i5, introduced into Boston about
1796; the funeral customs of the previous
period, 266.
INDEX.
705
ITolluland, 7.
IL'iichraan, Daniel, 335, 648; Hezekiali, 335.
Huiichman's Lane, 133.
lljndee Charles J., 679.
Henry Vll., 10.
llenahaw, David, 152, 425: John, 427: Joshua,
212.
Ilewes, Samuel Hill, the superintendent of
burials, his passion for the picturesque in the
arrangement of the grounds, 245.
Hibbens, Ann, 336, 352, 653; executed in 1655
for witchcraft, 652: Mary, 390; William, 352,
390, 6 j 1,652, 684.
High street, 134.
High lands in Wlnthrop. O-ut Plain, Great Head
(or Green Hills), Bluff (or Winthrop's) Head
and Grover's Cliff, 437.
Highlands, the, 100.
Highlands Bury ing-Grounds — The Ehot Bury-
ing-Ground, its antiLtuity, situaLion and pres-
ent condition, 271 ; bodies of eminent men
deposited therein; tombs of John Eliot, the
Indian apostle, and of the tw) governors
Dudley, and quaint epitaphs! on the Dudleys,
272-3; the minister's tomb and its inscriptions,
275; the oldest gravestone and curious monu-
mental inscripiions, 276-7.
Highway, the, 213.
Highway to Koxbury, the, name given to
Washington street in early times, 672.
Hill, the, 125.
Hill, Henry, 380, 381; John, 109, 135, 236.666,
682,633; Samuel, 678; Valentine, 672, 682.
Hill, West, 138.
Hills. 5ee Beacon, Blue, Bunker, Camp, Gentry,
Copley, Copp's, Cotton, Eagle, Eminences,
Foit, Fox, Green, The Hill, Monument,
Mjunt Vernon, Pemberion, Ridge, Sentry,
Signal, Snow, Strawberry, Study, Telegraph,
Tremont, West, Windmill.
Hilton, Edward, 15; William, 15.
Hingham, 05.
Hirst, Grove, 686.
liidpaniola, discovered by Columbus, 5.
Hotfe, Mr., 46J.
Hog Alley, 315.
Hog Island, 95, 445, 448 ; its situa'ion, character-
i^itics and history, 447-8, and 559,
Holden, Nathaniel R., 648.
Holidays, 55.
Holland, John, 354; Samuel, 102.
HolUs, Thomas, 648.
Holmes, Nathaniel, 201.
Homes, William, 4u5, 633, 636.
Homes's Key, 405.
Hooks and Ladders, 641.
Hooper, Henry N., 674.
Horn Lane, 134.
Horse of Elder Oliver, 303.
Hospital, 168.
Hospital, Massachusetts General, grant of the
Old Province House by the State to that cor-
poration, 598.
Hotel Pelham moved, 313.
Hough, Atherton, 27, 308, 651; Rev. Samuel,
one of the early Boston land owners, 594.
Houghton, Jonathan, 354.
House of Correction, 211.
i-ouao of Industry, establishment of, on Deer
Island, 470.
Houses, number of, in 1784, in the respective
natural divisions of the town, 138-40.
lloutchin, Jeremy, 627.
Howard, Stephen, 421,
Howe, Hall J., 425.
Howe, Lord, 598.
Howlet, John, 607: Rebecca, 607.
Hubbard, Elizabeth, 535; Nathaniel, 535 ; Thom-
as, 135.
Hubbard's land, 134. _
Hudson, Francis, 107, 159, 296,297; William, 531.
Hudson's Point, 106, 107, 156, 159, 297 ; origin of
its name and its location, 107
Hull, town of, situated on the west of the prom-
ontory of Point AUerton, 436, 439.
Hull, Hannah, 199; John, tiio is ew England mint
master, 225, 228; his daughter's marriage por-
tion, 199.
Hull Street Cemetery, 200.
Humphrey, James, a ruling elder of the Church
at Dorchester in early days, 285; his death
and acrostical epitaph, 286; John, second dep-
uty governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, 17,
Hunnewell, Jonathan, 323, 425.
Hunt, Amey, 206; Benjamin, 206; Eiisha, 318;
Thomas, 14.
Hutchine, William B,, 421.
Huccbinson, Abigail, 677; Ann, 297, 480, 672;
Edward, 295, 672; Richard, 672, 673,677; Sa-
rah, 456; Hon. Thomas, 205, 456; the builder
of the first school-house in the North End, on
the site of the present Eliot School-house, 205;
Gov. Thomas, 249; William, husband of the
celebrated Ann, the ri'Iigious reformer, owner
of the Old Book-store estate, 672, 674.
Hutchinson tomb, 204.
Hutchinson's stre'et, 163.
Hyde Park, 35, 156, 269.
Hypocrite Passage, a channel in Boston Harbor,
436.
Icelandic Navigators, 7, 9.
Ice Poud, 463.
Ide, L. N.,98.
Illuminations of Liberty tree and the elms on
I'addock's Mall on the arrival of the news of
the repeal of the Stamp Act, 375.
Inches, Elizabeth, 677 ; Henderson, 677.
Independence, ship, 455.
Independence square, 387.
India Wharf, 119.
Indians, 9, 14, 15, 17, 25, 30, 31, 32, 45, 48, 67 ; in-
terviews of the original colonists with, 31;
their friendly exchanges of food for clothing
and knives, 32.
Ingersol, Jonathan, 421.
Insurance maps, 100.
Irish Presbyterians, 75.
Iron fence around the Common, 319.
Irving, Washington, 4.
Isabella, qunen, 3, 5.
Islands at mouth of Harbor, 464.
Island, Castle, 61.
Island, Noddle's, 60.
Island of Trevor, 503.
Island Wharves, 119. ,
Islands, 60, 61. See Apple, Belle Isle, Bird, Breed,
Calf, Canary, Castle, Christopher, Conant,
Cuba, Deer, Bast Boston, Elizabeth, Gallop,
George's, Gomera, Governor's, Grape, Green,
Guanahani, Half Moon, Hispuniola, Hog, Ice-
land, Isle of Trevor, Island Wharves, La
isla Santa, Long, Lovell, Martha's Vineyard,
Mennon's Moon, Moon, Middle Brewster,
Nix's Mate, Noddles, Nut, Racoon, Pelham,
Pettock's, Rainsford, San Domingo, San Sal-
vador, Sheep, Spectacle, Susanna, Thomp-
son's, West Indies, Williams's, Wood.
Islands, part of Wards, 144.
Islands, shapes of, 440.
Israelitish Society of Peace, 201,
Ivors, James, and his family, proprietors, in
1791, of Long Island, 535.
Jackson, Henry, 419; John, 678; Patrick T., 357.
Jackson'H shop, 134.
Jackson's Still House, 134,
James, Benj., 344.
James I., 17.
Jamaica Pond, 157, 397, 413, 414.
Jamaica Fond Aqueduct, 392, 412.
Jamesto^vn, 12.
706
IKDEX.
Jarves, Derain^, 428.
Jarvis, Dr. Charles, 204.
Jeffries, John, 515.
Jeffries, Thomas. 94.
Jencks, Joseph, 641.
Jethro. old, 352.
JettiL-B , 644.
Jewish Burying-Gronnd at East Boston, 261,
Johnson, Lady Arbella, 27, 28, 183; death of,
27; Capt. Edward, of Woburn, 45, 117, 477;
. his description, in ]664, of Boston, Eoxbury
and Dorchester, 43; his account of the early
fortitication of Castle Island, 477; Isaac, 17, 25,
26, 27, 28, 29, 183, 184, 389; arrival with the
"Winthrop C"lony at Balem and Charlestowii,
and death at the latter place, 38; Deacon
James, 652; plover, explain of the Ancient
and Honorable Artillery Company in 1656, his
ownership of the land on which the Old G-reeu
Dragon Tavern wa^ built, 606; Thomas, 92.
JoUifTe, John, 652, 655.
Joiliffe's Lane, the old name of Devonshire
street, 651.
Jones, Eben, 428; Hepzibah, 410 ; John C, 421;
John Paul, couimodure, employed to deliver
"The America." a seventy-four gun ship, a
present to Loui:* XVI. from the United States
government, 552; Jonathan, 410; Margaret,
352; Sarah, 410.
Joselyn, John, 45, 60, 438, 464; his voyages to
New England, 45 ; his description of the colo-
nies, and habits, manners and pursuits of Ih j
colonists, 46; his account, in 1675, of Pullin
Point, and the main harbor channel at that
time, 438.
Josias, the Sachem ; his release of the common
lands to the town of Boston. 301.
Joy, Benjamin, 421; Thomas, 68J.
Joy's building, 381.
Jukes, Francis, 95.
Julien, Charlotte, 657; Hannah, 657, 662; Har-
riet, 6^7; Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payt^Lit dis,
the famous restaurant keeper, 649, 657, his liis-
lory, character and death, 660-1 : his epiuiph
in the Common burying-ground, 241.
Julien House, the, in Milt street, its appearance,
and origin of its name, 649; the estate and its
ownerships, 651-9; ancient appearance of the
building, and its character as a haunt of epi-
cureans, 660 ; social standing of Mons. Julien,
and tribute to his memory, 661 ; death of his
widow, 661 ; the house demolished in 1S24, and
another erected on its site, 659.
Keayue, Capt. Eobert, his bequests in 1653, for
various specified town purposes, and death
three yt-ars afterwards, 3J9.
Kennebec River, 13,
Kenrick, John, 651.
Kent, John, 78.
Kerr, Catherine, 610, 613.
Kidder, Joseph, 613; "WUliam, 648.
Kiliarnese, 8.
Kind, Arthur, 198; Jane, 198; Mary, 198; Wil-
liam, 199.
King, Francis, 542.
King Philip's War, 195.
King street, 114, 130, 134, 137.
King Street Ward, 138.
King's Arms Tavern, 396.
King's Chapel, 65, 137, 195; brief history of the
building, 195, 247-250.
King's Chapel burying-ground, 185-196.
King's Ward, 130.
Kingsbury, William B., 267.
Kittredge, Alvah, 268.
Kueeland,,B{irtholomcw, 678.
Kneeland's Jane, 134.
Knox, General Henry, 311.
KruBsanees, 8, 433.
L'Atlas, Maritime, 101 .
La Isla Santa, 5.
La ilochelle, 47.
La Tour, visit of, to Charlestown and Boston,
and great consequent panic, 482, 484.
Labor, 49.
Labrador, 7, 11; repeated explorations of the
country by the Icelanders, 7.
Lake, D. J., 103. .
Liirab, Thomas, 103.
Lamb's map, 103.
Lambert, John, 542.
Land Company of East Boston, its incorporation
in 1833, and purchase oi Noddle's Island. 444.
Landmarks, diva'ppearaLice of, in Boston, 583.
Langford, Hann^Ui, 207.
Lanquedoc, 47.
Lark Rock, 518.
Larrabe, John, 498.
Lathrop, John, 225.
Latin School, 466.
Latin school-house, 249, 407.
Latitude and Longitude of Boston, 35.
Xawson, Christopher. 683.
Leavitt, Klisha, 546, 550, 555,
l^echmere Point, 417,
Ledge.<, 441, 577. See Rocks.
Lee, Thomas, 364.
Lee tomb, 204.
Leeds, Samuel, 648, 684.
Legal voters, the basis of division of wards
instead of population, 14C.
Leger, Jacob, 300.
L -if, discovery of Capo Cod and islands south 1- ,
Paschal, Blaise, 286.
Pasmore, Bartholomew, 682.
Passages in the harbor of Boston, their names.
441. '
Pastors of Boston, in 1719, their names and
their denominations, 63.
Pasture on the Common, 303.
Pasture, Brattle, 228.
Pasture, Fitch's, 236.
Pasture, Stanley's, 160.
Pasture, Tucker's 109.
Pastures, 126, 163; list and locations of, in Bos-
ton, 126. See Atkinson, Brattle, Butoi)h,
Fitch, Foster, Hancock, Leverett, M.erry, Mid^
dlecott, Stanley, Tucker, Wheeler.
Paths on the Common, Kidge path leading
from West to Carver street; Lyman path,
from West street to Joy street, its linden,
maple and elm trees; Long path, from Joy
Btreetto the corner of Boylston and Tremont
streets ; Armstrong path, from Joy street to
Winter street; Bummer path, from Winter to
Spruce street, 327; suggestions for names for
other paths, 328.
Patrick, Daniel, 476.
Pauper Act, 128.
Paving of the Neck, 143.
Payne, William, 122, 513, 567, 569 ; his account
for building the Beacon Light-house, 570.
Peabody, Rev. Oliver, 275.
Peck, John, purchaser of the Old Province
House, 598.
Pegypacot, 684.
Peirce, Henry L., 293 ; Nicholas, Jr., 238.
Peirce's Corner, 133.
Pelham, Henry, 95,119; Herbert, 215 ; Penelope,
215, 683.
Pelham's Island, 419.
Pelham's Map, 95, 103.
Pell, William, 651.
Pemberton, James, original owner of Georffo's
Island, his death at Maiden, 555; Martha, 555.
Pemberton Square, 384.
Pemberton's Hill, 126, 171.
Pendills of buildings, 644.
Pendleton's Lithography, 104,
Peninsula of Boston, its area, size and shape,
and length and breadth of the old town, 35.
Penn, James, 467,* 651, 652; beadle, marshal and
ruling elder of the First Church, grants mado
to hjm in satisfaction for his land on Fort
Hill, taken by the town of Boston, 166, 167.
Penniman's Corner, 134.
Penobscot River, 14.
Perkins, Jnmes, 453; John, 443; Sergeant, his
curious punishment for drunkenness, 165; S.
S., 385; Thomas H., 453.
Perry, Arthur, 594, 595.
Persecutions of Quakers in 1656, 227; their im-
prisonment, expatriation, mutilation and hang-
ing, 228.
Pest House, 419 ; first establishment of a, by the
people o' Boston, 4R9, 470.
Peterson, Erasmus, 542,
Pettick's (Pcttick's or Peddock's) Island, its
712
IKDEX.
graTittnCharleflto-wTi on condition that it be
made » pliintiiiion, and subsequently added to
Nantasket, 557; situation and description of
the island; station for the Weymouth pilot, 558,
Philip's War, 335.
Phillips, Elcazer, 512 ; George establishes one
of ihe early churches at Watertown, 29, 32;
Gillam, 223; Henry, his executionin Columbia
Bquare for killing Gaspard Denneg^ri, 382, 2^4 ;
Henry, his participation in the Woodbridge
duel, 222; his flight to France and death at
Kochelle, 223, 334; John, 225, 236, 329, 338;
Deacon John, constructor of the Old Stone
House in Cross Street, 666-670 ; Jonathan, 257,
647 ; Turner, 193 ; William, 171, 193.
Phipps, Spencer 495.
Phips, William. 223, 608.
Physical features of Deer Island, North, East,
and South Heads, Graveyard Blufif, Signal
Hill and Ice and Cow l*onds, 463.
Pierce, John, 238; William, 476.
Pierpont's Farm, Rnxbury, proposal to build
bridge from Boston to, 420.
Pine Island Wharf, 429.
Pine-tree banner, 101.
Pine Tree Brook, 156.
Pinzon, Martin Alouzo, 4; Vincent Taiiez, 4.
Pipon, John, 492,
Pirates, execution of nt Charles river, on the
Boston side, and at Charlesiown ferry, 353; Fly,
the pirate, hang in irons on Nix's Mate, 353;
other pirates hanged, 354.
Piscataqua River, 8ettl»^mentatin 1623, by David
Tomp'On and Edward and William Hilton, 15.
Pitcairn, Major, 24T.
Pitcher, Moll, the reputed witch, her death at
Lynn, 351 ; Kobert, 351.
Place of elections, 152.
Plan du Havre de Boston, 101.
Pleasant sti eet, 121,
Plumraer, Farnbam, 358.
Plymoutb, 13, 14, 15, 29, GO
Plymouth Burying-Ground, 203.
Plymouth Colony, 16, 19, 38.
Plymoutb, Colonists of, 14.
Plymouth Company, 18.
Plymouth, Eng., 18.
Plymoutb Rock, 15.
Point Allerton, S, 433, 435 ; physical appearance
and geographical conditions, monument and
buoy, 436.
Point Shirley (or Pulling Point), position in
Boston Harbor, 437 ; attempt to establish the
fishing business there, grand inauguration of
the scheme and its failure, 437-8 ; salt manu-
facture attempted, and copper works estab-
lished, 438; why the name of " Pulliu Point"
was changed, and why so called originally,
439.
Points, 106, 158. ^ee Allerton, Barton, Battery,
Blackstone, Blaxton, Chelsea, Commercial,
Dorchester, Eagle, Foot, Gravelly, Hudson.
Lechmere, Mattapan, Merry, Molten, North
Battery, Pulling, PnlleUj ' Pullin, Sconce,
Bewail, Shirley, South Battery, Wheeler,
Windmill.
Pole, William, 283, 284.
Pomeroy, Daniel, 647, 648,
Ponds and Aqueducts, 406 ; the old mill pond,
and the town's watt-ring place lor cattle,
its situation and uses, 407 ; the pond reported
a nui-sance and sold, 408 ; its mention in the
old'" Book of Possessions," 409 ; its described
boundaries when purchased, 409 ; est.ites
abutting on the pond, 409-10 ; a skating pond
half a century ago, 411 ; the only natural
pond on the peninsula, 411 ; swamps and
marshes in Boston in old times and their posi-
tions, 412 ; the Jamaica Pond Aqueduct, its
objtct, corporate management and names of
the original corporators, 413 ; their powers
nndcr the act of incoTporatiOtl, capital st^ck
and extent of their operations, 413-14 ; acci j.-
tance by the people of the act authorizing ti .-
introduction of Cochitup.te water, 414 ; ground
broken for the purpose in 1^46. at Wayland,
414 ; water let on and great celebration in
1848, on Boston Common, 414; cessation of
the Jamaica Pond Aqueduct, 415; supplies of
Cochituatc water foF Koxbury and East Bos-
ton, 415; Deer Island furnished with water
from Mystic Pond, 415.
Pond Lane, 135.
I'ond street, 112, 131, 135, 406.
Pond Town, 138.
Pond. Ward, 131,137.
Ponds. See Cow, Frog, Wheeler, Town's Wa-
tering Place, Eye, let-, Jamaica, Mat:6apoag,
Mystic, Town, I^unkapaug, Ward's.
Pons, Thomas, 619.
Poole, Charles H., 103; William, one of the '
earliest school masters and town clerk in
Dorchester, 283 ; his epitaph, written by him-
self, on Jiis tomb in the old burying-ground on
Stoughton street, Dorchester, 2>4.
Poor "Money, 127.
Poor Rates, amount levied in 1690, by Uie town,
127.
Poore, Benj. Perley, bis removal of relics of the
Old Province House to Indian Hill, Newbury,
603,
Pope, Samuel, 231 ; William, 293.
Popham, Sir George, 13,
Population, 63, 64, 69.
Pormort, Philemon, the first master of the first
free school in Boston, 250, 466.
Portland Street, 134.
Porter. Rev. Eliphalet, 275.
Posts and rails, 314, 316.
Potts, Thomas, 246.
Powder House, 139.
Powder House Hill, 347.
Powder Horn Hill.aud Pullen Point annexed to
Boston, 32.
Pownal, Gov. Thomas, 494, 495.
Prang, L. and Co., 99.
Pratt, H. C, 336.
Precincts, 129.
Prentiss, Henry, 420.
Presbyterian Church, 63.
Presbyterians, 52, 8S.
Prescott, William, 409.
Price,. Ezekiel, 572; Roger, 247; William, 5?,
250, 407, 473.
Prince of Orange, 167.
Prince, Hev. Thomas, 63, 225.
Printed Ballots, 152.
Prison Lane, the oldest name given to what is
now known as Court street, 671.
Prison Point Bridge, 422.
Procter, Edward, 667 ; Thomas 4oD.
Products of Boston. 49.
Prospective bridge improvements. Eastern ave-
nue bridge, the bridge over the channel to
East Bo^ton, the Pine Island bridge, etc..
428-9.
Prout, Joseph, 597.
Province House, the Old, 593,604; the buildinir
one of the last landmarks of the Colony and
Province, 593; its erection as a private enter-
prise, 594; bounds of the estate when the
Province House was built by Col. Samuel Ser-
geant, 595; history of the orignial owner and
record of his death, 595 ; the house purchased
for Gov. Burgess in 1715, by the provincial
government, 596; the price paid for the prop-
erty, 597; description of the house and it-<
surrounding!!, 597 ; decoration nf the building -
by Deacon Shem Drown, 597; conversion of
the building into public offices, 598; sold to
John Peck, reconveyed to the State and sub-
sequently granted to the Massachusetts Gene-
INDEX.
713
ral Hospital, 598; lofiBed forninoty-nino )-ojirs
to Duvid Greenough, 598 ; aubsequtnt pur-
posed to which it waa duvoLed, 598; Haw-
thorne's dcBcription of the old building and
of its history, 599-602; its. conversion into a
concert room, 602; romovul of its original deco-
rations, 603 ; portions of it carried off ns relics,
603; its destruction by fire, 603; the founda-
tion walla only remaining, 604.
Providence, curious act of, in the case of shoot-
ing a sailor, 481.
Public Buildings, the old, in Boston, 592.
Public G-arden, 93, laid out iu October, 1837, by
the city, 121, 122; originally part of the Com-
mon, 355; erection of ropewalks thereon, 355;
sacrifice of the old Round Mar&h and its re-
covery by purchase, 356; description of the
early condiiiou of the Public Garden territory,
356; the land vested in Boston in its corporate
capacity, 357 ; incorporation of tho Boston and
Roxbury Mill Corporation, and building of
the mill-dam, 357-8; effects of tho company's
improvements, 358; tho Western Avenue laid
out as sk. street, 358 ; extension of Boylston
street, 358; the tripartite indenture, and cstab-
lishment of the western boundary of the Pub-
lic Garden, 358; attempt to sell the lands
defeated by the people, 359; refusal of the
citizens to allow any part of the land to be
usL'd for burial purposes, 359; grant of the
lands for a Public Garden, and the conditions
of tho grant, 360 ; incorporation of the " propri-
etors of tho Botanic Gardr-n in Boston, 360;
burning of the Company's Conservatory, 360;
more -efforts to sell the land frustrated, 360;
acceptance*by the city of an act providing that
no public buildings be erectecf on the land,
361; award to the city for privileges relin-
quished. liiade by commissioners and the re-
strictions contingent, 361; the proposed "Sil-
ver Lake" improvement, 362; action of the
city government regarding the plan for im-
proving the Public Garden, 362; elaborate
report and adoptions of its recommendation,
363; area of the Public Garden, 363; cost of
fencing, 303; area and shape of the pond,
363; greenhouse and conservatory in the gar-
den, 363; grading of the lauds and laying out
of the paths, 364: the granile fountain basins
and the iiatues thereon, 364; theEverettstatue,
the Ether monument and the Washington
statue, 364; plan for placing the public build-
ings cm the Public Garden, 365; the bridge
ovyr the pond built, 365; summer-house and
Wiilks, gre5.t resorts of the citizens, 365 ; boats
on the pond kept for the recreation of young
people, 366; recent improvements on the gar-
den, trees planted, 366; promoters of the prin-
cipal improvements, 366; value of ihe Public
Garden as a place of recreation for the people,
and suggestion for its further embellishment,
366-7. . '
Public Market for South Boston, 254.
Public Squares, the. Washisigt'oii square on
- Fort Hill, the ancient Cornhill of the fathers,
378-9; site of Anne Tuthill's windmill in the
early days of the colony, 379 ; futile attempt
to change its old name, 389; improvements on
the circular enclosure in the square at various
times, 3^9; area of the square and changes
through recent improvements, 379; Fort Hill
a place of -p^jblic resort i.i old times, and the
delightful prospect from thence, 380; Church
Green, its ancient name an anomaly, 380;
authority granted in 1715 to erect a meeting-
house on the land, 380 ; the New South Church
built thereon,- and its recent removal, 381;
Church square in which the fii'st ChurchT)n
Cornhill waa situated, 381; square environing
the more ancient church of that society on
State street, '381 ; its sale to an Englishman
for sixty pounds fi^erUng, 38T ; application of
the purcha-.e money to the rebinlcling of tho
old meetiug-house situated where Joy s build-
ing now stands, 381 ; destruction of that
church by fire, 381 ; Columbia square on the
Neck, the territory now forming Franklin and
Blackstone squares, 382; Franklin square
formerly called Sliawmut squaie,38*2; execu-
tion, in 1817, of Henry Phillips in Columbia
square, 382; improvements on, and division
of,.the territory, and constitution of Franklin
and Blackstone squares, 382; urea of these
squares, and the fountains thereon, 382: old
Franklin square(orplace), in Franklin street,
its original condition and improvement, 382;
Franklin Crescent buildings commenced in
1793 and sixteen of them erected, 383; the
monumental urn in the small grass plot in
centre of the Crescent, its removal to Mount
Auburn cemetery, 383; Louisburg square on
the western slope of Beacon Hill, formerly
part of William Blaxston's garden, 383; sta-
tues of Columbus and ^Vristides at the Norti)
and South ends of the square, 383 ; Pcmbi rton
square, the style of the old peaks of the east-
erly Summit of Beacon Hill, 383; laud sold for
building lotrs, and its present name- assigned,
384; the City Hall squares, their area, 384;
City Hall -square, removal of old landmarks,
384; Asa Richardson's grocery and Barristers*
Hall on Court square, 384; inauguration and
subsequent removal of the statue of Benjami'i
Franklin, 384; the fencing of the squares with
iron, 384; the large triple-thorn acacia near
the Franklin statue, a rare specimen of one
of our native forest trees, 384; the WustChurch
(or Derby) square on Cambridge street laid out
its area, and oak trees planted thereon by Dr.
Charles Lowell, 385; the South End squares,
order pgissed by the city government in 1S50,
for their icstablishment in connection with tlie
laying-out of streets, 385; names of the ofljiiiil
promoters of this scheme, 385; establishment
of Cheater square. East and Went Chester
Parks, and Worcester square, 386; Haymaikit
square audits fountaiUiSSS; Maverick, Central
and Belmont squares, East Boston, and their
respective areas, 386; Telegraph Hill, Inde-
pendence square and the enclosure near the
City Point primary school. South Boston, their
extent and enclosure, 386-7; condition and
superintendence of the public squares and
enclosures, 387.
Pulling (PuUin, Pullen) Point, 32, 33,78,427,
437, 438, 439,-443, 447, 464.
Pnraham, Indian, 485^.
Pumpkin Island (or Ward's Island) on Hull
Shoals, near Hingham, and its devise to I-Inr-
vard College, by Samuel Ward of Charles-
town, 559.
Pumps, 57, 394,
Punch Bowl tavern, 424.
Punkapaug Jjake, 156.
Pursley, Edward, 498.
Quajter Burying-Ground, 227-234; the fourth
in point of antiquity in Boston, 227.
Quakers, 63, 71, 87, 227-234, 404, advent, in
1656, of the denomination in Boston. 226;
imprisonment, expatriation and persecution
of the sect, 228; gross cruelties of the fat he is
towards them, 228; execution of Quakers,
228; sympathy excited in their behalf in 1692,
and their relief from persecutions, 228; pur-
chase of a church lot in 1694, on the site of the
prese tQuincy House in Brattle Square, and
erection of a brick meeting-house, 228; sur-
render of the property in, 1709, and purchas'^
of another lot, 229 ; death of John Boames,
senior, a noted Quaker, 230: purchase of the
Congress street estate und erection, in 1709,
714
INDEX.
of a meeting-hoUBe, 230; tTin trnsteea of
the esiate^ 2il; Ut-Bcripiion of the build-
ing, 2S2; the house injured by firu and re-
paired in 1760, 232; di.-eontiniiance in 1808
of meetings held in it, 232 ; the adjoining land
used as a denominational burying-ground for
one hundred and six years, 232; exhumation
and removal of the dead to Lynn, 2:12; di-ath
and epitaph of Mr. Mumford, a prominent
Quaker, 233; modern builditiga on the Mitoof
the old church, 233; erection of the Qiaker
meeting-house in 1S28, in Milton place, a^d its
sale in 1865, 234; sketches of prominent mem'
bers of the Fociety of Friends and the general
character of the sect, 234; hung on the Com-
mon, 113 ; inhuman treatment of, 227.
Quaker Meeting-House, first, 229; second, 230;
third, 233.
Quarantine, 512; first attempt at, in Boston, at
Deer Island, 469. See New Quarantine.
Quarantine Ground, 462.
Queen Elizabeth, 9.
Queen stre* t, 130, 134, 671.
Qudch, John, 353, 541, 542.
Qiiincy, 16, 35, failure of a settlement there in
1626, by Morton, '* a London peitifogser," 16;
description of the lown in 1631 by \V"ood, 39.
Quincy, Eflmund,295; Josiah, Senior, 111, 179,
312, 326, 330, 333, 345,356,359,589, 606; Josiah,
Jr., 349.
Quincy HouRe, 228.
Quincy Maiket, commenced building in 1825 and
opened for use in 1826, 120.
Quit-claim, Indian, on I>e* r Island, in 1684, in
f.ivor of Boston, by AVampatuck and others,
468.
Rainsford (Raynsford), Elder Edward, the
first proprietnr of Riiinsford Island, his his-
tory, 520-1, 531; Elizabeth, 521.
Rainsford (Hospital or Quarantine) Island, sit-
uation, approaches, form and extent, 518 ;
sketch of its early history, 520-1 ; the original
owner of the island and some of his succes-
sors, 521 ; purchase of tlie land for hospital
purposes in 1736, by the Comnionwenlth and a
building L'lected fur sick and infeciioua por-
sons, 524; passage of quarantine laws by tlie
legislature, 525 ; descriptio-i of the quarantine
buildings, 525-6; the island once a famous
pleasure resort ; old graveyard and its me-
morials, 527.
Rainsford's Lane, 120.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 12.
Ram Head, an obstruction in the harbor, wreck
of a Maine vessel on it and all hands irozen
to deatU, 548-9.
Ranslead, John, the first sexton appointed for
the Common (or CcntralJ burying-ground,
238.
Rawson. Ann,646, Edward, 225; Eliot, 646.
Rawson's Lane, 130, 131. 134, 135.
Read, John, father-in-law of Beninmin Frank-
lin, inscription on his grn.vo stone iu Phila-
delphia, 637 ; William, 404, 454.
Real Estate, style of describing its boundaries
in ancient times, 626,
Rebel Works, 101.
Receiving Basin, 121.
Red Cross Flag, enmity towards it by the Com-
monwealth andindividuiils, 48S-9.
Red Lion Wharf, 133.
Redoubt on Copp's Hill, 161.
Reed, Benjamin T., 427, 428; John. Jr., 679.
Reformation, House of, established on Deer
Inland, 470.
Renown, ship, 573.
Reservoirs, 397.
Jievere Copper Company, 43S.
Revere, Paul, 225, 005; his church bell and can
nou foundry in Canton— his paper money, 166.
Reynolds (Rcnold", Rei:;olds), Robert, 167; a
Boston cordwainer and house proprietor in
early times, 616; sketch of the family of that
name, 618, 651; Nathaniel, 616,617,618,619;
Marv, 6 16 ; Priscilla, 617.
Ridge Hill, 312.
Rice, Alexander H., 358, 364; Caleb, 546, 650;
Robert, 651.
Rich, Thomas P., alderman, iraprovementof the
northwestern end of the Common (*'the
swamp,)'* under his official direction, 342.
Richards, Johj),491; Samuel. 617.
Itichardson, Asa, 384; John, 201; Thomas, 231.
U-oach, Peter, 543.
Roads, iu B'lStou harbor, their names, 441.
Robbins, Chandler, 407, 410; Edward H., 231,
690.
Robin, Abbe, his description of Boston in 1781,
67; appearances of the lown, 68; number and
character of the buildings, 68; good laste of
the architecture, 69; brick being substituted
for wooden houses, 69; observance of tli^i S ib-
bath, streets deserted on that day, 69; anec-
dote of a musical EVenchman, 70 : plainness of
the churches, 70; Boston men aii'd womeu iu
1781, 71 ; physical description of the town. 72;
rui 13 of Charles! own after the burning in June
17, 1775, 72; Boston harbor atid commerce, 73;
linen and cloth manufiictory established 74;
education and Cambridge College, 75.
Robinson, Thomas, 595; William, 113, 352,
Rocfort, 88.
Uochambeau, Count, 67, 77.
Rocks, dangerous in the harbor, Centurion, Kel-
ley's and Nash's Rocks and Thieves' ledge,
etc., 441, 562 and 567.
Roebuck Passage, 4U4, 6S3.
Roebuck Tavern, 382.
Rogers, D.miet D., 178, 180: Henry B., 386, 409;
Isaiah, 187; Airs. Elizabeth, 180; Rev.Kzeklel,
273.
Roman Catholic Burying-Grouud in Dorchester,
292.
Roman Catholic Burying-Ground, South Boston,
258.
Romans, B., 94.
Rumans's Mans, 94.
Romer, Col. William Wolfgang, constructor of
Fort William, in 1701, on Castle Island, 493.
RopewiUks, 135, S12; burning of on Pearl and
Atkinson streets, and erection of new ones on
the Common lands, 355; removal thence, 121.
Rosewell, Sir Henry, his patent for the Massa-
chusetts Bay Company, 16, 18, 19.
Roiiillard, Frederic, 659, 660.
Round Marsh, the, 300 ; grant of the land for
ropewalks in 1794, and re-purchase, 357.
Rowe, John, 409 ; Owen, 521.
Rowe street, 126.
Rowe*s Pasture, 126, 409, 412.
Rowe's Wharf, 107, 115, 116. 118, 120.
Roxbury, 38, 40, 42, 44, 83, 99, 103,. 104, 136, 140,
142, 144, 164, 169, 265 ; incorporation of in 1830,
as a town, as a city in 1846, and annexation to
Boston in 1B67, 34; fifth church planted tl^ere,
its description in 1634, by Wood, 40.
Roxbury Bay, 142, 433.
Roxbury Bridge, 430.
Roxbury Directory, 103.
lloxbury Gate, 167.
Roxbury Harbor, l"^?.
Roxbury Line, 32, 36, 122.
Roxbury Maps, 103.
Roxbury Old Cemetery, 270.
Roxbury, West incorporated 1851, on the 24th
May, 34.
Royall, Isaac, 283; William, 289.
Royall tomb, 288.
Iluggle, John, 466.
Rum, 74.
Rumney Marsh, 33, 133, 439, 447.
INDEX.
715
Russell, Josoph, 655; "William, 82; Noaaiah,
559; Thomas, 417.
Bacononoco, Indian, '4S5. ■
Sagadahoc, Popham and Gilbert's attempt and
failure to establish a colony there, death of
Gilbert, loss to the settlement by fire, and its
abandonment, 13.
Sagamoro of Agawam, 503.
Sagamore Creek, 156.
Sagamore George, 469.
Sagamore head, 436.
Sagamore John, chief of the Aberginian tribe
of Indians at Charlestown, 17.
Sailing distances, in the Harbor, 585-7.
St. Andrew's Lodge, 606.
St. Augustin Cemetery, 258. *
St. Botolph's, 26.
St. James Hotel, 243.
St. Job 0, Hector, 77.
Bt. Joseph's Cemetery, 279.
St. Joseph's Church , 279.
St. Mary's Church, 37.
St. Miitthew's Church, STA
St. Matthew's Church Cemetery, 253.
St. Paul's Cemetery, 250-251.
SaU-m, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24,.27. 28, 78, 93; settlement
of, by Roger Conant in 1626, 16; by John
Endicott, Samuel Skelton and othi^rs in 1628-9,
17; arrival thereof John Winthrop and his
company In June 1630, 23; description of Gov.
Wlnthrop's company. 28; privation, Bickness
and death am.ongstthem, 2<$; iirst Fast day iu
New Kngland appointed, 29.
Salem Monthly Meeting of Quakers, 231.
Salem Turnpike, 429.
Saltonstail, Sir Richard, and associates, pledge
themselves at Cambridge (England), to em-
bark for New England in March, lii29, 17 .
San Domingo, 6.
San Salvador discovered by Columbus, 4.
Sanford, John, 474; chosen an canoneer at th-i
defences of Fort Hill in 1634; his allowance
from the public treasury, lG-5.
Sanborn, D. A., 100.
Santa Maria de la Antigun, 6.
Sargeant, Peter, 609, 618, 630; the builder of the
Old Province House, 594, 696.
Sarg-'nt. Lucius Manlius, hi;* purchase of land
at South o:id, 123.
Savage, Ephraim, 685; Jamos, 4*10; Thomas,
187,491; a noted man in the early history of
Boston, and a commander during King Phil-
ip's war, and his tomb in the Old Chapel bury-
ing-ground, 195.
Saw Mill. 113.
Sayer, R.,94, 95.
Scavengers, 153; first regularly appointed for the
separate Wards in 1713, 129.
School committee, 153.
School House lane, 675.
Schoolhouse, 135; given by Thomas Hutchinson,
205.
Schoolhouse lot, for South Boston, 254.
Scollay, William, one of the most earnest friends
of improvements in Boston, 383.
Sconce, 108,116, 117.
Sconce Point, 108.
ScDttow, Joshua, 400, 683, 684; Thomas, 672,
674.
Scottow's Alley, 40'».
Scudamore, Christopher, 542.
Scull head, 436.
Seulpin Ledge, 508,
Sea street, 108.
Sea Wall, 118.
Sears, David, 362, 656.
Seaver, Mr., 238.
Seaverns, Joel, 267.
Beaverns Farm, Roxbiiry ; its purchase in 1847
for a rural cemetery, 267.
Seaward, Roger, 628.
Sedgwick, Robert, 480, 672.
Selectmen, 127, 153.
Rellick, David. 682.
Sentry Hill, 213.
Settlement, of Boston, in 1630 by the Charles-
town colonists, 26: privations of the first set-
tlers, 30 ; setting off of the town of Boston and
its original boundaries, 32; proposed planting
of the Boston colony at Cambridge. 32.
Settlers of Boston, their character, architectural
and domestic taste, 589. 590.
Sewall, Jonathan, 222 ; Rev. Joseph, 63 ; Samuel,
184, 199, 225, 295, 296, 417; Hannah, wife of
Samuel, daughter of Mint-master John Hull,
their conveyance of lands to the town of Bos-
ton for bnrying purposes, 199; Professor, 75.
Sewall'a Point, 423.
Shapes and descriptions of the Harbor Islands,
440.
, Shaw, John, 468, 683.
Shaw tomb, in Co|)i>'s Hill Burial-Ground, 204.
Shawmut, original name of Boston, 25, 389.
rfhawmut pquare, 382,
Sheafe, Jacob, 607; his burial place in the Old
Chapel Ground. 192; Margaret, 192.
Sheep on the Common, 303-
Sheep Island (or Sun Island) at the mouth of
Hi-'ghanf harbor, 558,
Shefiicld, Lord, 16.
Sheehan, John, 349,
Sherburn, Mr. 331.
Sherman, Richard, 651; Roger, his homestead
at Canton, 156.
Shields, J. B., 102.
Ship street, 133.
Ship-building, flourishing in Boston in 1654, as
described by Capt. Edward Johnson of
Woburn, 42. '
Ship Courses from Xix's Mate seaward; des-
cription thereof, and of passages now disused,
543-4.
Shippon, Edward, 229, 234.
Shipping, 63.
Shirley, Frances, 2")0 ; Governor William, 65,
437 ; lays the foundation stone of King's Cha-
pel in 1749; buried there in 1771, 250.
Shirley Gut, the channel separating Shirley
Point, Winthrop, from Deer Island, 437.
Shirley's Battery, located on the northeastern
side of Castle Ibland, 496.
Shoals, in Bostoil harbor; their names, 441.
Shore, Sampson, 682.
Shrimpton, Abigail, 675; Henry, 6T5; Col. Sam-
* uel, 60, 463 ; a large I mdholder. in Boston in
its early days, 594, 595.
Shrimpton'a Lane, 396.
Shurtleff, Dr. Benjamin, HI; his gift of land in
Chelsea, for a roud to be free for public travel,
427.
Shurtleff Schoolhouse, and its dedication in 1869,
2-38.
Slmte, Col. Samuel, Provincial Governor in
1716, and probably the first ofiacial occupant
of the Old Province House, 598.
Sidewalk to Common, 318.
Sidney, F.C, 102.
Sidney's Map, 102.
Signal Hill, 463.
Simpkins, Capt. Nicholas, 478, 479, 480.
Simpson, Daniel P., 647; John K., 647; William
B., 647.
Skelton, Samuel, an original colonist of Salem,
17.
Skinner, John,' 426.
Skreellnga, 7.
Slade. James, 99, 364, 463.
Slate Ledge, an island in the harbor, its situa-
tion and description, 456.
Slatter, J., 98.
Smelt Brook, 40.
71G
INDEX.
Smith, Alexander. 612: Capt. John, 13, 16; hie
IjarticipiUioti in Virginia coloiiizauou, 13; his
exploration of the New England coa^t from
the Penobscot to Cape Cod, 14; his map of the
localitiea visited by him and tlieir nomencla-
ture, lo; kidnapping and enslaving of New
England Indians, death of Capt. Smith, 15;
John, 606; George G., 92, 97, i74; Joseph, 631;
J. V. C, 339, 340; Oliver, 325, 329, 372;
Thomas, of Cohassett, owner in 1847, of Long
Island, 535; Loveit & Co., 187.
Smith's Hill, 445, 446.
Snake Island, a smiill and almost vahieless ter-
ritory in the harbor, off Winth'rop, 461.
Snakes, 51.
Snelling, Col., 614; George H., 362.
Snow, Or. Caleb, 92, 97.
fcjnow, Elizabeth, piracy on hoard of, and execu-
tion of the pirates at Charleatown and burial
of their bodies on iSix'a Mate, 540-42.
Snow Hill, 126, 158, 160.
Soam?8, John, 229, 230, 686.
Social condition of Buston, account of by J. P.
Brissot de Warville, in 1788, and of the man-
ners and murals of the people, 83-8.
Sohier, Edward, 677.
Soldiers' Monument, abortive attempt to erect
one on Powder House liillou the Common,
the foundation laid undl)uried up, 345.
Somers, riir Georgu, 17.
Sons of Liberty, their meetings in the Old
Dragon Tavern, 605.
Soper, titeven L., 622.
South Battery, 116, 119.
Sonth IJaltery Point, 108.
South Bay, 107, 142, 439.
fcJoulh Block, 163.
South Boston, 99, 144; named l:i 1834 on its
annexation to Boston, 125.
South Boston Bridge, 121; incorporation of the
company in 1804, construction, cost, opening
and surrender of franchise to the city, 422.
South Boston Cemcturies, 252; tombs under
St. Matthew's Chapel, their use discon-
tinued on the church being sold, 253; selection
of the St. Matthew's Ceraetei-y lot by commis-
sioners in 1817, 253; erection of tombs and
release of the rights to the city by the propri-
etors, 254 ; location, extent and boundaries of
a new burial lot, 255; its inadaptability and
abandonment as a place of sepulture, 256;
erfftion of the Shurtleff school on the land in
186S, 257; L'stablishmeut of theHawesburying-
ground, its location, extent and boundaries,
257; location and extent of the IJnion Ceme-
tery, 257 ; establishment of the St. Augustin
Catholic Crraetery, its extent and boundaries,
enclosure and monuments, its chapel, its com-
memorative tablets and remarkable grave-
stones, 2J8-61.
South Burying-Ground, 242-245.
South Church, 63.
South Cove, 36, 115, 120, 125, 158, 162.
South Cove Company, 125.
South Cove Corporation, its filling up, laying
out, and improvement of the South Cove ter-
ritory, 120.
South End, 111, 121, 124, 139.
South End Burying-Grounds, the,243; situation
of the South End cemetery, the spot formerly
used for executions, 244; improvements made
on the giounds, 244; building and sale of a
hundi-ed and sixty-two tombs, and discontinu-
ance of a portion of them, 244; the monuments
and gravestones, 245; Samuel Hill He-\es, the
veteran superintendant of burials, and his
great interest in ihe cemetery ,245.
South End dust, 424.
South Island Wharf, 119.
South Meeting-Houae, 135.
South Mill, 112, 113.
South-Ward, 131,137.
South "Windmill, 167.
Southcot, Ca]»t., 31.
Southack, C'apt. Cyprian, 92.
Soutliack's Court, 134.
Spear, John, 550.
Spectacle Island, position and prominent fea-
tures, 508-9; allotment by the provincial f;ov
ernment to Boston, and its usee, 509 ; perils of
a party of wood-cutters, 509; the island rent-
ed, iu 1649, for sixpence per acre, failure of
the leaseholders to pay, and surrender of the .
land to theplauters on payment of arrt^arages,
510; subsequent ownership, purchase of a por-
tion of it for a quarantine huEpital,and bi^itfiry
of that institution, 513-15, present uses of the
island, 517.
Spit(or Bug) Light, in the Narrows, description
of the structure of, 562.
Spoor, Elizabeth, 657.
Spoore, John, farmer, 390, 651, 652; the original
prop ietor of the Julien estate, his punishment
for entertaining free religious opinions, 657,
658.
Sprague, Samuel, 240.
Spring, in Spring lane, 407.
Spring street Spring, 392,
Springate, the, 112, 389, 651, 658.
Springs, Town Pumps and Reservoirs in Bos-
ton. 41, 44, 389; the lack of water felt by thu
Chat-lestown Colonic^ts, 388; its plentifulness
in Boston the reason for their removal to that
place at the solicitation of William Blaxton,
388; the **8pringate" well and pumps in
Spring Lane, their situation, appearance and
notoriety, 390; the street named from the
spring, 390 ; old dwellings and residents near
the spot, and topographical def*cription of
their possessions, 390; cessation of the sprin-
gate spring and ri'appearance while excavating
for the site of the new Post Office, 391; the
Blaxton Spring on the site of Louisburg
Square, 391; its abundant product of water
and its great advantage to the people in its
neighborhood, 392; the spring on iho north
west of Spring struet,not the Blaxton Spring,
392; the punch drinkers' spring near West Hill,
a famous resort in old times, 39:^; the f.imous
Hall Spring in Hawkins street, its misfor-
tune, and the decay of its medicinal reputa-
tion, 39S--4; the first well in Boston sunk iu
Washington 8treet,its pump a public nuisance,
and its disuse, 394-5; discovery of the re-
mains of the old well in 1858, and its condi-
tion and closing up again, 395; the old well
and pump on Dock square, its great public
benefit and disuse; 396; the old well in Ex-
change street and other noted wells, 396; re-
servoirs made for tire purposes, 397; the
Jamaica Pond water supply, 397; the old
conduit in Dock square, and the cattle pond
in Bedfoi-d street, a97. See Blackstoue, Blax-
ton, Fox Hill, Great, Mineral, Spring Lane,
Spring Street, Springate.
Spurre, John, 658.
Squanto, Indian, 14.
Squantura, 35, 156; a promontory in North
Quiucy, 500; feasts held there, 505; amiexcd
in 1855 to Quincy, 505.
Squantum Feasts, 505.
Squautum's Neck 606.
Squares, 378. See Blackstone, Blaxton, Bow-
doin, Central, Chester, Church, City Hall,
Columbia, Court, Derby, Dock, Franklin, Hay-
market, Independence, Louishurg, North,
Pemberton, Public Squares, Shawmut, Union
Park, Washington Purk, WaahingtoQ Square,
Worcester.
SquaW Rock, 505.
Squeb, Cupt., 30, 31.
Stackpoie, William, 950.
INDEX.
717
Staekpole Honse, the residence of a noted Bos-
ton mei-chant, but subsequently a famous
restaurant on the east corner of Devonshire
and Mill: streets, 659.
Stanbridge, Henry, 6B8.
Stanbury, Thomas, 633, 534, 642, 645, 648, 647 ;
the builder of the Old Feather store, 642.
Standish, Miles, 503. '
Stanley, Christopher, 126, 160,634; tailor, large
owner of property in the old North end, own-
er of Stanley's Pasture, and the first deviser
of a gift to maintain a free school, 160-1,
Stanley's grant to the free school, Wl.
Stanley's i'aaturCj 126, 160.
Star, Mr. ,607.
Ktar tavern, 405, 630, 656.
State Arraa Tavern, 641.
State House, uew, 171, 172; foundation laid in
1795, by Gov. Samuel Adams, 172.
State Houses, old and new ; times of their erec-
tion, 592.
State Map, 104.
State Prison, at Charlestown, built in 1805, and
prisoners removed theuce from Fort Indepen-
dence, 496.
Statue of Aristides, 383; of Columbus, 383; of
Franklin, 384.
Statues on the Public Garden ; Story's statue
of Everett, Ball's statue of Washington, and
the Ether monument, 364.
Steel, John, 535; Margaret, 535.
Stevens, James M., 404 ; Mr., 476.
Stevenson, John, 616, 651; Marmaduke, 113,352.
Stew.irt, Mr., 82.
StiUman, Samuel, 225.
Stimpson, Charles, jr., 97.
Stirling, William, Earl of, his claim to the own-
ership of Long Island, 532.
Stoddard, Mrs., 609 ; Simeon, 127, 695, 596, 617,
631.
Stone Chape], 195 ; sketch of its ancient and
modern history, 248-50.
Stony Beach, 436.
Stony Brook, 103; (and muddy brook), their
origin and course, 167.
Stony River, 40.
Storey, Roland, 643.
Story, Joseph, 266; William W., his statue of
Edward Everett on the Public G-arden, and its
dedication, 364,
Stoughton, Elizabeth, 633; Israel, 608; I.ieut.
Gov. William, 286, 287, 633, 607, 608, 612, 528,
629, 630 ; his public services, 286 ; benefactions
to Harvard College, his epitaph, written by
Cotton Mather, 287 ; sketch of his history, and
also of his possessions in Boston, 608.
Straumey, 9.
Straumfiords, 9.
Strawberry Hill, 436.
t-treets. description of, 46, 54, 62, 79, 83.
Study Hill, 295.
Styles and gates, 314.
Sullivan James, 214, 226, 413, 419; John, 667;
William, 384.
Sumner, Increase, 220, 225; William H., 424.
Sun Tavern, the old, at the corner of Dock
square and the Old Corn Market, 404.
Sunday, observance of, 69.
Susanna Island, 447.
Swan, the, W.
Swan, James, 308, 417.
Sweet Auburn, 265.
Sweet, John, 666.
Sweetser, John, 619.
Swett, C. A.,99.
Swing Bridge, 114, 404, 683.
Bymons, Henry, 100, 110, 683; the first proprietor
of the Old Feather Store estate, 646; Susanna,
645.
Synoptical description of the harbor of Boston,
582, et seq.
T Wharf, 118.
Tablets in the State House, 177.
Taller, William, 667, 669, 629 ; acting Provincial
governor, 598.
Taibye, Dilliculty, 362; Dorothy, 362; John,
352.
Talmage, William, 300.
Tanners' Lane, 654.
Tappan and Bradford, 104.
Tappan, Richard, 653.
Tapping, Richard, 672.
Telegraph Hill, 387.
Temple, Margaret, 635 ; Robert, 536; Thomas,
468, 469, 532.
Temple street, 172; laid out in 1824, and divis-
ion of the town lands on Beacon Hill, 179.
Teulon, Edward A., 103.
Tewksbury, John W., 427.
I'hacher, Judah, 199 ; Mary, 199 ; Thomas, 192,
607.
Thaxter, Col., 596 ; Samuel, 513, 567, 669.
Thayer, Minot, 678; Samuel M., 678; Sylva-
nus, 651.
Thieves' Ledge, and other noted fishing grounds
in the harbor, 543.
Thomiis, Mr., 246.
Thompson, David, 15,520; the original owner of
the island of that name; claim of his heir to
its T>ossession acknowledged, 502 ; sketch of
the history of Thompson, 503, 506; John, 502,
503, 604 ; Robert, 409.
Thompson's Island, 42 ; position, extent and ap-
pearance, its bar and its treasures, 500-1 ; sin-
gular geographical peculiarities, 501 ; grant
of the island to the inhabitants of Dorchester,
and its rental applied to school purposes, 502;
the Thompson claim to its ownership recog-
nized, 502; failure of attempt towards its re-
covery by the town of Dorchester, 503 ;
curious particulars concerning its original
ownership, 503-4 ; purchase of the island by
the Boston Farm School corporation, an asy-
lum erected on it for indigent boys, 506; the
island set off from Dorchester and annexed to
Boston, and the condition, 506.
Thomson, Benjamin, schoolmaster and physician
in Roxbury, his epitaph in the Eliot graveyard,
276.
Thorfin, adventurer, probable discoverer of Mar-
tha's Vineyard, 9.
Thormoder Thorfseus, navigator, 6.
Thorndike, John P., 367.
Thornton, Timothy, 205.
Thorwald, navigator, 8.
Three Hills of Boston. (See the account of
Copp's, Fort and Beacon Hills.)
Thurston, William, 174, 178, 180.
Thurston House, its position on Beacon Hill, 174.
Thwing, John, 203.
Ticknor, WiUiam D., 679.
Tileston, William, 424, 648.
Tilton, Peter, 117.
Tisquantum, Indian, 14.
Tithing men, 127, 153.
Title to the Comtaon, 296, 302.
Tolman, John, 292.
Tombs at City Institution, 263; in Central Bury-
ing-Ground, discontinued, 238; in Trinity
Church, 247; in King's Chapel, burial places of
noted Episcopalians and other celebrities, 250 ;
in St. Paul's Chapel, Gen. Joseph Warren and
other celebrated men buried there, 251 ; in
Park Street Church, removal in 1862 of the
bodies therein to Mount Auburn, to the So-
ciety's lot, and the graves therein, 262.
Tompson. See Thompson.
Topography of the Common; the old training
field on the eastern side, 341 ; the parade
ground on the western side, 342; the marsh
at the corner of the ground on Beacon and
Charles streets improved and^filled up, 342;
718
IXDEX.
sea wall bnllt from Beacon to Boylston street,
and six rope-walks erected in 1796, 342; their
destruction by fire in 1806, and rebuilding aud
burning aeecond time, in 1819, of four of them,
342; a street laid out from Pleasant to Beacon
sreers in 1803, 343 ; the Charles street mall laid
out by Mayor Josiah Quincy, senior, 343; the
west part of the Common used as a cavalry
training ground in ITS?, 343; its use for that
purposf refused in 1797, 343; order preserving
the west part of the Common as a parade
ground for the use of the soldiers passed in
1852, 344; the modern uses of the parade
ground, 344 ; Powder House hill, and the
abortive attempt to place the soldiers' mnnu-
ment there, 345 ; the foundation laid and bur-
ied up in 1866, 345; sketch of the ancient liis-
tory of the hill, 345 ; a windmill there in 1652,
345; entrenched by the British troops during
the Revolutionary war, 34-J; circle of thirteen
trees on its summit, 345 ; erection and removal
of the flag-staff, S45 ; popular coasting place for
boys in winter, scene of drinking and gamb-
ling on election days, 345; Fox hill. Painter's
windmill and the adjoining marsh, 347 ; Ridge
hill and traces of excavations made by British
soldiers for cooking places, 347; Washington
hill and its circle of seven elms, 347; the music
circle, its ornamentation with trees, flagstaff
and faeiUlies for liublic accommodation, 348;
the gallows formprly erected on a knoll on the
Common, 34S; the Frog Pond not marked on
early maps of the Common, but supposed to
be of artificial construction, 348; its recent
improvement and futile attempts to change
Its name, 349; Sheehan'sPondand origin ofits
name, 349; account of the execution of John
Sheehan in 1787, on the snot, 349; the present
parade ground the site of 'this pond, 349 ; Cow-
pond, or Horso pond, the watering place for
animals grazed on the Common, filled up with
coal ashes, 350 ; the "•wishing stone," its situa-
tion near the " Gingko tree " and its removal
through improvement, 350; story of the qual-
ities of the wishing stone, and of the wishing
ceremonies, 351; British fortifications on the
Common during the siege of Boston, their po-
sitions, 351; topographical survey and meas-
urement of the Common, cemetery, malls and
fence, 352; executions on the Common during
nearly two hundred years, and at other places
in the vicinity, 353; executions stopped on the
Common at the request of the people of
Boston, and the gallows removed to South
Boston, 353 ; executions at Nook's hill and
Boston Neck, 354.
Tower Rock, a dangerous harbor obstruction,
its removal by sub-marine blasting, 561.
Town Clerk, 129, 153.
Town Dojck, 111, 112, 116, 641.
Town elections, times, places and manner
thereof, 152-3.
Town Fields, 313.
Town House, 46, 62, 675.
Town Officers, 153; chosen in olden times in
March, 15U
Town Pond, 138.
Town Pump, 57, 388, 394, 395,641.
'I'own Pump in Dock square, 396.
Town's Watering Place, 137, 163, 406.
Townsend, Joseph, 668.
Trade of Boston, 49, 50.
Train bands, first raised in the early days of the
colony to keep watch and ward, 127, 129.
Training Field, 212, 237, 2.6, 307, 316.
Tramount, 41.
Trask, William, 476.
Travel, only one carriage way into Boston in
early times, 416.
Treamount, 170; the great changes which have
taken place in the territory, 180.
Treamoant Hill, 159.
Treamount street, 134.
Treasurer, 128, 153, 535.
Trecothic, B^^rlow, a London alderman, pur-
chaser, in 1758, of Long Island, 535.
Trees set out on the neck, 143.
Trees, waste of, 315.
Tremont House, 212.
Tremount street, 122,126; formerly called Long
acre, Common street, or Tremont street, 213.
Trespassing cattle banished to Deer Island, 466.
Trevore, William, one of the May Flower Bail-
ors, his acb' of taking possession of Thomp-
son's Island and grant of the land to David
Thompson of London, 503.
Triangular Warehouse, the, 404, its situation
and i>cculiarities, 681-3; description of the
building in its architectural aspect, 684-5; its
uses in early and in modern times, and notice
of it made by the novelist Cooper in his " Lionel
Lincoln," 687; its sale to the city of Boston
and demobtion, 687.
Trimountaine, 26, 170; the name applied to
Boston by the first setders, who invite Grov.
Winthrop to settle in BoBton, 25.
Trinity Church, 167, 247.
Trinity Church Cemetery, 247.
Troop of Horse, 63.
Trotraan, John, 606.
Truesdale, Richard, 672.
Tucker's Pasture, 109, 126.
Tudor, Mrs., her gift of a statue for the Public
Garden, 364; William, 422.
Tuesday Club, 82.
Tufts, Nathan, 426.
TuHy, Samuel, pirate, 244, 354-
Tupper, Benjamin, 575.
Turell, Daniel, 198; John, 668; Samuel, 668;
William, 668.
Turner, Nathaniel. 476; Robert, 178,672.
Turning Bridge, 683.
Tuthill, Anne, 379; Richard, 379; Zachariah,
569.
Tuthill's Windmill, 166.
Tuttle, J. W., 98.
Tyler, William, 135.
Tyley, Samuel, 612, 629.
Tyng, Dudley Atkins, 240; Edward, 682; Sarah,
240; William, 229, 684, privileges granted by
him to the town of Boston for the nrocurement
of water for the Dock Square Conduit in 1649,
and his death three years later, 400,
Underbill, John, 166, 476.
Union Cemetery, 258.
Union Park, 386.
Union Park Street, 141.
Union Stone, its situation, 405.
Union street, 134, 405.
University at Cambridge, 75.
Upper Middle, a troublesome sboal, projecting
from South Boston Point, and the means taken
for its removal, 452.
Upton, George B., 361.
Uring, Capt. Nathaniel, his visit to Boston har-
bor (probably in 1721), and his description
thereof. 434-5.
Urquahart*B Map, 96.
Valley Acre, 126.
Vane, Henry, 166.
Vassall, Anna, 687; Samuel, 250.
Vaubaird, the French Admiral, his visit to Bos-
ton harbor in 1782, loss of the Maguifique, a
seventy-four gun ship of his fleet, 551; at-
tempts to obtain treasures from the wreck,
and anecdote concerning the pilot who run the
vessel ashore, 551-2.
Vaughan, Charles, his prominence in improving
the style of building in Boston, 383.
, Venner, Thomas, 394, 642.
INDEX,
719
Venner's Pump, 642.
Veimer'8 Well, 395.
Verazzani, John de, 11,
Vespucci, 10, 11.
Vessels. See Ann, Arbella, Fortune, Friend-
ship, Griffin, Independence, Little James,
Magnifique, Mary and John, Matihew, May
Flower, llenowu. Swan, Santa Maria, Pinta,
Niiia.
Viall, John, 409.
Victims of the massacre, 226.
Vinal, Judge, 311.
Vinland, 7, 8.
Virginia Colony, 18.
Voting, Low performed, 152.
Wadsworth, Alexander, 358; Rev. Benjamin, 63.
Wadsworth's Corner, 133.
Waite, Thomas, 699, 601.
Wakelield, John, 270.
Wallbrd, Thomas, 24.
"Walker, Abigail, 646; Benjamin, 127; Isaac,
645 ; Robert, 296, 297, 300 ; tjusauiia, 646.
"Walling and Gray, 103.
Walling, H. F., 99, 102.
"Walling's Map, 99, 102.
"Wallis, tiamuel, 647, «8T.
Walter, llev. Nehemiah, 276; Rey. Thomas, 275.
Wampatuck, the Indian Sachem, 511; his testi-
mony that the peninsula of Boston was fairly
purchased from the Indians, 301-2; his execu-
tion of a quit-claim to Deer Island, 463. (See
Josias.)
"Wanton, Edward, his conversion to Quakerism
through the persecutions of that sect in Bos-
ton, 228, 229, 234; Gov. William, 234.
Ward Boundaries id 18"0, 144-151.
Ward Divisions, 1715, 129; in 1735, 131; in 1736,
138.
Ward, Edward, 63, 59, 60 ; "N"ahum,616; Samuel,
of Charlestown, his gift of Pumpking (or
Bumkiu) island, in 1682, to Harvard College,
559-60".
Ward's Pond, 167.
Wards, 127, 129, 132, 137; established, 143; de-
termined once in ten years, 143; number of,
135; New Division of, 141; fifteen in 1868,
sixteen in 1870, 144.
Warham, Rev. John, 29, 30.
^V'"arren Association, 257.
Warren Bridge, 421; company incorporated in
1828, and bridge built and opened same year,
426.
Warren Cemetery, its establishment in 1818;
its location and boundaries, and presentation
of the grounds to the town of Roxbury, 278.
Warren, Fort, commencement in 1833 of. its
Erection, and description of its construction,
earthworks and inscription over its entrance,
556.
Warren, Isaac, 426; John, 278; John C, 93,
Gen. Joseph, 226,291, 2r7, 451, 605; killed at
Bunker Hill, body interred in the granary
burying-ground, remains removed thence and
deposited in a tomb in tit. Paul's Church, the
body again removed to Forest Hills Cemetery,
251 ; Joseph, father of Gen. Warren of Bunker
Hill fame, his death by accident and burial
place in the Eliot graveyard, 277.
Washington, Ball's statue of, outhe Public Gar-
den, 364.
Washington Gardens, 308.
"Washington Park, a name attempted to be given
the Conjimon in 1830, and failure of the prop-
osition, 328.
Washington Square, 163,
Washington Village, 33.
Watches and Wards, organized by districts in
the early days of the colony, .and origin of
the present system of ward divisions, 1Z7.
Water Works, 416.
Waterhonse, Rev. Thomas, 602.
Watering Place, 138, 397.
Waters, Daniel, 458.
Waterston, Rev. R. C.,409.
Watertown, named by the Court of Assistants
at Charlestown in fleptember, 1630, 26; church
organized there same year by George Phil-
lips, 29.
Webb, Henry, his gift to Harvard College, 192;
Rev. John, 63.
Webster, J. G., 368.
Weld, Benjamin, 200, 201, 421; Samuel, 278;
Thomas, 648.
Welden, Capt. Robert, his funeral the first in
Boston, 183.
Wells, Samuel, 523.
Wellington, A. A., 404.
Wells, Charles, 201, 217 ; mayor of Boston in 1833,
improvements during his incumbency, 111;
Ebenezer, 668.
Welstead's Meeting-House, 609.
Wendell, Jacob, 132, 135; Oliver, 419.
Wessaguscus (Weymouth), 39.
Wessagusset, 15.
West Boston, 125.
West Boston (or Cambridge) bridge, 419, 421.
West Church, 263.
West Cove (or Back Bay), 36; its condition in
1784, first improvements, Roxbury dams and
causeway built in 1823, and water shut out of
the receiving basin, 121; sale of cove lands in
1830, to Lucius M.Sargent, 122; their value
since increased a thousand fold, 122 ; cession
of a portion of tiie land to Boston, and mod-
ern improvements, 123.
West End, 125, 139.
West Hill, 106, 13«, 171.
West Hill Spring, 392.
West Head, 445.
West Roxbury, 268; set olT from Roxbury, 34.
West, John, 96.
Western Avenue, 125, 421, 423 ; company incor-
porated in 1S14, 121; laid out as a street, and
opened in 1821 to public travel, 358.
Western Passage, Boston harbor, its descrip-
tion, 617.
Westminster, 17. '
Westou, Thomas, his failure in 1622 to establish
a colony at Weymouth, 16.
Wetmore, William, 419,
Weymouth, 15, 39.
Weymouth River, 102.
Wharf, 62.
Wharton, Bethia, 684; Martha, 684, 686 ; Rich-
ard, 684, 686, 688, a noted Boston merchant,
about 1650, who built the Triangular Ware-
house, 684, and his death in 1690 in reduced
circumstances, 685 ; Sarah, 684,
Wharves of Boston, their size and cost in the
year 1654, the resort of French, Dutch and
Portuguese traders, 44.
Wheate, Mr., 246.
Wheeler, David, 408, 410; Dorcas, 410; Eliza-
beth, 410; Hepzlbah,410; Jonathan, a large
proprietor at the South End, and corner of
Wheeler's Point, 108 ; Timothy, 117 ; Thomas,
167, 409.
Wheeler famify, owners of Wheeler's pond,
brief history of, 410.
Wheeler's Garden, 167.
Wheeler's Pasture, 126.
Wheeler's Point, 106, 108.
Wheeler's Pointers, 125.
Wheeler's Pond, 1.38. 410; the town's watering
place for cattle in Pond (Bedford) street, 407,
Wheelwright, John, 246, 480.
"Whipping post, 56.
Whitcomb, Tilly, 633.
White and Finch duel in 1819, on Noddle's
Island, and death of Finch, 447,
720
INDEX.
White, John, 668; Lt. Francis B., 447; ■William,
641.
Whitehead, 436.
Whiting, Elbridge, 104; Z., the builder of Cam-
bridge bridge, 420.
Whitman, Zachariah G., 258.
Whitmore, W. B., 60.
Whitney, Charles, 103.
Whittemore, Nathaniel, 425.
Whitwell, Samuel, 404.
Wightman, H. M., 99; T., 97.
Wilbore, Samuel, 295.
Wilcox, Joseph, 468, 459; Mary, 458; Eobert,
459, 460.
Wild, Daniel, 619; Sarah, 619.
Willard, Josiah, 226; Samuel, 80.
Willaril'a corner, 134.
Williams, Alexander, 670; John D., 142, 506;
Jonathan, 320; Nathaniel, 127, 637; Samuel
K.,426; Thomas, 447, 667; William, 667.
Williams's boat, 627.
Williams's Court, 672.
Williams's Island, 444.
Williams's Market House, 141.
Willis, Clement, 369; Nicholas, 629, 652, 653.
Willoughby, Francis, 117.
Wilson, Rev. John, 25, 27, 28, 32,276; arrival
at Boston with the Winthrop colony, and his
connection with the first church in Boston, 29.
Winds, thejprevalent, in Boston Harbor, 581-2.
Windmill Hill, 41, 125, 158, 159.
Windmill on Fort Hill, 166.
Windmill Point, 106,115,120, 436; (or Wheel-
er's Point,) the derivation of its original name
and change thereof, 108.
Windmill Walk, 113.
Windmills, 41, 108, 115, 142, 160 ; placed on every
eminence in the old town of Boston, 115;
widow Tnthill's windmill on Fort Hill, 166.
Wineland. See Vinland, 8.
Wing's Lane, 130, 134, 401.
Winnisimmet, 33, 81, 101, 439. 447.
Winnisimmet Ferry, 32, 36, 79, 93.
Winnisimmet Fcrryways, 107 138, 664.
Winnuequassum, an Indian claimant for the
possession of Thompson's Island, 604.
Winslow, Edward, 16, 390 ; John, 189, 390.
Winthrop, town of, 33, 437, 439, 449, 450 451;
set off from Chelsea in 1862, 33.
Winthrop, Adam, 613, 567 ; Deane, 439 ; Jane,
656 ; James, 459 : John, 17, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,
28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 160, 164, 166, 184, 185, 296,
297, 298, 298, 312, 390, 449, 466, 651, 684; his
pledge to embark for New iLnglana, i ..... . al
at Salem in the ship Arbetla, ;i3; chosen guv-
enor in place of Cradock, 17 ; arrival in the
harbor of Boston. 24 ; removal from Charles-
town to Boston, 25 ; John, jr., 166 ; John Still,
656; Eobert C, 6.56; Thomas L.j 462, 656.
Winthrops, the three governors, 190.
Winthrop's Head, 437.
Winthrop's House, 163.
Winthrop's Marsh, 390.
Wishing Stone, its situation near the ^' G-ingko
tree," and its removal, 350; legend concerning
the virtues of the stone, 361.
Withington, Matthew; 278.
Wollaston. (.See Quincy), its description in 1834,
by Wood ; 39.
Wolseley, signer of the charter, 19.
Women of Boston, 53, 67, 85. •
Wood, Miriam, an ancientschnolmistress in Dor-
chester, her epitaph, 288 ; William, 42, 464, 528;
his description oi^Boston in 1634. also of Wey-
mouth, Quincy, Dorchester, Eozbury, 38-45
Wood Island, 445.
Wood Lane, 130, 133.
Woodbridge duel, the, history of, 221 ; the first
event of the kind which occurred in Boston,
223.
Woodbridge, Benjamin, 221, 334.
Wooded Islands in Boston harbor, evidences of
the fact, 439.
Wooden Buildings, erection of, prohibited In
1679, after the grSat fire at the North End,
612.
Woodward, Eobert, 167, 409.
Woody, Eichard, 443.
Worcester Square. 386.
•Workhouse, 66, 131, 309, 310, 316 ; first establish-
ment of one in 1735, 131.
Worthy lake, Ann, 206, 671; Georse, 206, 446,
570, the first keeper of the Beacon light, his
perquisites, and death by drowning, together
with his family, 670-1; Eath, 206, 571; "the
Lighthouse Tragedy," 206, 571.
Wright, William, 425.
Writing School-house, 130.
Wroe, Ann, 646.
Wyer tomb, 240.
Wyman, Charles, 242.
Young, Sir John; associate patentee of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, 16.
Zeno, brothers, explorers, 10.
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