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Wilson and son","r2_key":"document/00/00c2fa1fc85e3834060df3a7f05733a7a8f428d5a2859384487b766fc72c7fd4.txt","record_kind":"document","sha256":"00c2fa1fc85e3834060df3a7f05733a7a8f428d5a2859384487b766fc72c7fd4","slug":"diary-of-the-rev-samuel-checkley-1735","status":"published","summary":"Checkley, Samuel, 1696-1769, 1909. A public-domain text about Boston, accessioned whole so the archive can quote it.","text_extract":"DIARY \n\n\nOF THE \n\n\nREV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY \n\n1735 \n\n\nEDITED BY \n\nHENRY WINCHESTER CUNNINGHAM \n\n\n, •*i»> >i^Loctft^ of !lll^n0s;acl)us;cttsf \nVol. XII \n\n\nCAMBRIDGE \nJOHN WILSON AND SON \n\nSlnibcvsitg ^xtss \n1909 \n\n\n^ g\\ \n\n\nG \n\n\nGift \nEdito- \n\n11 S '09 \n\n\nDIARY OF \n\nTHE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY \n\n1735 \n\n\nDIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735. \n\nA short time ago there fell into my hands a copy of The New-Eng- \nland Diary: Or, Almanack For the Year of our Lord Christ, 1735, \nthat was interleaved and filled with comments by the Rev. Samuel \nCheckley on various happenings in Boston during that year. There \nis much in this Diary that has more than a passing interest for the \nstudent of old Boston, and it covers a period when the records are \nsurprisingly meagre. Judge Sewall's voluminous Diary had ended \nsix years before, and by a singular fatality both town and church \nrecords during the early part and middle of the eighteenth century \nare either missing altogether, or else so little is recorded that they are \nof slight value. The records of Mr. Checkley's church, now in the \ncustody of the City Registrar, contain no records of death, a fact that \nadds value to the burials recorded in this Diary. \n\nThe Boston selectmen in the very year of this almanac expressed \nconcern at the neglect of the inhabitants to record births and deaths; \nand Samuel Gerrish, the town clerk, recorded the negligence com- \nplained of, from which it appears that, for the fourteen months pre- \nceeding, \"more than 950 births and deaths\" had occurred in the \ntown of which no record had been handed in; \"which neglect \nof theirs,\" he added \"may prove to be of ill consequence to their \nposterity.\" ^ \n\nIt is clear, therefore, that when a record of this character, made by \nan educated man of the dominant class, comes to light, it ought to \nbe printed, that others may benefit by the discovery. \n\nFrom the earliest days, one or more almanacs had been published \n\n* Drake's History and Antiquities of Boston, p. 599. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 271 \n\nin New England nearly every year, and found their way into the \nhomes of the people, in many of which they shared with the Bible \nthe distinction of being the only books in the house. Professor Moses \nCoit Tyler lays stress upon their value to students of early American \nliterature and shows the influence they had upon the thought of the \npeople. In speaking of the Ames almanacs, which continued longer \nthan most others and were perhaps typical of all, he says : \n\nNathaniel Ames made his almanac a sort of annual cyclopsedia of \ninformation and amusement, — a vehicle for the conveyance to the public \nof all sorts of knowledge and nonsense, in prose and verse, from literature, \nhistory and his own mind, all presented with brevity, variety, and infallible \ntact. . . . He carried into the furthest wildernesses of New England \nsome of the best English literature; pronouncing there, perhaps for the \nfirst time, the names of Addison, Thomson, Pope, Dryden, Butler, \nMilton ; and repeating there choice fragments of what they had written. \n\nAnd in speaking of these books in general, he adds: \n\nThroughout our colonial time, when larger books were costly and few, \nthe almanac had everywhere a hearty welcome and frequent perusal ; the \nsuccessive numbers of it were carefully preserved year after year; their \nmargins and blank pages were often covered over with annotations, \ndomestic and otherwise. Thus, John Cotton, it will be remembered, \nused the blank spaces in his almanacs as depositories for his stealthy \nattempts at verse. So, also, the historian, Thomas Prince, recorded in \nhis almanacs the state of his accounts with his hair-dresser and wig- \nmaker.^ \n\nIt is doubly interesting, then, in the book before us to find not only \npersonal items jotted down, but also those happenings that were of \nconsequence at the time to all Bostonians, and the exact dates of the \nfunerals of members of the Rev. Mr. Checkley's church and of other \nprominent citizens. \n\nThis almanac is one of a series styled \"The New-England Diary: \nOr, Almanack\" which began in 1723 and continued through 1738. \nThe author was Nathan Bowen, though on several title-pages he \nomits his name and styles himself \"a Native of New-England.\" The \nnumbers from 1723 to 1733 inclusive were printed in Boston by Bar- \n\n' History of American Literature, ii. 120, 121, 123. \n\n\n272 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\ntholomew Green who died December 28, 1732, and the next two \nnumbers were probably printed by Thomas Fleet, who certainly \nprinted the last two. The title-page of this issue for 1735 is interest- \ning not only for its quaint facts, but for the quotation of seven lines \nfrom Paradise Lost, which shows that its author was one of those \nNew Englanders who had some knowledge and appreciation of \nMilton's poems. ^ \n\nAs the number of almanacs increased, the compilers evidently \nbecame keen rivals. Nathaniel Ames took Bowen to task for erratic \ncalculations, and Bowen in his issue for 1730 replied: \n\nI have once more ventured into the world, notwithstanding a Repulse \nI met with the last Year, from a Young Stripling, who under the influence \nof Mercury, gave his Pen a Latitude beyond that of his Beard ; but let him \nknow That tho' he hath so great a value for the ♦merits of his own per- \nformance, were I disposed to pick holes in his Coat, I should leave him \nin a ragged Condition; &ct. \n\nNot only in the printed pages for each month, but in the manuscript \nportions every Sunday is indicated by a letter E. This is the Dominical \nletter for the year 1735. As the first Sunday in the year came on the \nfifth day of the month, the fifth letter of the alphabet is used to indi- \ncate every Sunday during the year. \n\nThe first owner of the Diary, who wrote the brief daily comments, \nwas the Rev. Samuel Checkley, the first minister of the New South \nChurch in Boston. Chcckley's father, also named Samuel, had come \nfrom Northampton in England in 1670 to Boston, where he mar- \nried in 1680 Mary, daughter of Joshua Scottow. He served at various \ntimes as selectman, town clerk, county treasurer, and as a justice of \nthe peace for the county, besides being a deacon of the Old South \nChurch. He died full of years and honors December 27, 1738.^ \n\nThe son Samuel, born February 11, 1695-96, graduated from \nHarvard in 1715, and studied for the ministry. On April 23, 1718, \nthe town of Haverhill, Massachusetts, gave him an invitation \"to \nsettle among them in the work of the ministry,\" but he declined the \ncall, possibly because there seemed to be some dissension in the \n\n* Sec remarks of Mr. Charles Francis Adams in 3 Proceedings of the Massa- \nchusetts Historical Society, ii. 154-170. , \n\n* New England Historical and Genealogical Register, ii. 351. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 273 \n\nchurch/ When in 1719 the New South Church was estabhshed on \nChurch Green near the foot of Summer Street, to meet the spiritual \nneeds of the growing southerly section of the town, Checkley was \ncalled to become its first pastor. He married January 5, 1720-21, \nElizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Rolfe of Haverhill, who \nthirteen years before had miraculously escaped when her father and \nmother were murdered by the Indians.^ Mr. Checkley was esteemed \nas preacher and pastor, and under his long pastorate of over fifty \nyears his*church grew and flourished, and he led the usual life of a \nBoston minister of the eighteenth century. His church continued as \nan active factor in the city down to our own time, when the meeting- \nhouse on Church Green yielded to the encroachments of business. \nIt numbered among its pastors President Kirkland of Harvard, and \nthe Rev. Dr. Alexander Young, who bore testimony to the fact that \nthe church records were admirably kept during the fifty years of INIr. \nCheckley's labors.^ \n\nThe Rev. Samuel Checkley delivered the Artillery Election Sermon \nin 1725. In his Diary under date of June 7 of that year Jeremiah \nBumstead says: \n\nMr. Checkly preacht to y® artillery from 2 Samuel, 22, 35, \"he teacheth \nmy hands to war.\" Not an hour in sermon & last singing.* \n\nMr. Checkley published the following sermons : ^ \n\n* Mirick, History of Haverhill, p. 139. \n\n2 New England Historical and Genealogical Register, ii. 353. \n» Ibid. ii. 351 note. \n\n* New England Historical and Genealogical Register, xv. 204. \n\n* The reason for giving these titles at such length is that no complete list of \nMr. Checkley's printed sermons has been made and that hitherto the writings \nof Mr. Checkley and those of his son, the Rev. Samuel Checkley, Jr., have been \nconfused. Thus three sermons have been attributed to our Mr. Checkley \nwhich were really preached by his son, pastor of the Second (or North) Church, \nas is proved by the following title-pages: \n\nThe Character and Hope of the Righteons Consider'd, in a Sermon Preach'd the \nLord's-Day after the Funeral of Madam Lydia Hutchinson, the Virtuous Consort Of \nTlie Honourable Edward Hutchinson, Esq; Who departed this Life, July 10. 1748. \nAged 61. By Samuel Checkley, A.M. Pastor of the second Church of Christ in Boston. \nBoston, 1748. \n\nThe Duty of God's People when engaged in War. A Sermon Preached at the North- \nChurch of Christ in Boston, Sept. 21. To Captain Thomas Stoddard, and his Company ;_, \n\n18 \n\n\n274 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\n1. The Duty of a People, to lay to Heart and Lament the Death of a \nGood King. A Sermon Preach'd August 20th. 1727, The Lord's-Day \nafter the Sorrowful News of the Death of Our Late King George I. Of \nBlessed Memory. Boston, no date. A second edition was printed, \nalso undated. \n\n2. The Death of the godly, and especially of the faithful gospel Minis- \nters, the greatest loss to survivers. A Sermon Preached September 17th. \n1727. The Lord's-day after the Funeral of the Reverend Mr. William \nWaldron. Boston, 1727. \n\n3. Mr. Checkley's Sermons to a Condemned Prisoner.* Boston, \n1733. \n\n4. Little Children brought to Jesus Christ. A Sermon Preached in \nprivate May 6. And afterwards in publick, June 14. 1741. upon a sorrow- \nful Occasion. And published at the Desire of One that heard it. \nBoston, 1741. \n\n5. Prayer a Duty when God's People go forth to War. A Sernjon \nPreach'd Feb. 28. 1744, 5. Being a Day of publick Fasting and Prayer, \nTo ask in particular. That it would please God to succeed the Expe- \ndition formed against his Majesty's Enemies, &C. Boston, 1745. \n\n6. A Day of Darkness. A Sermon Preach'd before His Excellency \nWiUiam Sliirley, Esq; The Honourable His Majesty's Council, and \nHouse of Representatives, Of the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, \nin New England : May 28*^^- 1755. Being the Anniversary for the Election \nof His Majesty's Council for said Province. Boston, 1755. \n\n\nOn Occasion of their going against the Enemy. By Samuel Checkley, A.M. Pastor of \nsaid Church. Boston, 1755. \n\nThe Christian triumphing over Death through Christ. A Sermon Preached Novem- \nber 10. 1765. At the second Church of Christ, in Boston; Upon a mournful Occasion. \nPublished with some Enlargements. By Samuel Checkley, jun'r. Pastor of said Church. \nBoston, 1705. The \" mournful Occasion \" was the death of \" Mrs. Mary Gallop, Widow, \naged 37 Years.\" \n\n» The words in the text are those of the half-title, missing in some copies. \nThere were three sermons, each separately paged, but with a continuous register. \nThe titles are as follows : \n\nMurder a great and crying Sin. A Sermon Preach'd on the Lord's-Day March 4th. \n1732-3. To a poor Prisoner Under Sentence of Death foV that Crime. \n\nMercy with God for the chief of Sinners. A Sermon Preacli'd on the Lord's Day \nMarch 4th To a Prisoner Under Sentence of Death for Murder. \n\nSinners minded of a future Judgment. A Sermon Preached to, and at the Desire \nof, A Condemned Prisoner, March 18th. 1732-3. Being the Lord's-Day before liis \nExecution. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 275 \n\nIn addition to the above sermons, Mr. Clieckley's \"Charge\" at \nthe ordination on October 29, 1746, of the Rev. WiUiam Vinal at \nNewport Rhode Island, was printed at Newport in 1747 in the Ser- \nmon preached upon the occasion by the Rev. Joseph Fish of Stoning- \nton; ^ and his \"Charge\" at the ordination on April 30, 17G6, of the \nRev. Penuel Bo wen as his own colleague-pastor at the New South \nChurch was printed in the Sermon then preached by the Rev. Dr. \nCharles Chauncy.^ » \n\nMr. Checkley became distinguished through his posterity, since \nhis daughter Elizabeth was the first wife of the patriot Samuel Adams \nand his son Samuel (H. C. 1743) was pastor of the Second Church \nin Boston, while a daughter of the latter married the Rev. Dr. John \nLathrop, pastor of the same church, and from the last named was \ndescended John Lothrop Motley. \n\nBoston in 1735 had over 4,000 houses and about 17,000 inhabit- \nants; there were nine Congregational and two Church of England \nchurches, with a third (Trinity) just beginning; one Baptist, one \nFrench Protestant, and a Quaker Meeting.^ There were five weekly \nnewspapers.* \n\nIn reading this Diary one is struck by the number of times the \nauthor exchanged pulpits, or had other ministers preach in his church, \nas well as by the distance from which many of them came. In those \ndays it was something of a trip from Boston to Scituate, Barnstable, \nHaverhill, or Salisbury; yet ministers from all those places as well as \nfrom Hampton, New Hampshire; Biddeford, Maine; Lebanon, \nConnecticut; and from the Connecticut valley filled his pulpit. Of \ncourse, many of them had come to Boston on visits, drawn hither \nfor various reasons, and it is only natural that they should have \npreached for some brother minister while here. \n\nThe Boston ministers, Thomas Foxcroft, Joseph Sewall, Mather \nByles, Joshua Gee, Charles Chauncy, Samuel Mather, Benjamin \nColman, William Welsteed, and William Cooper are too well known \nto need comment here. On March 16 we find the Rev. John Cotton \n\n1 Pages 49-52. \n\n2 Pages 33-36. \n\n^ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, i. 134, ii. 353: Drake, \nHistory and Antiquities of Boston, p. 820; Boston Record Commissioners' Re- \nports, vol. xxii. p. iv. \n\n* Publications of this Society, ix. 9. \n\n\n276 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nin the New South pulpit. He was a son of the Rev. Roland Cotton \nof Sandwich and great-grandson of the famous Rev. John Cotton of \nBoston. He graduated at Harvard in 1710 and was settled in 1714 \nas the third minister of Newton, where he died May 17, 1757, in \nhis sixty-fourth year. Jackson gives a long account of his youthful \naccomplishments and virtues and of the anxiety of the people of \nNewton to secure his services, and prints the laudatory inscription \nupon his tombstone, which is so long that it is difficult to see how one \nstone could hold it all.* Checkley returned this visit, for the entry \nis found on Friday, September 5: \"w* to Newtown pr'^ M\"\" Cotton's \nLecture.\" On June 1 and 29 the Rev. Ward Cotton of Hampton \npreached in Boston. He was a younger brother of the Newton \npastor, who had preached the sermon at his ordination in Hampton \nin 1734. \n\nOn May 25 Checkley preached in the Hollis Street Church and \n\"M\"\" Eliot\" preached for him; and again on October 12 we find Mr. \nEliot in his pulpit. This was probably the Rev. Jacob Eliot, who \ngraduated at Harvard in 1720 and was ordained in 1729 as the first \npastor ^of the Goshen Church at Lebanon, Connecticut. His first \nwife was a daughter of the Rev. John Robinson of Duxbury. Eliot \ndied April 12, 176G, in his sixty-sixth year.^ \n\nOn June 15 Mr. Green of Barnstable preached in the New South \nin the afternoon. This was the Rev. Joseph Green, a classmate of \nJacob Eliot at Harvard. He had been settled over the East Church \nat Barnstable in 1725, and continued his ministry there till his death \nin 1770 at the age of 70. The long inscription on his gravestone ends \nwith the lines: \n\nThink what the Christian minister should be. \nYou've then his character — for such was he. ^ \n\nFour times during the year members of the Gushing family preached \nfor Checkley, and fortunately he has given a designation to each one \nso that they can be identified, for they were all near relatives. On \n\n1 History of Newton, p. 252. \n\n2 Spragvie, Annals of the American Pulpit, i. 322 note; Hine, Early Lebanon, \np. 153. \n\n^ Allen, American Biographical and Historical Dictionary; Freeman, History \nof Cape Cod, i. 3G2, 56G. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 277 \n\nJune 8 came \"M Gushing (of Dover).\" This was the Rev. Jona- \nthan Gushing of the Harvard Glass of 1712, who, hke Gheckley, had \nhad a call (in 1716) to a Haverhill church and declined it,* and had \ntaught school for a year or two at his boyhood home in Hingham. \nOn September IS, 1717, he was settled over the parish at Dover, \nNew Hampshire, at a salary of £90 a year, and in the following \nmonth he married his second cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas \nGushing of Boston. He was minister of that church for fifty-two \nyears and until his death March 25, 1769, and for the last two years \nhad as his colleague the Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap. In personal ap- \npearance he is said to have been \"a large, stout man of dignified \nappearance,\" and also that he was \"a grave and sound preacher, a \nkind, peaceable, prudent and judicious pastor, a wise and faithful \nfriend.\" ^ \n\nOn July 6 is found the entry in the Diary \"M*\" Gushing (of Sals- \nbury),\" on August 3 \"M\"\" Gushing (of Haverhil),\" and on Novem- \nber 16 \"M\"\" James Gushing.\" The last two items refer to the same \nman — the Rev. James Gushing (H. G. 1725), who became pastor \nof the North parish of Haverhill in 1730 and died there May 13, \n1764. He was a second cousin of the Dover minister and the son of \nthe Rev. Galeb Gushing of Salisbury, who had filled Gheckley's \npulpit on July 6. The latter was the ancestor of Galeb Gushing, the \nwell-known lawyer and statesman. \n\nThe note under July 20, \"M'' Hinsdel p. m.,\" recalls an interest- \ning character, Ebenezer Hinsdale of the Harvard Glass of 1727. He \nwas ordained a missionary to the Indians in 1733, when the Rev, \nJoseph Sewall preached the ordination sermon.^ He seems to have \ngone at once to the Gonnecticut valley, where he entered with zeal \ninto the work of a pioneer. He was chaplain of the troops stationed \nat Fort Dummer, and later built a grist mill near by. In 1753 the \ntown of Hinsdale was incorporated and he was its first town clerk. \nHe died January 6, 1763, at the age of 57, and on his gravestone he \nis called \"Gol.\"* The Rev. Paul Goffin (H. G. 1759) of Wells, \n\n' Mirick, History of Haverhill, p. 138. \n\n^ J. S. Gushing, Gushing Genealogy, p. 34; J. Scales, Historical Memoranda \nof Dover, N. H. \n\n^ Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, i. 280 note. \n\n* H. Child, Gazetteer of Cheshire County, New Plampshire; New England \nHistorical and Genealogical Register, ii. 208. \n\n\n!llsi]£. i^n L ^ Ti-TJi' re £ imrr id &f Canneokaa Biver is ife \n\nT^ic- aI 13325 iius: iiE\"^ T»e2r drmelan£i^are:n^\"WB3'CEl'rS. Hhwclele' \n~ ~ —L gnr Tnr[ leaj Ynr: I>nTTTna e bcw \n\nlEousciaku Tie rns !!£■ innk £i Ins owm \n\nCdsi -1 —it ifis 3D anTS f^giTsr gTarr fe far :nie fflrHrV.- \n\n; - : ite -r-^tit il t tow iKiai iirret tpth^ it iiear Mr. nissvss^ Jn^!e) \n:::-iiirt'ai: Srrcmr irrea^ \n\n^>t ±fe'eini>er T £11 : z~:~ 'T'esiBa^MbBgJW'liH'imgpgeiBcigd \n\n\" 'g-Tr»nrm- . :t '\" \"' sad licis SEIafl \n\n: - rwc' or X- \"cri^ he i«ee:^-e2 \n\nB caD T» \"ntt ciamii si Sfpni^rL-n^ Tuis ie dat^iBBd faraagy vsraam \n\nrt 'vras fi^.TT calien.. i, . . _. sun \"WBf Tnsia^nd. snd «»- \n\nanc inoicHns vxsB^ojei m ISe Inior duwn all ^sigi^cES aeid JwrawMing \n\nTTHF lilt II?T. J_ \"^it? \"vra5 :- \"^ ^c paesB^ -i \n\nn He \"sras SBinL.- • \nIranwD as *\"_ :i,' t*K- jed opff bo jBanr \n\n\nTBt^is ^ff JLer. ^mii' x£ iiR Harvaid C3asE os 17i3L \n\ni-r Vat ditt ialiier tE Jca^di \"WISaid, ibt PreiL- \n\n\nm.'. \n\n\n.'XI \n\n\n^^^ \n\n\nHIL \n\n\nSo, 7_u »i. \n\n\n1000] DIARY OF THE REV. SAirUEL CHECKXZT, 1735 279 \n\nCneckley also notes the ordination of the Rev. Joseph. Stimpson \nof Charlestown over the South Preciact Church o£ ^'laldeo, on Sep- \ntember 24. CoreVa History of ^lalden gires a pathetic tale of this \nman's poverty and struggles. \n\nOn October 5 is the entry \"^P CambeE a. m.\" This was prob- \nably the Rev. Othniel Campbell of the Harvard Class of 1728, a \nresident of the town of Plympton.^ In I73S he is found on the council \nof ministers and elders, mostly Plymouth County mea, who settled the \ndispute between the Rev. John Robinson and the people of Dusbury. \n\nOn December 21 ^Ir. CheckleVs pulpit was fiHed in the morning \nby a classmate at Harvard, John Cleverly, a singular Tnan. He had \nstudied for the ministry, but probably never was ordained, and about \nth is period preached for a few years in Xew Jersey, at Elizabeth and \nMorristown. His ministrations not being suc-cessful, he retired from \nthe pulpit and lived at Morristown somewhat of a hermit, tmmamed, \nand in straitened circumstances, till his death on December 31, 1776, \nat the age of 81.' \n\nIn addition to the annual Fast on IVIarch 27, ^Ir. Checkley makes \nmention four times of fasts that were held in Boston during this year. \nFirst on ^lay 22 \" at old Ch : \" meaning probably the First Church. \nNext on June 24 \"At our Ch:\" and here he gives more than a brief \nline and speaks of the preaching and praying both morning and \nafternoon, showing that the people evidently gave up a whole dnj \nto these fasts. The other two were those at the Rev. ^Ir. Welsteed's \nNew Brick Church on August 26, and at Charlestown on September \n23. In each case Checkley gives as the object of these fasts \"the \nRevival of religion.\" Late in the previous year. Jonathan Edwards's \nsermon entitled A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately im- \nparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God, had started a revival in the \nConnecticut valley which was the forerunner of \" the Great Awaken- \ning\" that came when George TVhitefield visited New England in \n1740. It has generally been supposed that the influence of the earlier \nrevival did not reach as far as Boston. \"The excitement,\" writes \nPalfrey, \"which in Massachusetts had been, confined to towns on or \nnear Cormecticut River, ceased after about six months.\" ^ And the \n\n^ Xew England Historical and Genealogical Register, xliv. 251. \n\n- F. Hatfield. History of Elizabetii, X. J., pp. 33S, 367. -565. 572, 629. \n\n' History of New England, v. 7. \n\n\n280 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nRev. Alexander McKenzie says, \"But Boston was yet to feel its \npower.\" ^ The term \"revival of religion\" had been in use for a \ngeneration or so in New England, and church fasts were common at \nthat period; but perhaps the fasts mentioned by Mr. Checkley \nindicate the influence in Boston of the movement begun by \nEdwards. \n\nThe annual Thanksgiving Day for 1735 came on Thursday, \nNovember 13, and Checkley notes that he preached all day. He \nalso records that July 4 was Commencement at Cambridge and that \nit was a rainy day with northeast wind. That life in the days of \nthe horse and the chaise was not without its excitements and even \ndangers, is shown by an accident that is thus recorded in the \nWeekly Journal of Monday, July 7: \n\nOn Friday last the Day of the Commencement at Cambridge, a \nPerson belonging to Milton, being mounted on his Horse, and riding \nhomewards, was met by a Chaise which run against his Leg, and broke \nthe same so dangerously, that his Life is in great hazzard. \n\n* Memorial History of Boston, ii. 231. Dr. McKenzie's account, it must be \nconfessed, is somewhat confusing. He says: \n\nThe new life began to appear in 1734, under the powerful preaching of Jonathan \nEdwards, at Northampton. It spread to the surrounding towns. It aroused the iuterest \nof the Boston churches. Dr. Colman wrote to Dr. Edwards for an account of the work, \nwhich was given in a letter long afterward published in London. The Boston ministers \nkept their people interested, and circulated among them Dr. Edwards's letter and several \nsermons which had been influential in the movement. The remarkable interest in the \nvalley of the Connecticut was not of long continuance ; partly, it would seem, because \nso many had quickly felt the new life, and had come under its control, or turned away \nfrom it. But Boston was yet to feel its power. \n\nEdwards's letter to Colman was dated November 6, 1736, and was printed in \nabstract in the Appendix to the Rev. William Williams's Duty and Interest of a \nPeople, among whom Religion has been planted, to Continue Stedfast and Sin- \ncere in the Profession and Practice of it, published at Boston in 173G. The letter \nw^as printed in full in London in 1737 under the title of A Faithful Narrative of \nthe Surprizing Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in North- \nampton, and the Neighbouring Towns and Villages of New-Hampshire in New- \nEngland. This was reprinted in Boston in 173S. The London editors speak of \n\"the Neighbouring Towns and Villages of New-Hampshire in New-England.\" \nThis natural error was corrected by the Boston editors to \"the Neighbouring \nTowns and Villages of the County of Hampshire, in the Province of the Massa- \nchusetts-Bay in New-England.\" \n\nAt the time when Edwards started his movement, Whitefield was an under- \ngraduate at Oxford. He first came to Georgia in 1738 and to Boston in 1740. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 281 \n\nAmong the most important items in the Diary are the burials \nrecorded, and most of them were of Checkley's parishoners or neigh- \nbors. Unfortunately, however, he failed in many cases to give more \nthan the surnames, so that identification is difficult; but extracts \nfrom the New England Weekly Journal for that year throw light \nupon many of the items. \n\nJanuary 18, \"old Cap* Bennet buried.\" This was John Bennet, \nstyled a blacksmith, and probably in his early days a mariner, who \nhad a dwelling-house at the South End, and seems to have owned a \nrather large piece of land stretching from Orange Street to the water.' \nThe paper of Monday, January 20, states : \n\nOn Wednesday last died here Capt. John Bennet in the 89th year of his \nAge; A Gentleman well known and respected among us; and was \ndecently Interr'd on Saturday last. \n\nJanuary 23, \"Richard Flood buried.\" This man, too, was a mari- \nner, and lived near the New South Church. He owned a house and \nland near the Bull Wharf; and Samuel Adams administered upon \nhis estate.^ \n\nJanuary 29, \"old M\"\" Cunningham buried.\" This was Andrew \nCunningham, a Scotchman, who was a resident of Boston as early \nas 1684, and lived on Newbury (now Washington) Street near the \ncorner of Essex. He was the founder of his family in Boston and \ndied January 27, 1735, aged 81.^ \n\nMarch 13, \"M\"\" Burgain buried.\" This was Robert Burgain, \nmariner. \n\nApril 16, \"M\"- Allen dy'd,\" and April 19 \"M-\" Silence Allen buried.\" \nThe Weekly Journal of April 21 states : \" Last week died Mr. Silence \nAllen, Cordwainer, a Person well known and respected among us.\" \nHe had married January 20, 1692, Esther, daughter of Enoch Wis- \nwall of Boston,* and had been admitted to full communion with the \nNew South Church May 7, 1727. \n\nApril 23, \"Cap* Arthur Savage buried,\" He was a man of \nsome consequence in the town and has already been referred to \n\n» Suffolk Probate Files, no. 6672. \n\n=> Ibid. no. 6677. \n\n^ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Iv. 305, Ixi. 303. \n\n* Ibid. xl. 59. \n\n\n282 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nin our Transactions.* The Weekly Journal of Monday, April 28, \nstated : \n\nOn Wednesday last the Remains of Arthur Savage, Esq ; whose Death \nwe mention'd in our last, were decently Interr'd. We are inform'd that \nhe has left a Legacy 25 1. per Annum for some term of Years, to the Poor \nof the Town of Boston. \n\nMay 24, \"Madam Oliver buried.\" This was Governor Belcher's \nsister and she was of sufficient social prominence in the town to \nhave her death noted in any diary. The Weekly Journal of Mon- \nday, May 26, said : \n\nOn Wednesday Morning died and on Saturday last was decently and \nhonourably Interred, Madam Elizabeth Oliver, Relict of the late Honour- \nable Daniel Oliver Esq ; and Sister to His Excellency Governour Belcher. \n\nJune 4, \"Cap* Dorby buried.\" The Weekly Journal of Monday, \nJune 2, said: \"Yesterday died in an advanced Age Capt. Eleazer \nDarby of this Place.\" \n\nJune 9, \"Deacon Powning buried.\" This was Daniel, the son of \nHenry and Elizabeth Powning, in his 74th year, who had been dis- \nmissed from the Old Church, and on August 7, 1720, was admitted \nto full communion in the New South. The Weekly Journal of Mon- \nday, June 9, speaks of him as follows: \"On Friday last died here \nMr. Daniel Pounding, Deacon of the New South Church; and who \nfor many Years has had the care of the Powder-House.\" Sewall \nmentions him several times, and on January 20, 1719-20, mentions \na visit to his mother, who must have flattered the Judge, for he \nrecords: \"Mrs Powning will be 90. years old next February; I gave \nher two Crowns, which she very kindly received. Is very hard of \nhearing, very loansome, spake very well of my Match.\" \n\nJuly 15, \"M^ John Fitch buried.\" The Weekly Journal of Mon- \nday, July 14, records: \"On Thursday last died here Mr. John Fitch, \nonly son of the Hon. Col. Thomas Fitch, in the 26**^ year of his age.\" \nHe had received his A.B. at Harvard in 1727, his A.M. in 1730, and \nhad married Martha, daughter of Anthony Stoddard.^ \n\n' Publications, vi. 47. \n\n^ This Anthony Stoddard — he married Martha Belcher, a sister of the Madam \nOliver whose burial is recorded by Mr. Checkley — who was born in 1678, who \ngraduated at Harvard College in 1697, and who died in 1748, should not be \nconfused with his first cousin, the Rev. Anthony Stoddard, who was also born \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 283 \n\nSeptember 3, \"Madam Palmer buried.\" The Weekly Journal \nof Tuesday, June 2, has : \" On Thursday night last died here Madam \nPalmer, the virtuous Consort of the Hon, Judge Palmer, and we \nhear is' to be Interred tomorrow,\" It is probably her house, near \nFort Hill, that Checkley records as having been struck by lightning \non July 28. \n\nNovember 15, \"M\" Luce buried,\" The Weekly Journal of Tues- \nday, November 18, makes brief mention of this death: \"On Monday \nnijrht last Mrs, Elizabeth Luce, the consort of Mr, Peter Luce, died \nin a Convidsion Fit after a very short illness.\" The Boston News- \nLetter of November 14 states that she was \"Sister to Col, Estes \nHatch,\" \n\nDecember 2, \"^M\"\" Jn« Davenport buried.\" This was the son of \nAddington and Elizabeth Davenport, He graduated at Harvard in \n1721, married in 1733 Abigail, daughter of Thomas Hutchinson, \nand died on November 27, 1735, at the age of 32. The Weekly \nJournal of Tuesday, December 2, has: \n\nOn Thursday last died here much lamented, INIr. John Davenport, in \nthe Prime of Life, he had an Education at Harvard College, and was for \nSome Years, a beloved Tutor in tliat Society — we hear he is to be interr'd \nthis Day. \n\nMr. Checkley mentions two other burials that are worthy of note. \n\nApril 19, \"Rev^ M-\" Tayler's wife of Milton buried,\" John Taylor \ngraduated at Harvard in 1721, was ordained over the church in Milton \nin 1728, and continued there till his death in 1749. He married April \n9, 1730, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Nathaniel Rogers of Ports- \nmouth, New Hampshire, who was probably a sister of the wife of the \nRev. Joshua Gee of Boston. \n\nApril 1, \"D\"- Colmans Daug-\" Turil buried at Medford.\" This \nwas Jane, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Colman of the Church \nin Bratde Square, who was born in 1708 and married at the age of \neighteen to the Rev. Ebenezer Turell, pastor of the church in Med- \n\n\nin 1678, who also graduated at Harvard in 1697, but who died in 1760. The \ngrandfather of Mrs. Fitch was Simeon Stoddard, whose sister Lydia married \nSamuel Turell and became the mother of the Rev. Ebenezer Turell mentioned \nin the text. Hence Turell, who graduated at Harvard only six years before \nFitch, and Anthony Stoddard, the father of Fitch's wife, were first cousins. \n\n\n284 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nford, who has been immortalized by Holmes in his poem entided \n\"Parson Turell's Legacy.\" ^ Mrs. Turell died on March 26 at the \nearly age of twenty-seven, leaving an infant son who died the follow- \ning year. Mr. Turell did not long remain a widower, for the Weekly \nJournal of Tuesday, October 28, stated that \" On Thursday Evening \nlast the Rev. Mr. Turell of Medford, was married to Mrs. Lucey \nDavenport, daughter of the Hon. Judge Davenport of this Town.\" \nHe thus became a brother-in-law of the John Davenport whose \nburial took place on December 2, and the two men had been \nclassmates at Harvard. \n\nThe severity of the cold and the great quantity of snow that fell \nmiffht well have made 1735 an \"old fashioned winter,\" and a suffi- \ncient comment on the extent to which the cold got into the buildings \nis Mr. Checkley's entry for Sunday, January 19: \"It was so cold a \nLords Day that the water for Baptism was considerably frozen.\" \nMarch seems to have been a particularly stormy month with every \nkind of weather from thunder and lightning to snow. On June 14 \nis found this item: \"in some places there have been this week con- \nsiderable frosts (& some Ice) which much hurt and Spoild the Eng- \nlish Grain;\" and again, on October 30, occurs the record of such a \nsevere snow storm and cold that a man was found frozen to death. \n\nDuring the year several casualties of local importance are men- \ntioned, such as the striking by lightning on April 7 of the ball on the \nsteeple of the Old South Church, and on June 28 of the drowning of \nthe only son of Robert Hadwin, a lad twelve or thirteen years of age. \nHe had gone in swimming just below the Common and had ventured \nbeyond his depth. \n\nOn July 7 is recorded the burning of Dr. Rand's \"Still House,\" \nbut the New England Weekly Journal of Monday, July 14, gives the \nbuilding a slightly different name : \" On Monday last a fire broke out \nat the South End of the town in a small building improved by Dr. \nRand for boiling Varnish &ct. which was soon burned to the Ground \nbut the Fire did no other damage.\" The owner of this building was \nprobably Dr. Isaac Rand (1718-1790) of Charlestown and the father \nof the much more celebrated Dr. Isaac Rand of Boston.^ \n\n* See also p. 220, above. \n\n\" Wyman, Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, ii. 7S5-7S6; Thacher, \nAmerican Medical Biography, ii. 13-16. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 285 \n\nJuly 29 must have been a day of excitement, for in the early morn- \ning came the attempt to poison the Scarlet family. The Weekly \nJournal of August 4 gives a vivid picture of this \"horrid Attempt \n[that] was made here\" last Tuesday \"to poison Mr. Humphry Scarlet \nof this Town, Victualler, his Wife and two Children\" by two negroes \nin their employ, a man named Yaw and a boy named Caesar, who \nput lumps of \"Arsenick\" or ratsbane into a skillet of chocolate that \nwas being prepared for breakfast. The long examination of these \nnegroes is interesting, and their attempt to entangle a young negro \nwoman in their crime met with a sudden end when she testified that \nshe had herself been slightly poisoned by tasting the chocolate left in \nthe skillet. The sequel is thus related in the Weekly Journal of \nTuesday, September 2: \n\nOn Fryday last the two Negroes (lately mentioned) belonging to Mr. \nScarlet, who were try'd a few days before at the Assizes held here, & \nfound Guilty of putting Poison into a Skillet of Chocolate, with a design \nto Poison the Family, had their Sentence given them, which is this, \nThey are to sit on the Gallows for the Space of one Hour, with a Rope \nabout their Necks, and the End of it thrown over the Beam, after which \nthey are to be Whip'd 39 Lashes each on the bare Back at the Carts \nTail, between the Gallows and the Prison. \n\nLater in the day came a tragedy near the water front. An attempt \nwas made to open and clean an old well about thirty feet deep on \nMinot's Tee to the Long wharf, which had long been out of use, and \ninto which had run sewage and other filth.* As the work progressed \none of the workmen, John Torke of Boston, a married man between \nthirty and forty, was lowered into the well and as he descended \nseemed somewhat afi^ected by the gas and was raised to the surface \nwhere the fresh air revived him. He then made a second attempt, \ngoing further down, and became too much overcome to assist himself \nin getting out, when John Mack Nobb, a young sailor from a neigh- \nboring vessel, went down on the rope; but on his reaching Torke \nthe additional weight sent them both to the bottom, where the gases \nsuffocated them past resuscitation. \n\nHaving spoken of church fasts and thanksgiving, let us now turn \nour attention to secular celebrations. Of these there were certainly \n\n• New England Weekly Journal of August 4. \n\n\n286 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nthree, and probably four, in honor of the royal family. The birth- \nday of Queen Caroline occurred on March 1. Though neither the \nNews-Letter nor the Weekly Journal mentions this event in 1735, \nyet no doubt it was observed ; and if so, its celebration was presum- \nably not unlike the one three years earlier, thus recorded in the Weekly \nJournal of Monday, March 6, 1732: \n\nWednesday last being the Anniversary of the Birth of her most gracious \nMajesty Queen CAROLINE, who then enter'd the 50th Year of her \nAge, the same was observed here with Demonstrations of Loyalty and joy. \nIn the Evening there were Illuminations, particularly liis Excellency's \nSeat was finely Illuminated with several hundred Lamps. \n\nNext in order came the accession to the throne of George II on \nJune 11, thus reported in the Weekly Journal of Monday, June 16, \n1735 : \n\nWednesday last being the Anniversary of the happy Accession of our \nmost gracious Sovereign King GEORGE the Second, to the Throne, \nwhen his Majesty enter'd the Ninth Year of his Reign, the same was \nobserved here with the greatest Demonstrations of Loyalty and Joy: \nAt Noon the Guns at his Majesty's Castle William, on board his Majesty's \nShip Scarborough, and other Ships in the Harbour were discharged: \nHis Excellency our Governour & several other Gentlemen were elegantly \nentertain'd at Dinner, by Capt. Durell,^ on board the Scarborough : And \nin the Afternoon the Regiment of Militia in this Town were mustered, \nand being drawn together in a Body on the Common, were reviewed by \nhis Excellency, attended by a great Number of the principal Gentry in \nTown & Country, and Officers paying the proper Standing Salute as \nthey pass'd along. After which his Excellency, and his honourable \nAttendants, repair'd to a spacious Tent prepared for them on the Common, \nfrom whence his Excellency Review'd the Regiment in their March out \nof the Field, the Officers handsomely performing the proper Salute. The \nRegiment passing thro' the Main Street, repair'd to King-Street, where, \nafter performing the Manual Exercises, Firing three Rounds, and giving \nthree loud Huzza's, an innumerable Company of Spectators joining with \nthem, (his Excellency viewing them from the Balcony of the Council \nChamber,) each Company was drawn off and dismiss'd : And the Even- \ning concluded with abundant Expressions of Loyalty & Joy. \n\n' Capt. Thomas Durrell. See Publications of this Society, viii. 244. \n\n\n1909] JDIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 287 \n\nThe third royal celebration took place on October 11 in honor of \nthe King's coronation, and is thus described in the News-Letter of \nThursday, October 16: \n\nLast Saturday being the Anniversary of His Majesty's Coronation, \nthe same was observed by the Discharge of the Guns at Castle William ; \nthose on board His Majesty's Ship Scarborough, &c. with other Demon- \nstrations of Loyalty and Rejoycing. \n\nClosely following the coronation came the King's birthday on \nOctober 30, and this, in spite of the snow and cold, was celebrated by \na bonfire and fireworks on Dorchester Neck, and one poor fellow, \nlosing his way in the storm, was frozen to death. In the Weekly \nJournal of Tuesday, November 4, we read : \n\nThursday last the 30th of October, being the Birth Day of His Majesty \nKing GEORGE the Second, our most gracious Sovereign, when His \n]\\Iajesty entred the Fifty third Year of his Life, the same was observed \nhere with all possible Demonstrations of Loyalty and Joy. At Noon the \nGuns were discharged at His Majesty's Castle William, and His Excel- \nlency's Troop of Guards, with two other Troops from the County were \nmuster'd on the Occasion, and drawn up in King-Street. At Night \nHis Excellency's Seat, with divers others, were finely Illuminated on this \njoyfull Occasion. \n\nThe account of this affair in the News-Letter of November 6 con- \ncludes as follows: \n\nA large bonfire was made at Dorchester-Neck, and many curious Fire- \nWorks play'd off; but by reason of thick Weather and a great Fall of \nSnow, the Splendor thereof was much diminish'd, being scarce visible in \nTown. \n\nThe same Night, one Joseph Green of this Town, a labouring Man, \nwho had been employed the Day before to assist in erecting a Mast for \nthe Bonfire at Dorchester Neck, lost his Way as he was going from the \nFire to some House or Barn, and the next Morning was found dead in the \nSnow.^ \n\n' In these days such a death seems extraordinary. The following extract is \ntaken from the Boston Evening Post of Monday, January 24, 1737: \n\nFriday last one Richard Williams, a Chimney-Sweeper at the South End of the \nTown, was found in his Bed froze to Death, where in all probability he had lain \nsince Tuesday Night, having never been seen by the Neighbours since that Time. \n\n\n288 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nShortly after this, on November 5, came a similar celebration at \nthe same place, it being the anniversary of the famous Gunpowder \nPlot of 1605 in which Guy Fawkes was the active figure; and this day \ntoo was followed by fatalities, for four young men crossing the harbor \nin a canoe were drowned. The Weekly Journal of Tuesday, Novem- \nber 11, says: \n\nOn Wednesday last being the 5th of November, the Guns were fired \nat Castle William, in Commemoration of the happy and remarkable \nDeliverance of our Nation from Popery and Slavery, by the Discovery \nof the Gun Powder Plot in the Year 1605 ; and in the Evening there were \nBonfires, and other Rejoycings.^ \n\nThe same Evening four young Men of this Town went in a Canoe (as \nwe are informed) to see the Bonfire on Dorchester Neck, and have not \nbeen heard of since; which makes it fear'd they were drowned in their \nreturn home. \n\nA further account of this fatality is contained in the News-Letter \nof Thursday, November 20 : \n\nFour Youths that went over from this Town, in a small Boat, to \nDorchester Neck, to see the Diversions There in the Evening after the \n5th Instant, having not been heard of for some Time after, People had \nvarious Conjectures concerning them; but it was most generally tho't \nthey were drowned in their return Home ; and accordingly it now appears \nthat they were, the Bodies of two of them having been found, one on \nMonday and the other on Tuesday last; The Name of one was John \nDarling,* an Apprentice belonging to Mr. Salt the Cooper, and Son of \nMrs. Darling a Widow in Charlstown ; the other's Name was John Hem- \nmenway of this Town, an xVpprentice to Mr. Joseph Hill, Rope-maker: \nThe Bodies of the other Two are not yet found. \n\nThis anniversary had been celebrated since the early days of the \ncolony, and as the eighteenth century advanced the celebrations be- \ncame more boisterous and the turbulent spirits of the community \ncaused the authorities much anxiety. At first there were processions \nin which effigies of the Pope and the Devil were carried about the \nstreets and finally burned, but near the time of the Revolution, when \n\n* In the Weekly Journal of November 25, the name given is James Darling. \nThis is correct. He was the son of George and Abigail (Ptced) Darling. !See \nWyman, Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, i. 27G. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 289 \n\npopular feeling against the English ran high, the images of unpopular \nofficials like Governor Hutchinson, General Gage, and others were \nadded. Just how early these celebrations began iji New England is \nhard to say, but Judge Sewall speaks of one in 1685 as if it were a \nregular occurrence, for he says : \n\nMr. Allin preached NovF 5. 1685 finished his Text 1 Jn? 1. 9. \n\n' mentioned not a word in Prayer or Preaching that I took notice of with \nrespect to Gun-powder Treason. . . . Although it rained hard, yet there \nwas a Bonfire made on the Comon, about 50 attended it. Friday night \n[November 6] being fair, about two hundred hallowed about a Fire on the \nCoiuon.^ \n\nMost of the almanacs mentioned the day, as this very one of \nBowen's, where against November 5 is found \"Powder Plot;\" and \nAmes's almanac for 1735 has under November the lines — \n\nGun Powder Plot \nWe ha'nt forgot. \n\nIn his issue for 1740 Ames says : \n\nNow for the Old Plot, the POPE goes to Pot \n\nThe curst Pope stands in the Way, or I had told you the Day. \n\nWhat Heaven decrees, no Prudence can prevent. \n\nAnd in the issue for 1746 we read: \n\nPowder-Plot is not forgot; \n\n'T will be observed by many a Sot. \n\nIn the issue of 1767 he has so much to say about the growing \npolitical troubles that he merely adds the line — \"Powder plot most \nforgot;\" while in the issue for 1772 his allusion brings in the name \nof Captain Preston of the British troops engaged in the Boston \nMassacre ; \n\nTo burn the Pope, is now a joke, \n\nfor a design he miss't on, \n\nto sap that mansion \n\nwhich dares pension \n\nYour famous Butcher Preston!'^ \n\n1 Diary, i. 102, 235, 368, 462. \n\n^ S. Briggs, Essays, Humor and Poems of Nathaniel Ames, pp. 139, 440. \n\n19 \n\n\n290 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Makch, \n\nDr. Nathaniel Ames the younger in his Diary under November 5, \n1765, says, \"Pope Devil and Stampman exhibited together.\" ^ \n\nCaptain Francis Goelet, a New York merchant visiting Boston in \n1750, was evidently amused and impressed by what he saw on Pope \nNiirht, for he records in his Journal : \n\nAfter dinner went with some of the Comp^ to ye North End the Towne \nBo* Some Limes &c where we saw the Devil and the Pope &c Carried \nab*^ by the Mob represented in Effegy very drole soone after see two \nmore, but the Justices feareing some Outrages may be Committed Put a \nStop to them.^ \n\nIt seems that as the custom grew, in Boston there became two \nrival processions, one from the North End and one from the South \nEnd, each carrying images of the Pope and the Devil, and that they \nmarched towards each other and had a skirmish in which the mob \njoined and the victorious band then burned both sets of images. In \n1765 the popular leaders of the town put a stop to this useless quarrel, \npacified the two factions, formed them into a Union, and brought to \nan end the noisy and turbulent celebration. This Union observed the \nday in a quieter manner with a supper at night; and in this was a \nnucleus that was of service to the patriots in the approaching struggle.^ \nJohn Boyle mentions this same occurrence : \n\n1765, Nov. 5. A Union established between the South and North End \nPopes. Capt. M° Intosh on the Part of the South, and Capt. Swift, on the \nPart of the North. It has heretofore been the Practice on the evcn'g of \nthe 5th of November, for the two Popes to engage, by which means many \nPersons have been greatly maimed. This Union and one other more \nextensive, may be looked upon as the only happy Effecte arising from \nthe Stamp Act. \n\nThis Union was undoubtedly hastened by the fatalities of the year \nbefore, for Boyle in his Journal for November 5, 1764, says: \n\nA Child of Mr. Brown's at the North-End was run over by one of the \nWheels of the North-End Pope and Killed on the Spot. Many others were \nwounded in the evening.* \n\n' Dedham Historical Register, ii. 27. \n\n* New England Historical and Genealogical Register, xxiv. 61. \n\n» Palfrey, Histoiy of New England, v. 339; Snow, History of Boston (1825), \np. 2G3. \n\n* John Boyle's Journal, p. 87. For these extracts from this unprinted Journal, \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 291 \n\nThis accident impressed others, for John Rowe mentions it in his \nDiary, as well as the fact that it took place in the forenoon : \n\n1764 Nov. 5. A sorrowful accident happened this forenoon at the \nNorth End — the wheel of the carriage that the Pope was fixed on run over \na Boy's head & he died instantly. The Sheriff, Justices, Officers of the \nMilitia were ordered to destroy both S° & North End Popes. In the \nafternoon they got the North End Pope pulled to pieces, they went to the \nS° End but could not Conquer upon which the South End people \nbrought out their pope & went in Triumph to the Northward and at the \nMill Bridge a Battle begun between the people of Both Parts of the \nTown. The North End people having repaired their pope, but the South \nEnd people got the Battle (many were hurt & bruised on both sides) & \nBrought away the North End pope & burnt Both of them at the Gallows \non the Neck. Several thousand people following them, hallowing &ct.^ \n\nSeveral years ago Mr. Albert Matthews ^ made some mention of \nthe observances of Pope Day and quoted from articles in Boston \nnewspapers of 1821 written by some man who remembered the \ncelebrations of the day, though it is probable that after the outbreak \nof the Revolution the day was less frequently celebrated in New \nEngland.^ Perhaps the one place where it lingered longest is in the \nold town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which clings to many an \nancient custom, and there even to the present time something is done \non the evening of November fifth, though the performance has changed \nto the blowing of horns and the carrying about of pumpkin lanterns \nby boys, none of whom know the origin of the celebration,* and even \nthe name has been changed to Pork Night \n\nJohn Albee of New Castle, New Hampshire, in 1892 bore testimony \nto the survival of the custom in Portsmouth up to that year, saying \nthat he had been a resident of New Castle for the preceding twenty- \nsix years and that he remembered a celebration in that town each of \nthose years. ^ He also furnished clippings from two of the local news- \npapers which told of the doings of 1S02, as follows : \n\nowned by a member of the Palfrey family, I am indebted to Professor George \nL. Kittredge. \n\n^ Letters and Diary, p. 67. \n\n\" I am indebted to Mr. Matthews for aid in the preparation of this paper. \n\n^ Publications of this Society, viii. 90, 91, 92 104. \n\n* Dialect Notes, i. 18, 217. \n\n* Journal of American Folk-Lore, v. 335. \n\n\n292 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nThe celebration of the anniversary of Guy Fawkes' night on Saturday \nby the young people of this city was not so extensive as in former years, no \ndoubt owing to the condition of the streets, but nevertheless small bands \nparaded the streets and made the early part of the evening hideous with \nmusic ( ?) from the tin horns they carried for the occasion. Some carried \nthe usual pumpkin lanterns. The ringing of door-bells was also extensively \nindulged in. Very few of the paraders knew that the celebration was in \nkeeping of the old English custom of observing the anniversary of the \ndiscovery of the famous gunpowder plot to blow up the House of \nCommons.^ \n\nChaps in this city had their annual blow-out on Guy Fawkes' night, and \nin parts of the city the toot of the horns was something terrific. Some \ngrotesque pumpkin lanterns were seen, and altogether the celebration was \nevidently enjoyed by the boys. Portsmouth is not alone in this peculiar \nobservance, for down at Marblehead the night of the 5th of November is \nremembered by a huge bonfire on the neck, around which the chaps with \nhorns dance in fantastic glee. The blaze Saturday night on the M. N. \nwas a bigger one than usual. \n\nIt 's a queer custom the youths of Portsmouth and Marblehead have.^ \n\nIn the early times the day was observed in most of the large New \nEngland towns as well as in Boston, and there are many casual \nreferences to it. The Rev. Samuel Deane of Portland makes men- \ntion of it twice in his Journal : \" 1770 November 5 Several popes and \ndevils tonight;\" \"1771 November 5 No popes nor devils here to- \nnight at my house.\" * The Rev. Ezra Stiles speaks of it at New- \nport in 1771, saying \"Powder Plot, — Pope &ct carried about;\" \nand again on November 5, 1774, he says, \"This Afternoon three \npopes &ct. paraded thro' the streets, & in the Evening they w^ere \nconsumed in a Bonfire as usual — among others were Ld. North, \nGov. Hutchinson & Gen. Gage.\" * John Adams, attending court \nat Salem on Wednesday, November 5, 1766, says: \n\nSpent the evening at Mr. Pynchon's, with Farnham, Sewall, Sargeant, \nCol. Saltonstall &ct. very agreeably. Punch, wine, bread and cheese, \n\n' Portsmouth Republican News, Monday, November 7, 1892. \n^ Portsmouth Daily Evening Times, November 7, 1S92. \n\n^ Journals of tlie Rev. Thomas Smith and the Rev. Samuel Deane, pp. 329, \n331. \n\n* Literary Diary, i. 182, 470. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 293 \n\napples, pipes and tobacco. Popes and bonfires this evening at Salem, \nand a swarm of tumultuous people attending.^ \n\nCoffin gives an excellent account in much detail of the way the day \nwas celebrated in Newbury and says that the last celebration was in \n1775, the principal cause of its discontinuance being an unwillingness \nto displease the French, whose assistance was deemed so advanta- \ngeous at that time. As the observance of the day at Newburyport \nwas probably typical of those in other large New England towns, it \nis interesting to quote what Coffin says of it : \n\nIn the day time, companies of little boys might be seen, in various parts \nof the town, with their little popes, dressed up in the most grotesque and \nfantastic manner, which they carried about, some on boards, and some on \nlittle carriages, for their own and others' amusement. But the great \nexhibition was reserved for the night, in which young men, as well as boys, \nparticipated. They first constructed a huge vehicle, varying at times, \nfrom twenty to forty feet long, eight or ten wide, and five or six high, from \nthe lower to the upper platform, on the front of which, they erected a paper \nlantern, capacious enough to hold, in addition to the lights, five or six \npersons. Behind that, as large as life, sat the mimic pope, and several \nother personages, monks, friars and so forth. Last, but not least, stood \nan image of what was designed to be a representation of old Nick himself, \nfurnished with a pair of huge horns, holding in his hand a pitchfork, and \notherwise accoutred, with all the frightful ugliness that their ingenuity \ncould desire. Their next step, after they had mounted their ponderous \nvehicle on four wheels, chosen their officers, captain, ■ first and second \nlieutenant, purser and so forth, placed a boy under the platform, to \nelevate and move round, at proper intervals, the moveable head of the \npope, and attached ropes to the front part of the machine, was, to take \nup their line of march through the principal streets of the town. Some- \ntimes in addition to the images of the pope and his company, there might \nbe found, on the same platform, half a dozen dancers and a fiddler, whose \n\n* Hornpipes, ji,<^s, strathspeys, and reels \nPut life and mettle iu their heels,' \n\ntogether with a large crowd who made up a long procession. Their \ncustom was, to call at the principal houses in various parts of the town, \nring their bell, cause the pope to elevate his head, and look round upon \nthe audience, and repeat the following lines. \n\n1 Works, ii. 201. \n\n\n294 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [MARCH, \n\n* The fifth of November, \nAs you well remember. \nWas guu powder treason and plot; \nI know of no reason \nWhy the gunpowder treason \nShould ever be forgot. \n\nWhen the first King James the sceptre swayed, \nThis hellish powder plot was laid. \nThirty-six barrels of powder placed down below \nAll for old England's overthrow : \nHappy the man, and happy the day \nThat caught Guy Fawkes in the middle of his play. \nYou'll hear our bell go jink, jink, jink ; \nPray madam, sirs, if you '11 something give, \nWe '11 burn the dog and never let him live. \nWe '11 burn the dog without his head, \nAnd then you '// say the dofj is dead. \nFrom Rome, from Rome, the pope is come. \nAll in ten thousand fears ; \nThe fiery serpent's to be seen, \nAll head, mouth, nose and ears. \nThe treacherous knave had so contrived, \nTo blow king parliament all up alive. \nGod by his grace he did prevent \nTo save both king and parliament. \nHappy the man, and happy the day, \nThat catched Guy Fawkes in the middle of his play. \nMatch touch, catch prime. \nIn tlie good nick of time. \nHere i.s the pope that we have got, \nThe whole promoter of the plot. \nWe '11 stick a pitchfork in his back \nAnd throw him in the fire.'. \n\nAfter the verses were repeated, the purser stepped forward and took up \nhis collection. Nearly all on whom they called, gave something. Esquire \nAtkins and Esquire Dalton, always gave a dollar apiece. After peram- \nbulating the town, and finishing their collections, they concluded their \nevening's entertainment with a splendid supper; after making with the \nexception of the wheels and the heads of the efiigies, a bonfire of the \nwhole concern, to which were added, all the wash tubs, tar barrels, and \nstray lumber, that they could lay their hands on. With them the custom \nwas, to steal all the stuff. But those days have long since passed away.^ \n\nWTien we read such accounts as this, w'hat wonder is it that towns \nshould pass ordinances against bonfires on the night of November \nfifth? Even as early as 1753 these celebrations had caused enough \n\n» History of Newbury, pp. 249-251. \n\n\n1909] DIAEY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 295 \n\nanxiety for the Province to pass \"An Act for further preventing all \nriotous, tumultuous and disorderly Assemblies or Companies of \nPersons, and for preventing Bonfires in any of the Streets or Lanes \nwithin any of the Towns of this Province.\" ^ Finally, in many places \nall the sport was obliged to take place in the day time. And in Boston, \nwhere just before the Revolution the two rival processions with \nhostile intentions towards one another created such a tumult, lead- \ning citizens used their influence to unite the two factions and then \nsubscribed money for a supper and a more peaceful entertainment \nfor the would-be participants. And so this old New England cele- \nbration gradually died out except in Portsmouth and possibly one or \ntwo other places, and even there it has undergone so great a change \nthat none of its original features are left, and few if any of the par- \nticipants know the significance of the day or even its old-time name. \n\n\nDIARY 2 \n\nJANUARY \n\n1 [ ] \n\n2 fair pleasant warm. \n\n3 Rain w^ E. and S.E. \n\n» Massachusetts Province Laws, iii. 647, 997, iv. 78, 617; v, 87, 459, 1122. \n2 On the first page is written in inlv : \n\nRev. Mr. Checkley of Boston appears to have been the author of the notices \n\nentered in this Almanac. M.A.S. \nMay 4, 1837. \n\nThe top of the volume has been trimmed, thereby cutting off a few entries. \nWhere these are undecipherable, square brackets are used. \n\nThere are no entries on the following days: January 15, February 18, 19, \nMarch 6, 19, July 8, October 8, November 8, 24, 26, December 17, 18. \n\nThe word \"fair,\" and that only, is entered on the following days: February \n26, March 25, May 7, June 10, 16, 21, July 3, 21, August 6, October 7. \n\nThe words \"fair pleasant,\" and those only, are entered on the follo\\^ing days: \nFebruary 6, 7, 10, 27, March 22, 26, April 17, 18, May 5, 6, 14, 16, 26, 27, 28, \nJune 25, 26, 27, July 19, 22, 24, 30, August 11, 15, 16, 18, 25, September 6, 12, 13, \n15, 20, October 2, 10, 18, 22, November 5, 10, 22, 25. \n\nThe following days are labelled \"hot,\" \"cold,\" \"cool,\" \"dry,\" \"moderate,\" \n\"seasonable,\" \"cloudj',\" or in some such indefinite way: January 6, 7, 10, 24, \n25, March 8, 10, 11, 12, April 9, 11, 21, 30, May 1, 9, 10, 21, 31, June 5, 7, 13, \nJuly 17, August 21, 23, 30, September 4, 18, 23, 29, 30, October 17, November 3, \n4, 11, 29, December 6, 11, 13, 23. \n\n\n296 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\n4 fair warm. \n\n5 E.^ prd all day. W^^ N.E. Snow and Stormy at night. \n\n8 fair & cold \n\n9 fair very cold. \n\n11 fair warm & pleasant. \n\n12 E. Sac* pr^ all day — moderate \n\n13 Rain w^ S.E. \n\n14 fair warm. \n\n16 Cloudy p.m. pretty much rain Even: \n\n17 fair very high wind & Extream cold. \n\n18 very cold Day old Cap* Bennet ^ buried. \n\n19 E. M'\" Foxcroft. A.M. Snow very Stormy & cold p.m. the water \nfor Bap™ frozen. This Day (being Lords Day) it began to Snow before \nmorning Service was over and increas'd very much. The afternoon was \nvery Stormy it Snow'd fast & wind blew very hard at N.E. The storm \nincreased towards Even : — & the night following it raind & blew as \nhard as I allmost ever knew it. The next Day fair very cold and Shppery. \nSeveral vessells cast away in the Storm a Lords day night. It was so cold \na Lords Day that the water for Baptism was considerably frozen. \n\n20 fair very cold & Slippery \n\n21 fair more moderate. \n\n22 fair pleasant, flurry of Snow Even : then very cold. \n\n23 Extream cold Richard Flood ^ buried. \n\n26 E. pr^ all Day. Cloudy, some Small rain & foggy. \n\n27 Cloudy foggy. Nieg\"\" Barter's Daughter buried. \n\n28 fair pleasant. Cloudy Even : little Snow in night. \n\n29 fair pretty cold old M'' Cunningham * buried. \n\n30 fair cold Day. \n\n31 pleasant. \n\nFEBRUARY \n\n1 fair a.m. Cloudy p.m. w^ E. Snow at night very Stormy the \nmost snow we've had this winter. \n\n2 E. pr^ all Day. Wet Snow a.m. not very cold. \n\n3 Some Snow. & some rain. w<^ S.E. \n\n4 Cloudy, then fair moderate \n\n5 fair & cold. \n\nS pleasant moderate weather. \n\n\n' See p. 272, above. \"^ See p. 281, above. \n\n» See p. 281, above. « See p. 281, above. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 297 \n\n9 E. Sac* : pr^ all day \n\n11 fair cold. \n\n12 fair. Cloudy p.m. Snow at night about 3 inches deep. \n\n13 fair. Exceed: cold p.m. & Even : \n\n14 Exceed Smart cold last night & to day. moderate at Even: \n\n15 Wet Snow good part of day W^ S.E. \n\n16 E. Chang'd w*-^ M\"\" Chauncy. a.m. fair pleasant \n\n17 Rain last night, foggy & rain to day \n\n20 fair pleasant Cap* Goold's Kinswoman buried. \n\n21 fair pleasant Spring like weather. \n\n22 fair pleasant — but raw East : w'^ \n\n23 E. Changed w*^ M'' Gee a.m. pleasant \n\n24 Cloudy foggy M\"\" Nicholson's Child buried. \n\n25 Rain. W'^ S.E. James Ferguson buried much rain at night and \nHigh wind. \n\n28 Cloudy, raw E. Wind. \n\nMARCH \n\n1 rain w** E.S.E. A.M. fair & very warm p.m. \n\n2 E. prd all Day. fair A.M. Cloudy p.m. rain Even : w^ N.E. \n\n3 w'^ N.E. Cloudy foggy. & rain \n\n4 Cloudy, then fair and windy. \n\n5 wind last night Exceed : high at South. \n7 Little Snow in morning. \n\n9 E. Sac* pr*^ all day. very Smart cold. \n\n13 fair. Windy p.m. & Even looks hke Storm M\"\" Burgain* buried. \n\n14 Little rain, fair p.m. \n\n15 Several Showers p.m. Light^ & very hard Thunder. This day \nwe had Several Thunder Showers, they rose from the west and northwest \nvery black, it raind very hard and hail'd. Thunderd & Lightned \noften & one Clap exceeding hard. \n\n16 E. M'- John Cotton ' all day. fair pretty cold. \n\n17 Snow all day & very Stormy, as much Snow as has fell at a time \nthis winter This morning about 7 a Clock it began to Snow, wind at \nSouth and then came north, it Snow'd all day. & was very Stormy w'^ at \nN. West as much Snow fell this day as has at one time this winter, it was \na moist heavey Snow but if light & dry would have been (it is Judgd) a \nfoot deep \n\n18 fair & cold. Several flurrys of Snow w*'^ wind towards Even: \n\n» See p. 281, above. ' See p. 275, above. \n\n\n298 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nvery cold but fair. Several flurries of Snow towards night & in Even: \nwith wind and very cold, the lighthouse boat overset and one man \ndrownd \n\n20 fair. Cloudy Even. \n\n21 very Stormy it Snowd all day. w^ E. & N.E. more Snow than \nhas fell this winter at once. Early in the morn : it began to Snow and \nwas very Stormy wind East, it held Snowing & was very stormy all day \nw'* E. & N.E. as Stormy a Day as we have for years together, and \nmore Snow fell this day than has fallen at once the Winter past. \n\n23 E. prd for M'' Byles A.M. D^\" Sewall pr^ for me A.M. fair. \n\n24 Cloudy then Exeeding stormy all Day : vid : backside ^ Cloudy in \nthe morning then rain and Stormy, the storm increasd all afternoon and \nEven : it raind it snowd and it haild. and the w^ at N.E. blew as hard as \nEver I knew it in my life. Most Houses shook very much and great \ndamage was done to the Wharfs and shipping, the wind and storm \nabated about midnight. A more terrific storm scarce known. \n\n27 The Annual Fast, pr^ all day. fair pleasant. \n\n28 fair Springlike weather \n\n29 fair, looks like fowl weather p.m. \n\n30 E. M\"\" Byles A.M. I pr^ for M\"^ Chauncy A.M. rain Even wind & \nSnow \n\n31 Great deal of rain. M'' M^Lorry ^ Child buried. \n\nN B. more storms of rain Snow and wind this month than all the Winter \n& for many winters past. \n\n\nAPRIL \n\n1 rain in morn: then fair D\"\" Colmans Daug'' TuriP buried at \nMedford \n\n2 rain. \n\n3 rain A.M. fair p.m. \n\n4 Cloudy foggy weather. \n\n5 Cloudy foggy a.m. fair p.m. Cap* Homans arrived. \n\n6 E. Sac*: pr^ all day. fair pleasant. \n\n7 fair pleasant, a.m. rain Thund' & light: p.m. This day in \nafternoon it came up very Black then raind and haild in midst of which \n\n> What follows is written on the other side of the leaf. \n\n2 This name is uncertain. It might be \"M^Long\" or \"MoLorey.\" On May \n2, 1734, Mr. Checkley married \"Thomas McLory & Isabella Hood\" (Boston \nRecord Commissioners' Reports, xxviii. 186). \n\n« See p. 283, above. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV, SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 299 \n\na great deal of Sharp Lightning & hard Thunder. The lightning struck \nthe Ball upon the Steeple of the old South Church but hurt nothing else. \n8 fair cool. \n10 fair, raw wind. \n\n12 fair warm day. \n\n13 E. M\"\" Chauncey. A.M. very warm hazy. \n\n14 fair & very warm. \n\n15 rain. Stormy w\"^ N.E. very cold \n\n16 fair. M' Allen ^ dy'd. \n\n19 fair. M'\" Silence Allen buried and Rew'^ M\"\" Tayler's wife ^ of \nMilton. \n\n20 E. Chang'd w^^^ M\"\" Byles A.M. very hot. \n\n22 warm pleasant. \n\n23 fair pleasant Cap* Arthur Savage ^ buried. \n\n24 raw cold, some rain towards Even: \n\n25 rain, cold Storm w^^ N.E. \n\n26 rain, cold & stormy w*^ N.E. \n\n27 E. M\"\" Chauncey A.M. I pr^ for D'\" Sewall a.m. very raw cold. \n& some rain w^^ N.E. \n\n28 rain last night Cloudy to day a.m. fair p.m. \n\n29 very squally and cold, a consider^® frost last night. \n\n\nMAY \n\n2 fair. M\"\" Greenleafs child buried. \n\n3 fair M' Hall's Son buried. \n\n4 E. Sac* : pr'' all day. rain morn : fair p.m. \n8 fair, raw cold p.m. \n\n11 E. pr^ all day. warm and windy. \n\n12 Cloudy, rain. \n\n13 fair. M'' Jackson buried, a Shower w**^ Light^ and Thunder, at \n1 a Clock \n\n15 went to Natick and pr^ Lecture there. \n\n17 fair pleasant, hot weather. \n\n18 E. chang'd w*'^ D\"\" Sewall a.m.- pleasant. Shower p,m. \n\n19 fair M^^ Webber buried, \n\n20 fair, very windy p.m. \n\n22 Fast at old Ch: for reviv' of religion* &c \n\n» See p'. 281, above. ^ See p. 283, above. \n\n» See p. 281, above, * See p. 279, above. \n\n\n1 \n\n\n300 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\n23 Stormy w'^ at N.E. rain & cold. \n\n24 rain last night and to day. w^^ N.E. very cold. Madam Oliver * \nburied \n\n25 E. M'' Eliot ' A.M. I pr^ for M^^ Byles A.M. fair weather \n\n29 fair pleasant. M'^^ Deming buried. \n\n30 raw E. w^ foggy A.M. M\" Hall buried. \n\n\nJUNE \n\n1 E. Sac* M' Cotton ^ (of Hampton) P.M. little rain. \n\n2 fair, pretty Dry time. \n\n3 foggy then fair. \n\n4 fair & hot. Cap* Dorby * buried. \n6 Weather very hot. Deacon Powning dy'd about 5 h. p.m. \n\n8 E. M'' Cusliing ' (of Dover) a.m. Weather cooler. \n\n9 fair, dry time. Deacon Powning *• buried. \n\n11 Cloudy a.m. little rain. \n\n12 fair pleasant but dry weather, \n\n14 very dry time, and cold for season vid: overleaf.' very dry \nweather for a Consid'^ time, and in some places there have been this \nweek considerable frosts ( & some Ice) which have much hurt and Spoild \nthe English Grain. \n\n15 E. M\"- Green « (of Barnstable) P.M. \n\n17 dry weather, little Sprinkling. \n\n18 fair, very sharp lightning in Even : & Some rain. \n\n19 fair, hot and dry weather. \n\n20 a Shower p.m. w*^ Thund'\" & Light^. \n\n22 E. M\"\" Chauncy a.m. S. w^ very high. \n\n23 Great deal of rain. Thund\"^ & Light^ p.m. then fair. \n\n24 Fast at our Ch: for Revival of religion, vid: overleaf.' This \n\nday was kept by our Church in their turn as Day of fasting and prayer I \n\nfor the Revival of Religion &c M'' Abbot prayd & D' Sewall preachd \nA.M. M\"\" Cooper prayd and I preachd p.m. \n\n28 Cloudy looks like a Storm. This Day M\"\" Hadwins son (a Lad \nof about 12 years old) was drownd at Bottom of the Comon. \n\n' See p. 282, above. -• . ! = See p. 276, above. \n\n' See p. 276, above. ,,'•'• •* See p. 282, above. \n\n* See p. 276, above. \" See p. 282, above. \n\n^ What follows is written on the other side of the leaf. \n\n^ See p. 276, above. \n\n\" What follows is written on the other side of the leaf. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 301 \n\n29 E. Sac* : M*- Ward Cotton ^ p.m. \n\n30 fair hot. \n\nJULY \n\n1 [ 1 , \n\n2 consid'® want of rain. \n\n4 Comencment at Cambridge, some rain, w'^ N.E. \n\n5 Some rain last night. Cloudy drisling to day rain towards Even : \n\n6 E. M'' Cushing ^ (of Salsbury) A.M. Rain last night, and sev- \neral hard Showers to day. \n\n7 fair D\"^ Rand Still House burnt. This Day D'' Rand Still House \ntook fire just before one a Clock & was presently burnt down.^ Sev- \neral other Houses in danger but preserv'd. \n\n9 Some rain p.m. litde Thund\"^ & Light^. \n\n10 Mary Jepson came to live w*^ us. \n\n11 Cloudy then fair w*^ cool at N.E. \n\n12 Cloudy foggy then fair. \n\n13 E. Changd w^^^ M^ Byles A.M. rain w*^ Thund-- & Light^ p.m. \n& in Even : This Day (being Lords Day) there was a shower with \n\nsome Thunder & Lightning just before the afternoon service, and \ntowards night & in y« Even : there was abundance of rain Thunder & \nLightning. M\"\" Loring's Barn (at Hull) burnt by y^ Lightning about \n8 a Clock in Even : and 2 more places Struck with y^ Thunder in that \nTown. \n\n14 Cloudy, some rain. \n\n15 Some rain a.m. fair p.m. M'' John Fitch * buried. \n\n16 fair very hot. \n\n18 very hot. a shower p.m. & Even : w*^ Thundi\" & Light^. \n20 E. D^\" Colman a.m. M\"^ Hinsdel ^ p.m. litde rain p.m. \n23 little rain then fair. \n\n25 Looks like fowl weather Even: \n\n26 Cloudy. Rain, w^ N.E. \n\n27 E. Sac* : pr^ all day. little rain a.m; fair p.m. \n\n28 very hot. Rain wind terrible Thunder &c p.m. vid. Mid : ^ This \nafternoon it came up very black then the wind blew very hard, in \nmidst of which it ramd very hard and we had terrible Thunder & \nLightning the Thunder struck and did much damage to Deacon Williams's \n\n1 See p. 276, above. ' See p. 277, above. \n\n» See p. 284, above. * See p. 282, above. \n\n* See p. 277, above. \n\n^ What follows is written on another leaf in the middle of the book. \n\n\n302 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\nHouse in y® Coluon. it also struck Judge Palmer's House and struck \ndown 2 men in the street. The Thunder as Loud as I ever I heard espes : \n2 Claps of it. \n\n29 very hot. 2 men dy'd in well on Long wharfe by reason of the \nDamp &c. This day 2 men lost y'' lives going down into a well on Long \nWharfe y« Damp Suffocated and chilled y™ and they were gone at \nonce. This Day M\"\" Scarlet's negro poisond his Master Mistress and 2 \nChildren by putting Rats bane into y'' Chocolet ^ \n\n31 fair, little rain p.m. \n\nAUGUST \n\n1 fair little rain p.m. very much Light^ at night. This afternoon a \nSmall shower, and in the Even : abundance of Lightning. The Lightning \ncontinued greatest part of the night. \n\n2 hot Muggy. Several Showers. \n\n3 E. M'' Gushing 2 (of*Haverhil) a.m. Showers p.m. & in y^ Even: \nmuch rain some Thund'' & gr* deal of Light^. \n\n4 fair pleasant. A Shower just as meeting began p.m. and Towards \nEven: it came up very black in the N. West. Then raind very hard, \nwith abundance of Lightning and some Thunder but not very hard. \n\n5 fair a.m. rain p.m. w<^ N.E. \n\n7 Cloudy. Great deal p.m. & Even :• \n\n8 Cloudy. \n\n9 abund: of rain very Stormy & high tide vid: overleaf.^ This \nmorning it set in for to rain and raind Exceed : hard greatest part of the \nDay. The wind blew very hard at E. & S.E. The tide was very high \ndid some Damage to wharfs •&c as much rain fell to Day as (I think) I \never knew. \n\n10 E. p'''^ all day. Cloudy. Rain. Rain hard in Even : \n\n12 fair a.m. a Shower p.m. w*\"^ Thurfd'\" & Light^. \n\n13 A shower w*^ Thunder & Lightn^ about 5 a Clock in morn : and \nseveral showers in the day with Thunder & light^. fair Even: This \nmorn: about 5 a Clock we had a shower with Thunder & Lightning, \nanother shower between 7 & 8 Several afterwards. \n\n14 cool morn: fair pleasant. \n\n17 E p'^'i all day. fair, hot day. \n\n19 Cloudy, some rain p.m. \n\n20 cool morn : fair pleasant. \n22 pleasant. \n\n» See p. 285, above. ^ Sec p. 277, above. \n\n' What follows is written on the other side of the leaf. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 303 \n\n24 E. Sac* : pr^ all day. great deal of rain. \n\n26 Fast at M\"\" Welstcd's for revival of relig : M\"\" Burd's ' Child buried. \n\n27 Extream hot. M\"\" Brattle olivers child buried. \n\n28 very hot. M''^ Ethelridge buried. \n\n29 fair very hot. \n\n31 E. M^ Cooper A.M. a Shower p.m. w*'^ Thund*\" & Lightning \n\nSEPTEMBER \n\n1 fair pleasant. M'' Bennet buried. \n\n2 fair a.m. very hard shower p.m. Light^ in Even : & then fair \n\n3 cool morn: Madam Palmer^ buried. \n\n5 w* to Newtown pr^ M'' Cotton's Lecture, rain a.m. fair p.m. \n\n7 E. pr'^ all Day. cool morn: \n\n8 Cloudy raw N.E. w^ Rain Stormy Even: • \n\n9 Abund: of rain last night & to day A.M. w*^ Exceed: high at \nN.E. fair at night. Last night & to day a.m. a very Great Storm of \nwind and rain, it was very raw yesterday w*^ at N.E. & in Even began \nto rain & blow hard. The wind continued Exceed: high (and it raind \nvery hard all y^ time) til near noon next Day. \n\n10 fair very cool. M\"\" Ethridge's Child buried. \n\n1 1 fair cool morn : \n\n14 E. Changd ^th Chauncey a.m. \n\n16 fair, warm Hazy weather sun very red \n\n16 1 These two days the weather very warm & Hazy not a Cloud in \n\n17 J the sky these 2 days & y° sun very red and fiery. \n17 warm Hazy weather, sun very red. \n\n19 fair cool. \n\n21 E. Sac* : pr^ all day. very warm Hazy Sun very red \n\n23 Fast at Charlestown for reviv^ of relig : very foggy a.m. \n\n24 M\"\" Stimpson ^ ordained at Maiden. \n\n25 rain last night & this morning, then fair. \n\n26 fair cold N.E. W^ \n\n27 Carry'd my Wife and Child to Watertown fair pleasant \n\n28 E. Changd w^^ M\"\" Byles A.M. \n\nOCTOBER \n\n1 [ ] N.E. wind. \n\n3 fair pleasant my wife and Child returnd from Watertown \n\n' Perhaps this name is \" Burch's.\" ^ See p. 283, above. \n\n\" See p. 279, above. \n\n\n304 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\n4 fair pleasant, w*^ E. \n\n5 E. M'' Cambell ^ a.m. I pr^ at Almshouse a.m. Rain at night \nvery Sharp light^ and some Thunder in Even: This Day (being Lords \nday) it was Cloudy & warm. In the Evening it raind. There were \nseveral very sharp flashes of Lightning accompanied w*\"^ pretty loud \nThunder, rain allmost all the night following. \n\n6 Cloudy wind N.E. \n9 fair very pleasant. \n\n11 windy. Cloudy. Some rain p.m. \n\n12 E. M\"- EHot A.M. fair cool. \n\n13 fair cool morn: \n\n14 fair a.m. Cloudy raw & windy p.m. Rain at night. \n\n15 Rain w^ South. \n\n16 fair cold and very windy. \n\n19 E. Sac* : pr*^ all day. foggy, then fair pleasant. \n\n20 Some rain p.m. \n\n21 Cloudy. Some rain. \n\n23 Cloudy. Rain, w^ S. \n\n24 Cloudy, some Rain w^ S. \n\n25 fair cool, cold & windy at night. \n\n26 E. Chang'd w*** M\"* Byles. fair and cold all day pr^ to young men \nin Evening. \n\n27 fair & cold. \n\n28 Cloudy. Snow p.m. very Stormy at night, w^ N.E. This day it \nwas Cloudy & very raw a.m. wind at N.E. in after noon it Snowd fast & \ncontinued all Even : & night was very Stormy, y* next morn : Snow was \nabout 8 inches deep, and y^ Day following it Snow'd great part of day. \nthe first Snow this fall. & a Great deal of it. \n\n29 Snow 8 inches deep. Snow good part of y® day. \n\n30 Fair morn : Snow p.m. very Stormy even : This Day in after- \nnoon it began to Snow and Snowd very hard & was very stormy til \nbetween 10 & 11 Clock at night. In night it was very cold & blew very \nhard. The same Day (being Kings Birth Day) a consid'^ number of \npeople went over to Dorchester neck to make a Bonfire & play off fire- \nworks in Even : and one poor man (named Green) was found next morn : \nin Snow frozen to Death.^ \n\n31 fair & very cold more Snow on ground than has been at this time \nfor many years. \n\n*See p. 279, above. » See pp. 284, 287, above. \n\n\n1909] DIARY OF THE REV. SAMUEL CHECKLEY, 1735 305 \n\nNOVEMBER \n\n1 fair very cold \n\n2 E. pr'^ all day fair very cold. \n\n5 fair pleasant.^ This Day (being Gun powder treason)^ a Great \nnumber of people went over to Dorchester neck where at night they made \na Great Bonfire and plaid off many fireworks, afterwards 4 young men \ncoming home in a Canoe were all Drownd. They were not heard of til \n17 & or 18 Day & then two of them were taken up dead on y® flatts near \nthe Channel and brot to Boston where the Jewry sat upon y™ the next \nDay they were buried one at Charlestown where his friends liv'd the \nother in this Town. \n\n6 fair, cold day. \n\n7 fair cold. \n\n9 E. M^ Willord ^ (of Biddiford) a.m. fair pleasant. \n\n12 Cloudy & warm, fair p.m. \n\n13 The Annual Thanksgiving pr\"^ all day fair very pleasant. \n\n14 rain w*^ E. \n\n15 fair. M''^ Luce * buried. Mr Hatch's sons came to live at our \nHouse \n\n16 E. Sac*: M^ James Gushing^ p.m. \n\n17 fair. Cloudy p.m. \n\n18 Rain last night & to day. \n\n19 fair & cold. \n\n20 fair cold. M\"\" Jos : Hills Prentice burid y* was drownd see over- \nleaf « \n\n21 fair, looks like fowl weather. M''^ Blins sister buried \n23 E. old M\"\" Hancock ' (of Lexington) p.m. Fair pleasant \n\n27 fair cold. Cloudy p.m. little Snow & rain at night \n\n28 fair slippery raw cold. \n\n30 E. Pr'^ all Day. little rain a.m. fair p.m. \n\nDECEMBER \n\n1 fair but very cold.* \n\n2 fair. M\"\" Jn° Davenport ' buried. \n\n* This entry is on the other side of the leaf, and of course was not made \nuntil about a fortnight later. \n\n= See pp. 288-295, above. ^ g^e p. 278, above. \n\n* See p. 283, above. « See p. 277, above. \n\n^ This refers to the entry under date of November 5. See p. 288, above. \n' See p. 278, above. ^ This entry is somewhat uncertain. \n\n» See p. 283, above. \n\n20 \n\n\n306 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [March, \n\n3 fair a.m. Cloudy p.m. & warm. \n\n4 Great deal of rain last night & to day. w<^ E. & S.E. \n\n5 Wind very high last night & to day fair & cold. \n\n7 E. M\"\" Breck ^ a.m. Stormy Snow all day. \n\n8 fair and cold. M\"\" Burbeen's son buried. \n\n9 fair cold. \n\n10 pleasant. M'' Cole buried. \n\n12 Pretty deal of rain. M-\" Jn^ Hoods Child buried. \n\n14 E. Sac* : pr^ all Day. fair. cold. . \n\n15 fair moderate \n\n16 Rain, fair p.m. Rich