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A public-domain text about Boston, accessioned whole so the archive can quote it.","text_extract":"F 73 \n.37 \n.S82 \nCopy 1 \n\n\nSome Events \n\nof Boston and Its \n\nNeighbors \n\n\nPrinted for the \n\nState Street Trust Company \n\nBoston, Mass. \n\n1917 \n\n\nFrs \n\n.37 \n\n\nCopyright, 19 17, \n\nBY THE \n\nState Street Trust Company \n\n\nCompiled, arranged and printed by direction of \n\nWalton Advertising & Printing Co. \n\nBoston, Mass. \n\n\n/ \n\n\nm 16 1917 \n\n\n'CI.A457107 \n\n\nFOREWORD \n\n\nTHE State Street Trust Company takes pleasure in presenting \nthe twelfth in the series of brochures which it has issued on \nsubjects connected with the history of Boston. The pamphlet \ncovers this time some interesting events of Boston and some \nof the neighboring towns and is supplementary to the one issued last \nyear entitled — \"Some Interesting Boston Events.\" Many things \nhave happened in Greater Boston which, though quaint and curious \nand, perhaps, amusing, have not been of sufficient importance to re- \nceive more than a brief mention in the pages of the historians. It \nhas been the aim in the present pamphlet to narrate such little-noticed \nhappenings, and to illustrate the text as far as is possible with repro- \nductions of old prints and photographs. The unusual interest shown \nin the historic brochures prepared during the past eleven years by the \nState Street Trust Company encourages the hope that the present \nvolume will also prove acceptable and entertaining to the depositors \nof the Company and the general public. \n\nAmong those to whom we are indebted for information used in the \npreparation of this brochure are the following: The late Gov. Curtis \nGuild; the officials of the Boston Public Library; Mr. Philip Hale; \nMr. Walter K. Watkins; Mr. Charles F. Read of the Bostonian \nSociety; Mr. Charles K. Bolton of the Boston Athenaeum. \n\nFor special information in regard to certain subjects we are indebted \nto the following: Hon. Edmund Billings and Mr. Lawrence F. Sher- \nman for data pertaining to the Islands of Boston Harbour; Mr. George \nH. Tripp, of the Free Public Library, New Bedford, for data pertain- \ning to the Gosnold Memorial; Mr. William C. Lane, of Harvard Col- \nlege Library, for information concerning the Harvard Ferry; Granville \nC. Mitchell, of Medford, for help regarding the Peak House; the \nLibrarian of the Milton Library for material concerning Capt. Samuel \nWadsworth; Mrs. George Philler and Mr. T. Dennie Boardman for \ndata pertaining to the Prince of Wales Ball; Dr. Charles M. Green \nfor information concerning the Royall House; Mr. Richard H. Dana \nfor information pertaining to Anthony Burns; Mr. L. W. Jenkins for \nassistance in compiling the story of General Ward; Mr. J. T. Linzee \nfor the picture of the New England Guards; Mr. Alfred Bowditch \nfor data about the Practical Navigator; Mr. Hervey E. Wetzel for \ninformation concerning the Louisburg Expedition. \n\n\nFOREWORD \n\n\nAmong the authorities consulted are: \n\nOld Landmarks of Middlesex, by S. A. Drake. \n\nMt. Desert, by Geo. E. Street, edited by Samuel A. Eliot. \n\nOld Dartmouth Historical Sketches — Dedication of the Gosnold Memorial, Gosnold and his \n\nColony at Cuttyhunk, by Annie R. Wall. \nThe Gosnold Memorial Shaft, by Walter Ricketson. \nCuriosities of History, by W. W. Wheildon. \nThe Ferry, the Charles River, and the Charlestown Bridge — Chairman Boston Transit \n\nCommission, Boston, the Place and the People, by M. A. de Wolfe Howe. \nQuincy's History of Harvard University. \nOld Boston Landmarks, by Drake. \nSocial Life in New England, by Mary C. Crawford. \nThe Islands of Boston Harbour, by Mrs. Julia Knowlton Dyer. \nKing's Handbook of Boston Harbour, by M. E. Sweetser. \nHistory of Boston Harbour, by James H. Stark. \nStage Coach and Tavern Days, by Alice Morse Earle. \nBi-Centennial of the Burning of Medfield. \nHistory of Milton, by A. K. Teele. \nBarber's Historical Collections. \nBuried Treasure, by R. D. Paine. \nN. E. Legends and Folk Lore, by S. A. Drake. \nThe Ships and Sailors of Old Salem, by R. D. Paine. \n\nPamphlet about Royall House, New France and New England, by John Fiske. \nNew England Roof trees, by Mary C. Crawford. \nOld Boston Days and W-ays, by Mary C. Crawford. \nFigures of the Past, by Josiah Quincy. \nRoyalty in the New World, by Kinahan Cornwallis. \nMemories of One Hundred Years, by E. E. Hale. \nBoston under the Mayors, by Jane M. Bugbee. \nTrial and Rendition of Anthony Burns, by Stevens. \nEssex Institute Historical Collection, by Robert S. Rantoul. \nPublications of the Bostonian Society. \nThe Old Shipmasters of Salem, by Charles E. Trow. \n\nEulogy on the Life and Character of Nathaniel Bowditch, by Daniel Appleton White. \nMemoirs of Nathaniel Bowditch, by Nathaniel I. Bowditch. \n\nA Discourse on the Life and Character of Hon. Nathaniel Bowditch, by Alexander Young. \nPamphlets of Boston Society. \n\nThe Burning of the Ursuline Convent, by Ephraim Tucker. \nThe Burning of the Convent, by one of the Pupils. \n\n\nIV \n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS \n\n\nPAGE \n\n\nBartholomew Gosnold, the First Englishman to set Foot on New- \nEngland Soil I \n\nNew England First Named 2 \n\nSome Curious Old New England Customs 5 \n\nThe Islands of Boston Harbour 9 \n\nThe Harvard College Ferry 14 \n\nFirst Muster of Militia, June, 1638: the First Parade of the \n\nOldest Military Organization in America 16 \n\nFirst New England Coinage 17 \n\nThe Burning of Medfield, formerly a Part of Dedham 19 \n\nCaptain Wadsworth of Milton attacks the Indians at Sudbury 21 \n\nGovernor Phips and His Sunken Treasure 23 \n\nJohn Quelch, the Pirate, and His Execution in Boston 24 \n\nThe Adventure of Philip Ashton of Marblehead 26 \n\nThe Last Slave Quarters still standing in Massachusetts .... 27 \n\nThe Capture of Louisburg 27 \n\nGovernor Bernard's Grant of Mount Desert Island 29 \n\nThe First Stage-coach Line out of Boston 30 \n\nThe First American Traitor 32 \n\nCaptain Mugford's Capture of the British Ship \"Hope\" ... 33 \n\nA Sharon Woman enlists in Continental Army 34 \n\nWashington's Visit to Boston in 1789 35 \n\nThe New American Practical Navigator 36 \n\nThe New England Guards 40 \n\n\"Chesapeake\" and \"Shannon\" 44 \n\nLafayette's Meeting in Boston with Colonel Huger, who de- \nscribes his Attempted Rescue of the General from the Aus- \ntrian Prison 47 \n\nThe Burning of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown 48 \n\nThe Trial and Rendition of Anthony Burns 50 \n\nThe Prince of Wales Ball October 18, i860 54 \n\nA Massachusetts Soldier becomes a God of the Chinese .... 58 \n\n\nFrom a colored print. Collection of the State Street Trust Company. \n\nCAPTAIN JAMES MUGFORD, A HERO OF OUR REVOLUTION. \n\nThe inscription in fine type on this cut reads as follows: \n\nOne of the heroic men with Thomas Russell ist Lieut, and 19 Officers and men from Marble- \nhead who captured the armed British Transport Ship Hope Ladened with Powder, imple- \nments of War and Pioneer Tools, destined for and in sight of the British Admiralty Fleet \nthen in Nantasket Roads Novr 1775. The scarcity of Powder was severely felt by the Con- \ntinental Congress the procuring of it attracted their particular and constant attention, every \nencouragement had been held by them to the inhabitants of the Country, to engage in the \nmanufacture thereof, no opportunity was neglected in importing, or seizing it from the \nEnemy. — March 1776 Genl Washington entered Boston in triumph, the British evacuated \nand embarked, and lay in Nantasket Roads waiting the arrival of their Powder Ship — The \nenterprising and heroic Mugford, with Officers and men captured said Ship and transfered \nher with Cargo to the United States Commissary Genl and Quarter Master, by the Con- \ntinental Agent, Col. Jonathan Glover. This was One of the most valuable prizes during the \nRevolution, the principal and interest to 1854, Amounts to 1,349,343 15/100 Dollars! this and \nsimilar events produced the general voice — \"We will be free.\" Congress deliberately and \nsolemnly decided to declare it to the world; and the Declaration of Independance was \nagreed to in Congress on the 4th of July 1776. Who can estimate the real value of that \ncapture? \n\n\nSome Events of Boston \nand Its Neighbors \n\n\nBARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD, THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO \nSET FOOT ON NEW ENGLAND SOIL \n\nSMALL bark called the \"Concord\" with only \nthirty-two persons on board set sail from Falmouth, \nEngland, in 1602, with the object of making a per- \nmanent settlement in New England. It was agreed \nthat twelve of the explorers should return and that \nthe remainder should stay. Bartholomew Gosnold \nwas the leader of the expedition and with him were \nseveral mariners who had gone to Virginia with \nSir Francis Drake in 1585. It was not surprising therefore that the \nlittle ship made a very quick voyage, touching first at Cape Ann \nand then sailing around Cape Cod, which Gosnold called by this name \non account of the abundance of fish. He then sailed past an island \nwhich he named Martha's Vineyard, now called No Man's Land, \nand which he reported as being full of deer. To Gay Head he gave \nthe name of Dover Cliff, and continuing his journey the expedition \nlanded on Elizabeth's Isle, now called Cuttyhunk, and here it was \ndecided to start their settlement, the first in New England. The \nname Elizabeth now refers to the whole group of islands. Here part \nof the crew landed and built a small stone house or fort for comfort \nand for protection against the Indians. From here Gosnold visited \nthe mainland, probably at New Bedford, twice landing at Naushon, \nwhere he sowed grain and noticed many deer. There were many \ndissenters in the little colony, and three weeks had barely passed when \nthe \"Concord\" hoisted anchor and sailed for Exmouth, England, \nwhere she arrived \"without one cake of bread, nor any drink but a \nlittle vinegar.\" Gosnold joined the Jamestown expedition in 1607, \nCaptain John Smith also being on the same voyage. Gosnold died the \nsame year in Jamestown and was buried there. \n\nThe Gosnold Memorial Committee celebrated the three hundredth \nanniversary of Gosnold's landing at Cuttyhunk by laying the corner- \nstone of a memorial tower near the place where he landed. The \nBoston men on the committee who were present at the exercises \nwere F. E. Abbot, Edwin D. Mead, and G. G. Williams. \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nFrom a photograph. \n\n\nGOSNOLD MEMORIAL. \n\n\nCourtesy of George H . Tripp. \n\n\nThe Gosnold Monument is on a small island in a pond in the larger island of Cuttyhunk. Gos- \nnold is the name of the near-by town which embraces all the Elizabeth Islands. \n\n\nNEW\" ENGLAND FIRST NAMED \n\nCaptain John Smith, \"Admiral of New England,\" gave us the \nname of New England. With four London merchants he left England \nin March, 1614, on a trading expedition, sailing for North Virginia, \nas North America was then called. He landed near the Penobscot \nRiver and mentions the \"Tarrantine\" Indians who lived on the \neast side of this river. As he expressed it, \"I chanced to arrive at \nMonahigan, an He of America ... to take whales, for which we had \none Samuel Crampton and divers others expert in that faculty. . . . \nWe found this whale fishing a costly conclusion. We saw many . . . \nbut could not kill any.\" Captain Smith therefore in a small boat \nsailed westward along the coast with a few of his men, noting care- \nfully the promontories, rivers and harbours, drawing, as he expressed \nit, \"a map from point to point, isle to isle, and harbour to harbour, \nwith the soundings, sands, rocks and landmarks.\" The little expedi- \ntion sailed around Cape Ann, — which he called Cape Tragabigsanda, \nafter a Turkish flame of his who rescued him from slavery in Turkey, — \nfinally landing somewhere near Cohasset. How near he actually came \nto Boston Harbour will never be known, but it is quite certain that he \nsailed across Massachusetts Bay. He wrote afterwards that \"the \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nCAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, WHO GAVE US THE NAME OF NEW ENGLAND. \n\nFrom John Smith's \"Travels,\" \"History of Virginia, New England, and Summer Isles.\" 1630. \nMassachusetts Historical Society. \n\nfairest reach in this bay was a river, whereupon I called it Charles \nRiver.\" His map shows this river, which was undoubtedly the \nchannel between Long Island and Deer Island. He then sailed across \nthe Bay, made a sketch of Cape Cod, rejoined his vessels, and set \nsail for England. His name however will be remembered by us \nowing to the fact that he called this land New England for the first \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nfT^f SMJXH. th?vnrnc^into the $ea,aott Infe to Sharer, and *vai j \n\n\nHis three jinale Combats Chap- 7 • \nJ I H is E. nco u nte r w itfi TVRJ3 AS HAW Cfiap ■ 7 : \n\nFrom a ma/). Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. \n\nA CORNER OF JOHN SMITH'S MAP, SHOWING A SHIP OF THAT TIME. \n\n\ntime. His map, although drawn six years before Plymouth was \nsettled, and sixteen years before Boston, nevertheless mentions \nboth names on it, his Boston being near Portsmouth, Hull being \nHampton, Bristow then being called Boston. Other names given to \nvarious places were Cambridge, Sandwich, Dartmouth, Ipswich, \nBarnstable, London, Oxford. In one corner of this map is a portrait \nof \"Captayne\" John Smith, described as being thirty-five years of \nage. \n\nHe was very enthusiastic about the new land and described it in \nthese words: \"Of all the parts of the world I have yet seen not in- \nhabited, I would rather live here than anywhere.\" And again he \nwrites, \"And then the countrie of the Massachusits which is the para- \ndise of all those ports.\" \n\nJust before Winthrop sailed, John Smith wrote in his records, \n\"Yet further for my paines to discredit me and my calling it New \nEngland, they obscured it and shadowed it with the title of Cannada, \ntill, at my humble suit, King Charles confirmed it, with my map \nand books, by the title of New England.\" Captain Smith again set \nsail from England in 1615, but his ship never reached America. On \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nthis second attempt he was captured by a French cruiser, and it was \nduring his captivity that he wrote the narrative of his first voyage \nto New England. It was published in London in 1616, entitled \"A \ndescription of New England: on the observations, and discoveries of \nCaptain John Smith (Admirall of that Country) in the North of \nAmerica in the year of our Lord, 1614.\" About three thousand of \nthese pamphlets were distributed by him in order to encourage a \nmovement towards colonization, but his efforts did not meet with \nmuch immediate success. It must not be forgotten however that \nhis expedition was undoubtedly a contributing factor in establishing \nthe English race upon Massachusetts Bay. \n\nSOME CURIOUS OLD NEW ENGLAND CUSTOMS \n\nA survey of the lives of the early Puritans reveals many quaint and \ncurious customs. The life of a New Englander, particularly of a \nwoman, was very strict, and special attention was given to grace and \ncarriage. A piece of poetry written by Oliver Wendell Holmes well \nillustrates the care given to the woman's appearance: — \n\n\"They braced my aunt against a board \nTo make her straight and tall. \nThey laced her up, they starved her down, \nTo make her light and small. \nThey pinched her feet, they singed her hair, \nThey screwed it up with pins. \nOh! never mortal suffered more \nIn penance for her sins.\" \n\nTo remain long unmarried was considered deplorable and it has \nbeen said of the colonists that \"they married early and they married \noften.\" A woman was considered an old maid at twenty-five. \nWidowers and widows remarried as soon as possible, the record un- \ndoubtedly being held by the wife of a certain Governor of New Hamp- \nshire who was a widow only ten days. Bachelors were scarce and \nwere looked upon with much disfavor. In Hartford, \"lone-men,\" as \nthey were sometimes called, had to pay twenty shillings a week to \nthe town for the selfish luxury of living alone. One of the most amus- \ning laws was passed by the town of Eastham, Massachusetts, in 1695, \nthe vote reading that \"Every unmarried man in the township shall \nkill six blackbirds or three crows (every year) while he remains single; \nas a penalty for not doing it, shall not be married until he obey this \norder.\" A bachelor was constantly under the supervision of the \nconstables and the watchmen and therefore actually gained rather \nthan lost his freedom by marrying. The unmarried men of some towns \nwere encouraged to marry by being offered plots of land on which \nto build, upon marrying. It is said that in Medfield, Massachusetts, \nthere was a street called Bachelors' Row, which had in this way been \nassigned. \n\nLove-making in Boston was often carried on in the Common, one \nwriter stating that \"On the South there is a small but pleasant Com- \n\n5 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nmon where the gallants, a little before sunset, walk with their Marma- \nlet-Madams till the nine o'clock bell rings them home to their respective \nhabitations.\" From the above it seems that the New Englander \nkept early hours. John Quincy Adams also mentioned nine o'clock \nas the customary retiring hour in Quincy, following his remark by \nstating that if one were dining out and stayed after this hour one's \nhorse invariably walked home alone. A curious custom concerning \nlove-making was that the lover must first gain the consent of the \ngirl's parents, who, however, having once given permission, could not \nretract. Court records show that parents were often sued for en- \ndeavoring to end a sanctioned love affair. One record shows that \na lover sued the girl's father for the loss of time spent in courting. \nThe \"coming out\" or \"walking out\" of the bride was an important \nevent in the community. This meant that the newly married couple \nappeared together often in public, led small processions of people \nto church, and took prominent seats in the gallery. Often in the \nmiddle of the service the bridal couple would rise and slowly turn \naround several times in order to attract the attention of their friends \nin the congregation. It is a curious fact that a magistrate, a captain, \nor even a prominent man in the community could perform the mar- \nriage service, but that a parson could not do so, — not until the be- \nginning of the eighteenth century. Governor Bellingham actually \nperformed the marriage service over himself. When he was \"brought \nup\" for this action, he persisted in remaining on the bench to try his \nown case. \n\nAt weddings the garter of the bride was often scrambled for, the \nidea being that it would bring luck and a speedy marriage to the one \nwho caught it. The old custom of giving \"bride-gloves\" has come \ndown to us in the giving of gloves and ties to the ushers. A New \nEngland wedding in the old days ended by kissing the bride, firing \nguns, and drinking New England rum. There was no wedding trip \nthen, the newly married couple starting housekeeping immediately. \nIt is interesting to note how often ministers and their families married \ninto the households of other ministers, this being particularly true \nof the Mather family. \n\nThe meeting-houses were usually hot in summer and freezing cold \nin winter. The service began early in the morning and often lasted \nthe greater part of the day; and it was necessary, therefore, that the \nworshippers provide themselves with foot-stoves. The First Church \nof Roxbury was destroyed by fire in 1747 owing to the fact that one \nof these stoves was left behind. The Old South Church not long \nafterwards passed a vote to prevent a similar occurrence. This vote \nreads, \"Whereas danger is apprehended from the stoves that are fre- \nquently left in the meeting-house after the publique worship is over; \nVoted, that the sexton make diligent search on the Lord's Day evening \n. . . after a lecture, to see if any stoves are left in the house, and that \nif he find any there he take them to his own house; and it is expected \nthat the owners of such stoves make reasonable satisfaction to the \nsexton for his trouble before they take them away.\" Women often \n\n6 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\ntook hot potatoes in their muffs, and men sometimes brought their \ndogs to church to serve as foot-warmers, for which a charge of six- \npence per dog was levied. The First Church was the first one in Bos- \nton to use a stove, although the meeting-house in Hadley holds the \nrecord of being the first in Massachusetts to adopt this innovation. \nWhen the Old South, in 1783, installed this luxury, the Evening Post \nbewailed the new custom as follows: — \n\n\"Extinct the sacred fire of love, \nOur zeal grown cold and dead, \nIn the house of God we fix a stove \nTo warm us in their stead.\" \n\nNew England congregations became divided into stove and anti- \nstove factions. An amusing story is told about the wife of an anti- \nstove parson who was so unaccustomed to the heat that when the \ndeacon referred in his sermon to \"heaping coals of fire\" she fainted. \nUpon reviving she declared that her condition was due entirely to \nthe heat in the stove. It was pointed out, to her further discom- \nfiture, that there had been no fire on this occasion. \n\nFunerals were regarded as festivals and were considered of far \ngreater importance than weddings. Many people attended, even \nlittle children, who often also acted as pall-bearers at the funerals of \ntheir young friends. The body was often borne in a chaise but \nusually on a farm wagon or by a group of bearers. The chief expense \nof a funeral was gloves, a pair of which was sent as an invitation to \nattend the ceremony. In some cases as many as one thousand pairs \nwere given away, and often a man would name in his will the quality \nand cost of the gloves he requested be provided for his funeral. Often \npall-bearers were given better gloves than the others who attended \nthe services. One man sold his collection of three thousand funeral \ngloves for $640. Rings were also given to relatives and certain promi- \nnent people, and large were the collections of these rings that were \nmade by some of the most popular and distinguished people of the \ncommunity. These rings were usually made of gold with black \nenamel and often bore a coffin, skeleton, skull or urn on them; \nsome were inscribed with mottoes such as \"Death parts United \nHearts\" or \"Prepared be to follow me,\" or other equally cheerful \nsuggestions. The Essex Institute in Salem has an interesting col- \nlection of these mourning rings. The Puritans usually drank wine \nat funerals, taking quite literally the remark \"Give strong drink unto \nhim that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy \nhearts.\" It was often said that the temperance idea had \"done \nfor funerals,\" at least as festivals. Regular invitations to funerals \nwere sent out: invitations to other events usually went on the \nback of playing cards. At a meeting held in Faneuil Hall in 1767 \nthe following resolution was passed: \"And we further agree strictly \nto adhere to the late regulations respecting funerals and will not use \nany gloves but what are manufactured here, nor procure any new \ngarments upon such occasions but what shall be absolutely necessary.\" \n\n\nFrom a print. Collection of Boslonian Society. \n\nTHE CASTLE. \nThe most ancient military post in the United States continuously occupied for defence. \n\n\nFrom a print. Collection of Bostonian Society. \n\nA SHIP OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY. \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nThe use of wine and rum was also referred to. Salem passed a \nregulation that the tolling of the bell should cost no more than eight- \npence and that \"the sextons are desired to toll the bells but four \nstrokes in a minute.\" There was also a rule that undertakers could \ncharge no more than eight shillings for borrowed chairs. Sir Walter \nScott said that his father enjoyed a funeral. The New Englanders, \nwho met so seldom and who led such quiet lives, undoubtedly like- \nwise enjoyed this ceremony and looked forward to getting a ring. \n\nTHE ISLANDS OF BOSTON HARBOUR \n\nThe islands of our harbour presented a very different appearance \nin the early days of the Colony. Most of them at some time were \nowned and inhabited by one or more families as residences. Grad- \nually their woods were cut down and hauled into the nearby towns \nfor firewood, and in the course of time most of them were bought by \nthe City, the State, or the United States Government. Governor's \nor Winthrop Island, which was granted to Governor Winthrop in \n1632 by the Colonial Legislature, was undoubtedly one of the most \nattractive of all, chiefly owing to its woods and wonderful orchard \nof pear, plum and apple trees. It was agreed that the purchaser \nshould here plant a vineyard and an orchard, and that the purchaser \nor his heirs for twenty-one years should pay to the Government yearly \none-fifth of all the fruits and profits; and the name of his new pos- \nsession was to be called \"Governor's Garden.\" Later the terms \nwere changed to \"one hogshead of the best wine that grows there,\" \nto be paid after the death of John Winthrop. In 1640 the vine- \nyard failed, and the yearly amount was changed to two bushels of \napples, one for the Governor and the other for the General Court, \nthe members of which could be seen going home with their pockets \nfull of the fruit. The island continued in the possession of the family \nuntil 1808, when part of it was sold to the Government as a site for \nFort Warren. The name of this fort was later transferred to another \nfort on George's Island, and the old fort renamed for Governor Win- \nthrop. During the witchcraft delusion \"Governor's Garden\" was \nbelieved to be an isle of demons. During the War of 18 12 the Bos- \ntonians were asked to go down there with spades, pickaxes and \nwheelbarrows to aid in improving the defences of the fort. The \nWinthrops were celebrated for their hospitality and entertained a \ngreat deal at their island home. Among those who made use of these \nattractive grounds were the members of the Massachusetts Historical \nSociety. The island is to-day owned by the United States, but is \nunder the care of the Boston Park Commissioners. \n\nAnother well-defended fortress was on Castle Island, which was \nthe most ancient military post in the United States continuously \noccupied for defence, the flag of Saint George, the Pine-Tree Flag, \nthe white flag of Massachusetts, and the Stars and Stripes all having \nbeen flown over its ramparts. This fortress was erected in 1634 by \nGovernor Winthrop and his councillors, who decided that from this \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nisland only could the \"First Church\" be properly protected. The \nfort was destroyed by fire in 1673, being built mostly of tree stumps, \nand the following year the whole Court went on \"one of the earliest \nofficial junketings in Boston Harbour\" to examine it. In 1791, \nfor the first time, a British frigate saluted the American flag flying \nover the Castle. In 1798 Massachusetts ceded the island to the United \nStates and nine years later it was christened Fort Independence. \nSome Massachusetts volunteers are buried here, and one of the old \n\nepitaphs, now lost, reads: \"Here lies the body of John , aged \n\n50, a faithful soldier and a desperate good Gardener.\" Once when \nthree ships came in from England, a gunner tried to fire a shot across \nthe bows of one of them to bring her to, but the gun was so badly \naimed that the shot killed a passenger. An inquiry brought out \nthe report that he \"met his death by Providence of God.\" During \nthe civil war in England two rival British ships met in the harbour \nopposite the Castle, which resulted in the ridiculous law being passed \n\"not to permit any more ships to fight in the harbour without license \nfrom authority.\" After the Boston Massacre the British soldiers \nwere sent to the Castle, which caused to be written the following \npiece of poetry: — \n\n\"Our fleet and our army, they soon will arrive, \nThen to a bleak island you shall not us drive, \nIn every house you shall have three or four \nAnd if that will not please you, you shall have half a score.\" \n\nFrom here also the guns announced the return of William Pepperell \nafter the capture of Louisburg, and from its fortress the Royal Gover- \nnors were saluted on their arrival; and to this island Governor Andrew \nwithdrew. Also the fort was used as a prison until Charlestown \njail was built. The island is now owned by the United States, but \nis cared for by the Park Commission. \n\nAnother Government island is George's, or Pemberton, Island, \nupon which Fort Warren now stands. The fort was built of Quincy \nand Cape Ann granite, and was supposed to be at one time the key \nto the harbour. The island was named after Captain George, a promi- \nnent citizen of Boston. Within the walls of the fort many Massa- \nchusetts recruits were drilled for the Civil War, and many prisoners, \nincluding the English emissaries, Mason and Slidell, were here im- \nprisoned. It was the chief point of defence in our harbour until the \nSpanish War, and has played an important part in our Nation's his- \ntory. The first earthworks were erected in 1778 in order to protect \nCount d'Estaing's fleet from the British, when the French ships were \nin the harbour. It may be interesting also to mention that the famous \nsong \"John Brown's Body Lies a-Mouldering in the Grave\" was \ncomposed and first sung at Fort Warren by the glee club of the Second \nBattalion Light Infantry in 1861. \n\nWhen Miles Standish explored the harbour in 162 1 he anchored off \nThompson's Island, visited Squantum and made a treaty with the \nIndians. A few years later David Thompson, who came from Plym- \n\n10 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nSwamps'cott ~ 7uf50' \n\nMAP OF THE \n\nISLANDS OF \nBOSTON HARBOR \n\nSCALE OF MILES \n\n\nBoston L.S,° \n42-20 \n\n\nouth, in Devon, England, landed here and took up his residence. \nHe died several years later and his son leased it. In 1644 Massachu- \nsetts, without having the right really to do so, granted the island to \nDorchester. The lease was for £20 a year, and the income was to be \nused to pay the salary of a schoolmaster for the town. It has been \nasserted that this was the first money ever raised by taxes for such a \npurpose. The Thompson family returned, claimed the island, and quite \nproperly had it restored to them by the Court. In 1834 the Boston \nFarm School Association purchased it and annexed it to Boston, at \nthe same time granting to the people of Dorchester the right to dig \nclams there. Here later on the Farm School was established. A \ngrove of trees was planted in 1840 by the Rev. Theodore Lyman. \nJust after the Revolution George Minot purchased part of Thompson's \nIsland with the funds that were given him by the Government for \npowder that he had smuggled through the British lines to his many \nfriends. The island is owned to-day by the City of Boston. \n\nLong Island was so called because it is the longest island in the \nharbour. In 1847 a company bought all of it except the east end \nupon which was the lighthouse, and then built a wharf and a hotel and \n\n\n11 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nlaid out streets. The speculation ended in failure. The island is \nchiefly noted as the residence of John Nelson, who is looked upon \nas a hero by the American people. He was captured by the French \nin a voyage to the eastward and imprisoned in Quebec. While \nthere he informed Massachusetts that the French were forming plans \nagainst the New England Colonies, and for this he was sent to the \nBastille. He was finally released, and on his return to Long Island \nthe Nelson family gave him a great feast of welcome, and part of the \ntable-cloth is believed still to be preserved by his descendants. The \nBritish pastured cattle here at one time, and a detachment of five \nhundred Continental soldiers, in sixty-five whale-boats, landed and \nstole them all, escaping safely to Squantum. Not many years ago \na large assemblage of prize-fighters and their \"heelers\" went over \nto the island with the intention of conducting a fight, but were pre- \nvented from doing so by some police officers who arrived in a police \nboat at just the right time. The island is owned partly by the Gov- \nernment and partly by the City. \n\nLovelPs Island, which is six miles or so down the harbour, has wit- \nnessed many shipwrecks, chief of which was the French battleship \n\"Magnifique,\" which missed stays and ran on the rocks, where she \nlay for many years. The Boston pilot in charge of her at the time \nbecame sexton of the New North Church, and when he went down \nto the parish one morning he found that some boys had chalked the \nfollowing on the meeting-house door: — \n\n\" Don't you run this ship ashore \nAs you did the seventy-four\" (74 guns). \n\nSouvenir hunters have dug up many of the timbers of this vessel, but \nno treasures. Congress gave to France the \"America\" to compen- \nsate her for the loss. The island was named after Captain Lovell of \nDorchester, was occupied at one time by Hull, and now is the prop- \nerty of the United States, being used as a buoy station. \n\nNix's Mate has always been connected with traditions and to us \nis the most mysterious of all the islands, owing to the fact that its \ntwelve acres of pasture land have been entirely washed away except \nfor the beacon which was erected by the Boston Marine Society as \na warning to mariners. The most popular tradition is that Captain \nNix was killed at sea and his mate suffered death here for the murder. \nThe mate protested his innocence and predicted that the whole \nisland would be destroyed to prove his guiltlessness. The first owner \nof the island was John Gallop. It has a weird history, for with Bird \nIsland it was used as a place for the execution and burial of pirates, \nand often their bodies, after execution elsewhere, were hung on Nix's \nMate in order to warn other sea-rovers as they entered or left the \nharbour. The pirate William Fly was the most noted of all the bucca- \nneers executed here; his bones hung and blew back and forth on \nthe gibbet for many months. It is a curious coincidence that Nix's \nMate and Bird Island, upon both of which executions took place, \npractically no longer exist. \n\n12 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nDeer Island was so called because deer often swam over from the \nmainland when chased by the wolves from Boston Neck. It was \ngranted to Boston in 1634, and its use is too well known to require \nany description. It was leased at one time to Sir Thomas Temple, \nwho was a descendant of Lady Godiva of Coventry fame, a rather \ncurious relation to history for one of our islands to bear. During \nKing Philip's War Massachusetts confined many Christian Indians \nin this bleak spot, and John Eliot often visited and comforted them. \nIt is owned by Boston, the State of Massachusetts, and the United \nStates Government. \n\nApple Island has furnished excellent pasturage for sheep and \ncattle. It was owned in 1723 by the Hon. Thomas Hutchinson, father \nof Governor Hutchinson. It finally came into the possession of a \nMr. Marsh, who lived here peacefully with his family. His grave is \non the western slope. The City finally purchased it in 1867. Here \nmany old ships have been dismantled and burned, and it is popu- \nlarly believed that the island is infested with rats that came ashore \nfrom the burning vessels. \n\nBreed's Island, formerly known as Hog Island and owned at one \ntime by Judge Sewall, was bought in 1800 by a wealthy resident of \nCharlestown, Massachusetts, named John Breed, who tried here to \nbury his grief for the death of his bride. \n\nSpectacle Island is so called because at low tide it resembles a pair \nof spectacles. It was bought by Samuel Bill from an Indian Chief, and \nlater it was bought by the Town of Boston. A hospital was built \nhere which later was transferred to Rainsford Island where it still is. \nThe \"Sheerness,\" which took away Phillips to safety after his duel \nwith Woodbridge, lay off this island when he came on board. It \nwas bought not many years ago by Nathan Ward, and some one \nwrote, \"The island has been put to a new business, which speaks for \nitself if one happens to the leeward of it,\" adding that \"it has ceased \nto be a place of resort.\" The first mention of Spectacle Island was \nin 1634 when \"together with Deer Island, Hog Island and Long \nIsland, it was granted to the Town of Boston, for the yearly rent of \n4 shillings,\" or one shilling apiece. \n\nEdward Raynsford, the first elder of the Old South Church, was \nthe first white resident of Rainsford Island. The city bought it in \n1737 for a hospital, and in 1858 the State bought it for a home for \npaupers. Boston bought it back a few years later, and established \non it an almshouse. Until 1852 it was used as a quarantine. \n\nNoddle's Island, now part of East Boston, was first settled by \nWilliam Noddle in 1629, before Boston was founded, the first impor- \ntant settler being Samuel Maverick. When the Puritans arrived \nthey allowed him to remain upon payment of a \"fat wether, a fat \nhog or forty shillings.\" During the siege of Boston the island became \na refuge for twenty young women. One of them was frequently \ncalled upon by William Tudor, a General of the American Army, who \nswam over with his clothes tied in a bundle on his head, dressed, \nmade his call and then returned in the same manner. His energy \n\n13 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nwas rewarded by a successful ending to his love-making. The Battle \nof Chelsea Creek was fought between Noddle's Island and Winni- \nsimmet, or Chelsea. It was the second battle of the Revolution in \nthis vicinity and the first one in which American artillery was used. \nFort Strong is situated here. Donald McKay built many fine ships \nhere, such as the \"Flying Cloud,\" \"Sovereign of the Seas\" and the \n\"Great Republic.\" It was \"layed to Boston\" in 1636. A part of it \nis now owned by the East Boston Company. \n\nPeddock's Island is chiefly known to us as the scene of the capture \nof some French sailors by the English in the early days of the Colonies. \nIt is owned to-day by Governor Andrew's Estate and controlled by \nthe Town of Hull. Gallop's Island is owned by the City of Boston \nand will probably be purchased during the year by the United States \nGovernment. \n\nBumpkin Island, near Hingham, is owned by Harvard College and \nleased to the Burrage Hospital. \n\nCalf Island is the property of B. P. Cheney. \n\nGreat Brewster is owned by the City and is under the jurisdiction \nof the Town of Hull. \n\nGreen Island is owned by Melvin O. Adams and James Young. \n\nLittle Brewster is owned by the United States and is occupied by \nBoston Light. \n\nMiddle Brewster is owned by Melvin 0. Adams, R. S. Whitney and \nB. P. Cheney. \n\nOuter Brewster is the property of Benjamin Dean. \n\nTHE HARVARD COLLEGE FERRY \nSettlements were hardly established at Boston and Charlestown be- \nfore it became evident that a ferry across the Charles River would be \na great convenience. Probably before any action was taken by the \n•Colonial Government, private individuals had engaged in ferrying \npassengers across the Charles; but the first public act in reference \nthereto was on November 9, 1630, at a meeting of the Court of Assist- \nants held at Boston, shortly after Governor Winthrop and his party \nreached Charlestown. At this meeting were the Governor and Deputy \n•Governor of the Colony, with Mr. Coddington, Sir Richard Saltonstall \n.and others; and it was ordered, \"That whoesoeuer shall first giue \nin his name to Mr. Gounr that hee will vndertake to sett vpp a fferry \nbetwixte Boston and Charlton, & shall begin the same att such tyme \nas Mr. Gounr shall appoynt, shall haue 1° for euy pson, & id for euy \n100 waight of goods hee shall soe transport.\" \n\nThus was launched the Boston-Charlestown ferry, or, as it was \nknown at the time, \"the great ferry,\" perhaps the first enterprise \nundertaken by the infant colony. Edward Converse was the first \nman to take advantage of the act. At first the ferry could not have \nbeen a very lucrative proposition, for on June 14, 163 1, it was ordered \nthat Mr. Converse should receive twopence for every single person, and \n•one penny apiece if there were two or more persons to be ferried. \n\n14 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nOn November 9, 1636, the ferry was leased to Mr. Converse for three \nyears, at £40 a year, on condition that he should see that the ferry \nwas efficiently run and equipped with the proper number of boats, \nand that he should build a convenient house on the Boston side of the \nriver and keep a boat there when it was needed. Besides the fees \nfor persons mentioned above he was allowed to charge sixpence for \nevery pig ferried across. \"And if any shall desire to pass before it \nbe light in the morning, or after it is dark in the evening, he may take \nrecompense answerable to the season and his pains and hazard, so as \nit be not excessive.\" \n\nIn 1640 the General Court ordered that the ferry privilege between \nBoston and Charlestown be granted to Harvard College for the \nfinancial benefit of the institution. In 1639 £50 had been received \nfrom the ferry, and it was expected that this sum would increase \nyearly with the growth of population. For one hundred and forty-five \nyears Harvard received the ferry tolls, which were no mean help in \nthose days of the college's struggling infancy. \n\nThe ferrymen evidently had their troubles, for in 1648 James \nHeyden and Francis Hudson, who then had charge of the ferry, \ncomplained to the General Court that the ferry was very unproductive, \nthat disorderly persons would force their way into the boats and re- \nfuse to pay their fares, and that the payment tendered was \"usually \nin such refuse, unwrought, broken, unstringed, and unmerchantable \npeag\" — meaning wampum, or Indian money — at six a penny, that \nthey lost twopence on the shilling, as they had to take peag at six a \npenny and pay it at seven. The General Court acted favorably on \nthis petition August 10, 1648, giving the ferrymen the right to collect \ntheir tolls before ferrying and to refuse poor peag, while persons \nallowed free passage by order of the Court were to show credentials \nor pay. \n\nPresident Henry Dunster of Harvard petitioned in 1650 that the \nCollege be given the right to dispose of the ferry by lease or other- \nwise, and this was granted. \n\nOars were probably the sole means of propulsion, the channel \nbeing narrow and the current strong. In winter, when the ferry \ncould not run, no doubt the thick ice made a convenient bridge between \nthe shores for at least part of the season. At first the ferry served \nonly foot-passengers, but later larger boats were put into service and \nchaises were ferried across. The ferrymen collected double tolls on \ncertain days, evidently not to the liking of the townspeople; for in \n1783 the town refused to sanction the ferrymen unless they agreed \nnot to charge these extra tolls. \n\nThe ferry played a worthy part in the early history of Massa- \nchusetts. In May, 1632, it carried across the Charles to Boston a \nthrong of men to aid in fortifying Corne Hill, later Fort Hill, and \nwhen the colonial rebellion against Andros broke out in 1689 hun- \ndreds of stanch colonial militia were ferried across on April 18 to help \ntheir brothers in Boston overpower the tyrant governor. The re- \nbellion was successful and Andros was thrown in prison, but the \n\n15 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nlimitations of the ferry kept some fifteen hundred eager men fuming \non the Charlestown side, unable to share in the good work. \n\nWhen Paul Revere made his famous ride on April 18, 1775, he could \nnot use the ferry to get to Charlestown, because while the English \nfleet lay in Boston Harbour the ferry-boats were moored alongside \nthe ships-of-war at nine o'clock every night, in order to prevent possible \nfoes of the English from crossing under cover of darkness. Revere \ngot around this by hiring two men to row him across in his own boat, \nwhich he kept at the North End, \"a little to the eastward where the \n'Somerset' man-of-war lay,\" and landed safely at Charlestown below \nthe ferry. \n\nAs the population of Boston and Charlestown increased, it became \nevident that a bridge must be built in place of the ferry, and when \nThomas Russell and others petitioned the General Court in 1785 for \nthe right to build a bridge over the Charles River between Boston \nand Charlestown \"where an ancient ferry had been established,\" the \npetition was granted by an act passed March 9, 1785, and John \nHancock, Thomas Russell, et al., were incorporated as proprietors of \nCharles River Bridge. \n\nThe grant provided for the annual payment to Harvard College \nby the grantees of £200 for forty years, the bridge to become the prop- \nerty of the State at the end of that time, \"saving to the said College a \nreasonable and annual compensation for the annual income of the ferry, \nwhich they might have received, had not said bridge been erected.\" \n\nThus, after one hundred and fifty-five years of useful service, did the \nold Charlestown ferry pass out of existence. The wonder is that \nthe people of Boston and Charlestown put up with such a primitive \narrangement for so long, affording as it did for a century and a \nhalf their only means of communication except by making the long \nroundabout journey through Roxbury and Cambridge. Apparently \nthe efficient management of the ferry must have made up for some, \nat least, of its limitations, for in 1741 Oldmixon's \"History of the \nBritish Empire in America\" states that between Boston and Charles- \ntown \"there is a ferry so well tended that a bridge would not be \nmuch more convenient, except in winter.\" \n\nFIRST MUSTER OF MILITIA, JUNE, 1638 \n\nTHE FIRST PARADE OF THE OLDEST MILITARY \n\nORGANIZATION IN AMERICA \n\nThe \"Military Company of Massachusetts\" was organized on the \nfirst day of June, 1638. An earthquake shook Boston that after- \nnoon, and Winthrop adds in his Journal: \"It came with a great noise \nlike a continued thunder or the rattling of coaches in London, but \nwas presently gone. ... It shook the ships, which rode in the harbour, \nand all the islands. The noise of the shakings continued four minutes.\" \n\nThe company, afterwards known as the \"Ancient and Honorable \nArtillery Company of Massachusetts,\" and now the oldest military \norganization in America, may have assembled in the market-place, \n\n16 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nwhere tradition says their colors were set early in the morning. They \nwere probably in motley array, though, as time passed, they assumed \na certain uniformity of dress and weapons. After much debate \na charter had been granted by Governor Winthrop to the members \nof this new company which had been chosen from the volunteer \nmilitia, nearly as old in Boston history as the church and the governor. \nAmong the officers were: Robert Keayne, captain; Daniel Howe, \nlieutenant; Joseph Weld, ensign; John Oliver and Joshua Hewes, \nsergeants; John Johnson, clerk; and Arthur Perry, drummer. After \nroll-call and prayer the company marched to the First Church on \nKing Street, where with solemn tread and much creaking of boots \nand clang of arms they entered the pewrs. There is a tradition that \nthe sermon in honor of the first muster of an organized company was \npreached by Captain Robert Keayne's brother-in-law, the Rev. \nJohn Wilson, clad in black gown with white bands and wearing a \nwhite wig. He preached a long sermon behind the hour-glass which \nmonotonously dropped its sands before the eyes of the company. \nAn authority claims it is altogether probable that after the sermon \nthe company marched to one of the Boston taverns — possibly Cole's \nTavern, the first in town — where dinner was served, and that after- \nwards they marched up School House Lane to the training-ground \nor Common. Governor John Winthrop, who in the face of much \nopposition granted a charter to the company, was present, and was \nlater escorted home by the company. On the day of organization, \nofficers were elected who afterward treated the company \"to punch, \nmade of old West India and New England rum, Havana sugar, and \n'lemons or limes for souring.'\" \n\nThe captain's duties were laid down in the \"Book of Discipline,\" \nwhich called for him \"to be a good posture man himself, that when \nhe sees any of his souldiers handling their arms in an indecent and \nslovenly manner, he may better reprove them for the same. And \nalthough many Captains regardeth them not, but leaveth them to be \ninstructed by the inferiour officers; yet it is a great deal of honour \nto him, when his souldiers shall be taught by himself, they more \ncheerfully and confidently marching along with him, when as they \nperceive that he is thoroughly knowing in all things belonging to his \ncharge. His place of marching with his company, is some six foot \nbefore the first division of muskettiers; but if his company be drawn \nup, he is either upon a stand, or upon the march, to be on the head \nof the Pikes, six foot before the Ensign.\" \n\nFIRST NEW ENGLAND COINAGE \n\n\"After a little keeping in scoole, I was taken to help my father plant corne, \nwhich I attended for seven yeares together. I then fell to learning by the \nhelp of my brother, and to practising the trade of goldsmith, and was able to \nget my living by it.\" — John Hull, in his Diary. \n\nWhen Hannah Hull's father, on her marriage to Samuel Sewall, \nplaced his daughter, as tradition says, in one of the scales and heaped \n\n*7 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\ni \n\n\nFrom an original. Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. \n\nTHE PINE TREE SHILLING, 1652. \n\nEnlarged two and one-half times. \n\nin the other silver New England shillings until the scales balanced, \nthe wedding present amounted to £3,000, — only a portion of the \nwealth that John Hull gathered besides his \"living\" as master of the \nfirst mint in New England. \n\nOwing to the increase in trade in the Colony and to uncertainties \nin England, Massachusetts in 1652, for the purpose of preventing \nfraudulent money, erected \"a mint for coining shillings, sixpences \nand three-pences.\" The General Court, accordingly, authorized \nJohn Hull \"a silversmith\" and Robert Sanderson, for \"melting, \nrefyning, and coining of silver.\" Massachusetts was the only colony \nthat coined money, and the first pieces had the initials of New England \non one side and Roman numerals denoting the value on the other. \nAfterwards it was ordered by the General Court that all moneys should \nhave the following inscription: \"Massachusetts, and a tree in the centre \non one side, and New England and the year of our Lord on the other \nside.\" The mint-house was located on Mr. Hull's estate; it was \nnot a pretentious building, the order for it calling for a wooden edifice, \nsixteen feet square and ten feet high. It was the subject of common \nremark in its day: \"Twelve pence laid out on the purse and only six \npence in it.\" It is related that not long after the starting of the mint \nCharles II in great wrath questioned Sir Thomas Temple, the first \nagent officially despatched by the General Court to London, as to \nwhy this Colony presumed to invade His Majesty's rights by coining \nmoney. Virtually, Sir Thomas said: \"The colonists have but little \nacquaintance with the law. They are simple folk, meaning no ill, \nand they thought it no crime to make money for their own use.\" \nSir Thomas took a \"pine-tree\" shilling from his pocket. \n\n\"See, your Majesty, here is the coin.\" \n\nOn one side of the piece had been struck a tree which, though there \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nis no record of its identity at the time, has later been called a pine- \ntree. It may, however, have been any New England bush. \n\n\"What is that tree — what does it mean?\" said King Charles, \nfrowning. \n\n\"That, your Majesty,\" said Sir Thomas, \"is a royal oak. Your \ncolonists, not daring to put your Majesty's name on the coin, have \nstruck thereon the emblem of the oak, which preserved your Majesty's \nlife.\" \n\n\"They are a parcel of honest dogs,\" cried Charles, at once restored \nto good-humor. \n\nHow the coins came to be known as pine-tree shillings cannot be \ndefinitely traced. The official records speak of the drawing as a \n\"tree,\" the pine-tree itself not appearing officially until it was im- \npressed on the seal of the General Court, where a pine-tree appears \non each side of the Indian. \n\nThe date — 1652 — for thirty years remained unchanged. John \nHull's share in the profits of the mint was fifteen pence out of every \ntwenty shillings. He rapidly amassed a fortune, and the General \nCourt, possibly discovering this, sought to be released from the con- \ntract; but John Hull refused, and continued for some years to add to \nhis coffers, even after giving his daughter Hannah £3,000 for a wed- \nding dowry. \n\nThe \"pine-tree\" shillings circulated up to the time of the Revolu- \ntion, and after that they were collected or preserved in museums. \nWith the exception of Maryland, where Lord Baltimore struck off a \nfew silver coins, Massachusetts is the only one of the thirteen colonies \nthat had a mint before the Revolution. \n\nHull Street in Boston, which was laid out through John Hull's \npasture, is named for him and was given to the city by Judge Sewall \nand his wife, Hannah, of pine-tree-shilling fame, on condition that it \nshould always be called by the mint-master's name. \n\nTHE BURNING OF MEDFIELD, FORMERLY A PART OF \n\nDEDHAM \n\nThe many battles with King Philip's Indians in the outlying villages \nand towns were of vital importance to Boston, and every event was \nat once heralded there. It was customary to announce the arrival \nof Indians by firing off the heaviest gun in the village, and to rely \nupon each successive garrison on the way towards Boston to pass on \nthe alarm. Soon after the start of King Philip's War the only town \nbetween Medfield and the country of the Indians was Mendon, and \nit was not long before this town was also attacked. Previously to \nthis, however, a false alarm of hostile designs against Mendon had been \ngiven to the citizens of Boston, and twelve hundred men were quickly \nassembled under arms. They were soon dismissed because it was \ndiscovered that \"one who was upon guard there . . . got drunk and \nfired his gun, the noise of which alarmed the next neighbors and so \nspread to Boston.\" \n\n19 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nft \n\n\nFrom a photograph \n\n\nPEAK HOUSE, MEDFIELD. \n\nOne of the most curious of our Massachusetts houses. \n\n\nTaken for the book. \n\n\nThe situation soon began to look so serious that on December 9, \n1675, a Massachusetts force was mustered on Dedham Plain and \nadvanced to North Kingston in Rhode Island. The white men \ncharged a stockade nearby. To do this they had to cross, by means \nof a single log, a ditch that surrounded the fortress, and which was \nswept by the enemy's fire. There was a race to see who would be the \nfirst to get across. This attack was a failure. A friendly Indian showed \nthe white people a secret passage into the stockade, and many of the \nIndians were finally killed. The cold was so intense that the Mas- \nsachusetts troops were soon obliged to return. Lancaster was at- \ntacked on February 10, and the inhabitants of Medfield then became \nthoroughly alarmed. They wrote to Governor Leverett for assist- \nance, and he sent a company of eighty men as further protection. \nThe Indians assaulted Medfield on February 21, 1676, killed many \nof the inhabitants and burned half of the houses in the village. \nKing Philip was described as riding upon a black horse, leaping back \nand forth over fences, thoroughly enjoying the havoc he was making. \nIt is believed that he caused to be written a paper threatening to \nrepeat his visit every year for twenty years. The Great Gun, as it \nwas called, was fired as a signal to the town of Dedham that the red- \n\n\n20 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nmen had begun their deadly work, and on the second report the \nIndians became frightened and fled, retiring to a hill nearby, where \nthey roasted an ox and held a savage feast. Medfield was allowed \nby the State £87 ioj. for the loss sustained. \n\nThe old \"Peak\" house shown is popularly believed to have been \nthe only house which was not burned at the time of the massacre, \nbut this is not so. It was originally built in 1651 and was burned \nduring the attack. The present house was built by Seth Clark, who \nwas the owner of the original house at the time it was burned. It is \nan exact reproduction of the former one and is one of the most curious \nin shape of any in New England. The house came into the possession \nof Daniel Adams, and he sold it to Michael Callahan, who in turn \nsold it to the present owner, Fred M. Smith. It is the oldest house \nin Medfield, and some of the original panes of glass in the windows, \nwhich were imported from England, are still to be seen. \n\nMedfield was originally part of Dedham and was purchased on \nNovember 14, 1649 from Dedham for £50 which was \"to be divided \namong such of the inhabitants of Dedham as did not move to the \nvillage.\" Ralph Wheelock was the prime mover in starting this new \ntown and has been called \"the founder of Medfield.\" Dedham \nalso originally included Norwood, Walpole, Wrentham, Franklin, \nBellingham, Needham, Dover and a part of Natick and Hyde Park. \n\nCAPTAIN WADSWORTH OF MILTON ATTACKS THE \nINDIANS AT SUDBURY \n\nAbout four hundred of King Philip's warriors fell upon the little \nvillage of Marlborough in the year 1676. The news soon reached \nBoston, and Captain Samuel Wadsworth, a resident of Milton, was \nsent with a company of fifty soldiers to the relief of the town. His \nforce joined that of Captain Brocklebank of Marlborough, consisting \nof about twenty more men, and following the Indians to South \nSudbury they soon came upon some of them. The savages retired \nslowly through the woods, until they had led Wadsworth's men so \nfar in that they were able completely to surround his company. \nWar-whoops and shot came from every tree, and there was no possible \nchance of retreat as there were over five hundred Indians in the \nband. With great bravery the whites defended themselves until \nnightfall. The Indians then set fire to the woods, and the smoke \ncompelled the surrounded soldiers to retire from their position. It \nwas now determined to force a way through, but in trying to do this \nall the white men were killed or taken prisoners, and those who were \ncaptured suffered the most frightful tortures. It is doubtful if any \nescaped, though some historians believe that a few cut their way to \nsafety. Captain Wadsworth fell and with twenty-eight of his men \nwas buried in a large grave near the place where the fight took place. \nThe Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, a son of the gallant Captain and \nonce the president of Harvard College, erected in 1790 a monument \nover this grave, and some years later the Commonwealth of Massa- \n\n21 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nFrom a photograph. \n\n\nTaken for the book. \n\n\nMONUMENT IN SOUTH SUDBURY, MASS. \n\n\nErected to commemorate the gallant attack on the Indians by Captain Samuel Wads- \nworth of Milton and others, who were killed during the fight. The inscription on the monu- \nment reads as follows: \"This monument is erected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts \nand by the Town of Sudbury in grateful remembrance of the service and sufferings of the \nfounders of the State and especially in honor of Captain S. Wadsworth of Milton, Captain \nBrocklebank of Roxbury and Lieut. Sharp of Brookline and twenty-eight others, men of \ntheir command, who fell near this spot on the 18th of April [an error for 2 1st of April] 1676, \nwhile defending the frontier settlements against the allied Indian forces of Philip of \nPokanoket. l8=;2.\" \n\n\nchusetts and the town of Sudbury united in erecting another monu- \nment, at the base of which is the old tablet that marked the earlier \ngrave. The Indians lost heavily but were nevertheless so elated by \nthis victory that they sent word to the authorities in Boston to pro- \nvide plenty of food as they intended to \"dine with them on election \nday.\" This disaster was keenly felt in Boston and especially in Mil- \nton, as Captain Wadsworth was one of the town's most influential citi- \nzens, having served at one time with Robert Babcock as a Committee \nof Militia for the town. He moved to Milton from Sudbury in 1656 \nand married the daughter of Robert Vose. His house stood on Wads- \nworth Hill, and at that time it was over a mile from any other house. \nKing Philip's power soon began to wane, his end coming in August \nof this same year by the hand of one of his own men. His head was \nexhibited on a gibbet for twenty years. His helmet and the barrel of \nthe gun that killed him are displayed in Pilgrim Hall at Plymouth. \n\n22 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nGOVERNOR PHIPS AND HIS SUNKEN TREASURE \n\nIt does not often fall to the lot of one individual to discover a \nvaluable sunken treasure-ship and then to be elected Governor of a \nState. Such was the history, however, of William Phips. He was \nborn on Phips Point, near Wiscasset, Maine, and being apprenticed \nto a ship-builder of his native town he learned much about ships and \nthe sea. He moved to Boston in the early part of his life and soon \nmarried. He was very poor, but had a determination to accumulate \nmoney. In the taverns of Boston he heard of sunken galleons and \nconceived the idea of getting his heart's desire, which was \"A brick \nhouse in the Green Lane of North Boston,\" now Salem Street. It \nwas not many years before he did actually own one. \n\nSetting sail in 1681 for the West Indies he cruised around on his \nwild search, falling in with many pirates, including Morgan, the most \nbloodthirsty buccaneer of them all. He managed to discover a small \ntreasure and went to England to finance an expedition to procure the \nrest of it. For two years he tried to persuade King Charles II to \njoin him, and finally succeeded. The King loaned him the frigate \n\"Rose\" which belonged to the Navy, having been captured from some \ncorsairs. In 1683 he sailed to Boston, where he found that the \nowners of another ship had gotten wind of his treasure, and so he \nhad to allow them to join him. Both ships sailed for the West Indies, \nbut found no treasure: as often happens, it had vanished. Nothing \ndaunted, however, he continued his search near Hayti and San \nDomingo, where he found an old Spaniard who told him where he \nknew lay some treasures. Again he sailed to England in order to \nship a new crew, his sailors having mutinied. He found that King \nCharles had died, but he was able to induce King James II to interest \nhimself in the new venture. A syndicate was organized, and Phips, \nas \"an authorized treasure seeker,\" sailed in the \"James & Mary\" \nin 1686 for Port de la Plata. One of his crew noticed a large marine \nplant in the water and on diving for it discovered a cannon. On \nthe second plunge he brought up a lump of silver which he put before \nPhips's place at the dinner-table that night. The surprise and delight \nof the treasure-hunter can easily be imagined. Thirty-two tons of \nsilver as well as gold, pearls and jewels were brought to the surface. \nThe supply of provisions unfortunately got so low that it was thought \nbest to return to England. On the way the seamen, though hired \nby the month, struck for their share, and Phips was obliged to accede \nto their demands. Up the Thames sailed this extraordinary expedi- \ntion with the equivalent of $1,500,000 on board. The commander \nwas most honest and only took exactly the amount to which he was \nentitled, which was one-sixteenth or about £16,000. For his dis- \ncovery the King knighted him in Windsor Castle. Another visit \nwas made to the wreck, but all the rest of the valuables had been taken \naway in the mean time. \n\nKing James offered Phips a place in the Navy, but his heart yearned \nfor New England, whither he returned and built his brick house \n\n23 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\non Green Street. He was appointed the first Royal Governor, took \npart in the Quebec expedition, and did much to suppress witchcraft, \nbut he endeavored to rule the lower officials of the Colony in much the \nsame way that a pirate commands his crew. He got into many \nquarrels, returned to England, and there died. \n\nJOHN QUELCH, THE PIRATE, AND HIS EXECUTION IN \n\nBOSTON \n\nThe privateer \"Charles\" owned by merchants of Boston lay in \nMarblehead Harbour with her commanding officer, Captain David \nPlowman, too ill to venture to put to sea. He sent word to the \nowners that he could not trust his crew and suggested that they \ncome on board and consult as to future plans, but before they could \nget to the ship, the crew mutinied, with John Quelch at the head, \ntook command of the vessel, and turned her prow toward the track \nof the Spanish trade. Quelch threw Captain Plowman overboard \nwhen he was well out to sea and hoisted a pirate's flag with the \nfigure of a skeleton on it. He and his treacherous crew in a short \ntime succeeded in capturing many Portuguese vessels, and with them \nmuch valuable booty. \n\nDudley was Governor of Massachusetts at the time, and he did \nall in his power to discover the \"Charles,\" but failed to find any \ntrace of her. Not long afterwards Quelch sailed back to Marblehead \nand reported that Plowman had died at sea, and that he had been \nobliged to take command of the privateer, assuring the authorities \nthat his treasures had been collected from the wreck of a Spanish \ngalleon. It was thought wise, however, to search the ship, and \na different story came out. Quelch and those of his crew who had \nnot escaped were promptly arrested. Governor Dudley ordered those \nwho had reached shore to be captured if possible. Many of them \nwere found scattered in different parts of New England. The trial \nwas held in the Star Tavern on Hanover Street and was the first \nproceeding under the Pirate law in the Colonies. Quelch and nine- \nteen of his crew were found guilty and sentenced to death. Two, \nhowever, were let off, one on account of illness and the other because \nof extreme youth. \n\nThere are two copies of a broadside published in Boston which \nportrays the efforts made to save the souls of the condemned men. \nMany sermons were also preached in their presence every day. The \nbroadside began as follows: \"An account of the Behaviour and Last \nDying Speeches of the Six Pirates that were Executed on Charles \nRiver, Boston Side, on Fryday, June 30, 1704.\" All were pardoned \nexcept Quelch and five others, nine being impressed into the Navy. \nThese six condemned pirates, under a guard of forty musketeers, town \nconstables, and two ministers, marched through the streets of the \ntown, which were thronged with spectators, it being considered a \ngreat treat to witness the hanging of so many persons. The last \npart of the way they proceeded by water. The ministers then ad- \n\n24 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nFrom a broadside. \n\n\nCollection of the Slate Street Trust Company. \n\n\nEXECUTION OF PIRATES ON BOSTON NECK. \n\n\ndressed to them a long sermon. As Quelch stepped on the stage, \nhe took off his hat and bowed to the spectators, apparently quite un- \nconcerned, and advised the onlookers to take care \"how they brought \nmoney into New England, to be hanged for it.\" He died bravely. \nA Salem writer composed the following lines: — \n\n\"Ye pirates, who against God's laws did fight, \nHave all been taken which is very right. \nSome of them were old, others young \nAnd on the flats of Boston they were hung.\" \n\nPart of the treasure was successfully smuggled away, but there \nwas still enough left to afford a large division of spoils among various \nofficials of the Colony, even Governor Dudley himself coming in for \nhis share. The owner of the Star Tavern \"for entertainment of \nthe Commissioners during Court proceedings\" was generously re- \nmembered, as well as the Lieutenant Governor, the sheriff of New \nHampshire, prisoners' counsel, marshal, constables, queen's counsel, \nprison-keeper and captains of the militia. The amount of the \nbooty given to Governor Dudley is not made known. Cotton Mather, \nwho had a quarrel with him, asserted that he \"extorted the sum of \n30 pounds from some of the crew for liberty to walk at certain times \nin the prison yard.\" \n\n2s \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nTHE ADVENTURE OF PHILIP ASHTON OF MARBLEHEAD \n\nPhilip Ashton and a number of other Marbleheaders were fishing \nnear Cape Sable in June of the year 1722 when a strange-looking \nbrigantine was seen to be approaching, which at first was supposed \nto be a West Indiaman. The new-comer anchored near the fishing \nfleet, and in a short time a boat-load of her men approached Ashton's \nvessel, and, suddenly drawing their cutlasses and pistols from be- \nneath their clothing, demanded that the crew of the vessel surrender. \nThere was nothing for them to do except to submit to the ruffians, \nwho turned out to be no other than the well-known pirate Ned Low \nand his gang of buccaneers. Low presently summoned Ashton to \ncome before him and asked him to sign articles of agreement to ship \nwith him as one of the band, to which suggestion he received a prompt \nrefusal. The pirate then held a pistol to the Marbleheader's temples \nand asked if he were a married man. He and his comrades were so \nfrightened that most of them answered that they were single. It \nturned out to be just the wrong thing to say because Low was sup- \nposed never to impress a married man into his service. \n\nAshton steadily refused to join the pirate crew and was therefore \nsubjected to the most brutal treatment, the vessel in the mean time \nstarting off on her long voyage. As the unfortunate man wrote in \nhis diary, the pirate ship was \"a veritable hell afloat.\" Many vessels \nwere captured and plundered, until Low finally decided to visit Roaton \nHarbour in the Bay of Honduras, in order to get a supply of drinking \nwater. This was Ashton's opportunity. He asked to be allowed to \ngo ashore and help fill the water-casks, and to his delight his request \nwas granted, as the pirates could not believe any one would want to \nrun away on such a desolate island. The prisoner at first worked very \nhard, when suddenly he bounded off into the undergrowth and hid as \nbest he could from his pursuers. He could hear them yelling to him, \nand he could even distinguish the words of one of them, — \"The dog is \nlost in the woods and can't find his way out.\" Finally they became \ndiscouraged and left him to his fate, alone on a deserted island, and \nwithout clothes, food, knife, gun or even means with which to make \na fire. He lived on grapes, figs and plums, and managed to build for \nhimself a rude hut. For nine months he lived without seeing a human \nbeing until one day an Englishman, who had fled from the Spanish \nsettlements in fear of his life, landed on the island. For three days \nAshton enjoyed the companionship of this stranger, then most un- \nfortunately the new-comer was drowned by the capsizing of his canoe. \nSeveral months later he found another canoe stranded on the shore, \nwhich enabled him to make short excursions to the surrounding islands, \nupon one of which he discovered some Spaniards who shot at him. \nSome time after this adventure Ashton saw some canoes approaching, \nand to his delight a party of men, who had been driven by the Span- \niards from the Bay of Honduras, landed. All lived together very \npeacefully until his old enemies, the pirates, descended upon them. \nAshton and several of his friends succeeded in escaping, but the rest \n\n26 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nwere captured and taken aboard the same vessel in which he had once \nbeen a prisoner. Two or three months now passed until one day \nwhen the castaways went over to the Island of Bonacco and while \nthey were here a gale compelled several vessels to stand in towards \nthem. One of the ships luckily turned out to be a Salem brigantine, \nand to Ashton's joy he sailed off in her, arriving home on the first of \nMay, 1725, after an absence of almost three years. \n\nTHE LAST SLAVE QUARTERS STILL STANDING IN \nMASSACHUSETTS \n\nThe old Royall House in Medford, closely identified with Revo- \nlutionary history, among its many attractions can boast of possessing \nthe last visible relic of slavery in this State. Although the house \nitself dates back to 163 1, when it was deeded to Governor Winthrop, \nthe building for slaves was not erected until 1732. Isaac Royall \ncame into possession of the place at this time, and he found that \nsuch a building was necessary in order to house his twenty-five faith- \nful slaves. The exterior of this interesting building has remained \nalmost unchanged, and the old \"out-kitchen,\" as it was called, is \nstill carefully preserved. The interior is now used by the care- \ntaker and for meeting places for societies, while the basement, used \nas a dairy after the year 1800, now contains a steam heating plant \nfor the main part of the establishment. \n\nIsaac Royall, for whom the house is named, gave a tract of land \nto Harvard College, the proceeds of which were used in accordance \nwith his will to found the Royall Professorship of Law, now the \nHarvard Law School. The Royall House was once the property of \nFrancis Cabot Lowell, who was the founder of cotton manufacture in \nAmerica. \n\nThe part of Medford upon which this house stands originally be- \nlonged to Charlestown. A picture of the house is on the following \npage. \n\nTHE CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG \n\nThe capture of Louisburg in 1745 was one of the most extraordinary \nmilitary achievements of the New England Colonies. Louisburg, \nwhich was situated on the Island of Cape Breton, belonged to the \nFrench, who, realizing its strategic importance in the event of a possible \ninvasion of New England, expended many millions of dollars in \nerecting fortifications. \n\nGovernor Shirley of Massachusetts had been told that a sudden \nattack on this fortress might succeed, and he at once decided to \norganize an expedition. Parkman in his history calls this under- \ntaking \"a mad scheme.\" A man called William Vaughan, who lived \non the Damariscotta River in Maine, had been urging the attack \nfor many years, as he feared that Louisburg might some day destroy \nhis fish and lumber trade. Shirley talked the question over with \nhim and determined to bring his proposal before the legislature. \n\n27 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nHe succeeded finally in obtaining a favorable decision by a majority \nof only one vote. Massachusetts furnished three thousand men, \nConnecticut and New Hampshire contributed five hundred troops, \nand Rhode Island loaned a ship-of-war. Colonel William Pepperell \nof Kittery, Maine, was chosen to command the expedition, and \nRoger Wolcott of Connecticut was commissioned Major-General and \nsecond in command. Colonel Pepperell very much doubted the \nsuccess of the enterprise, as he had only one 24-gun frigate and twelve \nsmall vessels. Governor Shirley appealed to England for assistance, \nand three ships were despatched, which, however, arrived in Boston \nafter Colonel Pepperell's vessels had left. They joined the attacking \nforce at Louisburg and furnished much assistance. \n\nThe New Englanders effected a landing on the first of May and laid \nsiege to the town at once. Vaughan on the next day led four hundred \nmen back of the hills where he succeeded in setting on fire some naval \nstores. Nearby the French had a battery of thirty guns, and when \nthe defenders saw the clouds of smoke they became panic-stricken \nand fled without firing a shot. Vaughan's men of course took \npossession, turning the guns against their former owners. The capture \nof this battery was good fortune and helped to decide the fate of the \nfortress. In a few days some British vessels arrived upon the scene, \nand the combined forces prepared a thousand scaling ladders for a \ngrand attack. The Frenchmen became discouraged at these prepara- \ntions and so surrendered on June 17. The world could not believe \nthat Louisburg had fallen. New England celebrated the event with \ngreat enthusiasm. Colonel Pepperell was made a baronet, the only \nnative American who ever received this appointment. Louisburg \nSquare was named to commemorate this victory, but the two statues, \none of Aristides and the other of Columbus, one at each end of the \nSquare, are in no way connected with the Louisburg expedition. \n\nGOVERNOR BERNARD'S GRANT OF MOUNT DESERT \n\nISLAND \n\nIn 1760 and 1 761 many families emigrated to the Maine Coast \nand land was given to them. Francis Bernard, Governor of Massa- \nchusetts, who came here in 1760, showed a great interest in the move- \nment. He was interested not only in the lands as an investment \nbut wished to hold the province of Maine for his State. He was not \nwell off, had many expenses at that time in the service of the govern- \nment, and so petitioned the Massachusetts legislature for some of the \nlands of Maine to cover expenses. In 1762 he was granted one-half \nof the island of Mount Desert for \"his extraordinary services.\" This \nsuited well his desires as it gave him part of the lands which he wanted \nto unite into a new township east of the Penobscot. In September of \nthis same year the Governor visited his new possessions, with the \nidea of trying to promote the settlement of the island. He set sail \nwith a large suite and sent ahead his two surveyors, Nathan Jones \nand Borachias Mason, whose maps and data are still in existence. \n\n29 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nGovernor Bernard's diary gives an exact record of his trip and de- \nscribes how he first saw the mountains of Mount Desert as he sailed \npast Fox Island. They anchored in South West Harbour. He \ndescribes also how they discovered Somes's log house at the head of \nthe Sound by the same name. Somes was one of the pioneer settlers \nof Mount Desert, coming from Gloucester. On his return voyage \nBernard mentions passing Isle au Haut and Matinicus, landing at \nPortsmouth. His papers in the Harvard College Library give a \ndetailed description of Mount Desert. \n\nHe tried to encourage settlements in every way and laid out plots \nof land in South West Harbour, which he offered for sale. Here he \nalso made his quarters, built some houses, and started a mill. \n\nHe had not yet received a confirmation of his grant by the authori- \nties in England, and he therefore resolved in 1764 to appeal to the \nKing in a very complete document. He received a favorable reply \nand immediately sent his agent, Joseph Chadwick, who mapped \nthe island and gave accurate descriptions, all but the map having been \npreserved. Bernard's plans were, however, interrupted by the \nStamp Act riots just before the Revolution. His recall came the fol- \nlowing year, and he departed amid the pealing of bells and the roar \nof artillery. The Liberty Tree was also decked with flags, and mid- \nnight bonfires were kindled on Fort Hill. On his return to England \nhe was knighted. \n\nBernard was a benefactor of Harvard College and a country gentle- \nman. Although he lived opposite Jamaica Pond it is said he at- \ntended services in Brookline because they were shorter than at Rox- \nbury. In his will he bequeathed his property in Mount Desert \nto trustees, for his son John, who after a long contest, owing to the \nfact that his father's property had been confiscated, finally obtained \ntitle to it. \n\n\nTHE FIRST STAGE COACH LINE OUT OF BOSTON \n\n\"Long ago, at the end of the route, \nThe stage pulled up, and the folks stepped out. \nThey have all passed under the tavern door — \nThe youth and his bride and the gray threescore. \nTheir eyes were weary with dust and gleam, \nThe days had gone like an empty dream. \nSoft may they slumber, and trouble no more \nFor their eager journey, its jolt and roar, \nIn the old coach over the mountain.\" \n\nThe first public stage-coach line from Boston was established in \n1763 by Bartholomew Stavers, who had his headquarters at the \nSign of the Lighthouse in the North End. The starting-point was \nin Charlestown in order to save the trouble of ferrying, and the \ncoach ran to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His conveyance was \ncalled the \"Portsmouth Flying Stage-coach\" and was built to carry \n\"six persons inside, each person to pay 13 shillings and 6 pence sterling \n\n30 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nFrom a print. \n\n\nCollection of Bostonian Society. \nAN OLD STAGE-COACH OF THE EARLY DAYS. \n\n\nto Portsmouth, and 9 shillings to Newburyport; to set out every \nFriday morning, between six and seven o'clock; to put up at inns \non the road, where good entertainment and attendance will be pro- \nvided for the passengers in the coach. Returning, to leave Ports- \nmouth every Tuesday morning.\" The owner also announced that, \nas this was a convenient and genteel way of travelling and much \ncheaper than hiring carriages or horses, he hoped gentlemen and \nladies would encourage the same. This first stage line was regarded \nwith much astonishment, and its establishment was looked upon \nas a great achievement, and it may be imagined that no railway was \nlater greeted with more enthusiasm than was the opening of this \nfirst stage-coach line between Boston and Portsmouth. Of the \ncomforts of Mr. Stavers's equipage the least said probably the better, \nfor the coaches of ye olden time have been likened to everything from \na distiller's vat to a diving bell, with sundry violoncello cases \"hung \nequally balanced between front and back springs\" in between. \nThe motion has been said to resemble \" a ship rocking or beating against \na heavy sea, straining all her timbers with a low moaning sound as \nshe drives over the contending waves.\" Nevertheless, in spite of \ndiscomforts New England folk would travel, and there must have \n\"been a certain elation in arising in the dim hours of the morning, \npartaking of a hot, fragrant, frugal breakfast, hearing the bustle and \npreparations, neighing of horses and calls of men in the tavern-yard, \nand setting forth on a long journey before dawn. There was the \nbreak in the monotony of things when horses were changed at a \ntavern farther on in the journey, the unmistakable interest when \nbits of news were related as the horses were harnessed, the gathering \nof loungers and village folk about the stage-coach, the crack of whips \nwhen the journey was again resumed, and at the end of the seemingly \ninterminable journey the welcome and warmth of a good tavern \nwhere famished travellers might refresh themselves. \n\n31 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nThe next \"stage-chaise\" ran between Boston and Salem, and \nonly a few years later another line was started to Marblehead by \nEdward Wade, who might be \"spoken with at the widow Trefry's \nin Fish (North) Street.\" In 1814 a stage-coach line was put into \noperation between Boston and New York, which ran every three \ndays. Longfellow, when he visited the Wayside Inn in 1840, wrote \nthat \"The stage left Boston about three o'clock in the morning, reach- \ning the Sudbury Tavern for breakfast, a considerable portion of the \nroute being travelled in total darkness, and without your having \nthe least idea who your companions might be.\" The accidents, \nhowever, are described as being very few and rarely fatal. When \nthe railroads were first started there were some serious accidents, \nwhich caused one of the older Bostonians to remark: \"You got \nupset in a coach, and there you were! You get upset in a rail-car — \nand, damme, where are you?\" \n\nThe stage-drivers, in addition to their regular duties, frequently \nattended to the shopping orders of the people who lived along the \nline. One old driver in Ayer, Massachusetts, bought bonnets for \nmost of the women on his route, and he always bragged that he \nused to purchase a great many but never two alike, and that he was \nthe only one who could be trusted to perform this important task. \nThe drivers insisted that they could change horses before the stage \nstopped rocking. The travellers as a rule were not so complimentary \nabout their conveyance, as they often referred to the change as an \nexchange of prisons. Modern travel has its disadvantages and lack \nof picturesqueness, after all — and forever about the old stage-coach \ndays will linger a breath of romance and the spirit of the fascination \nthat accompanied the lumbersome coach and joys and discomforts \nof the road. \n\nTHE FIRST AMERICAN TRAITOR \n\nDr. Benjamin Church has the dishonorable distinction of being \nthe first traitor to this country, and as he has no descendants in \nNew England to-day so far as can be learned, a sketch of his un- \nworthy career may be ventured upon. Church came of a very dis- \ntinguished family, was a graduate of Harvard College, an excellent \nsurgeon, and posed previous to the Revolution as one of the leading \npatriots of Massachusetts; he was a member of the famous Com- \nmittee of Safety and even delivered an oration in the Old South \nMeeting-house on March 5, 1773, the anniversary of the massacre. \nIt afterwards developed that even ten years before this time he had \nbeen in secret correspondence with Governor Hutchinson. In 1774 \nPaul Revere wrote that he was surprised to find the secrets of the \nVigilance Committee had been made known immediately to General \nGage although every member of the committee had sworn to keep \nits proceedings secret. At the outbreak of the Revolution he was \nattached to a large army hospital, and it was while there that he was \ndetected in secret correspondence with General Gage. He had \n\n32 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nintrusted a letter in cipher to a woman to be taken to the British \ncommander. The woman was captured and Church's treachery \ndiscovered. He was brought before a council over which Washing- \nton presided and on being questioned practically admitted his \nguilt. He was found guilty but was remanded for the General Court. \nAt the trial held in Watertown the court-room was crowded. The \ndefence claimed that the letter was written to Church's brother, and \nChurch himself declared that no one had a greater love for America \nthan he. Nevertheless, on very clear evidence he was found guilty \nand condemned to the Norwich jail in Connecticut, where his health \nsoon failing he was allowed to leave the country. He set sail for the \nWest Indies, and his ship was never again heard from. \n\nWhile in confinement in the Jonathan Belcher house on the corner \nof Brattle and Hawthorn Streets, Cambridge, he carved on the door \nof a closet his name, \"B. Church, Jr.\" The marks can still be seen, \nalthough their meaning was not understood until fifty years had \nelapsed. \n\nCAPTAIN MUGFORD'S CAPTURE OF THE BRITISH SHIP \n\n\"HOPE\" \n\nA hero of the Revolutionary War of whom we rarely hear is Captain \nJames Mugford of Marblehead. He had been impressed on a British \nfrigate, and while on board he heard the crew talking about a powder- \nship soon to arrive from England. His wife obtained his release by \ngiving as an excuse that they had been only recently married and \nthat she needed him for support. Without waiting for a commission \nhe boarded a fishing-smack called the \"Franklin,\" shown as a \nfrontispiece, and cruised up and down the bay waiting for his prey. \nSoon the \"Hope\" appeared, whereupon the innocent-looking fisher- \nman sailed up alongside. Suddenly the daring Captain Mugford \ngrappled the English store-ship, called to his crew below decks, and, \nboarding the \"Hope,\" sailed off to Boston with her as a prize within \nsight of His Majesty's fleet then anchored in Nantasket Roads. The \nprize-ship contained powder and arms worth over a million dollars \nto the Yankees, the powder being especially valuable owing to the \nfact that Washington's army was very short of it at that time. With- \nout any doubt this incident of May 17, 1776 was one of the most \nimportant events of the war. Two days later Captain Mugford \nwhile sailing the \"Franklin\" through Shirley Gut was^ attacked \nby some British ships and a furious battle ensued, during which \nhe was killed. As he fell back into the boat one of the crew inquired \nif he were wounded, whereupon he replied, \"Yes, but don't Jet the \nenemy know the situation, and if I die act as if I were alive and \nam still commanding.\" He then expired. His men beat off the \nenemy and sailed back into Marblehead Harbour where the captain \nwas buried with military honors. \n\n\n33 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nFrom a photograph. Taken for the book. \n\nHOUSE OF DEBORAH SAMPSON GANNETT, IN SHARON. \nMrs. Gannett was the only woman in Massachusetts who enlisted in the Revolutionary Army. \n\n\nA SHARON WOMAN ENLISTS IN CONTINENTAL ARMY \n\nAirs. Deborah Sampson Gannett of Sharon, Massachusetts, has the \ndistinction of being the only woman of this state who enlisted as a reg- \nular soldier in the Revolutionary Army, and the proof of her service can \nbe found in the resolutions of the General Court of Massachusetts \nunder date of January 20, 1792, which show that she served under \nthe name of \"Robert Shurtleff in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment'' \nand that she was \" entitled to receive as pay £34 and interest.\" \n\nShe was led to enlist either on account of the frequent wooing of a \nlover for whom she did not care or owing to the death in the battle \nof Long Island of her real lover. At any rate she left home to enlist \nthe night she heard of her lover's death. She enlisted at Bellingham \nfor three years and was sent to West Point. Her brother and sister \ntravelled hundreds of miles to find her, and the former actually \nchanced to see her in the ranks though he could not recognize her. \nShe knew him and decided to write home to her mother and tell her \nshe was safe, but she did not divulge her occupation. The letter \nwas unfortunately intercepted. She was in the battle of White \nPlains, taking part in the bloody bayonet charge, and was shot through \nher clothes three times. She worked on a battery at Yorktown \nand was known as the \"blooming boy\" so fresh was her appearance. \nShe proved an excellent soldier and good at all kinds of work. She \n\n34 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nlater received two wounds, but extracted a bullet from her thigh \nwith a penknife and needle before the surgeon arrived. \n\nGeneral Patterson selected her as his waiter, in which position she \nproved especially efficient. She soon fell ill and became unconscious. \nDr. Bana then discovered her identity, but he did not then divulge \nthe secret. \n\nA Baltimore woman once fell in love with her and addressed \nletters to her while she was in prison and sent money and presents \nto her, all of which was exceedingly annoying. While performing \nduty near Baltimore she was captured by the Indians. She killed \nthe savage who stood guard over her, and it seemed as if she would \nbe left to perish in the wilderness. She therefore wrote to her admirer, \nsigning the letter \"Your own sex.\" After long wanderings she re- \njoined her regiment. Dr. Bana, however, had only been delaying \nher undoing, and he gave to her a letter to take back to her General \nwhich disclosed to him her secret. General Patterson, however, \nonly commended her for her services and made arrangements to \nhave her conducted back safely to Massachusetts. \n\nShe married Benjamin Gannett after the War and lived the rest \nof her life in Sharon in a house which is still standing. In it are \nsome of her relics, table, Bible, etc. In 1802 she made a successful \nlecturing tour and kept a diary of it. Her grave in Sharon is still \npreserved, and a street is named after her. She is the heroine of this \nlittle town. \n\n\nWASHINGTON'S VISIT TO BOSTON IN 1789 \n\nThe autumn after Washington's election to the Presidency he \nmade a tour of the New England States that had ratified the Con- \nstitution. On his arrival at Boston Neck he was met by the Select- \nmen and the sheriff representing Governor Hancock, but not by the \nGovernor himself. A quarrel ensued here over the control of the \nprocession, and Hancock's officials threatened \"to make a hole \nthrough\" the town officers. There was such a delay and the weather \nwas so raw and chilly that many of the onlookers caught what was \nknown for many years as the \"Washington cold.\" The President \nin his Continental uniform rode through Orange, Newbury, and \nMarlborough Streets, all of which now form Washington Street, \narriving at the State House for the ceremonies. Still Hancock was \nnot to be seen, and added to the coldness of the occasion a cold \ndinner awaited the distinguished guest, which finally, however, the \nlandlord improved upon by managing to procure an excellent fish at \nthe last moment. Washington was much provoked that the Gov- \nernor of Massachusetts refused to pay his respects to him and wrote \nin his diary, \"Having engaged yesterday to take an informal dinner \nwith the Governor to-day, but under full persuasion that he could \nhave waited upon me as soon as I should have arrived, I excused \nmyself upon his not doing it, and informing me through his Secretary \n\n35 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nthat he was too much indisposed to do it, being resolved to receive \nthe visit.\" The following amusing letters were then exchanged: — \n\n\"The Governor's best respects to the President. If at home and \nat leisure the Governor will do himself the honour to pay his respects \nin half an hour. This would have been done much sooner had his \nhealth in any degree permitted. He now hazards everything as it \nrespects his health, for the desirable purpose.\" \n\nThe following answer was sent back at once: — \n\n\"The President of the United States presents his best respects \nto the Governor, and has the honor to inform him that he shall be at \nhome till two o'clock. The President need not express the pleasure \nit will give him to see the Governor; but at the same time, he most \nearnestly begs that the Governor will not hazard his health on the \noccasion.\" \n\nIt looked as if the President's visit would end most disagreeably, but \non the following day Hancock realized his mistake, and caused him- \nself to be swathed in red flannels as a victim of gout, and carried on \nthe shoulders of two men into Washington's drawing-room, where \ntea was served. The President appeared most concerned over the \ninconvenient (or \"convenient,\" as was thought by many) attack of \ngout, and the misunderstanding between the two dignitaries was \nbrought to a close. Without doubt Governor Hancock made use of \nhis infirmity as an excuse for not having at once visited Washington. \nMrs. Hancock always assured her friends that her husband had a \nreal attack of gout and that Washington shed tears when he saw \nthe servants bringing the helpless man into his presence. Governor \nBrooks and many others thought differently, although the exact \ntruth will never be known. The visit was returned by the dis- \ntinguished General and peace again reigned. \n\nTHE NEW AMERICAN PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR. \n\nIn 1802 Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch, who was born in Salem in 1773 \nand died in Boston in 1838, published his \"Practical Navigator,\" \nwhich from that day to this has been used by every shipmaster of \nthis country and by most of the sailors of other English-speaking \nnations. It was not his intention to edit it in his name, but as \nhe found over eight thousand mistakes in the book on navigation \nissued by J. Hamilton Moore, which E. M. Blunt, a publisher of \nnautical books in Newburyport, asked him to correct, he finally de- \ncided to affix his own name to it. One mistake alone in Moore's \nwork made a difference of twenty-three miles, and is known to have \ncaused the destruction of several ships. It is amusing to notice \nthe prefaces written by the two authors. The earlier work by Moore \nsays that the publisher \"sells no sea-books, charts or instruments but \nsuch as may be depended on; consequently he excludes all those old \ninaccurate publications, the depending upon which has often proved \nfatal to shipping and seamen.\" The later publication says that \"the \nauthor does not absolutely assert that the tables are entirely cor- \n\n36 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nrect, but feels conscious that no pains have been spared to make \nthem so.\" This statement was more modest than it need be, for his \nbook has been pronounced \"second to no work of man ever pub- \nlished,\" to use the words of Daniel A. White, who wrote a eulogy \non the life of the celebrated mathematician. The \"Navigator\" \ncontains the results of experiences on his voyages, and employs simple \nformulas for working out nautical problems. Dr. Bowditch sailed \nalways as clerk, supercargo or master with Captain Prince of Salem, \nand he spent most of his time at sea reading and working out prob- \nlems. The first ship he sailed on was owned by the well-known mer- \nchant, Elias Hasket Derby. On his fourth voyage, when his vessel \narrived at Manila the Captain was asked by a Scotchman named \nMurray how he managed to find his way into the harbour by dead- \nreckoning. His answer was that he \"had a crew of twelve men, \nevery one of whom could take and work a lunar observation as well, \nfor all practical purposes, as Sir Isaac Newton himself, were he alive.\" \nMurray was so surprised at this statement that he decided to go \ndown and inspect the ship and her learned crew. He soon discovered \nthat Captain Prince was right, and he is quoted as saying \"there is \nmore knowledge of navigation on board that ship than there ever \nwas in all the vessels that ever floated in Manila Bay.\" An amusing \nanecdote is related in connection with \"Cleopatra's Barge,\" owned \nby George Crowninshield, when she arrived in Genoa in 1 817. A \nvisitor came on board, whereupon the Captain pointed to one of \nhis men and remarked that he was a pupil of Nathaniel Bowditch \nand really navigated the ship. The visitor was surprised to find how \nmuch he and the other seamen knew about navigation and was told \nthat even the cook could figure longitude. This individual, who \nwas colored, was thereupon summoned on deck, appearing in a white \napron, a chicken in one hand and a butcher's knife in the other, \nbut he was nevertheless able to answer all the questions put to him. \nTo sail with Dr. Bowditch resulted in sure promotion, and on this \nfourth voyage the whole crew of twelve men subsequently attained \nthe rank of first or second officer. The \"Navigator\" made him known \nthroughout this country and many others, and rarely has one treatise \never gained so much popularity for its author. The London Athe- \nnceum said, \"It goes, both in American and British craft, over every \nsea of the globe, and is probably the best work of the sort ever pub- \nlished.\" It is all the more remarkable when one realizes that Dr. \nBowditch accomplished so much while handicapped by extreme \npoverty. His ancestors who came to Salem in 1639 had been nearly \nall of them shipmasters. His father Habakkuk, who was a cooper, \nwas so poor at one time that he had to be helped by the Salem Marine \nSociety. His son Nathaniel, however, would not allow poverty to \ninterfere with his desire for learning; in fact, he believed the hard- \nships he endured were actually of assistance to him by making him \nwork all the more conscientiously. He used to enjoy the story of the \nmathematician who had just inherited much money, whereupon a \nfriend of his remarked: \"Ah! I am sorry. You are too rich. You \n\n38 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nmust give up mathematics.\" The author of the \"Navigator,\" who \nat the age of only twenty-five was the best mathematician in New \nEngland, for many years wore summer clothes every winter and \noften had to sit down to a dinner consisting only of a few potatoes. \n\nWhen he went to school at Danvers he was so young that the \nteacher would not let him study mathematics until he had received \nthe consent of his father. On one occasion he solved such a diffi- \ncult problem that his instructor accused him of receiving help from \none of the older students, and it was only the explanation of young \nBowditch's elder brother that saved the brilliant student from punish- \nment. Habakkuk Bowditch was obliged to withdraw his son from \nschool, when only ten years old, and he took him into his cooper-shop. \nFrom here he entered the ship-chandler's store of Ropes & Hodges \nand then went to a Mr. Ward's shop where he remained until his \nfirst voyage in 1795. While in this last position a visitor, upon \nentering the store and seeing the lad studying, remarked that he \nwould become an \"almanac maker\" if he kept on improving, this \nbeing to him the highest point one could reach in mathematics. \nDuring his youth he overheard his brother W7illiam mention that \nproblems were often worked out by letters instead of by figures, and \nthis first suggestion of algebra so excited his curiosity that he did \nnot sleep a minute during the whole of the next night. Some years \nlater, curiously enough, the scientific library of Dr. Richard Kirwan \nwas captured in the English Channel by a Beverly privateer and \nwas presented to an association in Salem which later became the \nSalem Athenaeum. Some time afterwards an offer of remuneration \nwas made to Dr. Kirwan, but he declined the suggestion, saying that \nhe was pleased \"his library had found so useful a destination.\" Dr. \nBowditch never forgot how much he was indebted to this valuable \ncollection of books. \n\nHe received the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Laws \nfrom Harvard University, and was chosen president of the American \nAcademy of Arts and Sciences and of the East India Marine Society. \nHe was elected a member of the Edinburgh Royal Society and other \nsocieties in London, of the Royal Academy of Palermo, and of the \nRoyal Academy of Berlin, and in this country he was elected to the \nAmerican Philosophical Society of Philadelphia and the Literary \nand Philosophical Society of New York. He became president of \nthe Essex Fire and Marine Society of Salem, and in 1823 moved to \nBoston, which he called \"the home of his adoption,\" in order to take \nthe position of actuary of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance \nCompany. Just before he left the city of his birth a farewell dinner \nwas given to him, and it is doubtful if any man ever left Salem more \nregretted. Dr. Bowditch, as guest of the evening, was referred to \nas \"the first of his countrymen in the walks of science,\" and it was \ndeclared that, \"as the monarchy of France had done homage to \nher Laplace, so would the republic of America not be ungrateful \nto her Bowditch.\" Dr. Bowditch spent the latter years of his life \nin \"peaceful mathematics,\" as he expressed it, dying in Boston at \n\n39 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nthe age of sixty-five. During the last part of his life he suffered a \ngreat deal but was always cheerful. When the news of his death \nwas received, most of the American ships in many parts of the world \nset their flags at half-mast, and many other tributes were paid to \nhim in America and Europe. The Salem Marine Society in the \nresolutions passed on this occasion said: \"In his death . . . not this \ncommunity, nor our country only, but the whole world, has reason \nto do honor to his memory. ... As long as ships shall sail, the needle \npoint to the north and the stars go through their wonted courses in \nthe heavens, the name of Dr. Bowditch will be revered as one who \nhelped his fellow-men in a time of need, who was and is a guide to \nthem over the pathless ocean, and as one who forwarded the great \ninterests of mankind.\" Dr. Young in his eulogy says, \"He was a \nGreat Pilot who steered all our ships over the ocean; and though \ndead, he yet liveth ... in the recorded wisdom of his invaluable book.\" \nThere is a painting of him in the Salem Museum, an organization \ncomposed at one time only of masters and supercargoes who had sailed \nbeyond Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. Every member had \nto make a record of his voyage and deposit it on his return in the \nMuseum. His statue is in the entrance hall of the Boston Athenaeum, \nof which he was a trustee; there is still another painting in the Hospi- \ntal Life Insurance Company. \n\nWhen Dr. Young visited the house in which the Bowditch family \nlived in Danvers he inquired of the old woman what she knew about \nthe previous owner, and she replied: \"Oh, yes, he became a great \nman and went to Boston and had a mighty deal of learning. I \nbelieve he was a pilot and knew how to steer all the vessels.\" This \nwas her confused idea of \"The Practical Navigator.\" \n\nThe house in which he was born is still standing, although not \nexactly in its original position. It is in the rear of Brown's Court, \nwhere it was moved probably in the early seventies. \n\nTHE NEW ENGLAND GUARDS \n\nThe New England Guards was an organization formed in the War \nof 1 812, and after the year i860 was usually known as the \"Fourth \nBattalion.\" As well as performing its usual State military duty it \nsaw service in the wars of 181 2 and 1 861. The records of the com- \npany are preserved in the Bostonian Society, having been saved by \ngreat good luck from the fire of 1872, owing to the fact that they \nhad been borrowed just at that time from the archives. The first \nrecorded meeting was on September 3, 1812, and it was then an- \nnounced that the Selectmen had given one of the rooms in Faneuil \nHall for the use of the Guards as an armory. The \"New England \nGuards\" was officially organized later in the month, Samuel Swett \nbeing chosen captain, George Sullivan, lieutenant, and Lemuel \nBlake, ensign. It was provided that a fine be levied if a member left \nthe town for over three months, and also for failure to report within \nsix days of his return. The first parade was on November 19, 1815, \n\n40 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nthe line of march of the fifty-six men being through State Street, \nCornhill, Winter and Park Streets. The motto of the company \nwas \"Our Nation's Honour is the Bond of Union.\" The records of \nthe organization are very voluminous and very neatly kept, although \nthere are two mistakes that are very amusing. The expression \n''''tuck up the line of march\" is used, and when referring to a can- \ndidate it is mentioned that he was \"admitted a member of the corpse.\" \nIn 1814 the State legislature furnished the company with two cannons \nwhich were placed in the rooms of the Bostonian Society in 1880. \nThey are inscribed, \"Cast and mounted by order of the Board of \nWar for the N. E. G. 1814.\" On February 18, 1813, the Guards \nescorted Commodore Bainbridge from Long Wharf up State Street \nto the Exchange Coffee House, and in the autumn of the same year \nthe company encamped near the estate of the Hon. Peter C. Brooks in \nMedford. The record of this outing reads, \"Thus having the honour \nto be the first military corps that has marched out of town with com- \nplete camp equipage . . . since the establishment of our Common- \nwealth.\" This custom was carried out almost every year but was \nnot followed by other troops. A few years later the clerk of the \ncompany was so proud of the behavior of his comrades that he in- \nscribed on the records, \"Although several apple-trees were bending \nunder the weight of their fruit in the immediate vicinity of the en- \ncampment, not one of them was an apple lighter when we left.\" The \nencampment at Savin Hill, shown in the accompanying cut, was \nin honor of Lafayette, who made it a visit, and it was therefore called \nthe \"Lafayette Campaign.\" General Lafayette and the Governor of \nMassachusetts both tried their hand at target practice, and the Mayor \nand members of the City Government were also present. Seventy \nmen were in camp here, — a large number for those days. \n\nAnother expedition of the New England Guards was to Barnstable \nto assist in the second centennial celebration of that town. Almost \nthe entire company became seasick soon after passing Fort Indepen- \ndence but recovered in time for the procession. An oration followed, \nabout which the company's scribe wrote, \"As all things must have \nan end, so the services and oration were at length concluded.\" One \nof the toasts drunk was \"The New England Guards: Cape Cod gives \nthem to-day as friends what they are always prepared to give their \ncountry's enemies, — a warm reception.\" \n\nThe Guards also performed escort duty during the procession to \nBunker Hill in 1825 when the corner-stone of the monument was \nlaid. Ten years later a ball was given to the Company at the Norfolk \nHouse, which was attended by \"the lovely beings whom nature has \nordered to be the participators of man's joys and sorrows,\" the clerk \n(evidently an admirer of the fair sex) also inserting, \"For although \nit must be acknowledged that champagne has power, it must also \nbe acknowledged that it has not the charm of the musical voice of a \nbeautiful lady.\" \n\nIn 1844 the Guards made a trip to Providence and New York \nand wore their bearskin caps for the first time. In their records is \n\n41 \n\n\n> \n\no \n\n> \n\nn \n\n> \n\ns \n\n5 \n\n\"0 \n\nO \n\ntn \n\n►n \n\n2J \n\ng \n\nH \n\nr \n\nO \n\nH \n\nTl \n\n> \n\nz \n\non \n\nm \n\no \n\n3 \n\nS3 \n\nM \n\n§ \n\n2 \n\nO \n\nO \n\nH \n\nr \n\n8 \n\n> \n\nra \n\nz \n\nW \n\n0 \n\n> \n\n» \n\nO \n\nc \n\n> \n\nH \n\n2 \na \n\nr1 \n\nW \n\nO \n\nTl \n\n> \n\nc \n\nGO \n\n2 \n\n> \n\n< \n\n•5 \n\no \n\n7i \n\nz \n\ng \n\nCO \n\nX \n\n• C5 \n\n►— \" \n\no \n\nr \n\nS \n\nr \n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nan account of a Rhode Island clam-bake given to them by the Light \nInfantry of Providence. \n\nIn August, 1856 the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop gave a brilliant \nball for them at Nahant. The armory in Gray's Building on the \nsouthern corner of Washington and Summer Streets was dedicated \non October 10, 1859, speeches being made by Mayor Seaver, General \nB. F. Edmands and Colonel Thomas C. Amory of the Cadets. \n\nDuring the war the Guards, who now were part of the Fourth Bat- \ntalion, were sent to garrison Fort Independence, but there is no list \nof those who served then. The New England Guards Reserve — \ncomposed of men who could not go to the front — was organized at \nthe beginning of the war to take the place of the Guards who were \nable to go. The Guards became a part of the 24th Massachusetts, \nwhich was recruited by Mayor Thomas G. Stevenson, whose statue \nis at the entrance of the Hall of Flags in the State House. In 1862 \nGovernor Andrew presented a flag to the Guards, and several years \nlater the company dissolved. \n\nThe following is the epitaph of the New England Guards: \"The \nonly militia organization in the country which died from patriotism, \nmost of its members capable of bearing arms having gone into active \nservice in defence of the Nation's integrity.\" \n\n\" C] I ESA PEAK E\" AND \" SHANNON \" \n\nMany people assembled on the shores of Hull, Nahant and Marble- \nhead on the ill-fated day June I, 18 13, to witness the conflict between \nthe British \"Shannon\" and the American \"Chesapeake.\" It was \nabout luncheon time, and many of the wives complained because \ntheir husbands dropped their knives and forks when they heard \nthe roar of the guns just north-east of Boston Light. General Broke, \nthe English commander, desiring to retrieve the defeat of the \"Mace- \ndonian,\" \"Guerriere,\" \"Peacock\" and \"Java,\" sent a challenge to \nCaptain James Lawrence, who had been recently transferred to the \n\"Chesapeake,\" in which he said: \"I request that you will do me \nthe favor to meet the 'Shannon,' ship to ship, to try the fortune of \nour respective flags. ... I will send all other ships beyond the power \nof interfering with us, and meet you whenever it is most agreeable \nto you. ... I will warn you should any of my friends be too nigh . . . \nor I would sail with you, under a flag of truce, to any place you think \nsafest from our cruisers, hauling it down when fair to begin hostilities. \n. . . You will feel it as a compliment if I say that the result of our \nmeeting may be the most grateful service I can render to my country; \nand I doubt not that you, equally confident of success, will feel con- \nvinced that it is only by repeated triumphs, in even combats, that \nyour little navy can now hope to console your country for the loss \nof that trade it can no longer protect.\" This was certainly a cold- \nblooded challenge, but a most fair and gallant one, and curiously \nenough was never received, as the \"Chesapeake\" sailed the morning \nthe letter was sent. \n\n44 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nThe American vessel had been unlucky, and Captain Lawrence \nhad not yet sufficiently trained his crew. The wharves were thronged \nas he prepared for sea, and as he set sail a negro from Halifax recog- \nnized a friend on board and shouted: \"Good-bye, Sam! You are \ngoing to Halifax sure before you come back to Bosting.\" He was \npromptly imprisoned. The \"Chesapeake's\" crew seemed despondent \nand complained of not having received -their prize money, whereupon \nthe commander ordered the purser to distribute checks. \n\nIt was a beautiful day when the \"Shannon\" started down the \nHarbour, looking for her rival. Suddenly she saw her with all sails \nset approaching from Marblehead. The \"Chesapeake\" bore straight \naway for the Britisher, and when within pistol-shot swung into \nthe wind, and then ensued one of the bloodiest and most terrific \ncombats between two ships-of-war. Many broadsides were fired, \nand then, as the American ship swung toward the \"Shannon,\" \nGeneral Broke and fifty of his men rushed on board and there took \nplace a terrific hand-to-hand fight for the possession of the gangway, \nmany of the \"Chesapeake's\" crew being finally driven into the hold. \nThe English commander was severely wounded in the head, and, \npropped up against the gunwale, watched the remainder of the fight. \nIn the short space of fifteen minutes the Yankee vessel had been hit \n362 times, 61 of her crew had been killed and 85 wounded, while the \nEnglish vessel had been struck by 158 shot, and 83 of her seamen \nwere dead or disabled. Lawrence was mortally wounded. His \nfriend Samuel Livermore of Boston, who accompanied him during \nthis fight, attempted to avenge the wounding of his commander by \nshooting General Broke, but the shot just missed the mark. Law- \nrence from below heard the firing cease for a few moments, and sent \nhis surgeon at once to urge the men to fight on, repeating: \"The \ncolors shall wave while I live. Don't give up the ship.\" To the \ndismay and surprise of the people on shore the English flag was seen \nat the masthead of the \"Chesapeake.\" The Bostonians were so \nsure of a victory that they had prepared a banquet and Broke and \nhis officers were to have been invited. Instead they had to watch \ntheir ship being carried away within sight of Boston Light, and those \nwho came out in their vessels had to steer their way sadly back to \nBoston. The two ships then started for Halifax, their decks strewn \nwith the dead and dying, the commander of one unconscious and \nthe other dying. It was indeed a dismal spectacle. In one of Broke's \nconscious moments he inquired about Lawrence, and hearing he was \nso ill he sent his own surgeon to take care of him. But Lawrence \ndied on the way to port; his victor, practically recovered, returned \nto England and was knighted. He died in 1 841, being under the \ncare of a physician all the rest of his life. Captain George Crownin- \nshield fitted out the \"Henry\" at his own expense to recover Law- \nrence's remains, and succeeded in bringing them back to Salem, where \nthe funeral was held. It was most impressive, among the pall- \nbearers being Hull, Stewart and Bainbridge. The procession was led \nby John Saunders. Five traitors were discovered among the crew \n\n46 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nof the \"Chesapeake.\" The American naval signals fell into the \nhands of the enemy in this fight, and Bainbridge, Decatur and Hull \nwere appointed a special committee to select a new code. \n\nLAFAYETTE'S MEETING IX BOSTON WITH COLONEL \nHUGER, WHO DESCRIBES HIS ATTEMPTED RESCUE \nOF THE GENERAL FROM THE AUSTRIAN PRISON \n\nWhen Lafayette arrived in Boston in 1824 he said to Josiah Quincy, \nthen aide-de-camp to the Governor: \"There is one man in America \nwhom I saw but for ten minutes, and this was thirty years ago; but \nI saw him under circumstances which engraved his countenance \nforever upon my mind. I count the moments till I can embrace my \ngood friend, Colonel Huger of South Carolina.\" He was not dis- \nappointed, for the Colonel came North especially to meet the man \nfor whom he had risked his life. Lafayette had been imprisoned by \nthe Russians in an Austrian dungeon at Olmutz for expressing too \nopenly his ideas on liberty and politics, and he was told he should \nnever leave his filthy cell. A physician of the prison told the Aus- \ntrian Government that Lafayette would soon die unless given purer \nair, but the reply came back, \"No, he is not sick enough yet.\" Public \nindignation was finally aroused, and he was allowed occasionally to \ngo out driving. \n\nColonel Huger related his extraordinary and thrilling adventure \nto a number of his friends in Boston. He was a child three years \nold when Lafayette, in order to avoid some British cruisers, landed \non North Island in South Carolina, and by chance knocked on the \ndoor of his father's house, which was the first place in America at \nwhich he stayed. The next day the Frenchman departed to join \nthe American Army. Many years later, just after Lafayette's arrest \nin Austria, a physician named Dr. Bollman was hired by_ some of \nLafayette's friends to hunt up his whereabouts, and he discovered \nafter a long search that he was confined at Olmutz in Moravia. Boll- \nman succeeded in notifying the prisoner by means of a book sent in \nto him that an attempt would be made to rescue him, and just at this \ntime he happened to meet Colonel Huger, to whom he told his plans. \nThe two men decided to work together, and they set out at once from \nHoff, which was near Olmutz. They then hid in the woods near the \nroad from the prison, and soon a carriage approached in which were \nLafayette and two guards. As neither of the rescuers knew the \nprisoner by sight it had been arranged by means of this same book \nthat was passed into the jail, that Lafayette, to reveal his identity, \nshould raise his hat and wipe his forehead with his handkerchief. As \nthe carriage came nearer the signal was given and the two men \nfollowed along behind. Presently the prisoner alighted on the pre- \ntence of taking a little exercise, when suddenly he grasped the sword \nof the guard who was with him, Dr. Bollman and Colonel Huger \ngalloping up at the same moment. This officer was overpowered, \nthe other one returning at once to the prison for assistance. Lafayette \n\n47 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nwas hurried to a horse which had been brought here for this purpose, \nand as he rode away Colonel Huger told him to \"Go to Hoff\" where \nfurther preparations had been made for his escape. The General \nunfortunately misunderstood the directions for \"Go off,\" and rode \nto Zagorsdorf. Consequently the plans miscarried. It was a very \nunlucky incident and resulted in the capture of all three conspirators, \nwho were taken back to Olmutz and imprisoned separately, each one \nignorant of the other's condition. Huger finally discovered that \nDr. Bollman was in the room above him, and from Bollman Huger \nlearned of the defeat of the plan of rescue. Lafayette had conveyed \nthe news to Bollman by a message placed in an imitation carrot \nmade of wood which Lafayette had hollowed out and placed in \nthe prison soup-dish. A man who served as their interpreter ob- \ntained the release of Huger and Bollman, and just as they had passed \nthe Austrian frontier an order for a new trial was received. It \ncame too late, and their lives were probably saved by this small \nmargin. Lafayette remained in prison three years after this attempt \nto rescue him, five years in all. He was told that his two friends \nhad been captured and would soon be executed but was never in- \nformed of their release. A play was acted in New York at this \ntime called \"The Castle of Olmutz,\" in which Colonel Huger was \nthe central figure. One of his admirers asked him if he were not the \nhero of the play, to which he replied: \"Heroes are always married at \nthe end of the play, and I am not so fortunate. I am represented, \nhowever, as desperately in love with the daughter of the Governor of \nthe Castle, and I am left in the same unhappy situation at the end of \nthe play. I have always had a particular aversion to romantic love- \nstories, and little thought that I should ever see myself figuring in one \nof them.\" While in Boston a lady expressed to him the admiration \nwith which he was regarded by every one. \"I simply considered \nmyself the representative of the young men of America, and acted \naccordingly,\" was the modest reply. \n\nTHE BURNING OF THE URSULINE CONVENT IX \nCHARLESTOWN \n\nSoon after the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church in \nBoston the Ursuline Sisters opened a convent, which they later moved \nto Mount Benedict Hill in Charlestown, now part of Somerville. \nThis situation, with gardens, trees and beautiful lawns was most \nattractive. It was rumored that Mary St. John Harrison was being \nconfined in the convent when she was desirous of leaving it. Also \nat this time a book appeared entitled \"Six Months in a Convent,\" \nwhich was written by an ignorant pupil and contained many false- \nhoods. The reports were all unfounded, yet the people were so \nexcited that they openly made threats to burn the convent and even \nposted in Charlestown placards announcing that the event would \ntake place on a certain night. The authorities could not believe \nsuch a disgrace could happen, but on that same night, the nth of \n\n48 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nFrom a print. Collection of Boslonian Society. \n\nTHE RUINS OF THE URSULINE CONVENT IN CHARLESTOWN \n\n\nAugust, 1834, a mob consisting chiefly of a guild of Boston truckmen, \nassembled on the grounds and a bonfire was then lighted as a signal \nthat the event was about to take place. The Superior of the convent, \nMrs. Moffatt, when notified to leave the building, rushed out on the \nbalcony and ordered the men to disperse, adding \"for if you don't \nthe Bishop has twenty thousand Irishmen at his command in Boston \nwho will whip you all into the sea.\" These remarks sealed the fate \nof the institution, and the work of destruction began. The furniture \nwas broken and destroyed and the convent set on fire. Nothing \nremained except the bare walls, and these stood for forty years as an \nexample of the only destruction in Boston of a religious institution \nby a mob. The firemen from the neighboring towns hurried to the \nscene but would take no part in subduing the flames. Colonel Thomas \nC. Amory, the chief engineer of the Boston Fire Department, went \nto Charlestown at the first alarm and did all he could to persuade \nthe firemen to stick to their duty. His efforts were well-nigh useless, \nnor did the local authorities have any better success. \n\nA meeting was called in Faneuil Hall, and Otis and Quincy made \nspeeches denouncing the burning as \"a base and cowardly act,\" \nand the Mayor appointed a committee to investigate the affair and \nto bring the offenders to justice. \n\nIt looked as if there would be a riot in Boston the day after the \nburning, but Mayor Lyman by a clever ruse prevented a serious \nconflict between the rioters who were carrying some trophies from \n\n49 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nthe convent and a band of Irishmen organized for the purpose of \nattacking the plunderers. The Mayor sent for the leader of the \nband which was to lead the procession of rioters and said: \"You are \nto play at the head of the procession. The militia are under arms. \nThey will fire. You are a stout man and will surely be shot!\" Im- \nmediately the band-master informed his friends that he had decided \nnot to play, and their ardor was so dampened that only a few paraded \nacross Charlestown Bridge towards Boston. Here the Mayor had \nstationed a man on horseback, who on seeing the procession ap- \nproach galloped off post-haste. \"He is going for the military!\" \nthey cried, and the mob dispersed. Several persons were arrested \nand tried, Chief Justice Shaw, and Governor Davis of Massachusetts \ndoing all in their power to punish the offenders. Unfortunately it \nwas impossible to obtain sufficient proof against any of them and \nthey were therefore acquitted. \n\nMount Benedict is no more, the hill having been razed some years \nago. \n\nTHE TRIAL AND RENDITION OF ANTHONY BURNS \nSo great was the interest in Anthony Burns that P. T. Barnum, \nthe showman, offered him $500 after freedom had been given him, \nif he would tell his story on the platform for five weeks. The offer \nwas promptly rejected. Burns's extradition from Boston was the most \nmemorable of the \"fugitive slave\" cases in New England. Great \nexcitement was created, much expense entailed and serious ques- \ntions of law were brought up. It was only a few years before that \nthe fugitive Sims had been returned to the South, and another slave, \nShadrach, had been arrested and finally escaped. \n\nBurns came to Boston and found employment in a clothing store \non Brattle Street. While leaving this shop on the 24th of May, \n1854, he was arrested by a man named Butman, whose business it \nwas to hunt fugitive slaves. Butman told him he was charged with \ntheft. Six or seven other men then rushed out to assist in the capt- \nure, and they carried Burns to the Court House before the United \nStates Marshal, E. G. Loring. Only now did it begin to dawn upon \nthe unfortunate prisoner that he had been arrested as a fugitive \nslave or, even worse, as a runaway. In a few moments his former \nowner, Colonel Charles F. Suttle, and the latter's agent, both from \nAlexandria, West Virginia, appeared, the former greeting the pris- \noner sarcastically as \"Mr.\" Burns. The Colonel asked him if he \nhad not given him money when he needed it, to which Burns replied \nthat he had always received from him twelve and a half cents once a \nyear. During the night Burns was obliged to fast, in the mean time \n•watching his armed guard of eight men indulging themselves in luxu- \nries. After a small breakfast he had to appear in court. The papers \nknew nothing of his arrest, and it may have been the intention of \nthe authorities to hold the examination and remove the prisoner \nbefore any rumors got abroad. It happened, however, that R. H. \n\n50 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nT T A C K CX T II K C 0 I \n\n\nFrom a print. \n\n\n\"Anthony Burns,\" by Charles Stevens. \n\n\nNIGHT ATTACK ON THE COURT HOUSE IN WHICH ANTHONY BURNS WAS \n\nTRIED. \n\n\nDana, Jr., the well-known lawyer, and author of \"Two Years before \nthe Mast,\" was passing the Court House at the time set for the examina- \ntion, and he went inside and offered his services to Burns, who replied, \n\" It will be of no use: they have got me.\" \n\nThe news of Burns's arrest spread rapidly, though no active in- \nterest was taken except by the Vigilance Committee, which was \ncomposed of some of the best-known men of Boston. It was or- \nganized to assist slaves from falling into the grasp of the law, to res- \ncue them, if possible, and to prevent slaveholders from recovering \ntheir lost property. This Vigilance Committee determined that \nBurns should never be taken back to Virginia. Several plans were \ndiscussed. It was decided that a public meeting should be held at \nFaneuil Hall, and seven men pledged themselves to leave the meeting \nand to attack the Court House in an attempt to rescue Burns. Notices \nin the papers, and placards, succeeded in filling the hall. Samuel E. \nSewall called the people to order, and George R. Russell, ex-mayor of \nRoxbury, presided. Robert Morris, a colored lawyer, and Dr. Henry \nI. Bowditch, son of the mathematician, acted as secretaries. The \npresiding officer started his address by saying that it was the boast \nof the slaveholder that he would call the roll of his slaves on Bunker \nHill. Wendell Phillips and Theodore Parker also made speeches, \nthe latter declaring: \"There is no Boston to-day. There was a \nBoston once. Now there is a north suburb to the city of Alexandria.\" \nAs he closed his remarks a roar burst forth, \"To the Court House!\" \n\"To the Revere House for the slave-catchers!\" It was moved to \n\nSi \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nadjourn to Court Square, but only six of the seven pledgers turned up \nprepared to carry out their threat. Nothing daunted they collected \nsome friends and numbering twenty-five began their attack on the \nCourt House door, armed with revolvers, axes and butcher knives. A \nlarge piece of timber was used as a battering-ram, and chiefly through \nthe courage and determination of the Rev. Thomas Wentworth \nHigginson, whose ancestry goes back to Governor Endicott, the \ndoor was forced. The people in the street in the mean time shouted \nencouragement, throwing stones and even shooting at the windows. In \nthe attack one of the Marshal's aides was killed. Mr. Higginson, \nmuch to his surprise, found himself alone inside the Court House in \nthe midst of numerous soldiers. He yelled \"Cowards!\" to his \nfriends, two of whom, Seth Webb, Jr., and Lewis Hayden, managed \nto squeeze their way in. Colonel Suttle in the mean while made a \nhasty exit by the east door, leaving his \"property\" to be defended \nby others. Burns's keepers in the upper story gave up card-playing \ntemporarily and crouched thoroughly frightened in the farther \ncorner of the jury-room, which was used as a prison, it having been \nruled that fugitives could not be confined in a Massachusetts jail. \nBoth the State and the United States troops were called out to pre- \nserve order. As Mr. Higginson remarked, \"It was one of the best \nplots that ever failed.\" Steps were now taken to secure Burns's \nrelease by legal process through the Writ of Personal Replevin, which \ndemanded a verdict as to whether or not the prisoner was righteously \nrestrained of his liberty. It was the opinion of Sewall and Bowditch \nthat Burns should be taken out of the hands of the Government even \nif force were necessary. The anger of the people had now risen to \nsuch a pitch that Colonel Suttle moved into the attic and fur- \nnished himself with an armed guard. His sojourn in Boston was \nmade even more miserable by four or five negroes who kept watch \nunceasingly beneath his windows with the special purpose of intimi- \ndating him. He finally became so alarmed that he decided to sell \nhis slave, naming $1,200 as his price. The Rev. Mr. Grimes, pastor \nof a church for colored people and also of a church for fugitive slaves, \nboth in Boston, came to the rescue, obtained the necessary funds, \nchiefly through the help of Hamilton Willis, a State Street broker, \nand attempted at a prearranged meeting with Colonel Suttle to \nput through the sale. The papers had been drawn, and even a carriage \nwas at the door in which to remove Burns, when District Attorney \nHallett objected on account of the Government's expense in connec- \ntion with the case. Another meeting was arranged, but only Mr. \nGrimes appeared and the question of sale had to be dropped. \n\nThe trial took place in the Court House, which was guarded like a \nfortress; firearms were pointed out of the windows, all entrances \nexcept one were guarded, and only persons known to be favorable to \nthe Government's cause were allowed in, even Mr. Dana himself \nbeing refused admission for a long time. C. E. Stevens, who wrote \na history of Anthony Burns, said that \"never before, in the history of \nMassachusetts, had the avenues to a tribunal of justice been so ob- \n\n52 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nstructed by bayonets.\" The prisoner was guarded by seven or \neight hard-looking characters with pistols only half concealed from \nthe spectators. Burns's counsel, Ellis and Dana, objected to the \narms, but were overruled by the Court. Dana in his remarks \nsaid that the slums of the city had never been so safe as all the scoun- \ndrels in Boston were in the Court Room. He was assaulted and \nknocked down some days later for these violent words. The family \nhas a large tray which was given to Mr. Dana for his services; also \nthe family possesses the original piece of paper from which he made his \naddress. \n\nContrary to the popular belief that the verdict would be favorable \nto the prisoner, the Judge ruled that he should be returned to his \nmaster. How to accomplish this was the next consideration. Gen- \neral Edwards was chosen to command the troops. He assembled \nthem on the Common, supplied each man with eleven rounds of \nammunition and took care to have each one load his gun in the \npresence of the spectators. Burns was marched down State Street \nguarded by three battalions of infantry, the 5th Regiment of Artil- \nlery and the Corps of Cadets, while the bystanders groaned and \nhissed. Many windows were draped in black, one near the Old \nState House having hung from it a black coffin with the words \"The \nFuneral of Liberty\" on it, and farther on was suspended across the \nstreet an American flag draped in black and Union down. Many of \nthe troops drank heavily before the day was over, and towards after- \nnoon some were found singing a chorus of \"Oh, carry me back to Old \nVirginny.\" \n\nAfter Burns's embarkation effigies were burned throughout New \nEngland for many days. A steamer at Long Wharf conveyed the \nunfortunate negro back to a traders' jail in Richmond, where his \nhands were handcuffed behind his back most of the time. He \nremained there for four months, the \"Boston lion,\" as he was called, \noffering amusement for the hundreds of people who came to see \nhim. He was removed from prison and sold by Colonel Suttle for \n$905, and later his freedom was purchased by Mr. Grimes for $1,300. \nHe returned to Boston and spoke at Tremont Temple and many other \nplaces. He spoke well, for he had received a good education and \nhad been approved in the South as a minister to preach to the \ncolored people. \n\nA Southern editor wrote, \"We rejoice in the capture of Burns, \nbut a few more such victories and the South is undone.\" Burns was \nthe last slave returned. \n\nDr. Bowditch described the society now formed, called the Anti- \nMan Hunting League, which actually practised kidnapping one of its \nmembers in order to learn how really to do it should the occasion \narise. \n\n\n53 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nTHE PRINCE OF WALES BALL OCTOBER 18, i860 \n\n\"Long may the Prince abide, \nEngland's hope, joy, and pride; \n\nLong live the Prince; \nMay England's future king \nVictoria's virtues bring \nTo grace his reign — \nGod save the Prince.\" \n\n— Written at time of the Prince's visit. \n\nThe scrap-book of some Boston family probably contains the \ndance card of the Pririce of Wales which a lady stole to preserve as \na memento of the great ball given on October 18, i860, in the Boston \nTheatre, on the corner of Court and Hanover Streets. Bostonians \nendeavored to have this ball outshine in splendor the one given by \nthe New Yorkers, and from all accounts they were successful. The \ndecorations were quite wonderful, a large picture of Windsor Castle \nbeing specially admired by the visitors, and the Prince pointed out \nto several people where his particular room was in the Castle. One \neye-witness described the ball as a great crush. The only accident \nof the evening happened shortly after the arrival of the Royal party. \nWhile Mr. Zerrahn's noted orchestra was playing, some one upset a \nvase of flowers in front of the Royal box, scattering water and leaves \nover the Prince, who made light of the mishap. The Prince entered \non the arm of the Hon. R. C. Winthrop, and opened the ball by \ndancing a quadrille with Mrs. Lincoln, the wife of Mayor Lincoln. \nHis partners for the other sixteen dances were as follows: Mrs. Banks, \nwife of Governor Banks; Mrs. Wise, a daughter of the Hon. Edward \nEverett; Miss Fanny Crowninshield, Miss Susan Amory, Miss \nCarrie Bigelow, Mrs. T. E. Chickering, Mrs. Harrison Ritchie; Miss \nLombard, the Mayor's niece; Miss Fanny Peabody, daughter of \nGeorge Peabody of Salem; Miss Mary Crane; Miss Kittie Fay, \ndaughter of the Hon. R. S. Fay; Mrs. C. F. Chickering; Miss Apple- \nton, Mrs. Isaac C. Bates and Miss Nellie Gage. One of these \npartners was so beautiful that the Prince wished to have a second \ndance with her but the committee objected. The younger set of \ngirls looked with jealousy upon those who were old enough to attend \nthe ball, and were anxious to learn all about it. Many fathers sought \nthe opportunity for their daughters to meet and dance with the \nPrince of Wales, and loud were the complaints of those who were \ndisappointed. The committees in charge of the balls that were held \nin the various cities were blamed because the members in charge \nintroduced only their own friends to the Prince. At one place (not \nBoston) the following amusing piece of poetry appeared: — \n\n\"Sought not his taste to please, \nAsked not his wishes, \nWhile all around him stood \nSo many misses; \nBelles at the right of him, \n\n54 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nBelles at the left of him, \nBelles all in front of him, \nYoung and full grown; \nWhile the committee set, \nAll around went to get \nFriends of their own.\" \n\nThe Prince, who was only nineteen years of age, was most attractive \nand danced unusually well, therefore it was not surprising that he \nremained at the ball until after four o'clock. As he left, the band \nplayed \"God save the Queen.\" The managers were as follows:— \n\n\nJames W. Paige \nJ. Thomas Stevenson \nHarrison Ritchie \nJohn Quincy Adams \nThomas G. Stevenson \nF. W. Palfrey \nW. C. Otis \nT. S. Cushing \nAugustus T. Perkins \nF. A. Osborn \nRobert G. Stevenson \nRobert F. Clark \nS. Horatio Whitwell \nJames A. Amory \nF. W. Reynolds \nJonas H. French \nR. W. Emmons \nW. H. Hinckley \nJohn B. Babcock \n\n\nGeorge Blagden \nW. P. Mason, Jr. \nSamuel M. Quincy \nFrancis Bartlett \nJ. Frederic Marsh \nFrank W. Andrews \nFrancis Braggiotti \nDavid Arklay \n\nF. S. Dewey, Jr. \nChanning Clapp \nHenry S. Tappan \nGeorge B. Upton \n\nG. Howland Shaw \nTheron J. Dale \nH. P. Ammidown \nF. S. d'Hauteville \nE. A. Boardman, Jr. \nJohn T. Prince, Jr. \nWilliam B. Rice \n\n\nE. M. Dennie \nJohn F. Anderson \nN. D. Hubbard \nH. C. Brooks \nJ. Henry Sleeper \nEdward Thayer \nJohn Homans, Jr. \nFrank Bush, Jr. \nFrederick W. Bradlee \nJohn D. Bates, Jr. \nJ. Dixwell Thompson \nJ. Goodwin Whitney \nCasper Crowninshield \nWilliam Pratt \nS. F. Barstow \nAmos Binney \nOzias Goodwin, Jr. \nW. L. Horton \n\n\nWhile the Prince of Wales was in Boston, Ralph Farnham an old \nsoldier, a hundred and four years old, who had fought at Bunker Hill \nand who was present when General Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, \nwas brought in to pay his respects to the distinguished visitor. Mr. \nFarnham said he had heard so much in praise of the Prince that \nhe feared the people of his country were all turning Royalists, inis \nremark was received with much merriment. _ \n\nWhile in Boston the English visitor attended a review on the \nCommon and visited Harvard College and Bunker Hill A musical \nfestival was also given at Music Hall, where twelve hundred children \nsan* the verses composed by Oliver Wendell Holmes^ to the air of \n\"God save the Queen\" (the last verse is particularly interesting at \nthis time) : — \n\n\"God bless our fathers' land, \nKeep her in heart and hand \n\nOne with our own! \nFrom all her foes defend. \nBe her brave people's friend, \nOn all her realms descend, \nProtect her throne! \n\n55 \n\n\nFrom a print. ( oli i lion of the Massachusetts Historical Society. \n\nTHE PRINCE OF WALES (KING EDWARD VII) AS A COLONEL IN THE ARMY. \n\nAt the time of his visit to Boston. \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\"Father, in loving care \nGuard thou her kingdom's heir, \n\nGuide all his ways: \nThine arm his shelter be \nFrom harm by land and sea, \nBid storm and danger flee, \n\nProlong his days! \n\n\"Lord, let war's tempest cease, \nFold the whole world in peace \n\nUnder thy wings! \nMake all the nations one, \nAll hearts beneath the sun, \nTill thou shalt reign alone, \n\nGreat King of kings.\" \n\nAfter the ball given in New York there appeared some amusing \nverses entitled \"The New York Ball to the Prince, or the Belles he \ndanced with\": — \n\n\"Twas a grand display, was the Prince's ball, \nA pageant or fete, or what you may call \n\nA brilliant coruscation; \nWhere ladies and lords of noble worth \nEnchanted a Prince of royal birth \nBy a royal demonstration. \n\n\"But soon the floor was set aright, \nAnd Peter Cooper's face grew bright, \n\nWhen, like the swell of an organ, \nAll hearts beat time to the first Quadrille, \nAnd the Prince confessed to a joyous thrill \n\nAs he danced with Mrs. Morgan. \n\n\"Then came the waltz, the Prince's own — \nAnd every bar and brilliant tone \n\nHad music's sweetest grace on; \nBut the Prince himself ne'er felt its charm \nTill he slightly clasped with circling arm \n\nThat lovely girl, Miss Mason. \n\n\"But ah! the work went bravely on, \nThe meek-eyed Peace a trophy won \nBy the magic art of the dancers; \nFor the daring Prince's next exploit \nWas to league with Scott's Camilla Hoyt \nAnd overcome the lancers! \n\n\"Besides these three he deigned to vield \nHis hand to Mrs. B. M. Field, \n\nMiss Jay and Miss Van Buren. \nMiss Russell, too, was given a place — \nAll beauties famous for their grace \nFrom Texas to Lake Huron. \n\n57 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\"With Mrs. Kernochan he 'lanced,' \nWith Mrs. Edward Cooper danced, \n\nWith Mrs. Belmont capered; \nWith fair Miss Fish, in fairy rig, \nHe tripped a sort of royal jig, \n\nAnd next Miss Butler favored. \n\n\"And so the fleeting hours went by, \nAnd watches stopped — lest time should fly — \n\nOr that they winding wanted; \nOld matrons dozed and papas smiled, \nAnd many a fair one was beguiled \n\nAs the Prince danced on, undaunted. \n\n\" 'Tis now a dream — the Prince's ball, \nIts vanished glories, one and all, \n\nThe scenes of the fairy tales; \nFor Cinderella herself was there, \nAnd Barnum keeps for trial fair \nThe beautiful slipper deposited there \nBy His Highness the Prince of Wales.\" \n\nThe journal of the trip written by the Secretary of the Earl of \nNewcastle, who was with the Prince's party, describes the visit to \nBoston in most nattering terms. It reads: \"The feeling towards \nEngland as towards a home, the home of their forefathers, the home of \ntheir warmest feelings, is more apparent here than elsewhere in the \nStates; their welcome is more cordial, their invitation to revisit them \nmore earnest.\" \n\nA MASSACHUSETTS SOLDIER BECOMES A GOD OF THE \n\nCHINESE \n\nFrederick Townsend Ward of Salem, who had served as a soldier \nin the Crimean War and in Nicaragua, through chance more than \nanything else, shipped to China as mate of an American ship and \nhappened to arrive in Shanghai during the Tai Ping rebellion, at a \ntime when the rebels, headed by Ching Wang, had advanced within \neighteen miles of the city. He had always been of a daring dis- \nposition. It is related of him that on this voyage he plunged over- \nboard when the ship was under full sail, in an attempt to catch an \nespecially fine butterfly. Immediately upon his arrival he learned \nthat a reward of two hundred thousand dollars was offered to any \nbody of foreigners who could drive the attackers from the city of \nSung-Kiang. Ward had been fond of fighting from his boyhood, \nand the older Salemites remember the fierce snow-ball fight between \nthe \"up-towns\" and the \"down-towns,\" in which he led the latter \nto victory. With this same love of battle he promptly accepted \nthe task, and in less than a week he raised a body of one hundred \nforeign soldiers and with an American named Henry Burgerine as \nhis lieutenant set out for the seat of trouble. He approached the \nTai Pings, and found that he was confronted by twelve hundred \n\n58 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\ntroops, so he returned to Shanghai for re-enforcements. Even now \nhe was outnumbered one hundred to one, but so fierce was his attack \nthat he caused great slaughter in their ranks and finally overwhelmed \nthem. It was in this battle that the expression \"foreign devils\" \nfirst appeared in the Chinese vocabulary. \n\nHe received his reward and then set out against the rebels of \nSung-Kiang. He and his men scaled the walls of the city and fought \nlike demons, but were driven back. He returned for re-enforcements \nand succeeded in capturing the city. He then decided to move \nagainst Singpo. Notwithstanding a gallant attack the fortress \nstood and Ward's troops were obliged to withdraw after a bloody \nfight. In this battle he was wounded five times, and it was now \nbelieved that he possessed a charmed life. Even he himself remarked \ncontinually that the bullet was not cast which was to end his life. \n\n\nFrom a photograph. Collection of Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass. \n\nGENERAL FREDERIC TOWNSEND WARD OF \n\nSALEM. \n\n\n59 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\\\\ hen he recovered from his many wounds he organized some \nChinese troops, officered by Europeans and armed and equipped \naccording to his methods, and with these soldiers he set out for Shang- \nhai, arriving just in time to save the city from capture. His victories \nwere numerous, and he was finally made a Mandarin of the highest \ndegree with the title of Admiral-General. He then assumed the \nChinese name of Hua, became a Chinese subject, and married a \nChinese woman of high rank. He was killed in the battle of Ningpo \nin 1862. Shot through the stomach he kept on exhorting his men \nand as victory was assured fell back unconscious into the arms of his \nlieutenant. He died the following day at the age of only thirty \nyears. His funeral was a most impressive one, and was attended \nby Chinese, English, Americans, Germans and French, all nations \nhaving admired his discipline and bravery. Many civil and military \nofficials accompanied his body to Sung-Kiang where he was buried \nin the temple grounds dedicated to Confucius thousands of years \nago. Li Hung Chang wrote a memorial letter to the Emperor record- \ning General Ward's death and suggesting that \"it is appropriate, \ntherefore, to entreat that your Gracious Majesty do order the Board \nof Rites to take into consideration suitable posthumous rewards to \nbe bestowed on him, Ward; and that both at Ningpo and at Sung- \nKiang sacrificial altars be erected to appease the Manes of this loyal \nman.\" With promptness an Imperial Edict directed \"that special \ntemples to his memory be built at Ning-Po and Sung-Kiang. Let \nthis case still be submitted to the Board of Rites, who will propose \nto Us further honors so as to show our extraordinary consideration \ntowards him, and also that his loyal spirit may rest in peace. This \nfrom the Emperor! Respect it!\" Our Minister to China, Mr. \nBurlingame, forwarded a full account of Ward's career and death, \nwhich was read in the Senate and answered together with a message \nfrom President Lincoln. \n\nThrough the lack of tact of an American attache in Peking the \nChinese Government did not carry out this Edict for fourteen years \nand then only at Sung-Kiang. It was Li Hung Chang who had a \nmausoleum erected over the graves of Ward and his wife, who died \nseveral months after her husband. The temple was dedicated on \nMarch 10, 1877 amid most impressive ceremonies. The procession \nmoved off towards the tomb amid the banging of fire-crackers and \nbombs. There were sacrifices of goats, pigs, ducks, etc. then made, \nand at the end of the dedication there were more fireworks and gongs. \nInside the temple is a shrine upon which burnt-offerings are laid in \nFebruary of every New Year to the Manes of General Ward, and \nto which official prayers are offered every month in the year by \nofficials of the Chinese Government. The inscription at the entrance \nof the shrine reads, \"A wonderful hero from beyond the seas, the \nfame of whose deserving loyalty reaches round the world, has sprinkled \nChina with his azure blood.\" Monuments were also placed on the \nscenes of his victories. The mausoleum soon became a shrine sup- \nposed to be invested with miraculous power, and some years after \n\n60 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\n\nFrom a photograph. Collection of Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass. \n\nSHRINE ERECTED IN SUNG-KIANG, CHINA, TO \n\nTHE MEMORY OF GENERAL WARD. \n\n\nhis death he was declared to be a Joss, or God, and a manuscript to \nthis effect can be seen in the Essex Institute in his native city, Salem. \nSuch honors have rarely fallen to the lot of any native and never \nbefore to a man of a western nation. \n\nThe command of his Ever Victorious Army, as it was called, later \nfell to General Gordon, to whom has been given much^ credit that \nwas really due his predecessor. A small book printed in Shanghai \nin 1863 records that \"Not one in ten thousand . _. . could at all ap- \nproach him in military genius, in courage and in resources, or do \nanything like what he did.\" \n\nHe has been criticised for being away from America during the \nCivil War, but it was fortune that carried him to China. He offered, \nhowever, $10,000 to the American cause, but died before the Govern- \nment accepted his offer. \n\n61 \n\n\nSOME EVENTS OF BOSTON AND ITS NEIGHBORS \n\nThe Essex Institute of Salem now owns General Ward's hat and \nboots as well as some of his wife's jewelry, also the bullet that killed \nhim, his seal, private flag, and pictures of his shrine, of himself and \nof his wife. Miss Elizabeth C. Ward, his sister, not long ago be- \nqueathed $10,000 to the Essex Institute to found a Chinese library \nin memory of her brother, Salem's noted warrior and Chinese god. \nThe people of China will never forget that to Ward they probably \nowe the saving of Shanghai. \n\n\n62 \n\n\nLIBRARY OF CONGRESS \n\n\n0 014 077 949 0 % \n\n\n","title":"Some events of Boston and its neighbors","updated_at":"2026-09-05T10:00:04.654202Z","urn":"urn:lemay:boston:document:some-events-of-boston-and-its-neighbors","version":1,"withdrawn_reason":null},"urn":"urn:lemay:boston:document:some-events-of-boston-and-its-neighbors","version_history":[{"change_note":"accessioned from the Internet Archive, item someeventsofbost01stat","changed_by":"archive-ingest 0.1.0","recorded_at":"2026-09-05T10:00:04.953520Z","version":1}]}