Document · book

William Blackstone, Boston's first inhabitant

[Amory, Thomas Coffin], 1812-1889. [from old catalog], 1877. A public-domain text about Boston, accessioned whole so the archive can quote it.

Document

Type

book

Author

[Amory, Thomas Coffin], 1812-1889. [from old catalog]

Publisher

[Boston, Rockwell & Churchill, printers

Published, as stated

1877

Language

en

Media type

text/plain; charset=utf-8

Size

47891 bytes

Preservation

preserved

Digest (SHA-256)

e2af97db90993ff03c0a271fedf90341f438dd7e00339438f12863f751c552eb

Text

Extracted text, as held. Quoted without alteration.

F 73 .4 .B63 Copy 2 1? racfistofie JSoston's iFftst Xtiijatittnttt y,^ WILLIAM BLACKSTONE Bci0toti'0 jfiv^t jJuljaiittant J-iMTyy x-oJi^ • • 1^7-73 -'H^ 'U . )-73 Copyright, 1877. Rockwell & Churchill, Boston. ^AR 2" 1^'^^ » • • Rockwell & Churchill, Printers, 39 Atch Street, Boston. TO EJje ©Iti Soutl} JHtettng l^ouse: ONE OF THE FEW REMAINING MONUMENTS OF OUR PROVINCIAL PERIOD, OF EVENTS AND MEN THAT HELPED TO ESTABLISH OUR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE AND FREE INSTITU- TIONS, THIS TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF William Blackstone, THE EARLIEST INHABITANT OF BOSTON, WHO ALSO LOVED LIBERTY, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS, IS laespcctMlg BttJicateti. ESTO PERPETUA." Wh/IT is K[(OWf( OF BLACKSTOf, For several jears previous to the first settlement of Boston, in September, 1630, William Blackstone, its earliest European inhabitant, occupied bj himself what formed for long after- wards the principal part of it, and which was then known as Shawmut. It comprised an area of about eight hundred acres, since more than doubled by accessions from the sea that surrounded it, the whole, with much besides annexed to our city from the country round about, noAv crowded with population. Blackstone, a man of learning, an ordained min- ister of the Church of England, and, consequently, a graduate of one of its universities, unwilling to conform to ecclesiastical requirements which his conscience disapproved, had come to America " to get from under the power of the lords bishops." Here he dwelt, solitary and alone, raising his apples and roses, and reading his books, of which he had a plentiful supply. His solitude was unpleasantly disturbed in the summer of 1630 by the arrival at Charlestown, across the river, of Win- throp and his company, under their patent of March 4, 1629. Their lives in peril from disease engendered by exposure and privation, and aggravated by'the impurity of the water, he generously invited them over to share with him the more salubrious spot he inhabited, and which abounded in springs. Cheerfully yielding up to them the greater part of his possessions, he was contented himself to retain fifty acres, and six more adjacent, whereon stood his house. Our story intimates hoAV it chanced that, a few years afterwards, "find- ing he had fallen under the power of the lords brethren," he surrendered the larger lot and all his rights within the then narrow neck of land conneaing the peninsula with Roxbury, WILLIAM BLACKSTONE. except his six acres. He received six shillings from each householder, and, in some instances, larger sums in volun- tary contributions, for this release. It has been said that he disclaimed any other title but that of first discoverer and occu- pant, but this payment shows that the colonists considered that title to some extent, at least, valid or equitable. In 1623, the Council of New England had patented to Robert Gorges ten miles along the north-east shore of Massachusetts Bay, by thirty inland, with all islands, not previously granted, within three miles of the main land. Walford, at Charles- town ; Maverick, on what is now East Boston ; Thompson, who died in 1628, on the island that still bears his name ; Blackstone, at Shawm^ut, are supposed to have held under this patent, and been pioneers of a projected plantation. Sir

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Identity

Identifier

urn:lemay:boston:document:william-blackstone-boston-s-first-inhabitant

Canonical URL

https://boston.fyi/document/william-blackstone-boston-s-first-inhabitant

As JSON

https://boston.fyi/document/william-blackstone-boston-s-first-inhabitant.json

Version

1 · last changed 5 September 2026