BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
7.
T II E
Qtohnx of lio.vtuttij:
ITS MEMORABLE PERSONS AND PLACES,
ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. WITH NUMEROUS
ILLUSTRATIONS OF ITS
OLD LAXDMAJiKS AXD XOTED PERSOXAGES.
By FRANCIS S. DRAKE
11 O X B U R Y :
PUBLISHED BY THE AL'THOR, AT 131 WARREN STREET
OCTOBER, 1878.
Jr
t OPVRTGII ' :
iiv Francis S . I > k a r r
A. I). 1*7-.
BOSTON:
S T E 15 E < > T Y V E D AND r R I V T K |i BY
A 1. F R K D M U I) G E AND SON.
PREFACE.
In the following pages the author's aim has been, while going
over the old roads and pointing out their memorable localities, to
present whatever of historical interest the annals of the town
afford, and also to delineate the manners, customs, mode of life,
and other characteristics of the men and women who lived and
wrought here in former days, together with such visible memorials
of them, their homes, their monuments, etc., as have escaped the
ravages of time. In the performance of this task, every available
source of information known to him has been drawn upon, and
from aged persons, familiar with Roxbury as it was, much has been
gleaned that would otherwise have been buried in oblivion.
Though without a printing-press, Roxbury has led the van of
independent thought, three of her most eminent citizens, by their
protests against superstition, and their advocacy of political or
religious reforms, having had their writings condemned to the
flames by the colonial authorities. She is the mother of towns, as
many as fifteen prosperous New England communities, including
the flourishing cities of Springfield and Worcester, having been
founded or largely settled by her citizens. She can fairly claim to
be the banner town of the Revolutionary war, furnishing to it three
companies of minute-men at Lexington, one of which was the first
that was raised for the defence of American liberty, and having also
given birth to three of the generals of the Revolutionary army.
She played a prominent part in the siege of Boston, and was greatly
injured both by friend and foe. No less than ten of the governors
of Massachusetts have been natives or residents of Roxbury. But
while this is a record of which she may be justly proud, it is yet
IV PREFACE.
little to her credit that one must look elsewhere than within her
confines, for adequate mementos of John Eliot and Joseph Warren.
In the nomenclature of her streets she has done well to remember
her founder and principal citizens, but she owes it to herself to
perpetuate in the same manner the no less deserving names of
Deuison, Parke, Bowles, Brewer, Craft, Lamb, Johnson, Bell, Mor-
rill, Bugby, Payson, Graves, and Newell.
Roxbury was appropriately so named from its most prominent
natural characteristic ; and no one who venerates its founders, or
who cherishes a proper regard for the preservation of its historical
or ancestral memories, should ever consent to substitute for it a
name no more applicable to it than to many other localities now in-
cluded within the city limits. To do so is no less a blunder in taste
than in fact. The great city of London, while gradually absorbing
adjoining localities, religiously preserves their ancient names.
Are ours less dear to us? Let us, then, while a single "rock"
remains above its surface, cling to the good old name of Roxbuky,
"scotched, not killed," by the temporary substitution for it of the
unacceptable misnomer of " Boston Highlands."
To Augustus Parker and Edward Sumner the author's especial
acknowledgments are due for valuable aid in obtaining materials
for his work. He is also under obligations to P. B. Smith, Jr., for
kindly placing at his disposal his minutes of Roxbury conveyances,
which have been of great assistance to him. He also acknowledges
with pleasure the courtesies of the city clerk of Boston, Samuel F.
McCleary, and his assistant, J. T. Priest. His thanks are likewise
due to Hon. John J. Clarke, Joseph W. Tucker, Moses Williams,
the late Miss Catherine P. Curtis, George A. Simmons, Mrs. H. G. R.
Dearborn, H. A. S. Dudley, George Mirick, Aaron D. Weld, Mrs.
Edwin Lemist, Mrs. Paul Willard, W. H. Spooner, John D. Col-
burn, William F. Crafts, Guy Carleton, Bradford Kingman, and to
all others who have aided him with information or materials for the
prosecution of his work.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PASS
Arrival of the " "William and Francis ------ 13
auchmuty house - ---._-■-.. 330
Bernard, Sir Francis, Autograph 430
Boyle, Hon. Robert 183
Cavalier ---. 54
Colony Flag. — Colony Seal 103,177
Crafts House 340
Curtis Hocse ------- 400
Davis's Store - 142
Dearborn, Gen. Henry 335
" Gen. H. A. S. 337
" House 327
Death of Miantonomoh --------- 238
Dove's Corner 203
Dudley, Gov. Joseph 244
Lucy - 254
Paul 253
Gov. Thomas, Autograph - - 240
Street Baptist Church 112
Tomb.— House 99, 445
Col. "William --------- 446
Early House. — Early Church - ------ 58, 2S2
Eliot, John. — Eliot Preaching ------ 175,178
Ecstis, Gov. "William. — Eustis House - - - 130, 120
First Church 288
Forest Hills Gateway --------- 234
Fort Monument ----------- 378
Fox, Ebenezer ----------- 150
Gage, Gov. Thomas ..--------71
Garrison House ----------- 384
Gore House ------------ 321
Greaton, Gen. John ---------- 156
Grosvenob Arms ----------- 102
Hallowell House ---------- 408
Heath, Gen. "William ---------- 388
Hutchinson, Gov. Thomas -------- 24
VI ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGK
Indian Sachem. — Indian Wigwam ------ 3,4'
Jamaica Pond -- 405
Lze, W. R., Residence ---_ 398
Liberty Tree --------_. - - 82
Lorino House ----------- 419
Mead's House 219
Meeting-House Hill -------- Frontispiece.
Minute-man - --._. 31G
Nazlvg Parish Church --------- 10
Norfolk House 304
Old Mill 319
Parker, Theodore, Residence. — Oak 452,454
Parsonage ----- 310
Parting Stone - 379
Pillory ' 326
Pine-Tree Shilling. — Pine-Tree Sixpence - C2
Plan of Pews, First Church --- 2S3
Porter, Rev. Eliphalet 313
Pynchon, William ------- --13
Roxbcry Upper Fort. — Plan of Roxbury Fort - - 376, 372
Ruggles House 366
Seal of Roxbury --------- Title-pa;/?.
Seaver, Ebenezer 227
Second Chukch - 447
Ship of Pilgrims - 7
Shirley, Gov. "William, Autograph 125
Soldiers' Monument ---------- 424
Spinning Wheel ---------- 311
Stand-pipe - 375
Stone Pound- ----------- 3S1
Storming of Narragansett Fort 16
Sumner, Gov. Increase --- - 355
Swan House - -- - 135
Third Church - 419
Town House 200
Union Flag SI
Universalist Church - - 258
Warren, Dr., Country Seat -------- 413
" Homestead. — House 213, 214
Gen. Joseph 216
Williams House. — John D., House ----- 1.33, 228
" Col. Joseph 385
Stedman, House 229
Winslow, Admiral J. A. 211
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGR
Historical Introduction -------- i_i^
CHAPTER II.
General Description --------- 43-64
CHAPTER III.
The Neck -- --_-.-_.. 65-94
CHAPTER IV.
Dorchester Road ---------- 95-138
CHAPTER V.
Burial-Ground to Dudley Street - - - - - 139-198
CHAPTER VI.
Warren Street and Walnut Avenue ----- 199-235
CHAPTER VII.
Meeting-House Hill 236-302
CHAPTER VIII.
Smelt Brook to the Punch-Bowl ------ 303-349
CHAPTER IX.
The Highlands 350-378
CHAPTER X.
Centre Street --------- 379-403
CHAPTER XI.
Jamaica Plain ----------- 404-436
CHAPTER XII.
West Roxbury ---------- 437-463
" Out of monuments, names, words, proverbs, traditions, private
recordes and evidences, fragments of stories, passages of bookes
and the like, we doe save and recover somewhat from the deluge
of time." — Bacon.
" I pray you let us satisfy our eyes
With the memorials and the things of fame
That do renown this city."
Shakespeare.
"Les monuments sont les crampons qui unissent une generation
a une autre, conservez ce qu'ont vu vos peres."
CHAPTER I .
INTRODUCTORY.
Causes of the Puritan Emigration. — Indian Natives. — Settlement of
Massachusetts Bay. — Dudley's Account. — Roxbury Colonists. —
NTazing, England. — Pynchon. — Annals. — Philip's War. — Revolution
of 1GS9. — Stamp Act. — Ante-P k evolutionary Action of the Town. —
Minute-men. — Lexington. — Siege of Boston. — Revolutionary An-
nals. — Shays's Insurrection.
READER, before asking you to accompaivy me in a retro-
spective stroll through the ancient town of Roxbury,
noting its old landmarks, treacling its old ways, reconstruct-
ing its old dwellings, and making the acquaintance of its
men and women of mark in bv-gone days, not forgetting an
occasional glance at the quaint and curious fashions and
customs of our ancestors, — before doing this, we will, if it
please you, take a brief survey of some passages in its early
history. Many of the chief events in its annals will be noticed
in describing those portions of the town with which they are
especially connected. This breathing space preparatory to
our journey will be no disadvantage to us, for, as Mrs. Rams-
botham says, •• We are to have a great deal of walking on our
hands."
Rightly to estimate the present, we must invoke the past,
of which we ourselves are the product, and its study cannot
fail to teach us the importance of perpetuating those elements
of true greatness in New England character bequeathed to us
by our Puritan ancestry, and in which their descendants take
a justifiable pride. The old church, the old schoolhouse, the
old burial-place, the old homestead, even
" The old oaken bucket that hangs by the well,"
2 CAUSES OF THE PURITAN EMIGRATION.
all these have their lesson to impart, and recall memories of the
past, which, though not always pleasurable, are yet not devoid
of interest, and have a charm for us even in their sadness.
The settlement of New England was almost wholly due
to the bitter antagonism between the Protestant dissenters
and the Church of England. These dissenters were of two
kinds : the Pilgrims, who were Separatists, and who, after
some years of exile in Holland, landed at Plymouth ; and the
Puritans, who. under "Winthrop and others, settled the towns
upon Massachusetts Bay. The latter taught the necessity
of a more complete and personal regeneration, desiring a
reform in the church, and not a schism ; the former de-
nounced the establishment as an idolatrous institution, false
to Christianity and to truth. Purity of religion and civil
liberty were the common objects of both. These discontented
sectaries were found in every rank, but the}' were strongest
among the mercantile classes in the towns and among the
small proprietors in the country, and became so numerous
that earl}- in the reign of Elizabeth the}- began to return a
majority of the House of Commons.
Under the ecclesiastical administration of Archbishop Laud,
every corner of the realm was subjected to a constant and
minute inspection. Every little congregation of dissenters
was tracked out and broken up. Even the devotions of pri-
vate families could not escape the vigilance of his spies,
and many thousands of upright and industrious men, among
them nearly eighty clergymen, were driven by persecution to
emigrate to New England. One third of the white popula-
tion of the United States are the descendants of these men.
A largr number of them were educated, and to their influence
it is owing that schools were so early established, and that
so much attention was paid to instruction in every New Eng-
land community. Said one of their number, in the quaint
language of those days, "God sifted three kingdoms that he
might send over choice grain into the wilderness."
INDIAN" NATIVES.
The Puritan never disowned the name given him in derision
by those to whom his sobriety of speech and visage, his
opposition to long hair and other frivolities of dress and man-
ners, appeared hypocritical and absurd. His witty accusers
indeed said that his hostility to cruel and barbarous sports,
such as bear-baiting, arose not from sympathy with the bear,
but because of the enjoyment it afforded the spectators.
•• To the Puritans.'" says an eminent English writer. ■• we
owe the whole freedom of our constitution." They were the
great conservators of English liberty. To them the present
political freedom of England and the United States is directly
traceable. If the founders of great states are entitled to the
first rank among men. posterity must accord especial promi-
nence to the Puritan planters of New England. The verdict
of impartial history must, despite all their faults and short-
comings, pronounce
them the most remark-
aide body of men that
perhaps the world has
ever produced.
Just prior to its set-
tlement, a pestilence
hal swept away a
large portion of the
Indian population of 1
Massachusetts Ii a y, ^0
thus clearing the way
for the emigrants, and
enabling them to es-
tablish themselves
without opposition, —
a circumstance the
pious Puritan could indian- sachem.
hardly fail to regard :s providential. Xo distinct traces of
aboriginal occupation have ever been observed in Roxbury,
INDIAN NATIVES.
not even an Indian name remaining to mark the locality of
mountain, streamlet, or other natural feature of the landscape.
The chief sachem of the territory, including Boston, Rox-
luiiy. and Dorchester, was Chickatabut. who lived on the
Xeponset R i v e r .
near the Massachu-
setts Fields, iii what
is nowQuincy. This
sagamore, who was
the greatest in the
country, had. in
1031. only fifty or
sixty subjects, and
many of these, with
the sachem himself,
died of small-pox
INDIAN' WIGWAM. •, 1,->Q.l /\r 1 ■
in lboo. ( >1 him
Thomas Dudley wrote, "This man least favoreth the Eng-
lish of any sagamore we are acquainted with, by reason
of the old quarrel between him and those of Plymouth,
where he lost seven of his best men. yet he lodged one night
the last winter at my house in friendly manner." Cut-
shamokin. who is said to have been a brother of Chickata-
but, and who had been a humble hanger-cm of the English
from their first coming, succeeded for a time to the titular
honor of sachem of Massachusetts, and to the right of sign-
ing deeds and conveyances of lands once occupied by the
tribe. Josiah, the son of Chickatabut. a word signifying in
English •• a house on fire," was summarily extinguished by
the Mohawks, against whom, contrary to the advice of the
apostle Eliot and other English friends, he led. in 1G69, six
hundred warriors. Gookin says. "The chiefest general in
this expedition was the principal sachem of Massachusetts,
named Josiah, alias Chickatabut, a wise and stout man. of
middle age, but a Aery vicious person. He had considerable
SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 5
knowledge in the Christian religion, and, some time, when he
was younger, seemed to profess it ; for he was bred up by
his uncle, Kuchamakin, who was the first sachem and his peo-
ple to whom Mr. Eliot preached." His son, Charles Josiah
(Warnpatuck), the last of the race, in 1686 deeded the native
right to the territory of Roxbury to its agents, Joseph Dud-
ley and William Stoughton. for £10.
From the period of Gosnold's visit in 1602 to the year
1630, the Massachusetts coast had been visited by Pring,
Weymouth, Capt. John Smith, Myles Standish, and others ;
settlements had been made at Plymouth, Salem, and else-
where, and individuals had "sat down " either as fishermen
or Indian traders at different points, — Blackstone, at ShaW-
mut, now Boston ; Walford, at Mishawam, now Charlestown ;
Maverick, at Noddle's Island, now East Boston ; and David
Thompson, at Thompson's Island. As no mention is made
of any one being previously located at Roxbury, there can be
little doubt that it was originally settled by some of Win-
throp's company as early as the first week in July. 1630;
John, the son of Griffin Craft, according to the first entry
on the Town Book, having been born here on July 10th of
that year.
In the first compartment of the corridor leading to the
English House of Lords, at Westminster, is a painting de-
signed to represent the departure of the Pilgrims from Delft
Haven. Governor Bradford's vivid portraiture of this scene
faithfully represents many other similar experiences of our
emigrant ancestors at parting with their families and friends
and quitting forever the land of their birth. He says : —
" The next day the wiud being faire, they wente aborde and their
freudes, where truly dolfull was y- sight of that sade and mournful!
parting ; to see what sighs and sobbs and praiers did sound amongst
them, what tears did gush from every eye and pithy speeches peirst
each harte, that sundry of y e Dutch strangers that stood on the
Key as spectators could not refrain from tears. Yet comfortable
(5 thomas Dudley's account.
and sweet was it to see such lively and true expressions of dear and
unfeigned love. But the tide (which stays for no man) calyng them
away were thus loathe to depart, their reverend pastor falling down
on his Knees (and they all with him) with watrie cheecks com-
mended them with most fervent praiers to the Lord and his blessing.
And then with mutuall imbraces and many tears they tooke their
leaves one of another which proved to be the last leave to many
of them."
The story of the settlement of Massachusetts Bay is told
with touching simplicity in Thomas Dudley's letter to the
Countess of Lincoln, dated Boston, March 12, 1630-1. This,
which is the most interesting document in our early annals,
was composed under difficulties, and, as he himself says,
" shortly, after my usual manner, and rudely, having yet no
table nor other room to write in than by the fireside upon my
knee, in this sharp winter, to which m}' family must have
leave to resort though they break good manners, and make
me many times forget what I would say, and say what I
would not."
'• Touching the plantation which we here have begun, it fell out
thus : About the year 1G27, some friends being together in Lincoln-
shire, fell into discourse about New England and the planting of
the gospel there, and after some deliberation we imparted our rea-
sons by letters and messages to some in London and the west coun-
try, where it was likewise deliberately thought upon, and at length,
with often negotiation so ripened that, in 1628, we procured a patent
from his Majesty for our planting between the Massachusetts Bay
and Charles River on the south, and the river of Merrimack on the
north, and three miles on either side of those rivers and bay ; as
al>o for the government of those who did or should inhabit within
that compass. And the same year we sent Mr. John Endecott, and
some with him, to begin a plantation and to strengthen such as he
should find there which we sent thither from Dorchester and some
places adjoining, from whom, the same year, receiving hopeful news,
the next year, 1G29, we sent divers ships over, with about three
hundred people, and some cows, goats, and horses, many of which
arrived safely.
"These, by their too large commendations of the country and
THOMAS DUDLEY S ACCOUNT.
the commodities thereof, invited us so strongly to go on, that Mr.
Winthrop, of Suffolk (who was well known in his own country, and
well approved here for his piety, liberality, wisdom, and gravity),
coming in to us, we came to such resolution that in April, 1630, we
set sail from old England with four good ships, and in May follow-
ing, eight more followed ; two having gone before in February and
March, and two more following in June and August, besides another
set out by a private merchant.
" These seventeen ships arrived all safe in New England for the
increase of the plantation here this year, 1630, but made a long, a
troublesome, and costly voyage, being all wind-bound long in Eng-
land, and hindered with contrary winds after they set sail, and so
scattered with mists and tempests that few of them arrived to-
gether. Our four ships, which set
out in April, arrived here in June
and July, where we found the colony
in a sad and unexpected condition,
above eighty of them being dead the
winter before, and many of those
alive being weak and sick; all the
corn and bread amongst them all
hardly sufficient to feed them a fort-
night, insomuch that the remainder
of oue hundred and eighty servants
we had the two years before sent
over, coming to us for victuals to
sustain them, we found ourselves
wholly unable to feed them, where-
upon necessity enforced us to our extreme loss to give them all
liberty who had cost us about sixteen or twenty pounds a person,
furnishing and sending over.
•• But. bearing these things as we might, we began to consult of
the place of our sitting down, for Salem, where we landed, pleased
us not, and to that purpose some were sent to the Bay to search up
the rivers for a convenient place, who, upon their return, reported
to have found a good place upon Mistick ; but some other of us
found a place liked us better, three leagues up Charles River, and
thereupon we shipped our goods into other vessels, and with much
cost and labor brought them, in July, to Charlestown; but there
receiving advertisements by some of the late arrived ships from
Loudon and Amsterdam of some French preparations against us
6HIP OF THE PILGRIMS.
8 thomas Dudley's account.
(many of our people brought with us being sick of fevers and the
scurvy, and we thereby unable to carry up our ordnance and bag-
gage so far), we were forced to change counsel, and for our present
shelter to plant dispersedly ; some at Charlestown, some at Boston,
some of us upon Mistick, which we named Meadford, some of us
westward on Charles River, four miles from Charlestown, which
place we named Watertown; others of us two miles from Boston,
in a place we named Rocksbury; others upon the river of Saugus.
between Salem and Charlestown, and the western men four miles
south of Boston, at a place we named Dorchester.
"This dispersion troubled some of us, but help it we could not.
wanting ability to remove to any place fit to build a town upon, and
the time too short to deliberate any longer lest the winter should
surprise us before we had builded our houses. The best counsel we
could find out was, to build a fort to retire to in some convenient
place, if any enemy pressed us thereunto, after we should have for-
tified ourselves against the injuries of wet and cold. So ceasing
to consult further at that time, they who had health to labor feli to
building, wherein many were interrupted with sickness, and many
died weekly, yea, almost daily, among whom were Mrs. Pyuehon,
Mrs. Coddington, Mrs. Phillips, and Mrs. Alcock, a sister of Mr.
(Rev. Thomas) Hooker's. Insomuch that the ships being now upon
their return, there was, as I take it, not much less than one hun-
dred which returned back again, and glad were we so to be rid of
them. The ships being gone, victuals wasting, and mortality in-
creasing, we held divers fasts in our several congregations. And of
the people who came over with us from the time of their setting
sail from England in April, 1G30. until December following, there
died two hundred at the least, so low hath the Lord brought us.
" Well, yet they who survived were not discouraged, but bearing
God's corrections with humility, and trusting in his mercies, and
considering how after a lower ebb he had raised up our neighbors
at Plymouth, we began again in December to consult about a fit
place to build a town upon, leaving all thoughts of a fort because
upon any invasion we were uecessarily to lose our houses when we
should retire thereinto ; so after divers meetings at Boston, Rox-
bury, and Watertown, on December 28th we grew to the resolution
to bind all the assistants to build houses at a place a mile east from
Watertown, near Charles River, the next spring, and to winter there
the next year; that so by our examples and by removing the ord-
nance and munitions thither, all who were able might be drawn
ROXBURY COLONISTS. 9
thither, aud such a? shall come to us hereafter to their advantage
be compelled so to do, aud so. if God would, a fortified town might
there grow up, the place fitting reasonably well thereto.
" Half of our cows, and almost all our mares aud goats, died at
sea in their passage hither, which, together with the loss of our six
mouths' building, occasioued by our intended removal to a town to
be fortified, weakened our estates, especially the estates of the
undertakers, who were £3.000 to £4,000, engaged iu the joint stock
which was now not above so many hundreds. . . .
'• If any come hither to plant for worldly ends that can live well
at home, he commits an error of which he will soon repent him;
but if for spiritual, and no particular obstacle hinder his removal,
he may find here what may well content him, viz., materials to build.
fewel to burn, ground to plant, seas aud rivers to fish in. a pure air
to breathe in, good water to drink till wine or beer can be made.
... If there be any endued with grace and furnished with means
to feed themselves and theirs for eighteen months, and to build and
plant, let them come into our Macedonia and help us.
"Upon the 25th of this March, one of Watertown having lost a
calf, and about ten of the clock at night hearing the howling of some
wolves not far off", raised many of his neighbors out of their beds,
that by discharging their muskets near about the place where he
heard the wolves, he might so put them to flight and save his calf.
The wind carrying the report of the muskets to Rocksbury, three
miles oft*, at such a time, the inhabitants there took au alarm, beat
up their drum, armed themselves, and sent in post to us at Boston
to raise us also. So in the morning, the calf being found safe,
the wolves affrighted, aud our danger past, we went merrily to
breakfast."
The Roxbury colonists were mostly from London and its
vicinity, a few being from the West of England. They were
people of substance, many of them farmers, none being •• of
the poorer sort." They struck root in the soil immediately,
and were enterprising, industrious, and frugal. It is the tes-
timony of an eye-witness, that '• one might dwell there from
year to year and not see a drunkard, hear an oath, or meet a
beggar." Among them are names still borne in Roxbury by
their descendants, such as Curtis. Crafts, Dudley. Griggs,
Heath, Pavson. Parker. Seaver, Weld, and Williams. Out-
10
ItOXBURY COLONISTS.
XAZIXG.
side of Boston, no New England town can show such a roll
of distinguished names as have illustrated her annals, unless
Cambridge be an exception.
Xazing, a rural village in Essex County, England, the home
cf many of the fathers of Roxbury, around which clustered
the affections and remembrances of their youth, comprises
the northwest corner of Waltham Half-hundred. It is or. the
river Lee, and is twenty miles east from London. Its gable-
fronted cottages, with low. thatched roofs and overhanging
eaves, show that this quiet little village has undergone slight
changes during the past three hundred years. The manor
was iriven bv Harold II to "\Valtham Abbe v.
nazi:;o parish en u ecu.
Its old parish church maybe regarded as the parent of the
First Church of Roxbury. It is situated on the side of a hill
overlooking parts of Hertfordshire and Middlesex, bounded
on the west by the river Lee. and on the east and south by
Waltham Abbey and Epping. Its parish records contain the
familiar names of Eliot, Ruggles. Curtis. Heath. Pay son,
Peacock. Graves, and others, who. between the years lf>C»l
and 1C4U. left their beloved homes and. for conscience' sake.
braved the dangers of a long ocean voyage in the frail vessels
of that period that they might aid in establishing a Christian
commonwealth in the wilderness. The accompanying view
FIRST YEARS. rYNCHOX. 11
of the church represents the building as it appeared when the
emigrant fathers worshipped within its old gray walls two
centuries and a half ago.
Under the lead of Pynchon, the first-comers to Roxbuiy
settled chiefly in the easterly part of the town, next to Boston.
From the town street, now called Roxbun- Street, they gradu-
ally extended themselves in various directions towards the
neighboring towns, notwithstanding the enactment of 1635,
designed as a protection against the Indians, that no person
should live beyond half a mile from the meeting-house.
Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury were settled later. The
first mention of the town occurs in the records of the third
Court of Assistants, held Sept. 28, 1630, as one of the plan-
tations on which a part of the general tax of £50 was levied,
and that day has therefore been fixed upon as the official date
of its settlement. Roxbuiy was the sixth town incorporated
in Massachusetts.
In the year 1631 the ship " Lyon," William Pierce, master,
left the shores of England with the first batch of Nazing pil-
grims on board. Eliot, the apostle, was there, with William
Curtis and Sarah, his wife, Eliot's sister and their children,
in company with the wife of Governor Winthrop. They were
ten weeks on the water. In the summer of 1632 she once
more left the Thames for Boston, having among her passen-
gers William Heath, with his wife and children, and several
other Xazing worthies. Isaac, his elder brother, did not quit
Xazing until 1G35. Early in 1633, John Graves, with his
wife and five children, left their home for the shores of New
England, and in 1635 they were followed bv a large number
of Nazing Christians who came over in the " Hopewell."
Others came later, but emigration from Old to New England
ceased about 1640, when the popular cause there began to
look hopeful.
The first year was one of great toil and privation. Fuel
was scarce, and the cold intense. Few settlers arrived in the
12
FIRST YEARS.
rvxcuox.
following year, the undertaking was so hazardous, and the
accounts brought by the large number of returning emigrants
were so discouraging. In 1632 many came, and early in lG3. r >
a great movement in England among the friend- of religious
liberty sent three thousand persons to New England. After
1G33, a season of abundance ensued, and emigrants steadily
poured in. One of the earlier colonists wrote that "bread
was so very scarce that sometimes I thought the very crumbs
of my father's table would be sweet unto me. and when I
could have meal and water ami salt boiled together, it was
ACr.lVAL OF TBZ " WILLIAM AND FKAXCIS.
so good who could wish better?" •• It would have been a
strange thing." said another. ' k to see a piece of roast beef
or mutton or veal."
William Pynchon, •• a gentleman of learning and religion,"
and one of the assistants or magistrates who came over with
AVinthrop, was. says Prince, the annalist. •• the principal
founder of the town of Roekshury. and the first member who
joins in forming the Congregational church there." In 1G3G
he led a party from Roxbury. among whom were Henry
Smith, his son-in-law. and Jehu Burr, to the Connecticut.
PYXCHOX S MERITORIOUS PRICE.
13
and began upon its banks the settlement of Agawam, which
he named Springfield, after the town in England, near Chelms-
ford in Essex, where he formerly resided, lie was many
years a magistrate, and was largely concerned in the beaver
trade till, as we are told, '• the merchants increased so many
that it became little worth, by reason of their outbiiving one
another, which caused them to live on husbandry."
This •• gentleman of
learning and religion "
had the temerity to dis-
sent from the dissent-
ers, and the publica-
tion, in 1G50. of his
•• Meritorious Price of
< >i 1 1* Redemption,'' in
opposition to the then
prevalent Calvinistic
view of the atonement.
caused his deposition
from the magistracy,
and the burning of his
book in the market-
place of Boston. In-
order of the Court, who
cited him before them
and placed him under
heavy bonds. The scene of this auto da f& was the head of
State street, where the Old State House stands. In this
book Pynchon attempted to prove that •• Christ suffered not
for us the unutterable torments of God's wrath, commonly
called 'Hell's torments." Pynehon's heresy has become
modern orthodoxy. The General Court condemned his book
as false, heretical, and erroneous, ordered Rev. John Norton
to answer it. and declared its purpose •• to proceed with its
author according to his demerits, unless he retract the same.
-^~Zfyitfrccw /Vy^Uko
14 CHRONOLOGICAL GLEANINGS.
and give full satisfaction both here and by some second
writing, to be printed and dispersed in England."
At the next Court, held in May, 1G51, Pynohon appeared
and explained or modified the obnoxious opinions. Again
he appeared before them, says the record. '• in a hopeful way
to give good satisfaction." and the judgment of the Court was
deferred till the next session in May, 1052. Before that
time, Pvnehon, disgusted with the persecuting and intolerant
spirit of those in authority, returned to England, where he
published a new edition of his book, with additions, in 1G55,
and died there in October, 1661, at the age of seventy-two.
A street in Roxbury perpetuates the name of its principal
founder. Xo other memorial of him exists here save Eliot's
notice of him in the Records of the First Parish.
Roxbury may fairly claim pre-eminence in literature of the
combustible kind, three of its eminent citizens having had
their books burned or condemned to the flames. — Pynchon,
Robert Calef, who opposed the witchcraft delusion, and the
apostle Eliot. The latter, indeed, avoided the honor of mar-
tyrdom by proxy, by a seasonable recantation. Toleration
was not one of the virtues of our Puritan ancestors ; it was
then a new doctrine, heralded by Roger Williams, and was
yet to undergo a long probation before it could be recognized
even in theory. An Index Expurgatorius of the orthodox
fathers of New England would be an interesting addition to
our bibliographical literature.
From various sources, especially from the diaries of the
apostle Eliot and Danforth. his colleague, some incidents of
general or local interest have been gleaned.
1633, Nov. "A great mortality amongst the Iudiaus by the
Small Pox, whereof Chickatabut, Sachem of Nepouset dyed."
1636. The Roxbury people worked ou the fortification at Cornhill.
1636, Oct. 7. The General Court met at Roxbury, having ad-
journed from Cambridge ou accouut of the sraall-pox.
1636-7. The Pequod "War.
CHRONOLOGICAL GLEANINGS. 15
1640. Great scarcity of money. The General Court order that
corn pass in payment for new debts.
1643. The five New England colonies confederate for mutual
defence.
1645. Dec. "The first week in the 10* mouth. This was the
most mortal week that ever Roxbury saw, to have five dy in one
week and many more lay sick about town."
1646. "This year, about the end of the 5* mouth, upon a sucl-
daine, innumerable armys of caterpillars filled the country, devour-
ing the grasse, oats, corn, wheat and barley. They would crosse
highways by thousands. Much prayer was made to God about it
aud fasting in divers places, and the Lord heard and on a suddaine
took them all away iu all parts of the country, to the wonderment
of all men. It was the Lord for it was doue suddainely." Dan-
forth says, "they marched thorow our fields like armed men, and
spoyled much corn."
16-16-7. " This winter was one of the mildest that ever we had.
no snow all winter long, nor sharp weather, but they had long floods
at Connecticut which was much spoyle to y 9 corue in the meadows.
We never had a bad day to goe preach to the Indians all this winter
praised be the Lord."
1647. "A great sicknesse epidemical did the Lord lay upon us,
that the greatest part of the town was sick at once. Few died, but
of these were the choycest flowers and most gracious saints." The
epidemic prevailed throughout New England, probably from the
absence of frost in the previous winter.
1657. A synod held to ascertain who were proper subjects of
baptism.
1660, Feb. 1. "About 7 o clock there was an earthquake. At
Roxbury the shaking was most discernible."
1661, May 28. " Judah Browne, and Peter Piersou Quakers, tied
to a carts tail and whipt through the town with 10 stripes after
receiving 20 at Boston, and again 10 stripes at Dedhani."
1662, June 10. A synod at Boston. " It pleased God this spring
to exercise the country with a severe drought, but some were so
rash as to impute it to the sitting of the Synod."
1663, Jan. 26. An earthquake occurred.
1664, " A great aud dreadful comet seen iu New Euglaud."
1667, March 25. " Samuel Ruggles, going up the meeting hill, was
struck by lightning, his two oxen and horse killed, a chest iu the
cart, with goods in it, burnt in sundry places, himself coming off
the cart, carried twenty feet from it, yet no abiding hurt."
16
CHRONOLOGICAL GLEANINGS.
1667, llmo. 4th day. ••There were strange noises in the air like
guns. drums, vollies of great shotte &e."
1667. 12mo. 29th. ; * Appeared a comet or blazing stream which
extended to a small star in the river Eridamus, but the star was hid
by reason of its proximity to the sun."'
166$, 3rd mo. 16th. The shock of an earthquake felt. Prodigies
were seen in the heavens the night before the Lord's day.
1670, Oct. "An Indian was hanged for killing his wife lodging
at an Englishman's house in Roxbury. lie threw her out at a cham-
ber window and brake her neck."'
1075. "This winter past," says Eliot. ••John Sassamou was
murdered by wicked Indians. He was a. man of eminent parts and
wit. He was of late years converted, joined to the church at Xatick,
baptised, and sent by the church toAssawamsic in Plymouth Patent
to preach the gospel. Soon after the war with the Indians brake
forth the history whereof I cannot. I may not. relate. The profane
Indians prove a sharp rod to the English, ami the English prove a
sharp rod to the Praying Indians.''
1685. Contributions taken up in the church for George Bowen.
of Roxbury, " a captive with the Turks."
STORMING OF XiKEAQAN'SJt FORT.
The war with the Indians in 1C75-G. ■' Philip's War." as it
is- called, allusion to which is made bv Eliot, was one of the
PHILIP'S tt'AK. — LOSS OF THE CHARTER. 17
severest trials New England was ever called upon to en-
counter. Of Roxbury's share in this contest, so destructive
to the colonists, Eliot elsewhere says in his diary, "John
Dresser dyed in the warrs and was there buryed. He acquit-
ted himself valiantly. We had many slaine in the warr, no
towne for bigness lost more if any so many."
On July 0, 1C7.">, a bod}* of fifty-two praying Indians,
Eliot's converts, marched from Boston for Mount Hope under
the " intrepid" Capt. Isaac Johnson, of Roxbury, who after-
wards certified that the most of them acquitted themselves
courageously and faithfully. He, with five other captains,
was killed while storming the Narraganset stronghold when
that fierce tribe was destroved at the famous Fort Fight.
Dec. 19, 1G7-J. The roll of his company, which also em-
braces men from the adjacent towns, includes these of Rox-
bury : —
Henry Bowen. Thom. Cheney.
Isaac Mokrice Abiel Lamb.
Tho. Baker. Samuel Gardiner.
John Watson. John Scot.
Onesiphorous Stanley. Xathl'l Wilson.
John Corbin. John Newell.
William Lincolne. Wm. Danfortu.
Joseph Goad. John Hubbard.
Some who escaped from this sanguinary engagement were
less fortunate in the Sudbury light in the following April, in
which Thos. Baker. Jr., Samuel Gardiner, John Roberts. Jr.,
Nathaniel Seaver. Thos. Ilawley, Sen., William Cleaves.
Joseph Pepper. John Sharpe. and Thomas Hopkins, of Rox-
bury, were slain.
New England prospered during the struggle between the
Parliament and Charles I. and under Cromwell, who favored
her in many ways. With the accession of Charles II there
came a change. Thenceforth there was a constant struggle
2
18 OVERTHROW OF ANDROS.
for colonial rights under the charter. The General Court, in
its efforts for their preservation, attempted to remove causes
of offence, such as Eliot's book favoring a republic, which it
condemned to the flames, and by modifying its laws against
Quakers. They succeeded so far as to delay for nearly a
quarter of a century a catastrophe they could not prevent.
Among other petitions to the General Court praying it to be
firm in ; ts resolution " to adhere to the Patent and the priv-
ileges thereof," is one dated Oct. 25, 1664, and signed by
John Eliot. John Bowles. Edward Bridg, Phillip Torrey,
Robert Pepper, Samuel "Williams, Samuel Scarbrow, Joseph
Griggs, Samuel May. "William Lion, Moses Craffs, Samuel
Ruggles, Isaac Curtis, and many other inhabitants of Rox-
bury. They request the honored Court, both magistrates
and deputies, to '• stand fast in our present liberty's."' and
assure them they will pray the Lord to " assist them to stere
right iu these shaking times."
The abrogation of its charter in 1GS5 by James II, and the
arbitrary government of Andros, stirred Massachusetts to its
profoundest depths. The royal governor, with four of his
council, were empowered to make laws and raise moneys with-
out any assembly or consent of the people. The laws were
not printed. Town meetings were prohibited, excepting on a
certain da}' once a year. Heavy fees were extorted, fifty
shillings being the cost for the probate of a will. This was
not all, for their charter being gone, their title to their lands
and estates went with it, and k< all was the King's, and they
must take patents from his new representatives, and give
what they see meet to impose." The people saw themselves
deprived of the privileges of Englishmen, and that their con-
dition was little better than slavery. They said, '• Our rulers
are those that hate us and the churches of Christ and his ser-
vants in the ministry ; they are their daily scorn, taunt, and
reproach, and }"et are we, our lives and liberties, civil and
ecclesiastical, in their hands to do with as they please."
REVOLUTION OF 1GS0. l'J
Early in 10*9. upon a rumor that the Prince of Orange had
landed in England, the flame which had long been smothered
burst forth with violence, and on April 18th Gov. Andros,
Edward Randolph, such of the council as had been most
active, and other obnoxious persons, about fifty in all. were
seized and confined, and the old magistrates reinstated. The
men of Roxbury took part with their brethren of Boston in
this revolutionary p:oceeding, and assisted them in the
capture of Fort Hill and the Castle. On May 9th she
sent Lieut. Samuel Ruggles and Nathaniel Holmes to meet
deputies from the other towns to settle and establish the
government. 1 ne instructions given at this meeting being
too general, another was called, the record of which fol-
lows : —
"At a meeting of the inhabitants of Roxbury, orderly called upon
the 20* day of this instaut May, it was siguifyed by the sayd inhab-
itants that it was their desire that the governor, deputy governor,
and such assistants as were chosen and sworn in the year 16SG,
should resume the government of the colony according to charter
liberty. " JXO GORE Clerk:'
JoLn Bowles anil Lieut. Ruggles represented the town at
another meeting, held at the same place June 5th. " to con-
sult for the present emergency."
For the next three quarters of a century the local annals
of Roxbury furnish few items of general interest. The cap-
ture of Louisburs: in 1745. and the Seven Years' War. ending
in the conquest of Canada in 17G3, necessarily drew upon
her resources, but with slight disturbance to her peaceful
progress as an agricultural community. Tanning, leather-
dressing, and other industrial pursuits flourished, and a fail-
share of prosperity seems to have been hers.
With the passage of the Stamp Act, early in 17G5, the
American Revolution may be said to have begun ; for although
its repeal a year later removed that bone of contention, the
discussions to which it gave rise had aroused an antagonism
20 STAMP ACT.
that was constantly increased by new acts of aggression, and
that ceased only with the achievement of American independ-
ence. Boston took the lead in opposition to the acts of
Parliament, and Roxbury nobly sustained and seconded her.
Dr. Warren, William Heath, Col. Joseph Williams, and
others of her leading men were in constant communication
with Samuel Adams and other master spirits of what was
then the " Hub " of revolution, and co-operated with them in
counsel and in action. The town meetings were held in the
old meeting house of the First Parish.
Looking over her records of this period, one is not surprised
that Lord Dartmouth, his Majesty's secretary for the colonies,
should have written to Governor Hutchinson that " The
resolves of Roxbury, Marblehead, and Plymouth contained
very extraordinary doctrines," or that he should express the
hope that few would follow their example, and that the House
of Representatives would discountenance them. Many of
these papers were written by Heath, and are vigorous and
forcible presentations of the views and feelings of the people
at large. The bold signature of Deacon Samuel Gridlev, the
veteran town clerk of Roxbury, is appended to all these ante-
revolutionary documents.
In the first of these, dated Oct. 22. 1765, the town in-
structs its representative, Col. Joseph Williams, to urge the
repeal of the Stamp Act, and declares its unwillingness to
submit to internal taxes other than those imposed by the
General Court. This is its brief and expressive language : —
•• That you readily join in such dutiful remonstrances and humble
petitions to the King and parliament, and other decent measures as
may have a tendency to obtain a repeal of the Stamp Act, aud a
removal of the heavy burthens imposed on the American British
Colonies thereby. And that yon do not give your assent to any act
of assembly that shall imply the willingness of your constituents to
submit to any internal taxes that are imposed, any otherwise than
by the Great and General Court of the Province according to the
NON-IMPORTATION. 21
Constitution of this government. We also recommend a clear,
explicit and spirited assertion and vindication of our rights and
liberties as inherent in our very natures, and confirmed to us by
charter. "Timothy Stevexs.
Ebexezeu Newell.
Eleazer Weld."
One of the most important results of the agitation, caused
by the laving of duties upon glass, paper, painters' colors.
and tea, in 17G7. was the resolution to stop importation, and
at the same time to create and develop domestic manufactures.
Undoubtedly this policy had its rise in the idea of enforcing
a hearing for the protests of America, rather than in that far-
seeing statesmanship that prescribes such a course upon its
own merits, and it soon became general throughout the colo-
nies. At a town meeting held Dec. 7, 17G7. of which Joseph
Williams was moderator, it was resolved, that —
" This town will take all proper and Legall measures to encourage
the produce and manufactures of this Proviuce. and to lessen the
use of superfluities imported from abroad, viz, Loaf sugar, mus-
tard, starch, malt liquors, cheese, limes, lemons, Tea of all sorts,
snufl's, Glew, cheuey ware, Pewterers Hollow ware, all sorts of mil-
liuery ware, stays, Hatts, ready made apparell of all sorts. Glove-,
shoes, Broadcloths, that cost more thau ten shillings per yard, Muffs,
furs, and tippets. Lace of all sorts, sole leather, jewelers ware. Gold
and silver Buttons and Plate, silk Velvets, cambricks. silks, Linseed
oyle, cordage, anchors, coaches and carriages, House furniture,
nails, clocks and watches, fire engines &.c. Provided that Boston
and the neighboring towns will come into it. And as it is the opin-
ion of this town that divers new manufactures may be set up in
America to its great advantage, and some others carried to a greater
extent, therefore voted that this town will by all prudent ways and
means, encourage the use aud consumption of glass aud paper made
in the Colonies of America, aud more especially iu this Province,
and also of Liuneu and woolen cloths."
The committee to procure subscriptions to this document
were William Bowdoin, Col. Joseph Williams. Capt. Eleazer
Williams, Deacon Samuel Gridlev, Eleazer Weld. Henry Wil-
22 ROXBUKY INSTRUCTS HER REPRESENTATIVE.
liarns, and Capt. Joseph Mayo. At a subsequent meeting
for the purpose of " strengthening the hands of the merchants
in their Xon-importation Agreement," the names of those who
continued to import contrary to its tenor were read, and
it was —
" Voted, That we do with the utmost abhorrence and detestation,
view the little, mean and sordid conduct of a few traders in this
Province who have and still do import British Goods contrary to
said agreement regardless of. and deaf to, the miseries and calami-
ties which threaten this people.
"Voted, That to the end the Generation yet unborn may Know
who they were that laughed at the distress and calamities of this
people ; and instead of striving to save their country when in immi-
nent danger, did strive to render ineffectual a virtuous and com-
mendable plan, the names of these importers shall be annually read
at March meeting."
Again, under date of May 20, 1709. Roxbury instructs her
representative, and recommends a correspondence between
the House of Representatives in Massachusetts and the assem-
blies of other provinces. Samuel Gridley was chosen mod-
erator, and the report of the committee on instructions, acted
upon sentence by sentence, was published in the Boston
papers. These instructions, ten in number, direct their rep-
resentative. Col. Joseph "Williams, to '-proceed in a cool,
calm, and steady manner," omitting no opportunity to express
their loyalty to their "'gracious sovereign," and to strive to
the utmost of his power " to cultivate and maintain a good
harmony and union between Great Britain and her colonies" ;
to maintain their "invaluable charter rights"; to strive to
preserve the honor and dignity of the assembly ; to inquire
•• why the King's troops have been quartered in the body of
the metropolis of the Province while the barracks provided
heretofore have remained in a manner useless." and not to
comply with any requisition for payment therefor : to inquire
why criminals have not been prosecuted and punished, and
THE BOSTON .MASSACRE. 23
leclare, with respect to the revenue acts, that instead of
being reconciled to them, " we clailv find them more and more
burthensome ; and when we view the trade and commerce of
the Province under a very sensible decay and loaded with
embarrassments, and the little circulating cash we have left
daily draining from us, and the revenue officers, like the
horse-leech, crying 'give! give'! our groans and complaints
are increased, you will, therefore, by every constitutional
method, strive to obtain a repeal of those acts." The remain-
ing instructions relate to the encouragement of arts and man-
ufactuves within the Province ; the removal of any unfavorable
impressions respecting this Province from the minds of the
British ministry caused by misrepresentations sent from hence ;
the cultivation of harmony and correspondence between the
representative body of this Province and those of the sister
colonies : and, finally, they enjoin frugality with respect to
grants of the public moneys, "the load of debt remaining
on the Province." and the great scarcity of cash say they,
■•is a loud call to this."
"Aarox Davis,
Capt. W>r. Heath,
Capt. Joseph Mayo,
Eleazer Weld,
Lieut. Nathaniel Ruggles,
"Committee."
Three days after the "Massacre," as the affraj* between
the soldiers and the populace in King Street, Boston, was
called, a committee, chosen at a full town meeting, consisting
of Col. Joseph Williams. Eleazer Weld, John Williams, Jr.,
John Child, Nathaniel Ruggles. Capt. William Heath, and
Major William Thompson, waited on Lieut. -Gov. Hutchinson
with a petition of the inhabitants of Roxbury, praying for
the removal of all the troops out of the town •• immediately."
The petitioners say that, —
■'Having often heard, and many of us seen, with pity and con-
cern, the verv great inconveniences and sufferings of our fellow
24
THE BOSTON MASSACRE.
subjects and countrymen, the inhabitants of the town of Boston,
occasioned by several regiments of the King's troops being quar-
tered in the body of that town for many months past ; in a peculiar
manner we desire to express our astonishment, grief, and indignation
at the horrid and barbarous action committed there last Monday
evening by a party of those troops, by tiring with small arm- in
the most wanton, cruel, and cowardly manner, upon a number of
unarmed inhabitants of said town, whereby four of his Majesty's
liege subjects have lost their lives, two others are supposed to be
mortally wounded, and several besides badly wounded and suffering
great pain and distress; and the town still alarmed and threatened
with further and greater mischief."
Hutchinson, on the
answer : —
THOMA3 HUTCHINSON
same daw returned the following
•• GkXTLEMKX :
•■ I have no au-
thority to order
the King's Troops
from any piace
where they are
posted by His Maj-
esty's order, or
the order <>f the
Co mm a n J er in
Chief of the forces
here. Everything
that is in my
power to do with
respect to any al-
teration of tli ■
place of quarter-
ing these troops
has already been
done bv me iu
pursuauce of the unanimous advice of His Majesty's Council.
•T. HUTCHINSON.
'To the Inhabitants ok the Town of Roxblry,
Boston, 8 March, 1770."
KOXBURY COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE. 25
On the firm demand of Samuel Adams, the troops were
removed and quiet was restored. Copley's fine picture of
the stern old patriot represents him when confronting Hutch-
inson with the memorable declaration that ■• Nothing short of
the total evacuation of the town, by all the regular troops,
will satisfy the public mind and preserve the peace of the
Province."
The bells of Roxbury were tolled in honor of the victims,
whose funeral took place on the same day the petition was
presented.
On Nov. I 1 '. 1772. at a meeting held to consider "the
late alarming report that the judges were to receive then-
salaries direct from the Crown." Capt. William Heath was
chosen moderator, and a committee, consisting of Col. Joseph
Williams. Isaac VTinslow, Major Joseph Mayo. Major Nathan-
iel Ruggles, and William Bowdoin, were desired to report
thereon, and to draw up instructions for their representative.
Capt. William Heath. The committee, in their report, pre-
sented on Nov. 23. instruct Representative Heath to propose
an act appropriating a sufficient fund to support the judges
and render them independent of the Crown as far as possible,
provided their commissions were during good behavior, and
that they might l>e removed on application to the two Houses.
A letter from the town of Boston, requesting a free commu-
nication of sentiments "on our common danger." was then
considered, and Isaac Winslow, Major Joseph Mayo. William
Bowdoin. Capt. Aaron Davis. Capt. William Heath, David
Weld, Dea. Samuel Gridley, Noah Perrin. and Nathaniel
Patten were chosen a committee to consider and report
thereon.
The report of this committee to the " freeholders and other
inhabitants*' of the town, on Dec. 14, in the language of
the record. " made great uneasiness in the meeting, and
very difficult to understand the true state of the vote, and
numbers of the inhabitants withdrew from the meeting,
2Q WHIG AND TORY.
after which said report and letter of correspondence were
read over again and accepted." In this document, which is
not upon record, the committee observe that the papers in
question contain nothing new, saving the following, viz.,
'•The probability from the best intelligence they have been
able to obtain that the Judges of the Superior Court, the
King's attorney, and the Solicitor General, are to receive their
support from the revenues of America." Inasmuch, there-
fore, as the town of Roxbury had already instructed her rep-
resentative in this particular, they believe that nothing more
should be done. Their report, probably drawn up by the
chairman, Isaac Winslow, Esq., whose conservative views
finally led him to cast in his lot with the loyalists, is signed
by all the committee excepting Capt. "William Heath. William
Bowdoin, and Nathaniel Patten.
The tw Boston Gazette " gives full particulars of this stormy
meeting, at which the conservative element in the town made
a strenuous and wellnigh successful effort to check the popu-
lar movement. It appears that after several unsuccessful
attempts to ascertain the vote, the House was divided, and a
majority rejected the report of the committee, whereupon
those gentlemen and their friends withdrew. Moderator
Heath then read the minority report, prepared by himself,
which was accepted, and which appeared in full in the Boston
papers of the day. In this document the committee declare
the rights of the colonists to be fully supported and war-
ranted by the laws of God and nature, the New Testament,
and the charter of the Province. "Our pious forefathers."
said they, "died with the pleasing hope that we, their chil-
dren, should live free ; let none, as the}" would answer it an-
other day, disturb the ashes of those heroes by selling their
birthright."
After a recital of grievances, they proceed to declare in
their resolves that the}' " view these infringements and inno-
vations as insupportable burdens to which the}' cannot, sub-
RESOLUTIONS RESPECTING THE TEA ACT. 27
mit," and express " a grief of heart" that the prayer of the
petition of Boston to the governor to permit the General
Assembly to come together at the time to which it then stood
prorogued was not granted. They also thank the town of
Boston for the " great readiness and care discovered by them
to do all that in them lies, to preserve the rights, liberties, and
privileges of the people inviolate." A committee of corre-
spondence was then chosen, consisting of Capt. William
Heath, Nathaniel Patten, Nathaniel Felton, Samuel Sumner,
Ebenezer Dorr. David Weld, and Capt. Ebenezer Whiting.
New occasion was offered to the citizens of Roxbury for
the expression of their patriotic sentiments by the scheme of
the British ministry to raise a revenue in the American colo-
nies by permitting the East India Company to send their tea
hither free of duty. It was at once seen that not only was
this an odious monopoly of trade, but that it was calculated
to circumvent the Americans into a compliance with the rev-
enue law. and to thereby open the door to unlimited taxation.
Several of the voung men of Roxburv were members of the
famous '• Tea Party," and lent a hand in making a " teapot"
of Boston Harbor on the evening of Dec. 16, 1773. Com-
mittees from the towns of Roxbury, Dorchester. Brookline,
and Cambridge met with that of Boston, in Faneuil Hall, on
Nov. 22, 1773, and were unanimous in opposition to the sale
or landing of the obnoxious herb.
At a meeting held on Dec. 3. 1773, to consider this subject.
the town, after voting to pass over in silence the patrolling
of soldiers •• about the streets of this town, with their arms,
equipt in a warlike posture," chose Capt. William Heath, Col.
Joseph Williams. Aaron Davis, Major Nathaniel Ruggles. and
Major Mayo a committee to draw up resolutions suitable to
the occasion.
In these the committee find reason to apprehend that the
Tea Act was designed to " take in the unwary." and resolve
•• that the disposal' of our own property is the inherent right
28 THE NECK FORTIFIED.
of free men ; that there can be no property in that which
another can of right take from us without our consent ; that
the claim of Parliament to tax America is. in other words, a
claim of right to lew contributions on us at pleasure" ; that
the purpose for which the tax is laid, namely, for the support
of government, the administration of justice, and the defence
of America, has a direct tendency to render assemblies use-
less, and to introduce arbitrary government and slavery ; that
" a virtuous and steady opposition to this plan of governing
America is absolutely necessary to preserve even the shadow
of liberty, and is a duty every freeman owes to his country '* :
that this plan is a violent attack upon the liberties of America :
that whoever shall aid or abet in unloading, receiving, or
vending the tea is an enemy to America : and that those who
refuse to resign their appointments to receive and sell said
tea '-discover a temper inimical to the rights, liberties, and
prosperity of America, and that in such light they will be
viewed by this town, from whom they may not expect the
least protection." Finally, they declare, —
"That this town look upon themselves as in Duty Bound to
themselves and Posterity to Stand fast in that Liberty wherewith
the Supream Being hath made them Free, and that they will readily
Join with the Town of Boston, and other Sister Towns, in Such
Constitutional Measures, as shall be Judged proper, to preserve
aud hand down to Posterity Inviolate those Inestimable Rights and
Liberties handed down to us under Providence by our worthy
Ancestors."
As a consequence of the destruction of the tea in her har-
bor. Boston was singled out for the vengeance of the govern-
ment. Her port was closed on June 1. 1774; Gage, the
royal governor, fortified the Neck between Boston and Rox-
burv, and other measures were taken by both parties calcu-
lated to precipitate a conflict. A Continental Congress had
been called, and a Provincial Congress was to be convened
at Concord on Oct. 5, 1774. To this body, Roxbury. on
MINUTE-MEN" ENROLLED. 29
Sept. 28, sent Capt. William Heath and Aaron Davis, giving
them for their guidance the instructions voted bj' the town of
Boston to its delegates, which, among other things, enjoined
upon them " to act upon such matters as may come before
you in such a manner as shall appear to you most conducive
to the true interests of this town and Province, and most
likely to procure the liberties of all America." These same
delegates were re-elected to the second Provincial Congress,
held in February following.
On Dec. 20, after choosing a committee of fifteen per-
sons, viz.. Closes Davis, Daniel Brown. Major Nathaniel
Raggles. Lieut. Robert Pierpont, Caleb Hay ward, Ebenezer
Dorr. John Williams, Ensign Joshua Felton, Lieut. John
Greaton. Stephen Williams, tanner. Lieut. Jeremiah Parker,
Major Ebenezer Whiting, Deacon David Weld, Col. William
Heath, and Eleazer Weld, to •• carry into execution the agree-
ment and association of the late Continental Congress," the
town took the important step of adopting and encouraging
its minute-men by passing the following votes, viz. : —
••To know it' this Town will grant any Sum of Money for the
Encouragement of oue Quarter part of the Militia in this Town in
order to their Perfecting themselves in Military Discipline, agree-
. to the Recommendation of the Provintial Congress.
■•To Encourage oue quarter part of the Militia Miuutemeu, so
cai'd.
■■Then Voted that they hold themselves in Readiness at a Minutes
Warning, compleat in Arms and Ammunition; that is to say a good
and Sullitieut Firelock. Bayuot, thirty Rounds of Powder and Pall,
Pouch and Napsack.
-Voted that these Minutemeu meet and Exercise twice a week-
three Hours Lach time.
■•Then Voted to allow Each Persou oue Shilling Lawfull Money
for every three Hours Duty.
•• Voted that their be a fine laid on them the said Minutemeu in
ease they do not appear at time aud place as Prefixt by the Com-
manding Otficer.
•■ Then Voted that the fine be one Shilling Lawful Money for their
30 MINUTE-MEN ENROLLED.
non appearance unless they have ail Excuse which shall be Satis-
factory to their Commanding Officers.
" Voted to choose a Committee to Draw up the Articles of lulist-
ment for the said Company of Minutemen.
" Then Voted and chose a committee of three Persons, viz — Col.
William Heath. Capt. Joseph Williams, Liev't Robert Pierpont.
"Voted that the Commanding Officer of the said Minute Com-
pany order that a fair account be kept of the attendance of those
Persons, after having Iulisted, that the said account may be brought
before the Town when cal'd for."
At the meetings held March 6 and 20. 1775. further action
was taken upon this subject. The companies were reorgan-
ized so that there was one in each parish, the pay of the men
was increased to sixpence per hour, and the line for non-
attendance increased to two shillings. One hundred pounds
was appropriated for their pay.
In a letter to Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, dated •• Roxbury,
April 21, 1798," General Heath says, "The first company
of minute-men raised in America in 177.3 preparatory to
the defence of their invaluable rights and liberties, was
raised in this town, and that company, with others, dis-
tinguished itself in the Battle of Lexington on the 19th of
April, 1775."
The "Boston Gazette" of Nov. 23. 1774, tells us that
u At a meeting in Roxbury last week for choice of military
officers for the first parish. Rev. Mr. Adams opened the meet-
ing with prayer, after which he was chosen mederator. The
officers chosen were, —
Capt. Joseph Heath, Captain.
Mr. John GreaTOX, Lieutenant.
Mr. Joshua Feltox, Ensign.
And at another meeting since, for another company, there
were chosen, — "
Aaron Da vis, Captain.
Robert Pierpont, Lieutenant.
Nathaniel Feltox, Ensign.
Capt. Joseph Williams, Sergeant.
LEXINGTON. — KOLL OF ROXBURY MINUTE-MEN. 31
Aggressive military operations having been begun bv
Gen. Gage, in the expedition to Salem, for the seizure of
cannon belonging to the Province, early in March. 177">.
couriers were stationed by the Americans at Roxbury, Charles-
town, and Cambridge, the three avenues from Boston, to
alarm the country should the attempt be made to destroy the
military stores that were being collected by them at Concord.
The wisdom of this step was soon apparent.
Three companies of Roxbury minute-men, commanded re-
spectively by Moses Whiting, William Draper, and Lemuel
Child, responded to their country's call on the 19th of April,
and did good service on that memorable occasion. Their
lieutenants were Jacob Davis, Moses Draper. Thomas Mayo.
John Davis, Lemuel May. and Isaac "Williams. Heath. War-
ren, and Greaton were actively occupied during the day in
assembling the scattered guerilla parties of minute-men. and
posting them advantageously, the former, on account of his
rank, exercising command, or so much of it as the impromptu
nature of the affair would admit of. Moses Whiting's com-
pany afterward made part of Heath's regiment, and then of
Greaton's, serving throughout the campaigns of 1775 and
1776. Moses Draper led a company of Gardner's Middlesex
regiment at Bunker's Hill. Edward Payson Williams, a cor-
poral in Capt. Child's company, afterwards commanded a com-
pany in Greaton's regiment, and died in the service in 1777.
His first lieutenant, Samuel Foster, also became a captain in
Greaton's. with Jonathan Dorr as his second lieutenant.
Other Roxbury men who held commissions in the army
were, William Wyman, a captain in Patterson's regiment
during the siege, and who died in Roxbury, 3 March, 1820,
aged eighty-one ; Samuel Mellish, lieutenant and quarter-
master in Greaton's regiment, and Robert Williams, lieutenant
and paymaster of Henry Jackson's regiment, the father of
Mrs. Walter Baker, of Dorchester, an 1 grandfather of Alex-
ander Williams, of the " Old Corner Bookstore" of Boston.
32
ROLL OF ROXBURY MINUTE-MEN.
Complete lists of these minute companies, copied from the
State archives, are here given: —
'• Muster roll of the company from Roxbury under the command
of Capt. Moses Whiting, in Col. John Greaton"s Minute Regiment
I Served 28 clays from April 10, 177a.)
Capt. Moses Whiting.
IstLt Jacob Davis.
2d Lt. Moses Draper
Sergt. James Herring.
Joseph Smith.
Samuel Foster.
John duly Jones.
Corpl. Gersham Jackson.
Jacob Whitemore.
Noah Parker.
Fifer, Win. Dorr.
Drummer. John Gore.
Privates,
Joseph Bailey.
Wm. Bossou, Jr.
Samuel Bowman.
Jonathan Brintnall.
James Burrel, Jr.
Stephen Clapp.
Ebenezer Corey.
Xehemiah Davis.
Moses Davis.
Jonathan Dorr.
John Dowse, Jr.
John Eayres.
George Geyer.
Jeames Goggen.
Joseph Gore.
James Griggs. Jr.
John Henshaw.
David How.
Joseph Hunt.
John Kneelaml.
Benj. Knower.
James Lewis.
Joshua Lewis.
John Mather.
Jeremiah Masher, Jr
Stephen Mills.
Solomon Munroe.
Jedidiah Munroe.
John Parker.
David Richards.
Joseph Richards.
Moses Richardson
Nathaniel Scott.
Michael Smith.
Nathaniel Talbot.
Lemuel Tucker.
Ebenezer Webb.
Jacob Weld.
Thomas Weld.
Benj. West.
Ebenezer Whitney.
Thomas Williams.
Francis Wood."
■•Roxbury, 7th Dec, 1775. A true and
Company in Roxbury. commanded by Capt.
Win. Heath's Regiment, the 19th day of Apr
dav of May and then dismissed.
Capt. Wm. Draper.
Lt. Thomas Mayo.
Lt. John Davis.
Sergt. Noah Davis.
Paul Draper.
David Richards.
Corpl. Daniel Lyon.
David Baker.
Drummer, Wm. Warren.
Privates,
Jeremiah Bacon.
John Diusdell.
Wm. Din-dell.
Jona. Draper.
Nat. Draper.
Samuel French.
Samuel Gay.
Thomas Giles.
Moses Griggs.
Thaddeus Hyde.
Lewis Jones.
Josiah Kennv.
just roll of the Second
William Draper in Col.
il, when called to the 3d
Samuel Mayo.
Jere. Mcintosh.
Jacob Parker.
Stephen Mcintosh.
Nat. Perry.
Joshua Pond.
Samuel Richards.
Wm. Salter.
Eben. Talbot.
Benj. Weld.
Wm. Weld.
HARBOR EXCURSIONS.
1 o
OO
Joua. Bird.
Jno. Kneeland.
Isaac Whitney.
Moses Blackmail.
James Keith.
Jacob Whitney.
Eolaud Clark.
Ezra Kimball.
Stephen Whtiuey.
Benj. Corey.
Timothy Lewis.
Rufus Whiting.
Timothy Crehorc.
Samuel Lewis.
Ephraim Wilson.
Xat. Davis.
Samuel Lauchlin.
Moses Wilson."
■• Roxbury. Dec. 1G, 177j. A true aud just roll of the Third
Company in Roxbury. commanded by Capt. Lemuel Child, in Col.
Win. Heath's Regiment, the 19th day of April, then called to the 3d
day of May, and then dismissed.
Capt. Lemuel Child.
Lt. Lemuel May.
Lt. Isaac Williams.
Ensign Samuel White.
Sergt. Ebeu Weld.
Stephen Paysou.
Ezra Davis.
Isaac Sturtevant.
Corpl. Paysou Williams.
John Lowder.
Joseph Weld.
Joseph Brewer.
Privates,
John Adams.
Elijah Child.
John Child.
Abijah Clarke.
Aaron Draper.
Ichabod Draper.
Paul Dudley.
Thomas Dudley.
Peter Everet.
John Poster.
Ebeu Goodenoush.
John Foster.
Wm Gould.
Asa Morse.
Thomas Parker.
Ebeu Pond.
Samuel Star.
Peter Walker.
Elijah Weld.
Job Weld.
David White.
Wm. Wood.
Jason Winch."
As the principal events of the ensuing siege are elsewhere
related, only such matters will be here introduced as are un-
connected with Roxbury localities.
Boston was so closely invested that the British army could
supply itself with fresh meat, straw, or fodder only from the
islands in the harbor. This brought on several skirmishes,
in which the Americans, besides being initiated in warfare,
were generally successful. The first one occurred on the
morning of May 21. at Grape Island, where the British at-
tempted to carry off a quantity of hay, but were driven off
i'\- the people of "W^mouth and the adjacent towns, aided by
three companies detached from Roxbury by Gen. Thomas.
"Warren was present on this occasion, and the hay, the object
of the expedition, was burned by the Americans. He was
3
34 TROors ix ROXBURr.
again present at a similar affair on the 27th. at Noddle's
Island (East Boston) , where the British were again defeated
with loss. On May 31 it was ordered that the stock taken
from Noddle's Island belonging to Henry Howell "Williams,
be delivered to his father, Col. Joseph Williams, of Roxbury,
for the use of his son.
On the night of June 2. Col. Greaton commanded a party
which A ook off about eight hundred sheep and lambs from
Deer Island, together with a number of cattle, also a baro;e
belonging to one of the men-of-war, with some prisoners.
These successes so encouraged the people that they stripped
every island between Chelsea and Point Alderton of forage
and cattle, and the lighthouse at the entrance of the harbor
was burnt down.
The forces under Gen. Thomas at Roxbury. early in June,
consisted of the regiments of Thomas. Learned. Fellows, Cot-
ton, Walker, Read, Danielson. Brewer, and Robinson, of
Massachusetts, numbering four thousand ; Gen. Spencer's
Connecticut troops, containing the regiments of Spencer. Par-
sons, and Huntington ; those of Rhode Island, under Gen.
Greene, stationed at Jamaica Plain (Varnum's, Hitchcock's.
and Miller's regiments) , and three or four artillery companies
with field pieces and a few heavy cannon. On the 13th of
June authentic advice was given to the American commanders
that the night of June 18 had been fixed upon by Gen. Gage
to take possession of Dorchester Heights. To counteract
this move of the enemy, the Americans, on the night of the
lGth, fortified Breed's Hill and brought on the battle of
the 17th of June. The success of the British on this occa-
sion was so dearly purchased as to prevent the accomplish-
ment of their original object. Greene declared that the
Americans would like to sell them another hill at the same
price. But glorious as was the result to America, it was pur-
chased at the sacrifice of one of her noblest sons, the saga-
cious, fearless patriot, Joseph Warren.
TORY ESTATES. ABATEMENT OF PROVINCE TAX. 3-3
At the expiration of the siege, a portion of the army was
sent to Canada, and the remainder to New York, the scene
of operations of the following campaign. The citizens of
Roxbury returned to the homes they had abandoned to the
army, and the town resumed its wonted peaceful appearance.
Some of the barracks were subsequently occupied as the
rendezvous of recruits for the regiments of Colonels Greaton.
Bailey, and other-.
On May 23. 177"). the town instructed the selectmen to
'• take care of the estates of those gentlemen that have left
them and s;one into Boston." The lovalists of Roxburv were,
without exception, men of high character and influence, most
of whom abandoned valuable estates for the sake of principle.
Their houses and lands were leased by the selectmen until the
passage of the Confiscation Act of 1779 made them the prop-
erty of the State, for whose benefit they were eventually sold.
Oppressed as it was by the presence of large numbers of
ill-disciplined militiamen, who occupied its houses for bar-
racks, trampled its growing crops, cut down its fruit trees,
and inflicted much greater injury than the enemy's cannon, no
wonder the town, in August, petitioned the General Court for
an abatement of its Province tax. The petitioners say : —
"In 1774 the real and personal estates were estimated at £19,572,
out of which sura, upon a careful examination, £4.417 is totally lost,
and the possessors, eighty-nine in number, are driven off from their
respective habitations and employment, and whose estates now lie
common and unimproved. In addition to which, the profits of about
thirty of the real estates in said town, calculated at £2,378, have
shrunk iu value not less than three fourths. Of many others, the
profits have necessarily diminished on account of the encampment
in their fields and orchards. The improvement of upwards of four
hundred acres of salt marsh are also entirely lost. A great number
of polls in the town (exclusive of those in the army) less than the
year past. That the town poor are removed from the workhouse,
where their earnings went far towards their support, but iu the
present distressed situation of the town they can't be employed.
36 INDEPENDENCE.
A. number of poor people who have heretofore lived without assist-
ance from the town, having fled from their habitations and business,
are now calling upon the town for help, and many others, with their
families, it is expected will in the course of the nest winter be throw-
ing themselves upon the town for support, and of consequence the
town tax will be much enlarged. This petition is not because they
want to shirk their duty to pay all they can, but because they feel
that their abilities will not admit of their paying more than one
third of their old tax.
: ' Eleazer Weld,
Nathaniel Ruggles,
Joseph Mayo,
David Weld,
Increase Sumner,
"Committee."
In consequence of this petition an abatement of two ninths
of its tax was allowed. J>
On May 22, 1776, the town instructed her representatives,
Dr. Jonathan Davies, Aaron Davis, and Increase Sumner, that
•• if the Honorable Congress should, for the safety of the said
colonies, declare them independent of the Kingdom of Great
Britain, they, the said inhabitants, will solemnly engage with
their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure." A
year later, Roxbury instructs her representatives to favor the
adoption of a constitution for the State, but it was not until
May, 1780, that the instrument was accepted by the town.
Toryism, which had been so effectually repressed two }-ears
before, again began to show itself. Pierce's diary, under date
of April 19, 1777, sa}*s, "'There were five tories carted out of
Boston, and tip't up in Roxbury. The}' were ordered never
to return to Boston upon pain of death." Soon afterwards
the town chose Samuel Williams, " agreable to an act of the
General Court, to procure evidence of the inimical dispositions
of any persons in the town, and to lay such evidence before
a court appointed for the tryal of such persons."
The Articles of Confederation of the Thirteen United Col-
onies were adopted by the town on Jan. 30, 1778.
INSTRUCTION'S TO REPRESENTATIVE CLARKE. 37
Among the evils experienced by the country during its
struggle for liberty, none was more keenly felt than the con-
stant depreciation of the currency, bringing in its train fore-
stalling and enhanced prices for almost everything. In one
day, Samuel Williams, of Eoxbury, cleared two hundred dol-
lars, on sales of four hundred and fifty, the proceeds of his mar-
keting in Boston. On July 12, 1779, a committee of twenty-
one from all parts of the town were directed to draw up
resolves for appreciating the currency, and reducing the ex-
orbitant prices of the necessaries of life. They were to
determine what proportion the prices of foreign and internal
produce ought, in justice, to bear to each other, and to post
in the public places in the town the prices of articles specified.
'• disregarders " thereof to receive '• that severest of all tem-
poral punishments, the displeasure and contempt of the peo-
ple." '*For a second offence," they say, "• his name shall
be published in the several Boston newspapers as a pest of
society, and unworthy the confidence and esteem of all man-
kind."
One of the ablest of the State papers of Roxbury is that
containing its instructions to its representative, Thomas
Clarke, dated May 19, 1783. It was probably drawn up by
Dr. William Gordon, chairman of the committee. Such
instructions it esteems to be a duty and a right, t; at this
critical and important period, when we are just emerging
from a long and expensive war." It enjoins upon him to
keep in view the end proposed by entering into society, viz.,
the preservation of life, liberty, and property, which are to
be enjoj^ed equalby by all ; an observance of the letter and
spirit of the Constitution ; a watch over the executive and
judicial departments, that any malpractices may be discov-
ered and immediately stopped : to secure the faithful and
economical expenditure of the public moneys ; a jealous
supervision of the public property ; economy in the public
business, and in the management of the public domain ; the
38 SHAYS'S INSURRECTION.
necessity of permanent salaries for the judges ; the mainte-
nance of the financial honor of the State, and the establish-
ment of the militia on the most respectable foundation. " In
imposing duties, you will remember that small excises pro-
duce the greatest revenue by excluding temptations to smug-
gle, and rendering needless a swarm of officers, who, besides
the enormous expense the}" occasion, prove obnoxious to the
community, and, generally, serve as tools to government. We
heartily bless God that the war has terminated so honorably
and advantageously, and take this opportunity of testifying
our gratitude to our American negotiators for the probity,
wisdom, and firmness with which the}* have conducted."
Of the fifth article of the treat}-, recommending the revisal
of the confiscation acts and the admission of the refugees,
they say, ""We conceive these acts to have been just and
politic, nor do we perceive, by an}* events that have yet taken,
or probably will take place, the necessity or convenience of
their repeal, and you are therefore to use your influence that
the absentees do not return."
Shays's Insurrection broke out in the fall of 178G. Box-
bury, as usual, performed her part in its suppression, sending
her artillery company under Capt. John Jones Spooner, and
also an infantry company under Capt. Moses Draper, whom
we have already seen a lieutenant at Lexington, and a captain
at Bunker's Hill. The artillery company, before marching,
listened to an address from Mr. Samuel Quincy, at the old
meeting-house, on the importance and necessity of a well-
regulated militia. On Xov. 30,Roxbury sent some mounted
volunteers on a secret expedition, but they returned without
effecting their object. A company of veterans belonging to
the First Parish, organized for the protection of the Supreme
Court to be held at Cambridge, with Major-Gen. Heath for its
captain, and Capt. Joseph Williams and Hon. John Read,
lieutenants. In the answer of the town to the address of
the town of Boston, the committee say : —
SHATS'S INSURRECTION. 39
'•We are persuaded that there are grievances that ought to be
redressed, and have instructed our representatives to endeavor to
obtain redress. This town has borne a large share in the burdens,
the losses and expenses of the late war; raauy of us have lost a
considerable part of our property ; many of our respectable fellow-
citizens have fallen sacrifices. We are, therefore, unwilling to part
with our freedom, purchased at so great expense of blood and treas-
ure. You may, therefore, be assured we will join you in a redress
of grievances, in supporting with firmness the constitution of our
country, and assist you in handing down to posterity, sacred and
unimpaired, the freedom we have dearly purchased."
In the instructions to Representative Clarke, urging him
to endeavor to obtain a redress of grievances, and to bring
about the re-establishment of public faith, public credit, and
public confidence, they also say : —
•With abhorrence and detestation do the inhabitants of this
town view aud consider the late riotous proceedings. A community
can no more exist without government, than a body without a soul,
and an attempt illegally and wantonly to burst the bands of civil
society can be considered in no other light than the most consum-
mate political suicide or rankest treason."
At the public celebration in Boston, on Feb. 8, 1788, of
the ratification of the Constitution of the United States, the
farmers of Roxbury, with a plough and other implements of
husbandry, led the procession. All the industrial arts were
represented, and the occasion was one of extraordinary in-
terest. One of its most attractive features was a ship on a
sledge, drawn by thirteen horses, and manned by a number
of sailors, called the 4, Xew Constitution." An old boat,
irreparably leaky, also drawn on a sledge, represented the
Old Confederation.
In September, 1814. while the second war with England was
in progress, the town, by vote, unanimously engage '-that
the inhabitants of the town of Roxbury will, by manual
labor, pecuniary contributions, and military services, do what-
ever the executive of the Commonwealth shall require to put
40 ROXBURY THE MOTHER OF TOWNS.
the State of Massachusetts in a proper posture of defence."
The veteran soldier, Gen. Henry Dearborn, was a member
of the town's committee to take measures for defence ,k in the
present alarming condition of the country."
No sketch of the historv of Roxbury would be complete
that failed to speak of the numerous towns that owe their
origin to her. A feeling somewhat akin to that of the West-
ern pioneer, who, when he heard of a settler within ten miles
of him, felt that it was time for him to leave, " population
was becoming so dense," must have influenced the early
inhabitants of this town, judging from their migratory pro-
pensities ; and there are to-day more of their descendants
inhabiting; the Connecticut vallev than are to be found in
Roxbury herself. Her citizens were among the original
founders of Dcdham, in 1635 ; of Springfield, in 1636 ; New
Roxbury, now "Woodstock, Conn., in 1G83 ; Pomfret, Conn.,
in 1687; Lambstown, now Hardwick. in 1686; Dudley, in
1731 ; Bedford, N. II., in 1732 ; Warwick, in 1744 ; Worces-
ter, Colerain, and Oxford, besides others chiefly settled by
her, as Scituate, Braintree, Newbury, etc.
In answer to a petition of Roxbury, the General Court, on
Nov. 7, 1683, granted a tract of land seven miles square in
what was called the " Nipmuck Country." for a village to be
laid out about Quatessit. afterwards called '• New Roxbury.'"
now Woodstock, Conn. 4, I gave New Roxbury the name
of Woodstock in 1690," says Judge Sewall. " because of it-
nearness to Oxford, for the sake of Queen Elizabeth and the
notable meetings that have been held at the place bearing that
name in England." Oct. 27, 1684. the committee of the town
reported a piace "comodiose" for a township in the Nip-
muck Country at ki Seneksuk and Wapogusset and the lands
ajasiant."
Thither, in July. 1686, some thirty families of Roxburv
pioneers, denominated k * goers," wended their way, bivouack-
ing by stream and grove, passing at Medway the last outpost
ANNIVERSARIES. — MAYORS OF ROXBURY. 41
of civilization, and thence toiling onward over the old •• Con-
necticut Path," through thirty miles of savage wilderness, to
their destined home, traversing a distance of eighty miles.
Among them were Morris, Bowen, Bugbee, Craft, Chandler,
Davis. Griggs, Gary. Johnson. Leavens, May. Lyon. Scar-
borough, and others of the best families of the town. A
large number were voting men with growing famines. Ed-
ward Morris, Samuel Scarborough, Samuel Craft. John
Chandler, William Lyon. Jonathan Peake. and Henry Bowen
were men advanced in years, going out with grown-up sons
to the new settlement, leaving estates behind them.
The two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Rox-
bury was celebrated Oct. S. 1830, with great eclat. Upon
the square near the Norfolk House a procession was formed,
consisting of military, naval, and civic associations, together
with a large body of citizens, who, under escort of the Norfolk
Guards, marched through the principal streets of the town.
An historical address was delivered by Gen. H. A. S. Dear-
born, and a centennial poem by Dr. Thomas Gray, of
Jamaica Plain. A dinner at the Norfolk House followed,
and in the evening the town was illuminated bv tire-works
from the Old Fort, and a quantity of blazing tar-barrels on
Tommy's Pocks.
On Nov. 22 of the centennial year 137G. another cele-
bration of the historic old town took place under the aus-
pices of the Roxbury City Guard. Gen. Horace Binney
Sargent was the orator, and the reunion proved an occasion
of unusual interest, especially to the older citizens.
From the period of her incorporation as a city, on March
12. 1846, to the date of her annexation to Boston, on Jan. 6,
1 868, the following citizens occupied the mayor's chair : —
JOHN JONES CLARKE 1346.
H. A. S. DEARBORN 1847-51.
SAMUEL WALKER 1331-0.
LINUS BACON COMINS 1854.
42 ANNEXATION.
JAMES RITCHIE 1855.
JOHN SHERBURNE SLEEPER . . . 1856-8.
THEODORE OTIS 1839-60.
WILLIAM GASTON 1861-2.
GEORGE LEWIS 1863-7.
In closing this brief historical summary, there remains only
to add that, after a ten years' experience, annexation has
not proved an unmixed blessing. The large real-estate own-
ers in the easterby part of the town, the prime movers in the
project, have been materially benefited ; a more liberal scale
of expenditure has been applied to public works ; and the
commercial importance of Boston has been increased to the
extent of the added population and territory resulting from
it. Roxbury has Cochituate water, to be sure, a matter of
o-rave importance to her, but on the other hand, she has lost
the control of her own affairs, being completely swallowed
up in a large municipality in which her influence is necessarily
small, even her name, interwoven as it is with history, having
fallen into disuse. A careful supervision of its own interests is
essential to the well-being of every community, and this can
never be so easily and effectually done in a large as in a small
body politic. Let other towns heed the lesson.
GENERAL APPEARANCE. 43
CHAPTER II.
Physical Characteristics. — Pudding-stone. — Early Descriptions of Eox-
bury. — Localities. — Boundaries. — Titles to Land. — Persons and Es-
tates, 163G-40. — Streets and Highways. — Street Lamps. — Conveyances.
— Occupations. — Population. — Dress. — Fashions. — Food. — Houses. —
Furniture. — Domestic Life. — Slaves. — Social Distinctions. — Sunday.
— Currency and Prices. — Social Usages. — Apprentices.
FIFTY years ago Roxbury was a suburban village, with a
single narrow street, and dotted with farms, many of
which still remained in the hands of the descendants of their
original proprietors. The town was concentrated in Roxbury
Street, all the rest was country. The territorial exigencies
of the neighboring city of Boston, with whose interests hers
have always been closely identified, have changed all this,
and in its stead we now see broad avenues, spacious and well-
built streets, numerous church, school, and other public
edifices, well-filled stores, extensive manufacturing establish-
ments, and a bus}* population of more than forty thousand
souls.
The prospect, from the peculiar configuration of the town,
is constantly changing with the point of view, and an air of
affluence and comfort pervades the place. Upon its annexa-
tion to Boston in 1SG7, a remarkable rise in real estate ensued,
and a great impetus was given to its growth and improve-
ment. The most marked change in this respect took place,
however, in the decade between 1840 and 1850, when the
population increased from nine thousand to eighteen thousand,
a city charter having been granted in 1846.
The natural surface of Roxbury is uneven and rock}', hence
its name, which in the early records is usually spelled Rocks-
bury, or borough. To this cause also it owes much of its
44 SOIL. PUDDING-STONE.
varied and picturesque beauty, heightened as it has been by
the taste and skill displayed in its horticultural and architec-
tural embellishment.
The soil is rich and productive. One of its principal fea-
tures is the conglomerate or pudding-stone with which it
abounds, much used in church building, its brownish hue
imparting an air of antiquity to the newest structure.
Geologists tell us this stone was laid down by glacial action.
In many places this is very apparent. One of the most
noticeable is on a wooded hill to the left of Washington and
bej'ond Townsend Street, where the once famous cave was
located. On the southern slope, among the trees, are several
masses of conglomerate, the large, projecting round stones
of which have been smoothed down nearly to the surface of
the main rock. A chemical agency is observable in this
structure in the veins of quartz by which it is frequently
traversed. As this coarse conglomerate contains more cal-
careous matter than the slaty varieties, and decomposes more
readily, the best soil is found over this formation, which
occurs in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and it
furnishes the finest examples of exuberant farms and gardens
in this State. The predominant direction of its strata is
nearly east and west, and the dip northerly, approaching to
forty-five degrees. The rounded nodules or plums show the
action of water, and that the earliest of the deluges by which
the materials of the Roxbury conglomerate were accumulated
must have been of great power.
In view of the fact that this stone is so abundant in Rox-
bury, and that the islands in the harbor are evidently the
remnants of a once continuous similar formation, it seems
extraordinary that not a ledge of rock, no building-stone
whatever, has been found in original Boston.
"For the country itself," writes Winthrop, soon after his
arrival, "I can discern little difference between it and our
own. We have had onlv two davs which I have observed
EARLY DESCRIPTIONS. — WOOD. 45
more hot than in England. Here is as good land as I have
seen there, but none so bad as there. Here is sweet air, fair
rivers, and plenty of springs, and the water better than in
England. Here can be no want of anything to those who
bring means to raise out of the earth and sea."
" If fresh meat be wanting to fill up our dish,
We have carrots and turnips as much as we wish ;
And is there a mind for a delicate dish,
We repair to the clam banks and there we catch fish.''
From Wood's k * New England's Prospect," the earliest
topographical account of the Massachusetts colony, published
in 1634. I take this first printed description of Roxbury : —
•• A mile from this town (Dorchester) lieth Roxberry which is a
faire and handsome countrey town, the inhabitants of it being all
very rich. This town lieth upon the maine so that it is well wooded
and watered, having a cleare and fresh Brooke running through the
towne; up which, although there come no alewives, yet there is
great store of smelts, and therefore it is called Smelt Brooke. A
quarter of a mile to tlje north side of the towne is another river,
called Stony river, upon which is built a water milne. Here is good
ground for corne, and meadow for cattle : Up westward from the
towne it is something rocky, whence it hath the name of Roxberry ;
the inhabitants have faire houses, store of cattle, impaled corne
fields and fruitful gardens. Here is no harbor for ships because the
towne is seated in the bottom of a shallow bay, which is made by
the necke of land on which Boston is built, so that they can trans-
port all their goods from the ships in boats from Boston which is
the nearest harbor."
Next in the order of time is Edward Johnson's descrip-
tion, written in 1G52. He says : —
•' Roxbury is situated between Boston and Dorchester, being
well watered with coole and pleasant springs issuing forth the rocky
hills, and with small freshets watering the vallies, of this fertill
towne whose forme is somewhat like a wedge double pointed
entering between the two fore named towns and filled with a very
laborious people whose labors the Lord hath blessed that in the
room of dismall swampes and tearing bushes, they have very goodly
fruit trees, fruitful fields and gardens, their heard of cows, oxen,
46 EARLY DESCRIPTIONS. EDWARD JOHNSON.
and other young cat toll of that kind about 330. and dwelling hous.es
neere upon 120. Their streets are large and some fayre houses, yet
they have built their house for church assembly destitute and
uubeautified with other buildings. The church of Christ here is
increased to about 120 persons."
One more description of the old town tells us how it
appeared just at the close of the Revolutionary war : —
"It (Roxbury) is about seven and three fourths miles in length,
not more than two in breadth in the widest part, and contain s
upwards of 7,100 acres. The soil, where tilled, produces good hay
and all kinds of vegetables and fruit common to the country, but
the surface of the ground is in general rough, hilly, and rocky; at
the lowest computation there are 400 acres of laud unimprovable
in the town ; the wood belonging to it was very considerably less-
ened in consequence of the extraordinary demand for the use of the
American army encamped in and near the town in the winter of
1775; there now remains about 550 acres of woodland. It has sev-
eral high hills which afford an agreeable prospect of the town and
harbor of Bostou, and one large pond covering about 120 acres,
near which is a plain of a mile in length known by the name of
Jamaica Plain, remarkable for the pleasantness of its situation and
the number of gentlemen's houses upon it ; but only one river called
Muddy River from a pond of that name which is the source of it, and
lies six miles from its mouth where it empties into the bay between
Cambridge and Boston. There is little trade here, though several
branches are carried on to advantage, particularly in skins and
hides, but the chief dependence of the inhabitants is upon hus-
bandry. It has 213 dwelling-houses mostly of wood, which lie
scattered, not contiguous except at the entrance of the town from
Boston; 13 tan-houses and slaughter-houses, one chocolate mill.
two grist-mills, 167 bams, 160 corn-houses and smaller buildings,
three meeting-houses of the Congregational denomination, one
grammar school, and four other schools."
Originally well wooded, the town suffered from the cause
just mentioned, which left little that could be used for fuel,
sparing not even the orchards. "Water was plenty. Besides
Muddy River, Stony, Smelt, and Dorchester Brooks, Jamaica,
Muddy, and other smaller ponds, there were numerous springs,
STREAMS AND POXDS. GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISION'S. 47
of one of which, in Roxbury Street, John Dane says, " I
never drank wine in my life that more refresht me." Smelt
Brook, one of the original features of Roxbury, is now
annihilated. Stony Brook, which has its rise in Muddy Pond,
was once a favorite resort for anglers. It now serves vari-
ous manufacturing establishments.
The principal geographical divisions of the town were, the
First Parish. Jamaica Plain, and Spring Street, correspond-
ing with its easterly, central, and western portions. The latter
received its name as early as 1690. and became the Second
Parish in 1712. A line in prolongation of Walk Hill Street
to Brookline would nearly coincide with its eastern limit.
The central was named before 1667. and became the Third
Parish in 1770. The two more recently constituted "We^t
Roxbury. These parochial divisions had all disappeared be-
fore 1820. Punch Bowl Village was at Muddy River, now
Brookline ; Roxbury Precinct included the westerly side of
Parker Hill and vicinity : Pierpont's Village clustered around
the mill, where now the Roxbury station of the Boston and
Providence Railroad is located ; and Canterbury, whose no-
menclature is a puzzle to the antiquary, was that rather quiet
and obscure portion of the town, yet unvisited by Chaucer's
Pilgrims, lying between Forest Hills and Dorchester.
For a period of two hundred and twenty years the limits
of Roxbury remained essentially the same. It extended eight
miles from east to west, and two from north to south, and
contained an area of ten thousand six hundred and eighty-six
acres. On the east was Boston, partly separated from her
by a shallow bay ; Brookline and Xewton made her northern
boundarv ; Dedham lav on the west, and Dorchester on the
south.
The boundary line between Roxbury and Boston was es-
tablished by the General Court in 1636. when it was also
ordered " that all the rest of the ground between Dorchester
bounds and Boston bounds shall belong to the town of
48 BOUNDARIES. — TITLE TO LANDS.
Roxbury. easterly of Charles River, except the property of
the aforesaid towns which they have purchased of particular
persons. Roxbuiy not to extend above eight miles in length
from their meeting-house." Respecting the Dedham boun-
dary' there was much controversy, and it was not finally set-
tled till 1697. Alterations were made in the Boston line by
the legislative acts of 16th March. 183C ; 23d April, 1838:
and Cth April, 1859. In 1838 one thousand eight hundred
acres of Newton, at the extreme southerly part of the town,
bounding southwesterly about two hundred and ninety rods
upon Charles River, were set off to Roxbury. "West Roxbuiy
was set off and incorporated 24th May, 1851. That part of
Roxburv lving between Muddv River and the brook, its origi-
nal boundary, was annexed to Brookline in 1844. In 1852
a portion of Dedham was annexed to West Roxbuiy. When
its annexation to Boston took place, Jan. 6, 1868, Roxbury,
which since June 20, 1793, had constituted a portion of
Norfolk County, again became a part of the county of Suffolk
Lands were originally apportioned as follows : eacn person
who came over at his own cost was entitled to fifty acres ,
each adventurer of £50 in the common stock of the company
received two hundred acres, or in that proportion, and those
who brought over servants were allowed fifty acres for each.
When, in 1680, the old charter was annulled, and new patents
for their lands were required of the owners by Governor
Andros, they purchased the Indian title in order to
strengthen their own, but the governor, intent upon the
exaction of his fees, assured them that " the signatures of
Indians to title deeds were of no more worth than the scratch
of a bear's paw." Each settler had a piece of marsh land for
the salt hay, one acre of salt marsh being equal in value to
ten of woodland or two of corn or pasture land. From the
record book of " Houses and Lands in Roxbuiy," dated
1654, we find that the number of homesteads at that time
was between seventy and eighty, the possessors of lands
PERSONS AND ESTATES 1636-40.
49
numbering ninety. Scarce any of these homesteads remain
in the hands of the descendants of their original proprietors.
What appears to be a fly-leaf from the original book of
town records, preserved in a torn and fragmentary state,
supplies us with the earliest list we have of the inhabitants of
the town. Its date is somewhere between 1636 and 1640.
The figures on the right of the names, sometimes erroneous!}*
supposed to indicate the number of persons in the respective
households, have an evident correspondence with the number
of acres given in the column on the left, and are perhaps
a valuation in pounds and shillings. Some of the figures
have been torn off.
A Xote of y f Estates and Persons of the Inhabitants of Eocksbury.
ACRES. PERSONS
AND E!
STATES.
i ACK
ES. PEESOXS AXD ESTATES.
•j
Edward Pason
1 00
00 00
19
TVilliam Webb
4 02
00 00
6
Martin Stebbin
2 00
00 00
20
Thomas Pigge
6
17
00 00
6i
John Totman
2 06
00 00
21
John Perry
1
6h
Laurence Wittamore
2 02
06 05
21
Ft'rancis Smith
7
7
John Stonnard
2 00
09 00
21i
Robert Gamlin
7
03
i 2
Giles Payson
2 10
03 04
22
William Chandler
t
06
H
Gavin Arderson
3 01
00 00
22
Widow Iggulden
7
06
10
Richard Peacocke
3 08
i 00
Abraham Newell
i
07
101
John Ruggles
3 04
13 00
24
Samuel Chapin
8
11
John Levins
3 17
00 00
24i
William Cheiny
8
11
Edward Bugbie
3 IT
00 uo
24 J
John Pettit
8
12
Edward Riggea
4 00
00 00
25
Robert Williams
8
12
Edward Bridge
4 02
00 00
254
William Perkins
8
12
Thomas Ruggles
4 01
15 00
2-3
John Graues
8
1 1
Thomas Griggs
4 00
00 00
.-)-
Edward Porter
9
12
John Hall
4 00
00 00
-7
John Roberts
9
12
John Trumble
4 00
00 00
O" 1
— * ■*
Daniel Brewer"
9
l-i
Richard 1'eper
4 03
00 00
2S
James Astwood
9
14
Robert Seauer
4 17
06 00
2SJ
John Miller
9
15
John Corteis
5 00
00 00
30
Griffin Craft
10 00
15
John Mathew
5 01
00 00
O i
Thomas Lamb
12
o;
15
Abraham Howe
5 01
00 00
O i
John Watson
12
15
Arthur Gary
5 02
00 00
39
Mr John Eliot
13
00
154
John Bowles
5 07
10 00
Thomas Bell
13
18
02 00
151
Isaac Johnson
5 02
00 00
Samuel Hagborne
14
17
00 00
\C.V
Ralph Homminway
5 09
14 OS j
John Johnson
15
12
08 OS
I'i
John Buzwell
5 17
10 00
40
William Curteis
13
8
IS
Thomas Waterman
6 01
16 OS
George Holmes
13
10
10 00
Samuel Frinch,
14
00 00 ,
William Parke
15
01
10 00
50
HIGHWAYS.
ACRES. PERSONS AND
ESTATES.
ACRES. PERSON'S AND
ESTATES.
1SS John Gore
15 16
00 00
27S John Weld
23 03
15 00
204 Isaac Morrill
17 00
00 00
2sS Joshua Hewes
24 00
00 00
242 George Aleoek
20 03
00 00
305 Philip Eliot
25 07
13 04
253 John 8tow
21 02
17 04
333 Mr Thomas W
eld
20 01
13 uu
256 Elder Heath
21 IS
03 04
300 Mr Thomas Dudley
10 00
00 00
207 Win. Denison
24 or
0G OS
Mr Elliot
8
goats
5
Kidds
Elder Heath
12 goats
7
Kidds
John Johnson
6
«(
4
II
Wm. Den i son
2
If
3
"
Isaac Morrill
4
1 1
3
John Stow
20
II
S
"
Mr Sheafe
14
10
(.
Thos Waterman
—
if
G
1 1
Edward Bugbie
C
«(
~
•■
John Burckly
o
11
•">
ii
i nomas Ffreeman
3
(i
i
"
Edward Sheffield
o
II
i
■i
Richard Peacock
1
ii
i
ii
William Chandler
1
II
i
i.
Dorothy
1
it
i
i.
In 16o2 the selectmen with three others were appointed to
stake out highways, with full powers to settle all matters
respecting them. Twenty highways were laid out by Edward
Denison, I.saac Johnson, Griffin Craft, and Peleg Heath, in
1GG3, and their report, which covers nine foolscap pages,
pointing out numerous infringements on the part of the
abutters, enables us to locate many of the old homesteads.
One of the first acts of the town prescribes penalties for
taking rocks out of the highways and leaving holes in the
road. In the early days these highways were let by the year,
for pasturage, and were generally fenced across with a pair
of bars to keep out cattle. In 1003 it was agreed at a public
town meeting 4t according to an ancient town order, that
every man should have a highway to his division of land in
the town where it may be most convenient for him, and so as
may be least damage to his neighbor, through whose land he
is to have his way."
In 181 G the old system of repairing highways by working
out the tax was abolished, and the amount necessary for the
purpose raised in the same manner as for other items of ex-
penditure. In 182.3 the streets, forty in number, received
names, some of which have been since changed, in conse-
STREET LAMPS. — COACHES. — OCCUPATIONS. 51
quence of annexation. In 1824, Roxbury Street was paved
and sidewalks laid. The streets were first lighted in May,
1S2G, lamps being provided by the inhabitants. Oil, wicks,
and lighting were at the charge of the town. Gas was first
introduced on Nov. 24, 1850, sixteen years later than in
Boston, but there were only ten street gas-lamps at the close
of 1852, in which year the Roxbury Gas-Light Company was
incorporated. A Board of Health was first established here
in 1829.
Ilourlv coaches began to run between Roxburv and Boston
in 1826. Before this the only public conveyance between
the two places was a two-horse stage-coach leaving once in
two hours. Prior to the establishment of hourlies, all who
kept no carriages or horses walked into Boston, — a prac-
tice much in vogue long afterwards. Even the ladies walked
in and out of town over the Neck, and carried home the
bundles containing their purchases. The •' Citizens' Line"
of Providence stages. Timothy Gay, proprietor, made daily
trips through Roxbury, as many as seven or eight coaches
sometimes running over the Neck at five o'clock in the morn-
ing, this being the only existing route to New York until
iii 1834 the Providence Railroad was opened with a siugie
track.
Omnibuses, which first came in use in London in 1830,
were superseded here in 185(3 by horse railroads.
Husbandry was the chief occupation of the people, but the
business of tanning, introduced early in the last century,
soon assumed extensive proportions, and Roxbuiy became a
• ; great tannery for the country." This branch of industry
ceased here many years ago. Her two landing-places, one
on either side of the Neck, gave her for a time a commercial
importance which disappeared with the building of the mill-
dam and the bridges. Since that period her manufactures
and other industries have been varied and extensive, none
now having especial predominance, unless it be her breweries.
52 POPULATION.
An estimate of the population of Roxlmry in 1052 may be
made from Johnson's statement that there were then ; - neere
upon" one hundred and twenty dwellings in the town. These
would accommodate about seven hundred souls. The slow
growth of the town in the next hundred years is seen in the
fact that the colonial census of 1765 gives her a population
of one thousand four hundred and sixty-seven, or one hundred
and sixteen to the square mile. During the siege the east-
erly part of the town was almost depopulated, and ten years
later her numbers had not perceptibly increased. In 1811
Roxbury had one thousand twenty-six polls, four hundred
and twenty-eight dwelling houses, seventy-nine shops, twelve
tan-houses, forty -two slaughter-houses, two grist-mills, one
carding machine, one cotton and woollen mill, one other mill,
three bakehouses, six hundred and ninety-four tillage acres,
and one thousand six hundred and fifteen of English hay and
upland. According to the United States Census, her popula-
tion at different periods has been as follows : —
1790 . .
, . 2,220.
1850 . .
. 18,373,
1810 . .
. 3,660.
1860 . .
. 25,137.
1830 . ,
, . 5,247.
1S70 .
. . 31,772
1840 . .
, . 9,080.
Mathew Withington's map of November, 1704, the earliest
existing map of Roxbury, gives the boundaries and county
roads, Jamaica and Muddy Ponds, the three meeting-houses,
and two grist-mills, Pierpont's and Ralph Smith's. The first
engraved map, made in 1832 by order of the selectmen from
the survey of John G. Hales, presents all the topographical
features of the town, gives the names of the streets, and also
locates every building then standing, naming a few of the
most prominent. A reduced copy of this accurate and inter-
esting map faces the present chapter.
Clothing in the earl} 1 days, excepting that of the wealthy
and professional classes, consisted of home-made fabrics of
DRESS. 53
tvool. Men wore jerkins, smallclothes, ruffs around the
neck, and when out of doors short cloaks and steeple-crowned
hats. Silk stockings were worn by the gentry, some of whom
wore the stiff-plaited linen ruff, while others dressed in the
broad, falling collar. For the first half-century red stock-
ings, of yarn, worsted, or silk, were much worn in New Eng-
land. Those of wash-leather were also used. The band,
sometimes prepared with wire and starch so as to stand out
" horizontally and squarely." like the ruff, appears on most
of the portraits of the Pilgrim fathers. In their day it not
only hung down before, but extended round so as to lay on
the shoulders and back. The}- were held generally by the
cord and tassel at the neck.
Their Sunday suits were elaborate, ornamental, and expen-
sive, and lasted a lifetime. They wore broad-brimmed hats,
turned up into three corners, with loops at the side, showing
full bush-wigs beneath them ; long coats, having large pocket
folds and cuffs, and without collars, the buttons either plated
or of silver, and of the size of a half-dollar ; vests also with-
out collars, but very long, having graceful, pendulous lappet
pockets ; shirts with bosoms and wrist-ruffles, and with gold
or silver buckles at the wrist united by a link : the neckcloth
or scarf of fine linen or figured stuff or embroidered, the
ends hanging loosely. The smallclothes reached below the
knees, where they were ornamented with silver buckles of
liberal size ; the legs were covered with gray stockings, and
the feet with shoes ornamented with straps and silver buckles.
Square-toed shoes kept their footing from 1689 to 1737.
when the round or peaked toe, originally worn by our emi-
grant ancestors, came again into fashion. A stricture on the
dress of the ladies in 1732 speaks of k - shoe-toes pointed to
the heavens, in imitation of the Laplanders, with buckles of
a harness size." As early as 1689 ladies wore dress shoes
of silk and satin, richly embroidered. In 1716 laced shoes
for women and children are advertised in a Boston paper.
54
DRESS OF WOMEN.
A CAVALIER.
Until 1714 the heels were worn very high. Soon after the
settlement, the fashionables of both sexes had large knots or
roses of ribbon, generally green, on the
instep of their shoes. Boots were sel-
dom worn except by military men. In
1C.31 any person not worth £200, wear-
ing great boots, was subject to a fine.
They were as large at the top as the
brim of a hat. and our thrifty sires very
properly objected to such a waste of
leather. Buskins, a kind of half-boot,
worn two centuries ago, are mentioned
in the inventory of Thomas Lamb, of
Roxburv.
The usual mode of wearing the hair
was in the close-cropped fashion of the
Roundheads: but there were always
those who wore their hair long as a matter of taste, in
defiance of the straitlaced brethren. A law against this
•• feminine protexity" was passed as early as 1049, and was
strenuously advocated by the apostle Eliot.
The simple costume of our Puritan mothers was a cheap
straw bonnet, with only one bow without, and •• no ornament
but the face within" ; a calico dress of sober colors, high up
in the neck, with a simple white muslin collar just peeping
over the top ; a neat little shawl, and a stout pair of shoes.
The young women also wore plain and homespun clothing
ordinarily, but on Sunday appeared in silk hoods, lace neck-
erchiefs, slashed sleeves, and embroidered caps. The pro-
priety of wearing veils in public was a matter of sharp con-
troversy. The law required all to dress within their means,
and Mistress Alice Flynt, when accused of wearing a silk
hood, was obliged to prove that she was worth £200 in money
in order to exonerate herself. The use of calico by the
women became general after the Revolution, but home-made
DRESS. FASHIONS. 55
linens, especially a pattern of blue check, were then much
worn. The ladies had their silk robes, which, however, were
not for daily wear.
In IGo'J a law was passed against the " excessive wearing
of lace and other superfluities tending to the nourishing of
pride and exhausting of men's estates," and that " hereafter,
no garment shall be made with short sleeves whereby the
nakedness of the anno may be discovered ; and such as have
garments already made with short sleeves shell not hereafter
wear the same unless the}' cover their arms to the wrist with
linen or otherwise : and no person shall make any garment
for women or any of their sex with sleeves more than half an
ell wide : present reformation of immoderate great breeches,
knots of ribbon, broad shoulder bands and vayles, silk roses,
double ruffs and cuffes Ac." was also enjoined.
Picturesqueness of costume went out with chivalry, and
few things could be uglier than an Englishman of James II
or William and Mary's days, except an Englishman of the
modern tight and buttoned period. About the middle of
the last century cocked hats, wigs, and cloaks of every variety
of color, not excepting red, were worn. Sometimes the cape
and collar were of velvet, and of a different color from the
coat. In winter, round coats, made stiff with buckram and
coming down to the knees in front, were worn. Boys wore
wigs and cocked hats until about 1790. Powder was in use
among gentlemen even later. Ebenezer Fox thus describes
the dress of Obadiah Curtis, of Roxbury, in 177G: •• lie
was habited according to the fashion of gentlemen of those
'lav<. in a three-cornered hat. a club wis; a, Ions; coat of
ample dimensions, that appeared to have been made with
reference to his future growth ; breeches with huge knee
buckles, and shoes fastened in the same manner."
At this period dress was much attended to by both sexes.
The toilet of the ladies was elaborate, especially the hair,
which was arranged on crape cushions so as to stand up high.
56 FOOD.
Sometimes ladies were dressed the day before a party, and
slept in easy-chairs to keep their hair in condition. Hoops
4, of monstrous size" were indispensable in full dress.
Xear the close of the last century the fashions, as well as
the forms of society, underwent considerable changes in con-
sequence of the French Revolution. Wigs began to disap-
pear in France when Franklin appeared at the Court of
Louis XVI in his own hair. Powder for the hair became
unfashionable, wearing the hair tied was given up, and short
hair became common. The round hat came in ; resented at
first by wearers of the old cocked hat. it notwithstanding
soon gained headway. A loose dress for the lower limbs was
adopted; colored garments went out of use. and dark or
black were substituted ; buckles disappeared.
Their poverty made simplicity of living a necessity, and
any cooking which required sugar was too expensive for our
early ancestors. For a century and a half the morning and
evening repast consisted of boiled Indian meal and milk, or
of porridge or broth made of pease and beans, dealt out in
small wooden bowls, and flavored by being boiled with salted
beef or pork. Hasty pudding and succotash were common
articles of diet. Home-brewed beer was accounted a neces-
sary of life, and the orchards soon yielded a bountiful supply
of cider. Bread was made of "rye and Indian." instead of
flour.
The noonday meal, despatched in fifteen minutes, began
with Indian pudding, relished with a little molasses. Next
came a piece of broiled salt pork with cabbage, or black
broth, fried e°;2:s, brown bread and cider. The dinner of
CO '
k ' boiled victuals" was served in wooden trenchers. In their
season they had melons, and for extra occasions a little
cherry wine. The meat of the shagbark was dried and
pounded and then put into their porridge to thicken it. The
barley fire cake was served at breakfast. They parched corn
and pounded it. and made it into a nocake. Baked pumpkins
EARLY HOUSES. 57
were common. The extra dish for company was a cake made
of strawberries and parched corn. There was in the begin-
ning little butchers meat, a want supplied to a considerable
extent by game and fish. Baked beans, baked Indian pud-
ding, and newly baked rye and Indian oread on Wednesday,
and salt-fish regularly on Saturdays, are historical dishes,
though gradually losing their hold.
Although potatoes were sent here as early as 1G23 or 1029
for seed, they were not made an article of daily food until
about the year 1800, when they took the place of turnips,
which had previously been in common use. A writer in a
Boston paper, more than a century ago, said, "In 1761 we
began to plant the Spanish potato : corn, etc . being so scarce.
1702 and 17G3 were years of scarcity, they would have been
years of famine, had not this despised root been providentially
brought among us." Indian corn, squashes, pumpkins, and
sceva beans were indigenous. Tobacco, which was easily
cultivated, was considered essential to health and comfort,
and main' can yet remember when every farmer had his
tobacco-yard, as well as his cornfield. It was to him phvsic
in sickness, and a comfort at all times. Most dishes were of
pewter. Forks were hardly known in England before U>50.
and silver forks first appeared in Boston after the war of
1812.
The first houses were of one story, with very steep roofs,
mostlv built either of clav and mud. or hewn loss, covered
with poles and thatch. The chimneys, which were usually in
the centre of the building, were commonly of rough stone and
clay, or of pieces of wood placed crosswise, the interstices
and outside covered with clay. The fireplaces, made of rough
stone, were broad and deep, and were large enough for burn-
ing logs four feet long. They had huge fireplaces on either
side of the entrance, and in the back kitchen. The hearths
were large, with capacious ingles for a seat, from which
uieamed the skv overhead. These houses usually contained
58
FURNITURE.
but one room, about twenty feet square. The roof may have
been of shingles and boards, thatch having been prohibited
in consequence of frequent conflagrations.
Not long after came frame buildings of two stories in front,
sloping down to one in the rear. They almost without ex-
ception faced south. Frames, and
often the planking and boards,
were of heavy oak. The general
room of the family was lone: and
spacious, lighted on two sides, the
others opening into the lean-to or
shed. The windows, which were
C very small and opened on hinges,
:-. TC-ere sometimes of oiled paper or
generally of diamond panes of glass,
three or four inches broad, set in lead.
Houses of the period of Philip's war, when
£> of wood, had their second floors project a foot or
two, that their occupants might, if molested,
early house, through openings for the purpose, fire or pour
hot water upon their assailants. The houses of Col. Joseph
"Williams and of John Pierpont, of Roxbury, were of this
description. Very few houses were painted, even at the close
of the seventeenth century. The third period of New Eng-
land architecture saw the advent of the gambrel roof, with
dormer-windows similar to the mansard style. This prevailed
until the period of the Revolution, after which came the
Grecian, with columns in front, seen everywhere in our older
villages.
The furnishing of even the more stately residences was usu-
ally plain and unpretending. The parlor contained a richly
carved mahogany sideboard, perhaps, with sofa and chairs to
match ; a massive dining-table, and card-tables of quaint
pattern ; a fine large mirror, a tall Dutch or English clock
with its works of brass ; some pieces of silver plate, a set of
DOMESTIC LIFE. 59
genuine china ware, and the ever-present punchbowl with its
attendant decanter and goblets. Panelled wainscoting and
ornamental cornices adorned the walls, which were also hung
with imported paper. Painted Dutch tiles decorated the
huge fireplaces, whose furniture was resplendent with shining
brass. Silver or plated candlesticks adorned the mantel.
The high four-post bedstead, with its lofty canopy, and the
lace window-curtains that hung in folds, gave an air of splen-
dor rather than of comfort to the chamber. "With all. their
luxury, however, they lacked many of the comforts and con-
veniences that the poorest can now afford. Carpets were un-
known.
In the ordinary farm-house the parlor was at once kitchen,
bedroom, and hall : the "settle" or wooden settee took the
place of the sofa : clean white sand served for a carpet ; the
sideboard, mirror, chairs, tables, and kitchen utensils were
of a smaller or inferior sort, while the wooden clock did duty
for the imported article. Candles of tallow dip afforded the
only light, and candlesticks were more frequently of brass
than even of plated ware. Domestic life in a New England
agricultural community of the last century was simple, labori-
ous, and economical.
Appliances to lessen household toil were few. From the ex-
cellent •• History of Pittsfield " I quote as follows : " The cook
must lift the huge iron pot which hung on the crane outswung
before the blazing tire, and deposit and withdraw the baking
in the deep brick oven with the long wrought-iron shovel.
The laundress performed her task by pounding the soiled
clothes in a barrel of water with a heavy pestle, even the
fluted washing-board having not yet been invented. "Water
was to be drawn from the cistern or well by the most unaided
process, the long well-sweep being the best mechanical assist-
ance to be had. There were the unpainted floors to be
scrubbed, and an excessively broad surface of wainscoting
and other joiner work to be kept clean. And when all this
60 SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS.
was done, came the spinning, the weaving, the brewing", the
candle and soap making, and other toils now unknown to the
housewife. "With all this, and the large families of children
which were almost always the rule, it is no wonder that the
percentage of mortality among women was large, and that
those who sustained themselves were accounted marvels of
capability."
Some wealth}' families had colored servants who were
slaves: most households, however, had hired •' help." Amer-
ican girls or men who lived on terms of equality with the
family. The signatures of the principal slave-owners in
Roxbury are attached to the following petition : —
"Koxbury, Feb. 23. 1739. Whereas it hath been too much the
unhappy practise of the uegro servants of this towu to be abroad iu
the night at uuseasouable hours to y° great prejudice of many per-
sons or familys as well as their respective masters, the petitioners
pray that it may be prevented or punished.
"Edward Ruggles. John- Willliams.
John Holbrook. Ebenezer Weld.
James Jarvis. Ebexezer Gore.
Xoah Perix. Jr. Thomas Baker.
Ebexezer Dorr. Joxathax Seaver.
Nathaxiee Brewer. Joseph Williams."
Titles were formerly matters of grave importance. A very
few of the best condition, including ministers and their wives,
had the Mr. or Mrs. prefixed to their names. All militia
officers, from generals to corporals, received their appropriate
titles. Goodman and goodwife were applied to the middle
class above the condition of servants and below that of
gentility.
Up to the period of the French Revolution there were dis-
tinctions in society now unknown. Persons in office, the
rich, and those who had connections in England of which
they were proud, were the gentry of the country. Modes
of life, manners, and personal decoration were the outward
"exorbitancy of the tongue." 61
indications of this superiority. The commencement of hos-
tilities in 177.3 drove a large portion of these gentry from the
country, but these indications continued among some who
remained and adhered to the patriot side. Those who held
considerable landed estates, and who were the gentry of the
interior, were the great men in their respective counties,
held civil and military office, and were members of the Gen-
eral Court. This sort of personal dignity disappeared before
the end of the last century.
To secure universal attendance upon public meetings and
even to the week-day lectures, innkeepers and victualers
within one mile of the meeting-house to which they belonged
had to clear their houses of all persons able to go to meeting
during the time of the exercises except for some extraordi-
nary cause. Violations of the Sabbath were made penal ;
children playing in the streets, youths, maids, and other per-
sons " uncivilly" walking in the streets and fields, travelling
from town to town, going on shipboard, frequenting common
houses and other places to drink, sport, or otherwise to mis-
spend their time, travelling out of one's own town upon the
Lord's day, either on horseback, on foot, or by boat to any
unlawful assembly or meeting, were all strictly forbidden.
As late as 1772, Nathaniel Seaver, of Roxbury, was fined for
non-attendance at church. His fine was, however, remitted
upon his promise to attend public worship in future.
For •• the evil practices of sundry persons by exorbitancy
of the tongue in railing and scolding," the offender was to be
gagged, or set in a ducking-stool and " dipped over head and
ears three times in some convenient place of fresh or salt
water as the court or magistrate should judge meet." All
persons were forbidden even to possess cards, dice, or other
gambling utensils. One prevalent form of gambling, the
lottery, though prohibited by statute, was yet sanctioned by
the practice of both church and state. Dancing was also
prohibited.
62
CURRENCY.
PRICES.
PINE-TKEE SIXPENCE.
As there was little coin in the country, most of that brought
oyer speedily returning to England in payment for necessary
supplies. Indian corn and beaver-skins were in primitive use
as money ; corn and other products, at lixed rates, being
received in payment of taxes and
in ordinary pecuniary transactions.
The prices at which various kinds
of grain should pass current re-
quired constant revision at town-
meeting. In 1GG7. the town voted,
'•That corn, amongst ourselves, shall pass current and be
paid and received from man to man. — corn. 3s. ; pease. 2s.
Sd. ; barley and malt. 4s. Qd. ; rye, 4s." The first traffic
with the Indians was by barter, to which succeeded the use
of wampum. Want of silver for a circulating medium led
the colony in 1C52 ^^^^^ ^H>
to usurp a right be-
longing only to sov-
ereign states, — that
of coining money.
In that year it au-
thorized John Hull to
establish a mint, in pink-tree buiLLis-G.
which were coined silver pieces, the largest of which is known
by its device as the " Pine-Tree" shilling. It is said that
Hannah Hull's dowry consisted of as many of these coins as
would outweigh the fair damsel in the scales.
A comparison of the present prices for the ordinary arti-
cles of domestic consumption, such as food and fuel, with
those in a schedule of 1698, shows that an ounce of silver
coin would at that time purchase twice and a half or three
times as much as it will at present. Articles of clothing were
then much dearer than they now are, yet. when we take into
consideration the difference in the habits of society, we shall
find that the expenses of dress were then much less than they
SOCIAL USAGES. APPRENTICES. 03
now are. This is seen in the bequests of deceased persons,
a lady's dress in those days frequently adorning more than
one generation.
The social usages and manners of to-day are in marked
contrast with those that prevailed a century ago. The moral
and intellectual condition of society is greatly improved.
There is a greater variety of occupation. One change of
incalculable value is the freer and more friendly intercourse
of parents with their children. With increased means the
style of living has acquired more of elegance and refinement.
Social intercourse is, however, less interesting and less cor-
dial than heretofore. One cannot avoid asking whv this is,
and what has been gained bv the change. Marriages and
funerals were occurrences of much more ceremony than at
present. The bride was visited daily for four successive
weeks. Public notice was given of funerals, and private
invitations also. Attendance was expected, and there was
a long train of followers, and all the carriages and chaises
that could be had. Drinking punch in the forenoon in public
houses was the common practice. Wine was little used,
convivial parties drinking punch or toddy. Young men at
their entertainments sat long and drank deep, compared with
the present custom. The punch-bowl, generally of china,
was for a long time, and until the }*ear 1800, common in
families of means. It usuallv held a gallon, and the beverage
it contained was a customary treat for company and a prolific
source of the gout. The use of ardent spirits was almost
universal, their abuse very common. They were offered upon
all occasions, ceremonial or social, — a call, a trade, a wedding,
birth or funeral, a church dedication, — and to refuse was
considered an affront.
A further illustration of the customs of our fathers two
centuries ago is seen in the following extract from the indent-
ure of an apprentice whom Samuel Williams, of Roxbury,
and his wife. Theoda, engage to teach the " art, trade, mis-
64 APPRENTICES.
terv, and science"' of a shoemaker, agreeing also to teach
him to " wright " : —
4i The said Joseph shall truly and faithfully serue, his Counsels
lawful aud houest obay, his seacretts shall keep, hurt to his master
he shall not doe nor consent to be done, at unlawful games he shall
not play, nor from his masters buisnes absent himselfe by night or
day. his masters goods he shall not wast nor imbezzell, nor them
lend without his masters Consent. Taverns and ale Howses he shall
not frequent, except about his masters business there to be done
but as a true aud faithful seruant ought to behave himselfe in word
and deed during the said terme .... and at the end of six years
to give their said apprentice doubell apparell, one suit for the Lord's
day and one suit for the working days meet an comely for one of
his degree and calling."
THE NECK. C5
CHAPTER III.
THE XECK TO THE BCRYIXG-GROUND.
The Neck. — Dangers. — Paving. —Executions. — Salt- Works. —Gen.
Palmer. — Fortifications. — Cannon secreted. — Siege begun. — Fugi-
tives from Boston. — Roxbnry Lines. — Rufus Putnam. — Brown's
House burnt. — John Crane. — Roxbnry Street. — Boston evacuated. —
Losses. — French troops in Roxbnry. — George Tavern. — "Washington's
Visit.
4 NARROW strip of land, a mile in length, originally
-*^*- connected the peninsula of Boston with the mainland,
and was the only avenue of communication between town and
country for more than a century and a half. From the site
of the old fortification at Dover Street, its narrowest point,
it gradually expanded, until at the line of Roxbury it attained
a width of about half a mile.
Laid out as a street in 1794, the Neck from Dover Street
to the line measured one mile and thirty-nine yards. The
name. Washington Street, given it after the President's visit
in 1789, and applied only to that part of the highway, was
in 1834 extended over Orange, Newbury, Marlborough, and
C'ornhill, the streets north of it, and over Roxbury Street to
the Worcester turnpike on the south. Washington Street,
which now includes Shawmut Avenue, formerly the Dedham
turnpike, is perhaps the longest in the world, as it bears that
name over a continuous line of road as far as the city of
Providence, a distance of forty-four miles. In 1S55 it was
widened from the burying-ground to Warren Street.
The Neck, as it has always been called, was once covered
with trees, as various entries in the old records show. Those
of Boston, under date of March 23, 1G35, say : —
5
66 THE NECK. DANGERS.
" Brother Wileboare to see to y« gate and style next uL.to Rox-
burie : and whereas y> wood upon ye Neck of land towards RoxDurie
hath this last winter been disorderly cutt up and wasted, whereby
many of ye poor inhabitants are disappointed of reliefe, they might
have had there in after and ueedfull tymes therefore it is agreed y
treasurer, Mr. Bellingham. and Mr. Wm. Hutchinson with the 3
deacons shall consider who have been faultie herein, and sett down
what restitution of wood unto the poor such shall make."
In the season of fall tides portions of the Neck were cov-
ered with water, rendering it almost impassable in the spring,
especially before its centre was paved, and when from neces-
sity this was ultimately done, the stones were so large that
the pavement was shunned by vehicles as long as the outer
margin of the road was practicable. For its protection a dike
was built on the exposed eastern side, following in its general
direction the extension of Harrison Avenue, and a sea wall
was at the same time built on the west side, from Dover
nearly to Waltham Street.
The appearance of this avenue sixty years ago was desolate
and forbidding enough. It is not easy for those who now
traverse this broad, well-paved thoroughfare, with its hand-
some parks, its elegant and substantial buildings, its street
cars, omnibuses, private equipages, and thronged sidewalks,
to realize that travellers frequently lost their way over the
narrow pass and adjacent marshes, and that it was the scene
of frequent robberies. So dangerous had it become that.
in 1723, it was fenced in by order of the General Court.
Winthrop tells us in his "Journal" that li in 1639 one of
Roxbury sending to Boston his servant maid for a barber
chirurgeon to draw his tooth, they lost their way in their pas-
sage between, during; a violent snowstorm, and were not
found until many days after, and then the maid was found in
one place, and the man in another, both frozen to death.'"
Less than a century ago a countryman, with his team, per-
ished here in a similar manner.
PAVING. — GUNNING. — HOUSES. 67
In 1641 the town of Roxbury was " enjoyned " to make
a sufficient way between the burying-place and the gate.
Boston, in March, 1G50, agreed with Peter Oliver, for £15
per annum for seven years, " To maintaine the High "Waves
from Jacob Eliots Barne to the fardest gate bye Roxsbery
Towns end to be sufficient for Carte and horse, to the satis-
faction of the Countrye." In 1757 the General Court author-
ized the town to raise £2,000 b}' a lottery towards paving
and repairing the Neck, and next }'ear another was authorized
to raise funds for paving the highway from Boston line to
Meetiug-House Hill in Roxbury. Notwithstanding the act of
1719 for their suppression as common and public nuisances,
lotteries continued for a long time to be resorted to as a
means of raising money for public works. The whole of the
Neck was paved under the mayoralty of Josiah Quincy, the
Roxbun- portion of it in 182-4. In the old times the sidewalk
in Roxbury Street was paved with cobble-stones, a narrow
brick walk occupying the centre of it.
The marshes bordering the Neck were covered at high tide.
and being a favorite resort for birds, were much frequented
by sportsmen. As early as 1713 the town of Roxbury pro-
hibited gunning on the Neck, and in 1785 was obliged to
place sentinels there to prevent this desecration of the Sab-
bath. The practice continued until a much later period.
Sir Charles and Lady Frankland narrowly escaped being shot
while journeying along this highway.
Upon the Neck proper only three small houses and two
barns survived the siege. Between Dover Street and Rox-
bury line there were but eighteen buildings in 1794. In 1800
there were but one or two houses from the site of the new
Catholic Cathedral to Roxbury.
The custom, formerly so much in vogue here, of building
houses end to the street, recalls a description of Albany and
of one of the peculiarities of its inhabitants from an old
Gazetteer, that may well provoke a smile. Says Dr. Morse :
68 EXECUTIONS.
•• This city in 1797 contained SC3 dwelling-houses and C021 inhab-
itants. Manj T of them are in the Gothic style with the gable end to
the street, which custom the first settlers brought from Holland."
A gallows that once stood near the old fortifications, and
subsequently upon the site now occupied by the St. James
Hotel, was the first object that met the eye of the stranger
journeying bv land to Boston. This fact reminds one of the
exclamation of the shipwrecked sailor, who on beholding this
relic of barbarism, thanked God that he had been cast ashore
in a civilized country ! After all. it must be admitted that for
this particular mode of capital punishment the c> Neck " was
a peculiarly appropriate place.
Some pirates were executed here in 1819. "When the Stamp
Act went into operation onXov. 1, 17C.J, effigies of Grenville
and Iluske, promoters of the obnoxious measure, were taken
from the liberty tree and suspended here. Apropos of the
Stamp Act. about which the people were greatly excited, a
story is told of a gentleman who after dark sent his servant
to the barn. Returning without having done his errand, on
being questioned he replied that he was afraid. " Afraid of
what?" said the gentleman. "I was afraid of the Stamp
Act," was the reply.
As Dr. Warren was one da} - passing this spot he met
some British officers, one of whom remarked. •• Go on. War-
ren, you will soon come to the gallows." Warren immedi-
ately turned back and demanded to know which of them had
thus addressed him, but neither of these heroes had the cour-
age to avow the insult.
The manufacture of bricks and of salt was formerly carried
on upon the marshes and upland along the causewa}-. In
December, 1044. liberty was •' graunted to Jasper Rawlines
to make use of a rood of upland for the making of brickes at
the easterne end of Sargeant Hues his corne field neere
Roeksburv gate." Many of the poor people of Boston pur-
sued this occupation here while the Port Bill was in force.
GEN. JOSEPH FALMER. — FORTIFICATIONS. 09
Salt, another of the industries of this locality, was also
made near the '-Town Landing," though the "Salt Pans.'*
established at a very early day, were nearer Dorchester.
After the close of the Revolution, Gen. Joseph Palmer
settled in Roxbury, and established salt-works on Boston
Xeck. He had just completed extensive works for this pur-
pose, for which he had built a dam on the east side of the
Xeck. when he discovered that the frost had strengthened the
brine, and that the ice formed upon it was perfectly fresh.
Elated b} - his discovery, he walked into Boston on one of the
coldest days of the winter to make known his success to Gov.
Bowdoin, an intimate friend and a subscriber to the project,
and returning to Roxbury that night after sunset, incau-
tiously sat down by a warm fire. It was soon perceived that
he could neither speak nor move. He was struck with palsy.
and died at his residence in Roxbury. on Dec. 25. 1783, at
the age of seventy, leaving as a visible memorial only the
dam on Boston Neck.
Gen. Palmer, who was a native of England, came to
America in 1746 with Richard Cranch, and settled in that
part of Braintree calied Gcrmantown, where he became a
leading and influential citizen, and acquired a considerable
estate. His is one of the most prominent names in the
Revolutionary annals of the State, outside of Boston. He
was conspicuous among the patriotic members of the Provin-
cial Congresses of 1774 and 1775, and of the Committee of
Safety, and as a brigadier-general of the State forces, took
part in the expedition to Rhode Island in 1778. He lost all
his property during the war.
One of the first cares of the colonists was to take precau-
tions against Indian attacks. Gov. Winthrop and other influ-
ential men in December. 1030, projected the building of a for-
tified town upon the Xeck, between Roxbury and Boston.
After surveying the ground, however, they decided to change
their plan, and fixed upon Xewtown, now Cambridge, as the
70 GAGE STRENGTHENS THE FORTIFICATIONS.
site of the proposed town. Their reasons for so doing are
thus stated by Winthrop : —
" Because men would be forced to keep two families.
" There was no running water, and if there were any springs
they would not suffice the towu.
•• The most part of the people had built already, and would not
be able to build again."
These considerations did not, however, prevent their taking
advantage of a place natural!}' so eligible for a defensive
work.
•• We began a Court of Guard." says Winthrop. under date
of April 14. 10:31, "upon the Neck between Roxbury and
Boston, whereupon should be always resident an officer and
six men." The gates of this primitive barrier, erected at the
narrowest part of the Neck, and which had disappeared by
the end of the century, were constantly guarded, and were
shut by a certain hour in the evening, after which none were
allowed to pass in or out. In 1710 fortifications were con-
structed, with foundations of brick and stone, upon the site
of the old ones, having a parapet of earth, with embrasures
for cannon upon the front and flank, and a deep ditch on the
side towards Roxbury. There were two gates, one for car-
riages and one for foot-passengers.
In September, 1774, affairs began to look serious, and Gage,
the royal governor, proceeded to strengthen the old and to
erect new works in advance of them, digging a deep fosse
into which the tide flowed at high water in front of the for-
mer, severing Boston for the time from the mainland. While
this work was going on, the people, whose curiosity led them
to watch its progress, would speak slightingly of it, and say,
•• Gage's mud walls are nothing to old Louisburg, and, if
necessary, would be no more regarded than a beaver's dam."
The recollection of that remarkable achievement caused them
to depreciate this comparatively slight barrier ; but the skill of
Montresor, Gage's engineer, soon made it formidable enough
GAGE STRENGTHENS TIIF. FORTIFICATION'S.
1
to deter the Americans from attempting an assault, which
could hardly have ended otherwise than in failure.
The Dover Street work was called the •• Green Store Bat-
tery," the warehouse then standing on the site of the "Williams
Market being of that color. Excavations just south of the
market, in 1SG0, re-
vealed what appeared
to be the remains of
this old fort. The
position of the ad-
vanced work, which
was much the strong-
er, was between Ded-
ham and Canton
Streets, a point from
which the first unob-
structed view in front
is obtained as far as
Roxbury. It mounted
twenty guns of heavy
calibre, besides six
howitzers and a mor-
tar battery. The re-
dan was flanked by a
bastion on each side of the highway, from which the lines
were continued across to the marshes. The road passed
through the centre of both lines, the first having a gate and
drawbridge. A third and smaller work, lvins; between the
others, on the eastern sea-margin, bore on Dorchester Neck
( South Boston), and took the left curtain and bastion of the
main work in reverse. After the siege the works were de-
molished, in order that they might not he available to the
enemy should he again obtain possession of the town. Ves-
tiges of them were visible as late as 1822, particularly on the
west side.
GEN. GACiE.
72 NEW DEFENSIVE WORKS.
Just one month before the siege began, a committee of the
Provincial Congress on " the present -date of the operations
of the British army " reported : —
" That two mud breastworks have beeu erected by them on Bos-
ton Neck at the distance of about 90 or 100 rod^ iu front of the old
fortifications, the works well constructed and well executed. The
thickness of the merlons or parapet about 'J feet, the height about
8 feet, the width of the ditch at the top about 12 feet, at the bottom
5 feet, the depth 10 feet. These works are already completed and
at present mounted with 10 brass and 2 iron cannon A barrack
is erecting behind the breastwork on the N. side of the Neck."
"The old fortification at the entrance of the town of Boston is
repairing and greatly strengthened by the addition of timber and
earth to the walls of the thickness of about 12 feet. The>e works
are iu considerable forwardness, and at present 10 pieces of iron
cannon are mounted on the old platforms. A blockhouse brought
from Governor's Island is erecting on the S. side of the Neck at the
distance of about 40 or 50 rods from the old fortification. This work
is but just begun."
Under date of May 1, just after the siege opened, a British
officer wrote in his diary. " Great additions are made to the
Neck ; on the right flank of the right bastion are mounted
four jmns. and on the left of the left bastion, two mortars ;
at the lines the curtain is closed up to the road, where there
is a traverse with two guns which can play right up the town
of Roxbury.''
A plan of these works being desired at headquarters. John
Trumbull, adjutant of Spencer's Connecticut regiment, after-
wards celebrated as an historical painter, undertook to obtain
one. He sa3 - s : —
" I began the attempt by creeping (under the concealment of high
grass) so nigh that I could ascertain that the work consisted of a
curtain crossing the entrance to the town, nanked by two bastion-.
and I had ascertained the number of guns mounted on the eastern
bastion, when my farther progress was rendered unnecessary by a
deserter, who brought with him a rude plan of the entire work. My
drawing was also shown to the General, and their correspondence
proved that as far as I had gone I was correct."
CANNON' SECRETED IN ROXBURV. 73
Trumbull was soon after placed upon Washington's staff as
an aide-de-camp.
Various were the devices by which, as the day of conflict
approached, the country people supplied themselves with
arms and ammunition from Boston, spite of the vigilance of
its garrison. Through the British lines there came one day,
it is said, a funeral cortege. In the hearse was borne, not
one of the victims of the grim conqueror, Death, but one of
his terrible engines. — a cannon. George Minot, a DorcLr is-
ter farmer, who from his frequent visits was well known to
the guard, was allowed to pass without examination, his
panniers well filled with powder.
The cannon belonging to Paddock's company of artillery,
which by a clever stratagem had been taken from the gun-
house and secreted, were safelv brought through the British
lines, two of them by Minot, who hid them under a compost
heap at Col. Lemuel Robinson's tavern, near the Lower Mills,
in Dorchester, and the other two by Jonathan Parker, of
Roxburv, who deposited them in Muddy Pond "Woods. The
next day a company of redcoats were at Jamaica Plain,
searching for the missing cannon. This company was part
of a battalion of live hundred men who were scattered in
various directions for the same purpose with no better suc-
cess. Of these four historic guns, two were taken at Bunker's
Hill by the enemy, the other two, the " Hancock" and the
•• Adams." did good service at the Roxburv lines and else-
where, and arc now in the chamber at the top of Bunker's Hill
Monument, and are appropriately inscribed.
The diary of John Andrews, a merchant of Boston, after-
wards a resident of Jamaica Plain, furnishes some interest-
ing items : —
" Sept. 8, 1774. Yesterday the General, with a large party of
attendants, took a survey of the skirts of the towu. more particu-
larly that part opposite the country shore. 'T is supposed he intends
to erect batteries there to prevent incursions of the country people
74 MUTTERINGS OF THE STORM. — SIEGE BEGUN".
from that quarter, having effectually secured the Neck by the dis-
position of the field-pieces, and their caution extends so far as to
have a guard patrol Roxbury streets at all hours of the night."
" Sept. 29. In the course of a day or two past the Roxbury peo-
ple have burnt several loads of straw that were being brought here,
which has euraged the soldiers to such a degree that I am in con-
tinual appreheusion we shall soon experience another ">th of March,
which God forbid !
••April 11. 1775. We are all in confusion at present ; the streets
and Neck lined with wagons carrying off the effects of the inhabit-
ants, who arc either afraid, mad, crazy, or infatuated, imagining to
themselves that they shall be liable to every evil that can be enu-
merated if they tarry in town."
No wonder the more prudent or timid among the towns-
people should, upon the eve of the breaking out of a seven
years' war, have taken the alarm and quitted a place where
the first blow was so soon to be struck.
Intelligence of the intended expedition to Lexington on
the 19th of April was conveyed over the Neck to Roxbury
on the previous evening by William Dawes, who was
mounted on a slow-jogging horse, with saddle-bags behind
him. and a large flapped hat upon his head to resemble a
countryman on a journey. Col. Josiah Waters, of Boston,
a stanch Whig, and who afterwards, as engineer, assisted in
building the forts at Roxbury, followed on foot on the side-
walk at a short distance from him until he saw him safely
past all the sentinels.
Communication between town and country was entirely
stopped two days after the affair at Lexington, no one being
allowed to go in or out without a pass. •• The provincials,"
says a letter-writer in Boston, under date of April 24, " are
entrenching themselves at Roxbury within gunshot of the
works on the Xeck, and erecting batteries to play on the
lines."
One of the sad sights of the early days of the siege was the
spectacle of the poor people of Boston quitting the town, as
FUGITIVES FROM BOSTON. 75
many of them did, under an agreement with Gen. Gage, after
depositing their arms in Faneuil Hall, and promising not to
join in an attack on his troops. For the brief period during
which this agreement was in force, especially during the last
week in April, the road to Roxbury was thronged with wagons
and trains of wretched exiles. Parents wandered forth " with
bundles in one hand and a string of children in the other."
They were not allowed to take with them an}' provisions, and
nothing could be more affecting than to see these helpless
families come out without anything to eat. The sentinels on
the Xeck even look away the gingerbread from the little chil-
dren. "It's a distressing thing," wrote a British officer in
his diary, '• to see them, for half of 'em don't know where to
go, and in all probability must starve." The Provincial Con-
gress took measures for distributing five thousand of them
among the villages in the interior, where the}" were hospitably
received. An old-fashioned bureau, a memento of this hegira,
is in the possession of Mrs. Edwin Lemist, of Roxbury, a
descendant of Edward Dorr, an early resident of the town.
The grandmother of the Rev. Frederick T. Gray, Mrs.
Mary Turell, whose maiden name was Morey, a native of
Roxbury and one of the fugitives from Boston, gave her per-
sonal experience as follows : —
•• When the town was shut up there were no passes given but to
particular people, and they were to be searched upon leaving town.
I requested a pass from Major Pitcairn for myself and eight iu fam-
ily, with my horse and chaise, which was readily granted by having
my trunks looked into in my own house by one of his officers by the
name of Blackwood. By this means I carried out Deacou Jeffries,
who was town treasurer, and who had all the donation money for
the support of the poor, which I carried in my chaise-box with Mrs.
Jeffries and myself. Mrs. Eckley and Miss Caty Jeffries also went
with me in my chaise. Pitcairn and Mr. Turell went to the outside
guards with us, where' we were received by Generals Heath and
Spencer, who were quite rejoiced to see Deacon Jeffries with the
donation money, and rewarded me handsomely by sending my letters
and allowiug me every indulgence I could expect."
76 AMERICAN ADVANCED WORKS.
The final advanced line of the American works crossed the
highway a little south of Northampton Street, about one
hundred and fifty yards in front of those fiist constructed.
near tho George Tavern. Tho latter crowned the rising
ground near Clifton Place, just north of the old boundary
line between Boston and Roxbury, a little south of the
George Tavern, and were erected immediately after the
Bunker's Hill battle. The former, which were connected by
earthworks and abatis with the Lamb's Dam redoubt, near
the present lead-works on the east, and similarly round the
curved shore line to some elevated ground at the corner of
what is now Sumner Place and Cabot Street, where there was
a batten* on the west side of the highway, was completed
early in September. The trees in Edward Sumner's orchard
covering the latter, and of Dr. Thomas Williams, occupying
the former locality, were cut down and pointed, and so placed
as to protect those points exposed to attack. Five hundred
men and officers constituted the main and picket guard for
this line.
Of the importance attached to this last work, the letters
and diaries of the time arYord ample proof. Col. Huntington
writes as follows to Gov. Trumbull : " Roxbury Camp, Sept.
G, 1 775. — We are this night making approaches towards our
enemies on the Neck, and expect they will show their resent-
ment. Thursday morning. — Three separate entrenchments
were thrown up last night, which will cover our out sentries
and advanced right parties, — no opposition made." Another,
under date of Sept. 10, writes, "What is more amazing,
though nevertheless true, is, they [the enemy] have suffered
our men to throw up an entrenchment below the George
Tavern, and within musket-shot of their last entrenchment,
and have scarce honored us with a cannon."
For the two months succeeding the Lexington engagement,
little intrenching was done bv the Americans, who were
sadly deficient in competent engineers. Bunker's Hid demon-
ROXBURY LINES. RUFCS PUTNAM. (7
strated the value of defensive works, and under the direction
of Col. Rufus Putnam, aided by Henry Knox and Josiah
Waters, the Roxbury lines, considered marvels of strength
in those days, grew rapidly, until at length a complete series
of redoubts and batteries protected every exposed point from
Dorchester to Brookline. The American militia-man mani-
fested a degree of skill and activity in constructing fieldworks
that was a constant surprise to the veteran European soldiers
of former wars.
Uufus Putnam, the constructor of these works, was by
trade a millwright, whose only experience in military engi-
neering had been acquired in the campaigns of 1757-GO in
Canada, which resulted in its becoming a province of the Brit-
ish Empire. The fortifying of Dorchester Heights in a single
winter's night, under his direction, compelled the British fleet
and army to hurriedly evacuate Boston, and successfully-
terminated its siege. Washington afterwards wrote to Con-
gress that the Yankee millwright was altogether a more
competent officer than the educated foreigners to whom it had
given appointments in that line. He attained the grade of
brigadier-general, and after the war was over founded Ma-
rietta. Ohio, the first permanent settlement of the eastern part
of the Northwest Territory.
Washington was of the opinion that in case of an attack
there was an insufficient number of men to man the entire
works, which it must be borne in mind were eight or nine
miles in extent. At the first council of war, held at head-
quarters on the 9th of July, it was. however, unanimously
determined to defend the posts. It was further agreed that
if the troops should be attacked and routed by the enemy,
the place of rendezvous should be Weld's Hill, in the rear of
the Roxbury lines. This hill, erroneously called Wales's Hill,
by Mr. Sparks and others, is the high eminence on what was
the Bussey farm. This point covered the road to Dedhara,
where the army supplies were stored.
78 brown's house burnt.
The space between the American and British works, a dis-
tance of about eight hundred yards, was frequently the arena
of conflict between the artillerists of the opposing forces, and
at times cannon-balls flew thick and fast over it. This inter-
change of compliments was somewhat one-sided, the scarcity
of powder in the American camp placing it in the condition
of a man with little money in his pocket, who will do twenty
mean things to avoid breaking in upon his little stock. The
hostile pickets, covered by slight intrenchments. were only
about two hundred and fifty yards apart, quite near enough
to converse freely with each other, and to count the reliefs
on both sides as they marched down from their respective
camps, the limited space between being nearly coincident
with that from the site of the Commonwealth Hotel to the
squares.
Enoch Brown's house and shop, on the west side of the
highway, between Blackstone Square and Rutland Street,
deserves mention as the scene of the only hostile encounter
that has ever taken place within the original limits of Boston.
It was here that Burgoyne proposed to meet his old companion
in arms, Charles Lee, to discuss the issues of the day. The
meeting did not take place. Lee was willing, but Congress
quietly interposed its veto. Until their destruction, these
buildings served the British as an outpost whence the Ameri-
can camp could be overlooked and its pickets greatly annoyed.
Their chimnevs were left standing, and continued to serve
them as a cover.
A letter from camp informs us that —
" On July 8, 1775, two hundred volunteers from the Rhode Isl-
and and Massachusetts forces, under Majors Tupper and Crane,
attacked the British advanced guard at Brown's house on the
Neck, within three hundred yards of their principal works. They
detached six men about ten o'clock in the evening, with orders to
cross on a marsh up to the rear of the guard-house and there to
watch an opportunity to fire it. The remainder secreted themselves
in the marsh on each side of the Neck, about two hundred yards
ARTILLERY PRACTICE. JOHN CRANE. 70
from the house. Two brass pieces were drawn softly oil the ruar-h
within three hundred yards, and upon a signal from the advanced
party of six. two rounds of cauuou shot were fired through the
guard-house. Immediately the regulars, who formed a guard of
forty-five or fifty men. quitted the house and were then fired on by
the musketry, who drove them with precipitation into their Hues.
The six men posted near the house set fire to it and burned it to the
ground. After this, they burnt another house nearer the lines, and
withdrew without losing a man."
•• A bravo action this, and well performed," wrote young
Henry Knox to liis wife from the American camp.
The artillery of this key to the Roxbury lines was com-
manded by John Crane, who afterwards succeeded Knox as
colonel of the Massachusetts regiment of artillery, and served
with distinction throughout the entire contest A Boston
mechanic and one of those who threw the tea overboard,
a chest of tea, that fell upon his head, welluigh ended his
career. His comrades bore his body to a neighboring build-
in^, where, covering him with shavings, they left him for dead,
but he speedily recovered. The Port Bill drove him with
many others from the town, and when the struggle for liberty
began he was pursuing his business of a housewright at
Providence, in company with Ebenezer Stevens, another
Bostonian, also celebrated as an artillery officer in the Revo-
lutionary war.
Educated in the school that furnished so mam - excellent
officers of artillery to the army, Paddock's company of the
•■ train," as it was called, and full of zeal for the liberties of
his country, he immediately raised a company with the aid
of Stevens, and with the commission of major of the Rhode
Island " Train," joined Thomas's forces at Roxbury, in May,
1775, with a well-equipped and efficient battery.
Crane was in his element whenever the state of the powder
supply would admit of a little artillery practice. So wonder-
fully keen was his vision, that from the instant the ball left
the cannon, and until it reached its destination, his eve fol-
80 ROXBURY STREET EN" THE SIEGE.
lowed it. and his skill as a marksman was felt and acknowl-
edged by the enemy. Crane with his cannon, and Morgan
with his rifles, made it advisable for the redcoats to keep well
under cover. The fire of the British, on the other hand, was
comparatively harmless. A distinguished officer in Boston,
writing to a friend in England, says, '• The rebel army is not
brave. I believe, but it is agreed on all hands that their artil-
lery officers are at least equal to ours."
A graphic picture of the appearance of the lines when
visited on Oct. 20. 1775, is given by the historian Belknap in
his diary. He says : —
•• Nothing struck me with more horror than the present condition
of Roxbury. That once busy, crowded street is now occupied only
by a picket-guard. The houses are deserted, the windows taken
out, and many shot-holes visible. Some have been burnt, and others
pulled clown to make room l'or the fortifications. A wall of earth
is carried across the street to Williams's old house, where there is a
formidable fort mounted with cannon. The lower line is just below
where the George Tavern stood; a row of trees, root and branch,
lie acro>s the road there, and the breastwork extends to Lamb's
Dam, which makes a part thereof. I went round the whole, and
was so near the enemy as to see them, though it was foggy and
rainy, relieve their sentinels, which they do every hour. The out-
most sentries are posted at the chimneys of Brown's house."
It may be supposed that the British officers, cooped up
within the narrow limits of the town of Boston, would find,
their situation exceedingly irksome, and ardently long for a
change. Accordingly, when Major Benjamin Tupper, of Fel-
lows's regiment, had an interview with some of them in the
month of August within their lines, liquor was sent for, and
every toast given by Major Urquhart and the other officers
present expressed the wish that an end might be put to the
quarrel. At the same time they informed him that they were
soon coming out. In reply, the major assured them that we
were ready, and that if they would only give us notice, we
would meet them with an equal number of men. Capt. Judah
AMERICANS ENTER ROSTOX.
81
Alden, who accompanied Col. Learned to the British outposts
with a flag some time afterwards, inquired of the oflicer in
command why they did not conic out and make the troops at
Roxbury a visit. • - Ah." replied he, "we should have to
think of that some time first."
Xot the least interesting of the events connected with this
locality occurred on the afternoon of March
17. 177(1. The occupation of Dorchester
Heights, a movement as skilfully executed as
it was carefully planned, having compelled the
immediate evacuation of the town, a detach-
ment of Americans under Col. Ebenezer Lear-
ned, who commanded at the outposts during
nearly the whole of the siege, [ticked its way
through the crows' feet and other obstacles
thickly strewn in its path, and unbarring the
gates of the deserted stronghold, displayed for
the first time in the streets of Boston the grand
union flag of the thirteen United Colonies.
The flag was borne by Ensign Richards, and
the t mops were accompanied by Gen. Ward.
With what emotions of pride and satisfaction ..^^N
must these patriotic citizens, albeit clad in
homespun and unattended by ; ' the pomp and rsios flag.
circumstance of glorious war." have marched into the town
as conquerors ! It was a proud day for them, and never since
then has its soil been pressed by a hostile foot.
•• I took a ride last week and ventured as far as the stump
of Liberty Tree." wrote 3Irs. John Adams to her husband a
month later. ■• Roxbury," she continues. " looks more in-
jured than Boston, that is, the houses look more torn to
pieces. I was astonished at the extent of our lines and their
strength."'
An estimate of the losses sustained by the people of Box-
burv in 1 77.0 . made bv the selectmen and Committee of Cor-
G
82
ROXBURY SUFFERERS.
respondence, foots up £24.412 9.s. A<1., quite a sum in those
days. It was shared among some two hundred individuals,
about forty of whom were damaged to the extent of £300 and
upward. The principal sufferers were the heirs of Capt. Aaron
Davis. Dr. Thomas Wil-
liams, heirs of Major Jo-
seph Dudley, Dr. Jonathan
Davies, Increase Sumner,
Col. Aaron Davis, Joshua
Lamb Woodbridge, heirs
of Joseph Weld, Stephen
Williams, tanner, William
Bowman, Ebenezer Dorr,
Nathaniel Felton, William
Dudley, and Robert Pier-
pont, Esq. 3Iost of the in-
juries were inflicted by the
besiegers ; houses, fences,
orchards, and wooddots,
as well as growing crops,
having; been destroved.
Another military display of a more attractive character
enlivened the scene a few years later, when, in December.
1782, the army of Rochambeau marched into Boston, where
it was to embark for France. Before entering the town the
troops changed their dress in the open air, and appeared in
such excellent attire that it seemed incredible that this army,
coming from Yorktown. Virginia, could have travelled so
many hundred leagues, exposed to the inclemency of a rainy
autumn and of a premature winter.
Though it was late in December the skies were propitious,
as these gallant Frenchmen, accompanied by a full band,
marched through Roxburv and over the Neck. At their head
was the brave Viomenil, who ten years later sacrificed his life
m defence of his king, in the attack on the Tuileries. With
LIBERTY TREE.
FRENCH TROOPS IX ROXBURV. 83
him came Berthier, afterwards Napoleon's adjutant-general,
and one of bis marshal? ; Matthieu Dumas, a distinguished
soldier, and a general of division at Waterloo ; Isidore de
Lynch, an intrepid Irishman, afterwards a general : Montes-
quieu, grandson of the author of '* L'Esprit des Lois";
Carra St. Cyr, Des Prez de Crassier, Alexander de Lameth,
Langeron, Anselme, and others who attained distinction in
the wars of the French Revolution. The officers wore
chapeaux with a white cockade, a uniform of white, broadcloth
laced with red. green, or blue, according to the corps to
which they belonged, and high military boots; the general
had on a blue overdress faced with red. All were splendidly
mounted and wore elegant and costly equipments.
First marched the regiment Royal Deuxponts, dressed in
white, led by Count Christian de Deuxponts, the same who
afterward commanded the Bavarians at Hohenlinden. The
colonel proprietaire of this, the largest of the French regiments,
was Maximilian de Deuxponts, afterwards Maximilian I,
King of Bavaria, who, though he had been with his regiment
iu America, had already returned to Europe.
Next came the Soissonnais, under its second colonel, Count
Segur, sou of the Minister of War. Its colonel, Felix de St.
Maime, had preceded it to Boston. The brave Vicomte
de Noailles had commanded the regiment at Yorktown.
Saintonge. in white and green, follows, with Count Custine
and Prince de Broglie, first and second in command, both
victims of the guillotine. Custine in 1792 commanded the
Army of the North.
Last came the Bourbonnais, in black and red, under De
Laval Montmorenci, and the infantry of Lauzun. The
artillery, though not with the column, were attired in blue
with red facings, white spatterdashes, and red pompons. The
men wore short Roman swords, and carried their firelocks by
their slings. Among them might have been seen a young
sergeant named Charles Pichegru, whose subsequent career is
84 DISTINGUISHED VISITORS. GEORGE TAVERN.
matter of history. The infantry wore cocked hats with poni«
pons, woollen epaulets, white crossbelts from which were sus-
pended a short hanger and cartouche-box, and spatterdashes ;
the hair was worn en queue.
•' No review or parade,*' says Segur in his Memoirs, " ever
displayed troops in better order, offering an appearance at
once more neat and brilliant. A great part of the population
of the town came out to meet us. The ladies stood at their
windows and welcomed us with evident applause, and our
stay was marked by continual rejoicings, b}' feasts and balls,
which succeeded each other da}' after da}'."
President Monroe, accompanied by Com. Bainbridge, Gen.
Miller, Mr. Mason, his secretary, and his suite, and followed
by Gen. Crane and the officers of the First Division, and a
number of citizens of Norfolk County, on horseback, was
escorted from Dedham to Roxbury. on July 1, 1817. After
reviewing the infantiy -regiment of Col. Dudley, and Maj.
Gale's battery of artillery, he proceeded to the Boston line.
Since then Presidents Jackson, Tyler, and Fillmore, Lafay-
ette, and Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, have been
formally received here by the town or city authorities. Pres-
ident John Adams, while on a visit to Quincy. in August,
1797, was escorted through the town b}" a military and civic
procession, stopping on his way at Gov. Sumner's residence,
the occasion being a splendid entertainment given him by
citizens of Boston.
The George, or as it was sometimes called the St. George
Tavern, the first American advanced post, was part of an
estate of twent}' acres, extending to Roxbury line on the
south and across the marshes to the great creek which formed
its western boundary. It had orchards, gardens, and a site
commanding a view of Boston and its harbor on one side,
and Cambridge Bay with the shore of the mainland on the
other. This tavern was in 1721 the place of meeting of the
General Court, probably on account of the prevalence of
WASHINGTON. 85
ernall-pox in Boston. In 1730, while it was kept by Simon
Rogers, the Probate Court was held there. Samuel Mears,
whose daughter Catharine became the wife of the Rev. Sam-
uel Dexter, was at one time its landlord. Their grandson.
Samuel Dexter, one of the ablest lawj-ers of his time, and a
member of President Adams's Cabinet, was some time a resi-
dent of Roxbury. Gen. John Thomas stopped at Mears's on
his wa}' from Marshfield, to join Winslow's expedition against
Annapolis Royal, in April, 1755. Edward Bardin, who kept
the "George" in 1709, changed its name to the "King's
Arms," a title soon dropped.
This tavern was burned by the enemy on the night of
Sunday, July 30, 1775, in retaliation for the destruction of
Brown's House a few weeks before. A public house on or
near its site was in 1788 opened by Sally Barton, but was not
of Ions? continuance. In its vard bullbaits were a common
spectacle.
Hither Washington often came to inspect the outposts,
accompanied by his staff, composed of men afterward famous :
Mifflin, subsequently governor of Pennsylvania and president
of Congress ; Joseph Reed, his secretary, a true patriot, and
who also became the chief magistrate of that great State ;
and Horatio Gates, whose military experience fitted him
admirably for his post of adjutant-general, and rendered him
highly serviceable in organizing the patriot forces. It was
his singular fortune to achieve at Saratoga the most memora-
ble victory, as it was at Camden to sustain the most crushing
defeat, of the war.
P. was at this point that on Oct. 24, 1789, the General,
then become President, and attended by his secretaries. Col.
Lear and Major Jackson, made his last entry into Boston to
revisit the scene of his first memorable achievement, dressed
in his old Continental uniform. He was saluted by a dis-
charge of cannon from the Roxbury artillery, under Capt.
Jonathan "Warner. Col. Tyler's troop of horse escorting him
86 SLEIGHING.
to the entrance of the town. He did not bow to the throng
that crowded around him, but rode his famous white charger,
a present from Charles IV of Spain, with a calm, dignified
air, inclining his body first on one side and then on the other,
and with his head uncovered. From some mismanagement
"Washington was detained at the Roxbuiy line nearly two
hours, and exposed to a raw northeast wind, by which
exposure he took a severe cold. Many others were similarly
affected, and so general was the distemper that it was called
the "Washington Influenza."
Dr. Thaeher, surgeon of Col. Henry Jackson's regiment,
relates this amusing incident attending a forced march of the
regiment from Providence, R. I., to Boston : —
•' A severe rain all night did not much impede our march, but the
troops were broken down with fatigue. We reached Boston at sun-
rising, and near the entrance of the Neck was a tavern, having for
its sign a representation of a globe with a man in the act of strug-
gling to get through it; his head and shoulders were out, his arms
extended, and the rest of his body enclosed in the globe. On a label
from his mouth was written, ' Oh, how shall I get through this world?'
This was read by the soldiers, and one of them exclaimed, ' 'List,
d — n you, 'list, aud you '11 soon get through this world ; our regiment
will be through it in an hour or two if we don't halt by the way.'"
The Washington Market, standing a little south of the site
of the George Tavern, covers that of the Washington House, in
which Mrs. .Susanna Rowson once kept a young ladies' school
of high repute. While under the management of the Cooleys,
father and son, it was, in the season, quite a noted resort for
sleighing parties. Before the street railroad was built the
Neck was the fashionable course for this exciting and exhil-
arating amusement, and ever}- afternoon while the sleighing
was good it was sure to be thronged with every variety of
vehicle upon runners, from the modest pung to the magnifi-
cent barge, while the sidewalks were lined with spectators,
watching the sport with eager interest and highly enjoying the
gay ami animated scene.
NORFOLK GAZETTE. CAPT. DOGGETT. 87
Next south of the market, the three-story brick building,
known first as Washington Hall, and afterwards as the Wash-
ington Hotel, was a tavern as early as 1820. In 1837, and
later, it was kept by Amherst Eaton, of Concert Hall.
Turning our backs upon the building on the opposite side
of the street, belonging to the Metropolitan Railroad Com-
pany, and whose unsavory odors it is to be hoped are stable
rather than permanent, we encounter on the edge of the side-
walk the upright stone placed here in 1822, that marks the
old boundary between Roxbury and Boston. The outer gate,
which in the early days of the settlement barred free ingress
and egress over the narrow roadwav, stood here. " Near this
gate." says Sewall's Diary, ••Mary. Indian James's squaw,
was froze to death Nov. 27. 1G85, being fudled." In 1668
the inhabitants of Roxbury were prohibited digging clay here.
The inner gate was at Dover Street.
Deacon George Alcock was the original proprietor of the
twenty acres of upland and marsh on the east side of the
Neck, extending from the line near the "Bull Pasture" to
the burying-ground. Passing by inheritance to Col. Joshua
Lamb, and afterwards to Joshua Lamb AVoodbridge, it was
purchased of the latter by Aaron Blaney. Thewoodenbuilding
adjoining the stable was the residence of Major Ben Weld,
the painter, who was also a prominent military man.
In a building that once stood just south of Hunneman
Street, the •• Norfolk Gazette," the first newspaper in Rox-
bury, was published. It was issued weekly by Allen and
Watts, from Dec. 15, 1S2-A, to Feb. 6. 1827, when its press
succumbed to the press of creditors.
Upon the same side, near the burying-ground. is an old
house, formerly a tavern, with the sign of the " Ball and Pin,"
kept by Capt. Jesse Doggett.
" A trainband captain eke was he,"
who often marshalled his men along this dusty highway, and
after a hot day's exercise doubtless threw wide his hospitable
88 JOHN JOHNSON.
doors and regaled the thirst} - heroes with cool and refreshing
beverages. The fact is worth noting that from Johnson to
Doggett, the Roxbury innkeepers have generally been mil-
itary men. Elizabeth Sumner Doggett. his daughter, became
the wife of Elijah Lewis, and the mother of George Lewis,
afterwards mayor of Roxbury.
Upon the westerly side of the street, beginning at the
boundary line, was John Johnson's estate of eight acres, in-
cluding the " house, barn, and house-lot on the back side of
his orchard, and buildings Iving together, with libertv to
inclose the swamp and brook before the same, not annoying
an}- highway."
John Johnson, " surveyor-general of all y- armyes," was
chosen constable of Roxbury, Oct. 19, 1630 ; was made free-
man in 1631 ; was for fourteen years a representative in the
General Court, and died Sept. 29, 1659. He probably came
over with Winthrop, was a '-very industrious and faithful
man in his place," and kept a tavern in Roxbury Street, where
man}' public meetings were held. When Anne Hutchinson
was taken into custodv the General Court ordered that the
arms of her Roxburv adherents be delivered to '• goodman "
Johnson, the town of Roxbury being required to take order
for their custody, and " if any charge arise, to be defrayed
by her husband."
Under date of Feb. 6, 16-15, "Winthrop records that " John
Johnson having built a fair house in the midst of the town,
with divers barns and other out-houses, it fell on fire in the
day time (no man knowing by what occasion) , and there
being in it seventeen barrels of the country's powder and
many arms, all was suddenly burnt and blown up to the value
of four or five hundred pounds, wherein a special providence
of God appeared, for he being from home the people came
together to help and many were in the house, no man think-
ing of the powder till one of the company put them in mind
of it, whereupon they all withdrew, and soon after the powder
COL. AARON DAVIS. 89
took fire and blew up all about it. and shook the houses in
Boston and Cambridge so as men thought it had been an
earthquake, and carried great pieces of timber a good way
off. and some rags and such light things beyond Boston meet-
ing-house. There being then a stiff gale from the south, it
drove the fire from the houses in the town (for this was the
most northerly), otherwise it had endangered the greatest
part of the town." Eliot, who had an eye for special prov-
idences, says: " Y e wind at first stood to carry y e fire to
other howses, but suddenly turned it from all other bowses
onlv carrying it to v c outhouses and barns thereby, and it
was a fierce wind & thereby drave v e element back from y e
neighbors howses which in a calm time would bv v e great
heate have been set on lire." At this fire the first book of
Town Records and the School Charter were destroyed ; the
former was an irreparable loss.
The old house standing at the corner of Ball Street was
built by Aaron Davis, on the site of that occupied by his
father, Capt. Aaron Davis, and taken down during the siege
on account of its exposed situation. This estate of between
ten and eleven acres, formerly John Johnson's, lay between
Boston line, Smelt Brook, and Denison's house, having a
frontage of three hundred and fifty feet on the west side of
"Washington Street. It included an extensive garden and
orchard, now partially occupied Lrv the green-house on the
south side of Ball Street. After Mr. Davis built the house
in Mall Street, his two unmarried sisters continued to reside
in the old mansion. The order for the removal of the houses
from Roxburv Street came from Gen. Washington through
Adjt.-Gen. Gates on July 12, 1775, only a few days after
the commander-in-chief's arrival in camp, and was a military
necessity.
Col. Aaron Davis, grandson of William, an early inhabi-
tant of the town and the father of Capt. Aaron, was early in
life a blacksmith, and afterwards carried on the farm in West
90 DEACON MOSES DAVIS. — THE DENISON FAMILY.
Roxbury, formerly Col. William Dudley's, now occupied by
Mrs. S. D. Bradford. An active patriot, his name is prom-
inent in the annals of the town as a member of the Commit-
tee of Correspondence of Suffolk County, and also as a
member of the Provincial Congresses of 1774 and 1775. He
died. July 29, 1777, at the age of sixtv-eight.
His son, a merchant, who died in 1773 at the early age of
forty-eight, was, says an obituaiy notice, li A worth}', honest,
useful man. and a great public loss." He, like his father, was
captain of a military company, and his death is said to have
been caused by a cold caught while drilliug it. Moses, the
brother of Capt. Aaron, kept a store where Mrs. Duffy now
keeps. During the siege he kept a store at Hog Bridge, and
supplied the troops at the forts and in the vicinity. After the
war he rebuilt his house, taken down at the same time as his
brother's, where, with his nephew Aaron for a partner, he did
a large and lucrative business until overtaken by reverses
during the war of 1812. His three-story dwelling-house,
which was very old, was a little back from the street and west
of the store. Tall and stout, of gentlemanly address, and
much respected, his well-known piety occasioned his being
always called "Deacon Moses," though he never held that
office. He died in 1823. Mrs. David Dudley, who is still
living at a ripe old age. is a daughter of Deacon Moses.
Next south of John Johnson was the Denison estate of nine
acres " as you goe towards Boston," extending from a point
opposite the burying-ground to Vernon Street, and including
:i dwelling-house, bake-house, orchard, and home lot.
The family of Denison was one of distinction in our colonial
annals, though like those of Buggies, Eliot, Bowles, Scarbor-
ough, and so many others of the early settlers of the town,
the name has long been extinct here. William Denison, with
his wile Margaret, and his sons Daniel, Edward, and George,
probably came over in the "Lion" with Eliot, in 1031, as
his name stands third in the record of the First Church.
GEORGE DENISON. 91
Made a constable and a deputy to the General Court in 1634,
he was a man of mark, possessed considerable property, and
was one of the founders of the "Free School." With his
son Edward and other Roxbury men he was disarmed in
1607, for ** subscribing the seditious libel," or in other words,
for being a follower of Anne Hutchinson, a woman who had
opinions of her own upon religious subjects, and worse than
all, in the eyes of the Puritan leaders in the colony, drew the
more liberal and intelligent over to her way of thinking. He
died in 1653.
His eldest son, Daniel, who married Patience, daughter of
Gov. Thomas Dudley, removed to Ipswich, attained the rank
of major-general, and was highly distinguished both in civil
and military affairs. Edward, who was in 1665 the first
town clerk of Roxbury, and a representative in 1652 and
1655, married Eliza, daughter of Capt. Joseph "Weld, and
died in April, 1668. His son William, a graduate of Har-
vard College in 1681, also town clerk for manv vears, died
on March 22, 1718, when the name became extinct in
Roxbury.
Of George, the j'oungest son, a romantic story is told. He
was trained to arms, and while serving in Ireland was severely
wounded. Borne by his men to the mansion of a gentleman
named Borodaile, he was attended with great kindness and
assiduity" by Anne Borodaile, his only daughter, to whom, on
returning to England, Denison engaged himself. Revisiting
Ireland, he unfolded his intention of emigrating to America, at
the same time urging her to accompany him as his wife. She
declined encountering the perils of the sea and of the wilder-
ness, and they parted. In 1640 he married Bridget Thomp-
son, of Roxbury. who died three years later. Leaving his
two infant daughters with their grandparents, he sailed for
England in 1613, and under Cromwell resumed the military
career as an officer of cavalry in the civil war then raging.
Again visiting Ireland, he this time succeeded in persuading
92 JAMES HOWE. JOHN DOGGETT.
the lady to accompany him to America. They remained a
few years in Roxburv, where in 1 04(3 we find that the young;
men of the town chose George Denison, '• a young soldier
lately come out of the wars," to be their captain, a choice
that was negatived, however, by the ciders. The}" afterwards
settled in Stonington, Conn., where he distinguished himself
in Philip's war as an energetic and capable commander. In
1G7G, with sixty-six volunteers and one hundred Christian
Indians, he slew seventy-six of the enemy without losing a
man, and took prisoner Canonchet, son of Miantonomoh, the
Narraganset chief. Capt. George Denison died in 1094, at
the age of seventy-six. Some of his wife's curious needle-
work is yet in the possession of her descendants. She sur-
vived her husband eighteen years, dying in 1712, at the great
age of ninety-seven.
James Howe's bakery stood on the vacant lot north of Mr.
J. H. Ilunneman's house. At the time of his death, in 179G,
he occupied the old house adjoining, in which his widow
afterward lived. Mrs. D. L. Gibbeus. a daughter of James
Howe, is yet living, at the age of eighty-one. His son, John
Howe, is still remembered for his wit. The artist, J. W.
Champney (" Champ"), is a descendant of James Howe.
Next come the residences of Messrs. Hunneman and Pat-
ten, both prominent citizens in their day, built about the
beginning of the century, and in front of which are some
fine horse-chestnut trees. Two of these, set out by Mr.
Thomas Rumrill, were the first horse-chestnut trees ever seen
in New England, and were raised from seed of the Ohio
4i Buckeye." Opposite the burying-ground is the old house,
once quite an ornament to the street, but now, alas ! fallen
from its high estate and put to baser uses, such as a barber's
shop, fish-market, etc. Aaron Davis, and after him John
Doggett, resided here.
Before "Williams Street was named, it was a narrow lane,
leading to the marshes and upland belonging to Thomas
BUEYING-GROUND EEDOUBT. ( J3
"Williams. On its southerly corner stood until quite recently
an old house in which " Lawyer Tom" Williams lived and
kept an office until his removal to the homestead, made vacant
by the death of his father, Dr. Thomas Williams. It then
became the shop of John Doggett, carver and gilder, who
under the stvle of John Doggett & Co. was long at the head
of the looking-glass and carpet business in Roxbury and
Boston. Their manufactory, which stood on the opposite
corner, where the carriage building now stands, had a bal-
cony in front, reached by steps from the street. Among
Doggett's apprentices were .Samuel Sprague Williams, Samuel
Doggett, afterwards admitted to the firm, and E. G. Scott,
W. C. Moore, John Hastings, and Dudley Williams. The
founder of the house. John Doggett, was the first to cany on
his trade in this vicinity, and was an ingenious and skilful
workman. A knowledge of weaving having been obtained
l>v him from a travelling English artisan, the foundation was
subsequently laid for an extensive carpet business.
The first defensive work constructed by the Americans was
a redoubt hastily thrown up immediately after the battle of
Lexington across the highway leading to Boston, where the
road to Dorchester (Eustis Street) begins. Its front was
nearly on the southerly line of this road and the lane now
Williams Street. This work, which at once defended the
road to Dorchester and the entrance to the town of Roxbury,
was called the • ' Burying-Ground Redoubt," and was subse-
quently enlarged and strengthened.
'•About noon of the memorable 17th of June," says a
soldier in Col. Learned's regiment, " we fired an alarm and
rang the bells in Roxbuiy, and every man was ordered to
arms, as an attack was expected. Col. Learned marched his
regiment up to the meeting-house and then to the burying-
ground, which was the alarm-post, where we laid in ambush,
with two field-pieces placed to give it to them unawares should
the regulars come. About six o'clock the enemy drew in
94 BURYING-GROUND REDOUBT.
their sentries, and immediately a heavy fire was opened from
the fortification. The balls whistled over our heads and
through the houses, making the clapboards and shingles fly
in all directions. Before the firing had beguu, the general
(Thomas) ordered some men down the street to fell some
apple-trees across the street to hinder the approach of their
artillery. Bombshells were thrown hourly into Eoxbury
during the night."
EUSTIS STREET. — OLD BURIAL-GROUND. 1*5
CHAPTER IV.
OLD BURIAL-GROUND TO DORCHESTER.
Eustis Street. — Old Burial-Ground. — Burial Customs. — Dudley Tomb.
— Ministers' Tomb.— Johu Grosveuor.— Old Inscriptions. — The Canal.
— Training-Field. — Military History. — Roxbury Artillery. — Lamb"s
Dam. — Dudley Street Baptist Church. — Deacon Parke. — Weld. —
Mount Pleasant. — Robert Williams. — Dr. Thomas Williams. — Enoch
Bartlett. — Gov. Shirley. — Gov. Eustis. — Lafayette. — John Read.
— Dennis Street. —Col. James Swan.
THE way or lane leading into the Dorchester road by
Dr. Thomas Williams's, and which formerly took Mall
Street in its course, was shortened and straightened in 1802
" as far as the top of the hill." It received its present name
in 1825, in honor of Gov. Eustis, whose residence it passed,
and was so called as far as the brook, which made that part
of the boundary line between Roxbury and Dorchester. Its
entrance, formerly very narrow, was enlarged in 1854 by
removing the greater part of the store of Aaron and Charles
Davis on its southerly corner.
According; to the Record of Houses and Lands in Roxbury
in 1G54, the dwellers in this quarter were, at that time, Wil-
liam Cheney, William Parke, Edward and Giles Payson, Rob-
ert and Samuel Williams, Francis Smith, and Edward Riggs.
At the corner of Washington and Eustis Streets is one of
the oldest burial-places in New England, the first interment
having been made iu it in 1G33. Here, since the earliest days
of the settlement,
"The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep,"
and we cannot traverse it without seeing names alike ven-
erable and memorable in New England's annals. Here, side
96 THE OLD BURIAL-GROUND.
by side with the apostle Eliot and Robert Calef. were laid the
Dudleys, the Warrens, and many others of lesser note.
Names that elsewhere would strike us with a sense of their
incongruity seem in this place altogether appropriate. Here
Lyon and Lamb lie down together in fraternal harmony,
peacefully commingling their ashes with those of Pigge and
Peacock, while near them reposes the dust of Pepper and
Onion, — savory conjunction! — inseparable in life, even in
death they are not divided. We seem here to be brought into
the immediate presence of the past. The old homestead and
place of worship has disappeared, old landmarks have van-
ished or are so changed as to be almost unrecognizable : all
that time, decay, and change have left of the past is here. —
the old gravestone, the quaint inscription, the rude verse, and
the dust sleeping quietly beneath.
While the old places of sepulture are usually unattrac-
tive save to the antiquary and those curious in old epitaphs,
nothing is more characteristic of New England. Their mon-
uments. epitaphs, and decorations show at once the prevalence
of religion, the backwardness of taste, and the poverty of the
times. The mourned and the mourners are now alike forgot-
ten. Of their descendants, many have left forever the seats
of their fathers, and such as still dwell here are too remote to
cherish peculiar veneration for tho^e who died so long ago.
4 "Our fathers find their graves in our short memories, and
eadl}- tell us how we may be buried in our survivors'."
This, like most of the early graveyards of our fathers, was
chosen neither for its picturesque surroundings nor for its
natural beauty, but simply for its convenient situation. One
of the most marked differences between their day and our
own is seen in the contrast of the old graveyards, with their
sterile plainness, and the modern cemeteries, with their
charming and varied scenery, their beautiful grounds and
flowers, and their choice sculptures. The resting-place of
the departed is now —
THE OLD BURIAL-GROUND. 97
" A place of beauty and of flowers,
With fragrant wreaths and summer houghs arrayed,
And lovely sculpture gleaming through the shade."
The town records say : —
'• Feb. this 23d. 1648. It is agreed with John Woody, Constabell
The sayd John is to Fenc in the buring plas with a Fesy (?) ston
wall sefighattly (sufficiently) don for strenk and workraanshipe, as
also to mak a doball gatt of G or 8 fote wid and to hing(e) it and to
liud all stul' and stons and workraanshipe, and he is to Finesh ed by
the first of Jvne next, and in considerashan of this work he is to
have six pounds and he is to pave himself out of the town Ratt
(tax), in witness we have hereto sett to our hands the day above
Kitten. i; John Wooddey
Joshua Hewes
John Johnson. "
In 1725, Col. Joshua Lamb gave a quarter of an acre to
enlarge the grounds upon the northwest, •' reserving to him-
self the herbage thereof." From its exposed situation, the
place was greatly injured during the siege. The first barrier
erected to prevent the British troops from coming out of Bos-
ton crossed the highway* at this point. After man}' years of
neglect and decay, during which it had become overgrown with
noxious weeds and unsightly bushes, its condition becoming
unbearable, the city government of Roxbury, in 1857, redeemed
the sepulchre of their ancestors. They graded the grounds,
rebuilt the external walls with a handsome gateway, laid out
and gravelled footpaths in various directions, and planted a
variety of forest trees, including many evergreens, around
the borders and among the old graves. Many of the old
stones, which had been nearly or quite buried in the earth,
were raised and reset, and the broken monuments repaired.
The two large wooden gates that afforded entrance, one where
the present iron one stands, the other near the engine-house,
were taken away. Interments ceased to be made here in
185-i, excepting those made in family tombs.
7
98 BURIAL CUSTOMS.
Cremation, abstractly considered, may be a good thing,
but what ought we to think of the individual who could set fire
to a graveyard ? Such an event actually occurred here one Sun-
day evening in March. 1826, when the whole town was alarmed
by the cry of fire. Flames and smoke were discovered issu-
ing from one of the tombs in which some miscreant had
placed combustibles and afterwards ignited them, in conse-
quence of some paltry dispute about its ownership.
An early writer tells us that "'at burials nothing is read
nor any funeral sermon made, but all the neighborhood or a
good company of them come together by the tolling of a bell,
and carry the dead solemnly to the grave and then stand by
him while he is buried. The ministers are most commonly
present." As far as is known, the first instance of prayer at
a funeral in Massachusetts was at the burial of Rev. William
Adams, of Roxbury, on Aug. 19. 1685, when, as Judge
Sewall noted in his Diary, " Mr. Wilson, minister of Medfield.
prayed with the company before they went to the grave."
Among the funeral charges at the interment of Rev.
Thomas Walter, who was. as a testimonial of affection and
respect, buried at the public cost, are these items : —
"5 doz and 3 payres of gloves @ 45/ £12. 0.
3 Payres Wonieus Mourning gloves 1. 1G.
6 Rings G. 12.
1 Barril of Wine 9. 1. 6
Pipes and tobacco 3.
Box to put the bones of old Mr Eliot and others in 6. 0"'
Wine flowed freely upon these, as upon all public occa-
sions. So great an evil had this become that, in 1742, the
General Court prohibited its use at funerals. That bod\' had
as earl}' as in 1724 passed an act recommending a retrench-
ment in funeral expenses.
• The extravagances and cost of funerals grew so burden-
some that in 17G4 the custom of giving gloves was discon-
tinued except to the bearers. The custom of distributing
DUDLEY TOMB.
99
gloves at funerals, it has been wittily suggested, was origi-
nally, perhaps, a challenge from the doctor, defying all who
shall dare say that he had committed murder contrary to the
rules of art.
At the death of Capt. Samuel .Stevens's wife, the expense
of mourning apparel was avoided, '• according to the new
method of the town of Boston, which," says the Roxbury cor-
respondent of the "Boston Gazette," '-meets with general
approval among us." In this measure economy and patriotism
went hand in hand, the non-importation of all articles not of
prime necessity having been generally agreed to by the col-
onists.
On entering the cemetery from Eustis Street, the first tomb
that meets the eye.
and the one upon the V.
highest ground, is
covered with an oval
slao of white marble
bearing the name of
•• Dudley." In it re-
poses the dust of the
two governors.
Thomas and Joseph
Dudley, Chief-Jus-
tice Paul Dudley, and
Col. William Dudley,
a prominent political leader a century and a half ago. The
original inscription plate is said to have been of pewter, and to
have been taken out by some of the patriots during the siege
and run into bullets, lead being a scarce article in their camp.
Of the epitaphs on Thomas Dudley, that by Rev. Ezekiel
Rogers is by far the best : —
" In books a prodigal they say,
A living cyclopaedia.
A table talker, rich in sense
And witty without wit's pretence.
DUDLEY TOMB — OLD TABLET.
100 ministers' tomb.
An able champion in debate,
Wbose words lacked numbers but not weight,
Both Catholic and Christian too,
A soldier trusty, tried and true ;
Condemned to share the common doom,
Reposes here in Dudley's tomb."
By way of contrast, this, from Broome Churchyard, Eng-
land, on another Dudley, will do : —
"God be praised!
Here is Mr. Dudley senior
And Jane his wife also,
"Who, whilst living was his superior
But see what death can do.
Two of his sons also lie here,
One Walter, t'other Joe;
They all of them went in the year
1510, below."
Near the centre of the ground is the ministers' tomb, in
which are the remains of the pastors of the First Church,
including the apostle Eliot. The tomb that formerly occu-
pied this spot was erected about the 3'ear 16SG, by the friends
of William Bowen, of Roxbury, who had been a captive in
the hands of the Turks. Hearing of his pitiable condition,
they raised a sum of money for his ransom. He died before
this could be effected, and the money was appropriated to
the building of a tomb for their deceased ministers. " Good
old Mrs. Eliot," the apostle's wife, became its first occupant.
The old tomb was about three feet in height, built of brick,
and covered by a large slab of sandstone, without inscription,
and was in a ruinous condition when the parish committee
caused the brick portion of the structure to be replaced by
substantial blocks of sandstone. On one side is inscribed in
large letters,
THE PARISH TOMB.
A white marble slab was placed upon the sandstone base
in 1858, with the following inscription : —
ministers' tomb. 101
Here lie the Remains
of
John Eliot,
The Apostle to the Indians,
Ordained over the First Church Nov. 5, 1632. Died May 20, 1090.
Aged LXXXVI.
Also of
Thomas Walter,
Ordained Oct. 10, 1718. Died Jan. 10, 1725.
Aged XXIX.
Nehemiah \Yalter.
Ordained Oct. 17, 1688. Died Sept. 17, 1750.
Aged LXXXVII.
Oliver Peabodt,
Ordained Nov. 7, 1750. Died May 29, 1752.
Aged XXXII.
Amos Adams,
Ordained Sept. 12, 1753. Died Oct. 5, 1775.
Aged XLVII.
Eliphalet Porter,
Ordained Oct. 2, 1782. Died Dec. 7, 1833.
Aged LXXV.
The oldest gravestone now to be found here is that of the
first child of Rev. Samuel Danforth, the colleague of Eliot : —
Samuel Danforth,
Aged 6 months.
Dyed 22 D: 3 M: 1653.
A curious epitaph is this of one of the early teachers of the
Roxburv School and a graduate of Harvard College : —
" Sub spe immortali, y e
Herse of Mr. Benj. Thomson
Learned Schoolmaster,
& Physician & y-
Reuouued poet of N. Engl.
Obiit Aprilis 13, Anno Dom.
1714 & Gratis suae 74
Mortuus Sed Immortalis.
He that would try
\Yhat is true happiness indeed, must die."
102
JOHN GROSVENOR.
OLD INSCRIPTIONS.
GEOSVEXOR.
Among the old stones is one thus inscribed : —
" Here lyeth buried ye Body of Mr. John Grosvenor, -who Deed. Sept.
ye 27th in y c 40th year of his age. 1691."
Upon it is the eoat-of-arms of Gros-
venor, the family name of the Marquis
of "Westminster, who is accounted the
wealthiest of English noblemen. This
is the onl}' eoat-of-arms in this old
cemetery, although the Dudleys, the
Denisons, and many other of the early
families here were no doubt entitled to
the distinction. The scion of the illus-
trious house of Grosvenor, who once
resided in Eoxbury. was by trade a
tanner, and held the responsible office of town constable,
then of great dignity and importance.
Some of the early inscriptions remaining are, —
John Aleoeke, May 5, 1690, in y e 35th year of his age.
Robert Calef, April 13, 1719, aged 71.
Isaac Curtis, May 31, 1695, aged 55.
John Davis, March 16, 1701-5, aged about 02.
John Mayo, April 28, 16S8, aged 58. Hannah, his wife, Oct. 5, 1699, aged 63.
Deacon Wm. Park, May 10, 1683, aged 79.
John Pierpont, Dec. 7. 1682, aged 65.
Deacon Samuel Scarborough, March IS, 1714, aged G9 years and 2 mos.
Shubal Sever, Jan. 18, 1729-30, aged 92. Hannah, his wife, Feb. 13,
1721-2. aged 75.
John Watson, Dec. 2, 1671, aged 77.
Thomas Weld, Jan. 17, 1682-3, aged 56. Dorothy, his widow, July 31,
1694, aged C6.
Elisabeth Williams, aged 80 years, died the last of June, 1674.
Theoda, widow of Stephen Peck, Aug. 26, 1718, aged 81. (Her first
husband was Deacon Samuel Williams.)
John Stebbins, aged 70 years, died Dec. 4, 16S1. "An (Anne Munke),
who was his first wife lieth by him aged 50 year?, died April 3d, 1680."
" Here lyes interred ye body of William Denisox, Master of Arts &
representative for y e town of Roxbury about 20 years, who departed this
life March 22<i 1717-18 setatis 54.
" Integer atque Probus Dms Patrla que fidehs,
Uixit nunc placide dormtt in hoc tumulo."
THE CANAL. 103
Crude and inharmonious as are the verses upon these
stones, they exhibit no such glaring violation of good taste
as does this couplet in "Westminster Abbey, over the remains
of the poet Mathew Prior : —
" Life is a jest, and all things shew it,
I thought so once, and now I know it."
For all its wealth of costly tombs, monumental marble,
and storied urn. Westminster Abbey contains no more pre-
cious dust than that of the good old apostle Eliot, who sleeps
in this hallowed ground.
Un the north side of the yard are the gravestones of some
of the "Warren family, including Joseph, the father of Gen.
Warren. Mo>t of their remains have been transferred to
Forest Hills.
A canal fifty feet in width, extending from the wharf at
Lamb's Dam Creek nearly to Eustis Street, just east of the
burying-ground, was built, about the year 1795. Its enter-
prising projectors, among whom were Ralph Smith, Dr.
Thomas "Williams, and Aaron and Charles Davis, proposed by
this means to save two and a half miles of land carriage from
the centre of Boston, in their supplies of fuel, lumber, bark
for tanning, flour, salt, etc.. and in conveying to the shipping
in the harbor and stores on the wharves, as well as exporting
abroad, the salted provisions and country produce which con-
stituted a large proportion of the trade and commerce of the
town at that time. The line between Roxbury and Boston
passed through the centre of this canal. Gen. Heath's man-
uscript journal, under date of March 9, 179G, notes the fact
that a large topsail schooner that day came up into the basin
of the new canal in •• Lamb's Meadow."
"When Northampton Street was built in 1S32. the terminus
of navigation was made where Morse & Co. now have their
coal wharf. North of this street and east of Harrison
Avenue was a dike to keep out the sea ; all else was marsh
flats save where the channel afforded sufficient depth to float
104 SAMUEL TEASK. — TRAINING— FIELD.
small vessels laden with merchandise to Roxbury. The
canal, never a paying investment, long ago ceased to be of
commercial importance, and is soon to be filled up by the
city.
A little to the east, in the direction of the old magazine,
ran a wide creek, in which the rite of baptism was frequently
performed. At one of these ceremonies of unusual interest,
the pressure of the spectators against a fence upon its border
was so great that it gave way, and a number of sinners were
immersed nolens volens, — a circumstance which greatly inter-
fered with the solemnity of the occasion.
The old canal-house, where the lumber-yard of Wm. Curtis
now is, was the storehouse of Aaron and Charles Davis, pork
and beef dealers and slaughterers. This was at the head of
the canal. Near the pier was a little beach or landing-place
where fishermen disposed of their piscatory wares. Among
them was Capt. Samuel Trask, a soldier of the Revolution,
yet remembered by those who as boys frequented the beach
and enjoyed its boating and other privileges as only boys can.
The captain, who late in life kept a fishing vessel here, built
in 1812, near the head of the canal, a schooner of about
seventy tons. This vessel, laden with provisions by Aaron
and Charles Davis, on sailing out of the harbor fell an ea->y
prey to the British fleet then cruising at its entrance.
Trask had been an artilleryman at Monmouth, and one of
his stories of that hot eng;a2;ement was worthv of Munchausen.
The bullets fell so thickly in his immediate vicinity, so he
said, that after the battle was over he found his outside
pockets filled with those fired from the enemy, they having
fallen there, somewhat flattened, after first striking his person.
To the occupation of fishing, Trask added that of roofing.
The ol'l training-field, devoted to this purpose from the
earliest days, contained seven acres, and was situated
between Dudley and Eustis Streets, its western boundary
being opposite Greenville Street. It formed the eastern por-
ARMS. — THE TRAINBAND. 105
tiou of the triangle Wins' between Washington. Dudlev, an<l
Eustis Streets, having upon its western side the estates of
Eliot. "Walter. Weld, and Danforth. Originally the property
of Deacon "William Parke, it came in possession of the Weld
family, Joseph Weld, in 17G2, perfecting his title by purchas-
ing of the town its right to use the ground for military exer-
cises. Other grounds subsequently used for this purpose
were, the common west of the church, now Eliot Square.
•• Xed's Hill." where the House of the Angel Guardian now
stands, and the Wvman farm, above Hog Bridge.
Among the distinguishing traits of our ancestors was their
attention to military affairs. Arms were a common posses-
sion. Those of Isaac Morrill, of Roxbury, hung up in his
parlor, -were, a musket, a fowling-piece, three swords, a pike,
a half-pike, a corselet, and two belts of bandoleers. All males
between sixteen and sixty were required to be provided with
arms and ammunition. The arms of private soldiers were
pikes, muskets, and swords. The muskets had matchlocks
or firelocks, and to each one there was a pair of bandoleers
or pouches for powder and bullets, and a stick called a rest
for use in taking aim. The pikes were ten feet in length.
besides the spear at the end. For defensive armor corselets
■were worn, and coats quilted with cotton.
The trainband had not less than sixty-four, nor more than
two hundred men. and twice as many musketeers as pikemeu,
the latter being of superior stature. Its ofii- f-
cers were a captain, lieutenant, ensign, and
four sergeants. The commissioned officers
carried swords, partisans or leading staves,
and sometimes pistols. The sergeants bore
halberds. The flag of the colon}- bore the
red cross of St. George in one corner, upon
a white field, the pine-tree, the favorite em-
blem of New England, being in one corner of the four spaces
formed by the cross. Company trainings were ordered at
COLONIAL FLAG.
10G UNDEKHILL. — .MORRIS.
first every Saturday, then every month, then eight times a
year. "The training to begin at one of the clock of the
afternoon.'' The drum was their only music.
As early as July. 1631, the General Court ordered that on
the first Tuesday of every month there should be a general
training of Capt. John Underbill's company, at Roxbury or
Boston. This company was composed of the freemen of both
towns.
Underhill, who was subsequently banished for sharing in
the heresies of Mrs. Hutchinson, claimed to have had an
influx of the Holy Spirit while indulging in •• the moderate
use of the creature called tobacko." He had been a soldier
in the Netherlands, and was one of the commanders at the
destruction of the Pequodfort. at Mystic.
Lieut. Richard Morris, also exiled for the same cause, was
one of the founders of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery
Company ; represented Roxbury in the General Court in
1G35-G, and was the second commander of Castle "William.
In March. 1G33, he was Underbill's ensign, but •• taking some
distaste to his office, requested the magistrates that he might
be discharge! of it. and so was, whereby he gave offence to
the congregation of Boston, so as being questioned and con-
vinced of sin in forsaking his calling, he did acknowledge his
fault, and at the request of the people was by the magistrates
chosen lieutenant of the same company, for he was a very
stout man and an experienced soldier." Punishment on
••conviction of sin," by promotion, seems singular, but in
the case of this •• very stout man and experienced soldier"
rniht be regarded as extremeby politic. Com. Charles Morris,
one of our most distinguished naval officers, was a descendant
of this Lieut. Richard, of Roxbury.
Dec. 13, 1G36, the General Court ordered, "That all
military men in this jurisdiction shall be ranked into three
regiments, Boston, Roxberry, Dorchester, Weimoutb, Iling-
ham, to be one regiment, whereof John Winthrope senior
TRAINING IN 1CS5. 107
esquire shall be colonel, and Thos. Dudley Esquire lieftenant
colonel."' In the expedition under Stoughton against the
Pequods, in 1C37, there were ten Roxbury men.
In 1C4G. Capt. Joseph Weld being dead, " the young men
of the town agreed together to choose one George Denison,
a voting soldier come lately out of the wars in England, but
the ancient and chief men of the town chose one Mr. Prich-
ard, whereupon much discontent and murmuring arose in the
town.'' The court negatived the action of •• Young America"
and decided in favor of Prichard.
At a later period it was ordered and decreed •• That all the
souldiers belonging to the 20 bands in the Massachusets
Gfovcrnment should be examined and drilled cicrlit daies in a
yea re and whoever should absent himself, except it were upon
unavoidable Occasion should pay 5 shillings for every daies
neglect." ••• There are none exempt unless it be a few timor-
ous persons that are apt to plead infirmity if the church
choose them not for deacons or thev cannot get to serve some
magistrate or minister," says Lechford, ki but assuredly the
generality of this people are very forward for feats of war."
John Dunton. a London bookseller then visiting Boston,
thus describes a training in 1G8.3 : - - Being come into the field
the captain called us all into our close order to go to prayer,
and then prayed himself, and when our exercise was done the
captain likewise concluded with prayer. Solemn prayer in
the field upon a day of training I never knew but in New
England, where it seems it is a common custom. About 3
of the clock both our exercises and praying being over,
we had a very noble dinner to which all the clergy were in-
vited."
The town that sent three companies of minute-men to Lex-
ington on the 19th of April, 1770. and furnished three gen-
erals to the Revolutionary arm}", may well be proud of her
military record. Eliot's testimony respecting the efforts
made by the town during Philip's war is given elsewhere.
108 MILITARY HISTORY.
Ill the various Indian wars during the colonial period, and
those in which England and France contended for the empire
of America, the citizens of Roxbury took an active part,
furnishing main- officers of distinction as well as a large num-
ber of intrepid soldiers. The officers of the military company
of the town which, in 1G89, took part in the Revolution that
overthrew the government of Andros, were Capt. Samuel
Ruggles, Sen., Lieut. Samuel Gore, and Ensign Timothy
Stevens.
Roxbury and Brookline sent thirty-nine soldiers in the ill-
fated expedition to Canada in 1G90, most of whom perished.
A tract of land was in 1735 granted to their widows and
children, called Roxbury or Gardiner's Canada, now War-
wick, Mass., a town in the northeast corner of Franklin
County, thirty-seven miles from Boston. In September.
1736, Samuel Newell and the officers and soldiers in the
compan}', under the command of Capt. Andrew Gardiner, in
the Canada expedition, held the first meeting of the proprie-
tors at the house of James Jarvis, innkeeper, in Roxbury.
Capt. Robert Sharp, of Brookline. was chosen moderator,
and William Dudley, Esq , clerk. Roxbury was well repre-
sented in the Louisburg expedition in 1745. She sent two
companies, commanded by Nathaniel Williams and John
Rustles, Ebenezer Newell being; the lieutenant in the com-
pan}' of Estes Hatch. Among the officers from Roxbury
who served in the campaigns of 1758-00. in Canada, were
Col. Joseph Williams. Capt. Jeremiah Richards. Jr.. and
Lieut. Ephraim Jackson.
In December, 1778. the three Roxbury companies were
commanded respectively by Ebenezer Gore. Thomas Mayo,
Jr., and Lemuel May. In March, 1781, the Roxbury artil-
lery was formed, and John Jones Spooner, a gentleman of
high character, afterwards a clergyman, was chosen captain.
This corps, which did good service in Shays's Rebellion,
became an infantry company in 1857, taking its present name,
THE ROXBURY ARTILLERY. 109
the Roxbury City Guard. It furnished three companies to
the war for the Union. After its change of name the old
members organized themselves as the Roxburv Artillerv
Association.
The first parade of the company took place on July 5,
1784, the occasion being the celebration of the anniversary
of National Independence, the Fourth falling on Sunday. An
eye-witness says, •' They appeared well, and performed their
exercises in a creditable manner. They dined together and
were joined by a number of gentlemen of this and some
other towns." On the loth of October following, they again
paraded on occasion of the visit of Gen. Lafayette, salutiug
him with thirteen guns. Their gun-house, or place of meet-
ing, was in the rear of the old town house.
It is quite a feather in the cap of this ancient company,
that so soon after the Revolutionary war, and while every-
thing was prostrate, it should have succeeded in establishing
upon a permanent basis the organization that subsists to-day.
At that time Boston had not a single live military company,
unless it was the artillery company of Capt. Davis. The
Ancient and Honorable Artillery, the Cadets, and the Grena-
dier corps had either been disbanded or were without vitality,
so that when the celebrations of Jul}' 4, 1784, 1785, and 1786,
took place. Roxbury furnished Boston with the military escort
for the occasion.
The Norfolk Guards were organized in 1818, Alexander II.
Gibbs, commander; reorganized in 1838, and disbanded in
1855. Col. Wm, II. Spooner, son of Major John Jones
Spooner. and grandson of Gen. Heath, commanded them in
1841. This corps was highly distinguished for its bearing
and efficiency, and bore upon its roll the names of many of
the prominent citizens of the town.
Roxbury performed her whole duty in the war of the
Rebellion, placing her entire quota promptly in the field.
Among her brave sons whose lives were sacrificed upon the
110 LAMB'S DAM. — LANDING-PLACE.
altar of their country were Gen. T. J. C. 'Anion* and Col.
Lucius M. Sargent.
On the corner of Mall Street, formerly a part of the train-
ing: field, the laroe house built in 1801 bv Aaron Davis for
his residence, is the site of a redoubt constructed in the early
days of the siege to protect the approach to Dorchester. Here
ran the lower road, the creek making up near it.
Albany Street, originally the '■ Way to the Town Landing"
or wharf, was in 1S25 widened and named Davis Street. It
then extended from Eustis Street to the town wharf. Since
annexation it has been extended to its present terminus,
forming a broad and continuous roadway east of and parallel
with Harrison Avenue. The latter, originating in a dike for
the protection of the Neck, known a century ago as Hill's
Dam, received its present name in 1841 in honor of the visit
of the President. Front Street, as it was then called, was
continued to Eustis Street, and the Roxbury portion of it
named Plymouth Street. It was extended in 1870 to War-
ren Street.
An elevation, quite precipitous on its western side, begin-
ning at Yeoman Street and sloping down nearly to the Lead
Works in Albany Street, was the site of the Lamb's Dam
Battery, famous during the siege. The works here, completed
early in September, 1775. were in 178 C levelled by order of
the town. The hill on which they stood was graded down
man}* years ago.
Lamb's Dam, built to prevent the tide from overflowing the
marsh, and perhaps to facilitate the making of salt here, ran
parallel with the present Northampton Street, ten feet east
of it, to the town landing. It made a slight angle at its junc-
tion with Hill's Dam, and struck Washington Street just
south of Walnut Place. At the landing-place the brothers
Aaron and Charles Davis had, besides the store on the corner
of Eustis and Washington Streets, an extensive establishment
for packing provisions, a distillery, and a tannery.
DUDLEY - STREET. Ill
Lamb's Dam was the scene of a tragical event at the close
of the year 1778. During a violent snow-storm. "William
Bishop, of Cumberland, R. I., returning from Boston with a
team and two oxen and a horse, through the severity of the
weather missed his way as he was crossing: the Xeclc. and <rot
upon Lamb's Dam, where he with his cattle and horse per-
i-hed. Finding it impossible to save his team he left it, and
endeavored to reach a barrack in the fort near by. but failed
in the attempt. On the following day three Frenchmen were
found dead in Roxbury, supposed to have perished of the
extreme cold of the preceding night.
Having traversed the old lane to its junction with the Dor-
chester road, let us retrace our steps, and. taking a new
departure, follow the old Dorchester road which began on the
town street near Zeigier. and passing around the old school-
house and over the narrow road between it and Smelt Brook,
took a straight course to Dorchester through what is now
Dudley Street, so named west of Washington Street in 1811,
and east of it in 1825.
On our left is the Eliot estate, which, with the training-
field, extended to Mount Pleasant. Upon the right, lying
between Washington and "Warren Streets, is the Isaac Morrill
estate. Here also was the blacksmith's shop of Tobias Davis,
son-in-law of Morrill and contemporary with the apostle Eliot.
One of Isaac Morrill's two forges belonged in 1720 to his
great-grandson. Samuel Stevens, the grandfather of Joseph
Warren. Let us pause for a moment before the Dudley Street
Baptist Church and glance at its records.
A series of meetings held in the autumn of 1817 at the
residence of Beza Tucker, now occupied by C. F. Bradford,
subsequently continued in what was called " "Whitewash
Hall," a room in the three-story wooden building in Guild
Row, led to the formation of the Dudley Street Baptist
Church. At that time even this, the most thickly settled
portion of the town, had but a small population, and but one
112
DUDLEY STREET BATTIST CHURCH.
religious society, that of Rev. Dr. Porter, worshipping in the
old meeting-house on the hill. A site was purchased of Dea.
Munroe, and the first building, which was of wood, was raised
May 10, 1820, on the same day that the remains of Mr.
Tucker, the early and generous friend of the society, were
borne to the grave. The church was dedicated Nov. 1. 1820,
and on March 9,
1821, the society,
consisting of
twenty-three per-
sons, under the
name of "The
Baptist Church
inRoxbury."was
formed. Its pres-
ent name was
adopted on Feb.
28, 1850.
On May 15.
1821, seven con-
verts were bap-
tized in Stony
Brook. At this,
the first adminis-
tration of bap-
tism in Roxbury,
about two thou-
sand persons
were present, al-
most the entire
population turning out to witness it. On a subsequent occa-
sion the number present was so great, and all were so eager
to behold the solemn rite, that they crowded upon the logs and
planks which extended out over the water near the old dam
where the service was performed. Suddenly the plank on
Dl'DLZT STREET B \PTIST CnVT.ru.
DEA. PARKE. 113
which stood one of the most excellent and highly esteemed
Christian citizens of the town gave way, and he was sub-
jected, in the presence of all, to an unwilling immersion.
In 18o2, to meet the wants of the growing congregation,
the present beautiful edifice was erected, and the old one sold
to the Methodists, who removed it to the corner of Warren
and Cliff Streets, where it was destroyed by fire early on
Sunday morning. March 29, 18G8. The new house, which
was dedicated July 27. 1S53, is of brick, in the pointed
Gothic style, is covered with mastic, and blocked off in imi-
tation of brown sandstone. The interior is divided into nave
and side aisles by cluster columns from which spring arches,
supporting the clere-story. Its length, exclusive of the
porch, is one hundred and seventeen feet ; extreme breadth,
seventy-five feet ; height of tower and spire, built entirely
of brick, two hundred feet. It has a seating capacity of
eleven hundred. The succession of its pastors follows : —
SETTLED. BESIGXED.
Joseph Elliot, March, 1822. June, 1824.
William Leverett, June, 1825. July, 1839.
Thos. Ford Caldicott, June, 1840. April, 1848.
Tnos. Davis Anderson, August, 1848. December, 1861.
Henry Melville King, April, 18G3.
On the southeasterly side, after passing Warren Street,
came the estate of Win. Cheney, of two and one half acres.
Next came Dea. William Parke, with eight acres, while
beyond were the houses and lands of Payson. Francis Smith,
and Edward Riggs. Dea. Parke, " a man of pregnant
understanding, and one of the first in the church of Rox-
bury," came over among the first settlers in 1G30, and for
more than half a century was one of her most useful and
honored citizens. For thirty-three years he was her repre-
sentative in the legislature, was often a selectman, holding
also mam- other important trusts, public and private, and
was one of the earliest members of the Ancient and Honora-
114 EDMUND WELD. — MOUNT PLEASANT.
Lie Artillery Company. He died in 1685. at the age of
seventj'-eight. being, as expressed in his will, '"old and
weake of body but of perfect understanding, according to the
measure received." He had no sons, and his large property
passed after his decease into the hands of his grandchildren,
principally to the children of his daughter Theoda. wife of
Samuel Williams.
A portion of this estate passed to the Weld family, one of
whom. Mr. Samuel Weld, yet resides here. Edmund, grandson
of Rev. Thomas Weld, in 1742 bequeathed to his son Edmund
his " part of the homestead and training field, and the land
adjoyning." The Unitarian Church, on the corner of Green-
ville Street, in which Rev. Wm. R. Alger preached from
1S47 to l.S.j.j, is nearly on the site of the Edmund Weld
homestead. Moreland, Fairland. Greenville, and a part of
Winthrop Streets are comprised within the limits of the Weld
estate. The home of the present representative of this old
family, on Moreland Street, is also that of his sister and her
husband, the well-known writer, Epes Sargent, Esq.
Between the Weld farm and the estate formerly John
Read's is the locality known as Mount Pleasant. It includes
the avenue of that name. Vine and Forest Streets, and
extends to the northern extremity of Blue Hill, formerly
Grove Hall Avenue. Giles Payson, a deacon of the First
Church, who also held many town offices, had here his home-
stead of five acres. He was one of the Nazing emigrants.
and died in 1683. The Payson estate afterwards became the
property of John Holbrook, tanner, and in 17G7 was bought
by Moses White. Daniel, the last of the Roxbury Holbrooks.
died here in 1*27, aged eighty-three. This farm, then con-
sisting of twenty-seven acres, was bought about 1833 of the
heirs of Aaron White, and cut up into house lots. White's
former residence is on Forest Street, next that of Hon. John
S. Sleeper. This was one of the first of the old Roxbury
farms bought for speculative purposes, and received its
ROBERT WILLIAMS. 115
present attractive name in 1 S 3 "> . Prior to 1808 Forest Street
was called Chestnut : and Mount Pleasant Avenue. Elm
Avenue. This part of Eustis Street was at the same time
rechristened Dudley.
Mr. Sleeper, who yet resides here at the age of eighty-
three, came to Koxbury in 184:3. Twenty-one years of his
early life were passed on the ocean, and his experiences of a
seafaring life have been given to the public in newspaper
sketches and in books. He edited and published the " Bos-
ton Journal " for many years. In 1856-53 he was mayor of
Roxbury, and recently represented his district in the State
Senate.
The homestead of Robert Williams, one of the early set-
tlers of Roxburv, in which five generations of the familv
lived and died, remained standing until 1794. upon the site
now occupied by the large brick dwelling-house on Dearborn
Street, near the schoolhouse. This house, built by Dr.
Thomas Williams, was the first brick mansion erected in
Roxbury, and was the family residence until the death ol
his son, "Lawyer Tom," in 1823. This old family seat
formed a part of quite a large estate, extending easterly from
what is now Albany Street, on both sides of Eustis Street, as
far as Magazine Street. It sustained great injuiy during the
siege, the best part of its orchard having been cut down by
the troops.
In 1820 the estate, then containing one hundred and
twenty acres of upland and ten acres of marsh, was bought
of the heirs of Dr. Thomas Williams by Aaron D. Williams
and William II. Sumner, and afterwards cut up into lots and
sold. The mansion was recently owned by W. Elliott
Woodward, who at the same time had in his possession those
of Gov. Eustis and Col. Swan, all three notable residences.
To the enterprise and energy of this gentleman. Roxbury is
greatly indebted for the building up of this quarter of the
town.
11(3 mccurtin's diary.
Robert, the emigrant ancestor of this the most prolific of
the old Roxbury families, came from Norwich, England, in
1608, and died at a great age in 1G0:3. Among his distin-
guished descendants are Col. Ephraim, founder of Williams
College ; Rev. Elisha, president of Yale College ; William,
governor of Connecticut, and a signer of the Declaration of
Independence ; Col. Joseph, of Roxbury ; and Rev. Eleazer,
the " lost Bourbon."
Most of the Roxbury Williamses are descended from
Stephen, third son of Robert, who inherited the homestead,
and died in 1720. Capt. Stephen Williams, his son, is thus
commemorated on his gravestone in the old burvinsr-irround :
" His -works of piety and love
Remain before the Lord;
Honor on earth and joy above
Shall be his sure reward."
Dr. Thomas, son of Eleazer and Sarah Williams, an excel-
lent physician and a prominent citizen, born here in 1736,
died in 1815, after a life of remarkable industry, temperance,
and activity. He was influential in town affairs, and was one
of the projectors and corporators of the Roxbury Canal.
The doctor was a dark-complexioned man. of exceedingly
conrteous manners, and when making his daily round of pro-
fessional visits upon his large white horse, being near
sighted, would bow to ever}' window as he passed, so as to
avoid giving offence by omitting anybody.
The diary of Daniel McCurtin, one of the Penns3dvania
riflemen quartered here during the siege, contains some
amusing particulars. He says : —
"Upon the 13th of August, 1775, we marched from Cambridge iu
company with Capt. Morgan's company to a small village named
Rocksbury, about two miles from Boston, situated on the south side
of the city and fairly exposed to their fortifications. This has been
a pleasant place, but the regulars have spoiled it with their cannon
balls, and it is now in a manner desolate, the people having left their
houses and "iven them to the soldiers for barracks. The 14th beinji
DR. THOMAS WILLIAMS. 117
Sunday, we had to stand seutry at a place called Lamb's Dara while
a party of our musketmen were erecting a fort.
"Sept. 11. This morning as I was breakfasting in the former
dwelling-house of Dr. Williams, they fired four 32-pounders at
the house, one of which rushed through the room, dashed one side
out of the chimney, broke two partitions, and filled our dishes with
plastering, ceiling, and bricks. George Switzler, Sergt. Dowd.
and William Johnson were in the room when this happened. Any
one may judge whether or no this did not surprise us four young
heroes. How it was with the others I cannot say, but I know to
the best of my thinking that I went down two pair of stairs of three
strides, without a fall, and as soon as I was out of doors ran to the
breastwork in great haste, which is our place of safety, without the
least concern for our breakfast, to James McCancie's amazement.
"Oct. 11. This day at eleven o'clock came Dr. Williams to take
away a corn-house belonging to him which stood adjacent to our
house. It was thirteen feet long and eleven broad, and very strongly
made. He brought a cart, six oxen, and two cows. First the house
was lifted up on the cart aud balanced evenly ; then our men conveyed
him for about a mile, at which time we met a hill which made us
think that the house could never be hauled up. At this, Dr. Wil-
liams went Into an orchard and fetched a hatful of apples and came
out on the hilltop and split them, and expressed himself iu these
words to the steers, ' Come up, and you may eat apples.' at which
words the cattle strained and pulled for life until they got up.
which caused us to laugh very heartily, and wonder much."
The doctor was a Tory, but lry no means an obnoxious oue,
and he was too useful a citizen to be driven away, as were
the others. Ou hearing of the affair at Lexington he re-
marked to Edward .Sumner, ' w Well, the nail is driven."
" Yes," said Sumner, who was always opposed in politics to
the doctor, •• the nail is driven, and we'll clinch it, too."
Robert, his grandfather, was some time town clerk of Rox-
bury, and received two acres of land near Dorchester Brook,
for his services. He subsequently petitioned the town to
take it back, as it occasioned him ,; too much worldly care."
The doctor being a somewhat avaricious man. Sumner would
often banter him about the great change in the "Williamses in
this particular since Robert's day.
1 18 EAST STREET.
A sharp bargain was that which he drove with a passing
countryman, whose load of bricks he examined, and having
selected three perfect samples, made a contract with him for
enough to build his new house. The astonishment and disgust
of the countryman may be imagined when he found, ou deliv-
ering his first load, which was no way inferior to the one
examined, that every brick not equal in size or color, and not
in every respect up to the sample, was rejected.
East Street, so named in 1842. now Hampden Street, runs
diagonally through the Williams estate from Eustis Street to
the lead works. On Blue Hill Avenue, then called East
Street, an extensive piggery once stood. Lucius M. Sar-
gent, in his •• Dealings with the Dead," gives the following
amusing account of this nuisance, and how it was abated : —
••In 1S32 Boston went extensively into the carrion and garbage
business, and furnished the provant for a legion of hogs. The car-
rion carts of the metropolis of New England, eundo redeundo et
manendo, dropping filth and fatness as they went, became an abom-
inable nuisance and, as Commodore Trunnion beat up to church on
his wedding day, so every citizen, as soon as he discovered one of
"hese aromatic vehicles drawn by six or eight horses, was obliged
o • close haul his nose, and struggle for the weather gage.'
•• The proprietor of this colossal hog-sty, with his burnery of
bones and other fragrant contrivances, created a stench unknown
among men since the bituminous conflagration of the cities of the
plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, and which terrible stench, in the lan-
guage of Sternhold and Hopkins, 'came flying all abroad.' In the
keeping of the varying wind this aria cattiva, like that from a grave-
yard surcharged with half-buried corpses, visited from day to day
every dwelling, and nauseated every man, woman, and child in the
village. Four town meetings were held upon this subject. Roxbury
calmly remonstrated, Boston doggedly persisted, and at last,
patience having had its perfect work, the carrion carts, while
attempting to enter Roxbury, were met by the yeomanry on the line
and driven back to Boston. Complaint was made, the grand jury
of Norfolk found bills against the owner of the hogs and the city of
Boston both were duly convicted and entered into a written obliga-
tion to sin no more in this wise."
ENOCH BARTLETT. 119
Magazine Street, ••Powder-House Lane," formerly led to
the powder magazine belonging to the State, and had a gate
at the present entrance of the street. The magazine stood
on what was known as Pine Island, a part of the confiscated
estate of Gov. Bernard, now traversed Iry Swett Street, and
was for many years kept by John Read.
Next comes the Bartlett mansion, built about 1805 by Capt.
Thomas Brewer, who perished, as is supposed, about the }'ear
1812 while on a voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to
Sumatra. His widow, a venerable relic of the old school of
manners, died greatly respected and beloved at Eastport,
Me., in 1801, aged eight} - . Her father, Andrew Cazneau, a
judge of admiralty before the Revolution, and whose property
she inherited, died at Roxbury in 1792. From 1822 to I860,
the year of his death, it was the home of Enoch Bartlett, a
well-known and highly esteemed citizen. It is at present
occupied by a charitable association called '-The Little Sis-
ters of the Poor." Mr. Allen Putnam, who married a daugh-
ter of Mr. Bartlett, and who administered the estate, found
that, adding to the purchase-money of this property compound
interest for thirty nine }*ears, brought it to within one thou-
sand dollars of the assessed valuation in 1860. The residence
of Mr. Putnam, whose writings upon the subject of Spiritual-
ism are well known, is opposite the mansion house. This
estate was formerly John "Williams's.
Two of the original ; * Bartlett" pear-trees, imported by
Capt. Brewer, are still in bearing here. This pear, whose
^ize. beautv. and excellence entitle it to the hi<z;h estimation
in which it is everywhere held, originated about 1770 in
England, where it was known as '■ "Williams's Bonchretien."
"When imported its name was lost, and having been cultivated
and disseminated by Mr. Bartlett, became so universally
known as the Bartlett pear that it was found impossible to
restore its old name
Mi'. Bartlett, who was a Boston merchant, laid the founda-
120
EUSTIS HOUSE.
tion of his fortune bv bringing to the United States a cargo
of English goods iust when the breaking out of the war be-
tween the United States and England had greatly enhanced
the price of imported commodities. He took great interest
in agriculture, and was vice-president of the Massachusetts
Agricultural Society.
Perez Swell's old house stands on the opposite side of
Eustis Street, at some distance from it. This, with Weld's.
ET7STIS HOUSE.
White's, Dr. Williams's. Stephen Williams's, and the Eustis
house, were all the houses between the burying-ground and
Dorchester at the beginning of the century. Ewell married
a daughter of Stephen Williams, the tanner, who lived in the
old farm-house, since the residence of Samuel Walker. Esq.
On Shirley Street, some twenty-five rods north of Eustis
Street, is the house built by Gov. Shirley about the middle
of the last century, its oaken frame and other materials, even
the bricks, which were of three different sizes, having, it is
said, been brought from England at a vast expense. Shirley
Place, for so the governor styled it. is a large, square, two-
EUSTIS HOUSE. 121
story, hip-roofed structure, with a stone basement, having a
piazza at each end, and is surmounted by an observatory
enclosed with a railing. This is the most elaborate and
palatial of the old Roxbury mansions, and notwithstanding
the vicissitudes it has undergone, is extremely well preserved.
One of its peculiarities is its double front ; that facing the
harbor, on the side farthest from the road, being undoubtedly
the true one. The upper windows on this side afford a tine
view of the city, the harbor, and the islands. Each front is
approached by a flight of stone steps, flanked by an iron railing
of an antique and solid pattern, but now rusted by the elements.
Entering the northern or proper front you find yourself in
a spacious hall of grand proportions. To the right a broad
staircase leads to a balcony extending around to the left,
where two doors open into the guest-chamber in which Wash-
ington, Franklin, Lafayette. Daniel Webster, and many other
celebrated men have from time to time been accommodated.
From this balcony the musicians entertained the company
seated at the table in the hall. The carved balusters around
the staircase and gallery are of three different patterns, and
the rail surmounting them is inlaid at the top. The base
of the balustrade and staircase is also adorned with a carved
running vine. The ceiling around the main hall is beautifullv
stuccoed, and its floor was originally painted to represent a
carpet. To the right and left of the hall are doors leading
into the reception-room, parlors, etc. The southwest room,
which was Madam Eustis's, contained a secretary which was
the gift of Dr. Joseph Warren to her husband when a student
of medicine with him. On the Dudley Street front is a small
hall paved with marble. Upon great occasions the two halls
were thrown into one by opening the folding-doors between.
The fireplaces were ornamented with Dutch tiles, but when
the house was sold in 18G7 it was completely denuded of
these by those modern Goths and Vandals, curiosity and relic
hunters.
122 EUSTIS HOUSE.
The old house seems queerly constructed, so numerous are
its apartments and so full is it of doors and closets ; many
of the latter arc let into the solid walls. The wine-closets in
the guest-chamber could doubtless tell of many a convivial gath-
ering, and of mirth and jollity unbounded in the time gone by.
Col. Thomas Dawes told Gen. Wm. H. Sumner that he
was one of the masons that helped build the house. Said he,
••You will see, if you go into the stone basement story, a hall
or entry running through its centre, kitchens and other
necessary offices on one side, and the servants' rooms on the
other." These features necessarily disappeared when the
building was removed. To insure warmth it was built of
brick and covered with wood. A lawn of considerable extent
fronted the house. It was said to have been levelled by sol-
diers returned from the Louisburg expedition. Mr. Aaron
D. "Williams often heard his father speak of having seen the
soldiers at work there.
On the east side ran the brook forming the boundary
between Roxbury and Dorchester, but which now flows
through the sewer. A magnificent willow marks the westerly
end of a small pond through which the brook formerly flowed.
A much larger pond, which was on the north side of the
estate, about where "Woodward Avenue enters George Street,
has been filled up. and like the larger part of the estate is
now covered with houses. Of the terraces that formerly
extended from the brook to the hill on the west side of the
estate, only three east of the house remain.
Shirley's first purchase was of Gen. Samuel Waldo, second
in command of the Louisburg expedition, on Nov. 22, 174G,
of a dwelling-house and thirty-three acres, bought by Waldo
in 1729 of Rev. James Allen, the first minister of Brookline,
and a native of Roxbury. In September, 175G, he bought
the land on the south side of the road, formerly Nathaniel
Williams's, extending from Col. Hatch's on the east to
Dennis Street on the west.
ELIAKIM HUTCHINSON. 123
In 1 7 ij 4 the estate was bought by Judge Eliakirn Hutch-
inson, Shirley's son-in-law. He became a member of the
governor's council, and chief justice of the Court of Common
Pleas for Suffolk, and died in June, 1775. Having been a
loyalist, his estate was confiscated, the purchaser, in Septem-
ber, 1782. being the Hon. John Read, a gentleman of consid-
erable political prominence in Roxburyin his day. During his
residence here Major Read dispensed an elegant hospitality,
the memory of which long lingered in the recollection of the
past generation. He subsequently resided in Dennis Street,
where Mrs. James Iluckins now lives, in a house built by
him for his son.
Made a barrack for our soldiers in 1775, it was greatly
injured thereby. Col. Asa Whitcomb's regiment marched to
Dorchester Heights from its quarters here, on the evening of
March 4, 1776. In 1791 Read sold the mansion and a part
of the grounds to a widow, a French refugee, Madame Ber-
telle de Fitzpatrick, nee Bovis. from whose hands it passed,
two years later, into those of Giles Alexander. Among the
exiles driven from their native land by the French Revolu-
tion, who took refuge in Roxbury, I find the names of Dr.
Leprilete. M. Dubuque, M. de Salaberi, and Peter F. C.
Delesdernier.
Of Giles Alexander, tradition says that he treated his
wife so ill. that one evening a party of young men of some of
the best families in Boston came disguised to his house,
broke off the heads of two stone lions who kept guard at the
front gate, and wound up their frolic by bestowing upon the
obnoxious proprietor a complete suit of tar and feathers. A
'■ labyrinth" in the sjrounds in front of the house constituted
the limit of Mrs. Alexander's prescribed bounds for out-door
exercise.
This Boston notion of tarring and feathering is humorously
described in Foote's play of the " Cozeners." There the coz-
ener, Mr. Haw. promises to the Irishman. O'Flanigan, a tide-
124 CAPT. JAMES MAGEE.
waiter's place in the inland parts of America, and he adds. " A
word in your ear ! If you discharge well your duty you will be
found in tar and feathers for nothing. When properly mixed
they make a genteel kind of dress which is sometimes worn
in that climate. It is very light, keeps out the rain, and
sticks extremely close to the skin." The practice became so
prevalent here as to qualify the ancient saying, that " man is
a two-legged animal without feathers."
Shirley Place was afterward occupied b\' M. Dubuque, who
emigrated from Martinique, and whose cook, named Julien.
kept the celebrated restaurant in Boston, at the corner of
Milk and Congress Streets. Upon the lawn in front of the
house a novel sight was in his day presented to the descend-
ants of the Puritans, — that of ball-playing Sunday afternoons.
In 1798 the estate was purchased of Giles Alexander. Jr., by
Capt. James Magee, a convivial, noble-hearted Irishman, a
shipmaster in the employ of Thomas H. Perkins, and who.
while in command of the privateer brig '"General Arnold."
had been shipwrecked near Plymouth, Mass., in the winter of
1779. The brio- was driven ashore in a terrible snow-storm.
So intense was the cold that seventy-eight of the crew were
frozen to death, and from the merciless pelting of the waves,
which froze hard to them, they looked rather like solid statues
of ice than human bodies. The survivors, twenty-eight in
number, who had been huddled together on the' quarter-deck,
with no extra clothing, with no shelter but the skies, and no
food for three days, were finally rescued by the men of Plym-
outh. All that was saved from below was a keg of rum. of
which all who drank, after a brief excitement, sunk into a
stupor from which they never awoke. The others made a
wise and salutary use of it by pouring it into their boots.
In August, 1819, soon after his return from the mission to
Holland, Gov. Eustis bought the property of Magee's widow,
and there passed the remainder of his days. After the de-
cease of Mrs. Eustis, the estate was sold at auction in August.
Hon. William Shirley, Esq.
GOV. SHIRLEY. 125
1867, and cut up into house-lots. In order to lay out Shirley
Street the mansion house was moved a little to the southeast.
An elm-tree marks the place near which stood its northerly
corner. The adjacent hill has been dug away to the level of
the street, so that at present nothing of the old attractiveness
of the place remains. A fine large painting, " The Carnival
of Venice,'' that hung in the main hall, was sold at the same
time as the house.
William Shirley, governor of Massachusetts from 1741 to
175G. was the son of a London merchant, who by marriage
became possessed of the estate of Otehall in the parish of
Wivelslield. Sussex, England. He was educated at Cambridge,
and designed for the bar, where his superior talents and address
procured him the notice of Sir Robert Walpole, and of the
Duke of Newcastle, who afterwards gave him his appointment
of governor. Arriving
at Boston, in August,
1 73 1 .with a friendly let-
ter of introduction from
Newcastle to Gov.
Belcher, he practised law with success, and had established
such a reputation for character and ability that the news of
his appointment to the chief magistrac}' in 1741 was received
with general favor.
He was the prime mover in the successful expedition against
Cape Breton in 1745. which resulted in the capture of Louis-
burg, one of the strongest fortifications in America, bv a
force of four thousand New England men led bv Col. "William
Pepperell, aided by a small British fleet under Com. Warren.
Such was the popularity of this enterprise that more men
volunteered for it than could be received, and in seven weeks
three thousand two hundred and fifty men were enrolled in
Massachusetts, including two full companies from Roxbury.
This brave and determined but wholly undisciplined body
embarked from Boston on March 24, 1745. ,; Pray for us
126 LOUISBURG EXPEDITION.
while we fight for you." was their parting salutation as
they left behind them their families, their firesides, and theii
friends.
Dr. William Douglass, a man of learning but of strong preju-
dices, ridiculed the idea of the Louisburg expedition, as did
even the sagacious Dr. Franklin in one of the wittiest letters
he ever wrote. But the spirit of New England was up ; the
celebrated preacher. "Whitefield, furnished the motto, "JN7/
desperandum Christo duci" giving to the expedition the air
of a crusade ; made a recruiting-house of the sanctuary ; and
not onl}' preached Delenda est Carthago, but Parson Moody,
one of his followers, joined the troops as chaplain, and actu-
ally carried an axe on his shoulder with which to hew down
the Catholic images in the churches of the fated city.
After Pepperell's nomination to the command. Shirley wrote
to Gov. "Wentworth, of Xew Hampshire, offering it to him.
undoubtedh' supposing that the governor's gout would make
the proposition safe. But in this he was mistaken. Went-
worth flung awa}' his crutches and offered his services, and
Shirley had the mortification not onlv to make him an apology,
but to tell him that an}' change in the command would hazard
the expedition.
In spite of the formidable obstacles to be overcome, the
victorious Xew-Englanders entered the city as conquerors,
after a siege of less than two months, on the 17th of June, a
day destined to become doubly memorable for Americans
thirty }'ears later. The success of the plan was in great
measure due to the celerity with which it was carried out, the
French being totally unprepared.
Shirley went to England in September. 1740, and was
soon after appointed one of the commissioners to settle the
American boundaries, spending much time in France with little
success. At the age of threescore he was captivated with
the charms of a young girl, his landlord's daughter, in Paris,
married her, and in August, 1753, brought Lis young wife, who
GOV. SHIRLEY. 127
was a Catholic, to Boston, to take precedence in the society
of the Puritan matrons of Massachusetts. — a most ill-judged
step, which he had reason to repent as long as he lived.
"When Franklin was in Boston in 1704, he had several
interviews with Shirley, who communicated to him •• the pro-
found secret," " the grand design " of taxing the colonies by Act
of Parliament. Shirley was a strong advocate of the prerog-
ative of the king and the power of Parliament, and in 1756
advised the Ministry to impose a stamp tax in America.
"Washington visited him in March, 1756, and related to
him the circumstances of his son's death, at the battle of the
Monongahela, where Gen. Braddock was defeated and killed.
He was well received and much noticed by the governor, with
whom he continued ten days, mixing constant!}* in society,
visiting Castle William and other objects worthy of notice in
the vicinity, little dreaming that it would one day become the
theatre of his first great military achievement. In a letter to
his friend Fairfax, he says, •' I have had the honor of being
introduced to several governors, especially Mr. Shirley,
whose character and appearance have perfectly charmed me.
His every word and action discover in him the gentleman and
politician."
In February. 1755. he was made a major-general, with the
superintendence of military operations in the Northern colo-
nies. While holding the chief command, the loss of Oswego
was unjustly attributed to him, and he was in 1756 super-
seded in his command and in the government of Massa-
chusetts, and ordered to England. He was triumphantly
vindicated, and two years later was appointed governor of
the Bahamas. He was made a lieutenant-general in 1759.
He returned from the Bahamas in June, 1769, and for the
short remainder of his life resided in his former mansion iu
Roxbury, then occupied by his son-in-law. Judge Hutchinson.
Here he died on March 24, 1771, a poor man, and was interred
in the burying-ground of King's Chapel, of which edifice he had
128 HON. JOHN READ.
laid the foundation-stone. His funeral was attended by the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, then commanded
by Capt. William Heath, and three volleys were fired over his
grave. "While the long procession was moving, a detachment,
under Lieut. Sellon, discharged at intervals seventy-six guns,
to denote the governor's age. Shirley was a man of great in-
dustry and ability, but though able, enterprising, and deserv-
edly popular, was ambitious in a degree disproportionate
to his powers.
Hon. John Read, a native of Woburn, and at one time the
owner and occupant of the Shirley mansion, died in Roxbury
on Jan. 13, 1813, aged eighty-five. In 1710. after the pre-
vailing epidemic had carried otf several of the family, he was
taken by the wife of Daniel Bugbee, of Roxbury, his mother's
sister, who carried him before her on horseback to her resi-
dence in Roxbury. where he lived till his majority, and learned
the trade of a tanner with Mr. Williams. He was for many
years agent for Gov. Bowdoin's Elizabeth Island estate, and
while land agent for the State, named Bowdoinham, Maine,
in honor of his early patron. Readfield, Me., was named for
him. Settling in Roxbury, he became one of her leading and
most distinguished citizens ; was frequently a selectman and a
representative, and was also a member of the governor's
council. He was known as Major Read, from having been
a paymaster of militia before the Revolution. His was a
long, honorable, and useful career. His brother James com-
manded a regiment at Bunker's Hill, and in 1776 was made a
brigadier-general
John Read, son of the Hon. John, was a wine-merchant of
Boston, a man of elegant manners and of marked and varied
accomplishments. Copley's portrait of him at the age of
seventeen, now in possession of his granddaughter, Mrs.
Paul Willard, exhibits him as a youth of remarkable elegance
and grace. He was a large land-owner in Roxburv, the Has-
kins estate, a portion of the'Perrin estate, and much of the
GOV. EUSTIS. 129
land through which Dennis Street and Blue Hill Avenue run,
having been in his possession. He resided on Dennis Street
in the house built for him by his father, now the residence of
"Mrs. James Huckins, where he died in 1826. The powder
magazine on Pine Island was for mam* years under his charge.
Read and his neighbor. Gov. Eustis, were great cronies, and
tradition says they occasionally enlivened their leisure with
cards and with cock-fighting, accounted a gentlemanly amuse-
ment in those days. His son, George Read, a highly respec-
ted, genial man, was a famous sportsman. In the Natural
History building in Boston is a fine specimen of an eagle that
belonged to him. and which the eminent naturalist, Audubon,
copied for his great work.
Gov. William Eustis was. like his predecessor in the chair
of state. Gov. Brooks, a medical practitioner. Graduating
at Harvard, he studied under Dr. Joseph Warren ; was pro-
fessionally engaged at the Lexington battle, and served as a
surgeon throughout the war. Taking a seat in the Massachu-
setts Legislature in 1788, he thenceforth devoted himself to
politics, and became successively a member of Congress, Sec-
retary of War (1809-12), Minister to Holland (1815-18),
and governor (1823-5), dying while in office, at the age of
seventy-one, on Feb. G, 1825.
In his profession. Dr. Eustis was faithful, humane, and in-
defatigable. His urbanity, his social qualities, and his hos-
pitality procured him the acquaintance of many persons of
distinction, with whom he kept up a friendly intercourse during
his residence in Roxbury. John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay,
Daniel Webster. Aaron Burr, and John C. Calhoun were
among the number of his guests. Eustis was quite tall, ele-
gant in person and graceful in manners, and most agreeable
in conversation. His eyes were a dark blue, his complexion
fiorid. Like most of the Revolutionary officers, Eustis re-
turned poor from the army. Speaking of this circumstance,
he once said, •• With but a single coat, four shirts, and one
9
130
VISIT OF LAFAYETTE.
pair of woollen stockings, in the hard winter of 1780. I was
one of the happiest men on earth."
One of his distinguished visitors was Lafayette, the guest
of the nation and his old compatriot in the army, whose
arrival in Roxbury was an occasion of such magnitude as to
be vet freshly remembered by many anions us. lie passed
through the town at
about one o'clock on
the morning of Tues-
day, Aug. 24. 1824.
accompanied by a
cavalcade of citizens
and announced by a
salute from the Rox-
bury artillery, fired
from the old fort, and
also by the ascent of
rockets from an em-
inence in the centre
of the town, thus
sounding the note of
preparation for the
parade of the suc-
ceeding day.
The meeting of Lafayette and Eustis. at the mansion of
the latter, was extremely affectionate and interesting. The\
embraced each other for some minutes. Eustis exclaiming.
•• I am the happiest man that ever lived !" After breakfast-
ing together, the}' were escorted by the Norfolk Guards, the
Dorchester Ritles. and by a cavalcade to the Boston line,
where the city authorities were awaiting Lafayette's arrival.
The houses and streets on the route of the procession were
crowded in every part. An arch thrown across Washington
Street at the site of the old fortification was inscribed with
these lines, written by Charles Sprague : —
GOV. EUSTIS.
VISIT OF LAFAYETTE. 131
" Welcome, Lafayette .'
The fathers in glory shall sleep
Who gathered with thee to the fight.
But the sons will eternally keep
The tablet of gratitude bright.
We bow not the neck and we bend not the knee.
But our hearts, Lafayette, we surrender to thee."
On the following Friday ho was entertained at the gov-
ernor's residence. Col. Hamilton, of the Exchange Coffee-
Ilonse, the caterer for the occasion, was told that no trouble
was to be given to Mrs. Eustis, except that which should
result from the use of the house. Said the governor, '■ They
may have my kitchen and my parlors and my chairs and
table ; but as to having my knives and forks and plates and
dishes, they shall not have one of them. My decanters I
will fill with wine and other suitable liquors, which shall be
delivered in proper order to place upon the table." This
anxiety about his spoons was surely a poor compliment to
his distinguished guests, and hardly in keeping with the gov-
ernor's usual hospitality.
At the dinner the plates were placed on the outside of a
horseshoe table in the hall, leaving the inside open for the
attendance of the servants and the change of dishes. There
were between thirty and forty quests, the governor taking his
position at the head of the table, with Lafayette on his right.
Gen. Dearborn on his left, Ex-Gov. Brooks second on the
right, the lieutenant-governor and the council, the military
staff and other guests on either side.
While a guest of the governor's, Lafayette attended at a
target practice by the artillery, at Savin Hill, Dorchester,
and put a shot through the target nearly in the centre. The
New England Guards were at that time encamped there, and
an immense concourse of people were in attendance. Orderly
Sergeant Watson Gore aimed the piece with which Lafay-
ette made his successful shot. During Lafayette's visit the
Cadets were encamped upon the governor's grounds. Forty
132 VISIT OF LAFAYETTE.
years before, the general had visited Boston, after an absence
of two or three years, and had been received at Roxbury by
a number of officers of the Continental army, with an address
of welcome by Gen. Knox.
After making a tour through the States, Lafayette returned
to Roxbury, where he passed the night of the 10th of June,
1825, and the next morning was escorted to Bunker's Hill,
where he assisted in lading the corner-stone of the Monument.
He was everywhere received with the greatest enthusiasm,
and a badge universally worn bore the words, ""Welcome
Lafayette."
An amusing stoiy, illustrating Lafa}"ette's tact and readi-
ness, is told by a gentleman who accompanied him in his prog-
ress through the country. The general made it a point to say
something agreeable to every one to whom he was introduced,
a somewhat difficult task. Upon one occasion in a ball-room,
to his question, "Are } T ou married?" upon receiving the
gentleman's affirmative reply, he shook him warrnly by the
hand, exclaiming, " Happy man ! " The same question elicit-
ing a different response from the next subject, might have
nonplussed any other man ; not so the general. With a still
more emphatic shake of the hand, he whispered in his ear
loud enough to be heard by his companion, "You're a
luckv dos; ! " The difference between the two conditions has
never, we think, been more felicitously expressed.
After the governor's death, his widow, a most elegant and
accomplished woman, who survived him many years, would
suffer nothing of his to be moved from its accustomed place.
Hat, cane, and tobacco-box occupied their usual corner of the
hall, just as they were wont to do forty years before, and as
though the arrival cf the master of the house was still
momentarily expected.
Dennis Street formerly extended through Quincv to War-
ren Street, and was called Read's Lane prior to 1825, when
it received its present name, from a tradition that Dennis,
DENNIS STREET.
133
an old negro, who once lived here, had performed some
important service to the patriot cause. There exists nothing
in verification of this tradition, hut opposed to it is the fact
that the Denison family owned a large tract of hottom or
low land through which the street runs, and that before it
was named Read's Lane, it bore the designation of •• Deni-
son's Bottom Lane." Its name should be changed to Deni-
son Street, in memory of that distinguished family, of whom
no memorial at present exists in Roxbury.
'• In Xov. 1697." says the old record, '• there being an
ancient record of a highway from Giles Payson's Corner, to
the house formerly Robinson's, now Deacon "Williams's, and
>o forward
to Br an try
Road, two
rods wide.
said highway
is confirmed
from the cor-
ner of Ste-
phen Wil-
liams's Pas-
ture t < >
Brantry. and
between the
land of "William Denison and Stephen "Williams." The
town, in 1785, voted to lay open this road from Mr. John
"Williams's house, near Dorchester Brook, across to the upper
road by the house of Daniel Ilolbrook. The Ilolbrook estate,
containing thirty-seven acres, lay partly in Roxbury and
partly in Dorchester.
The old farm-house on the easterly corner of the street
had been in po ion of the Williams family from time
immemorial, and was included in Gov. Shirley's last pur-
chase. It is probably the oldest building in this part of the
THE OLD WILLIAMS HOUSE.
134 THE WILLIAMS HOUSE.
town, the rear portion being quite venerable. The masonry
at the base of the chimney is exceedingly massive, as are
also the heavy oak timbers of the frame. Stephen Williams,
the tanner, lived here for many years. In 1826 it became
the property of Mr. Samuel Walker, who expended 8G,000
on it in improvements and repairs, and established a nursery
upon the grounds. This well-known horticulturist and citi-
zen came here from England in 1825 ; succeeded Gen. Dear-
born as mayor of the city in 1851, continuing in office until
1854 ; was a State senator in 18G0, and died at his residence,
on Dec. 11, 18G0, aged sixty-seven. His family still reside
in the old house.
The tine large mansion on the left, within the limits of
Dorchester, occupied many years by the brothers Taylor,
was formerly the residence of Perez Morton, speaker of the
House of Representatives from 180G to 1811, and attorney-
general of the State from 1811 to 1802. He died here in
1837. He married Sarah Wentworth Apthorp, who earned
by her poetic merit the title of the " American Sappho."
The seduction of a near and endeared relative is said to
have formed the ground-work of the first American novel,
'•The Power of Sympathy," written by Mrs. Morton in
17*7, and so effectually suppressed that scarcely a copy
remains.
The estate on the southerly side of Dudley Street, once
owned and occupied by Col. Estes Hatch, a part of which
lies in Roxbury and a part in Dorchester, comprised about
sixty acres, and included Swan's woods, formerly called
'• Little Woods," a portion of which is still in its original
condition.
Col. Hatch commanded the Troop of Horse, in Boston, led
:i company at the capture of Louisburg. and died in 1759.
His son Nathaniel, a Tory, accompanied the British troops to
Halifax in 177G. His estate was confiscated, and in 1780
was bought of the State for £18,000 by Col. James Swan,
THE SWAN HOUSE.
135
who very soon afterward offered it to Gov. Hancock for
£45.000, n moderate advance, but the latter declined to
Diirchase. Writing to Hancock in regard to the property,
Swan -ays, •• I have built an elegant and very expensive
house upon it. including in one. a coach-house, two stables
and a hay loft, with a servants' chamber and pigeon-house.
The mansion house can be refitted in as elegant a manner as
it once was for about £4,000.'"
During his brief residence hen'. Swan made the house a
seat of hospitality, entertaining among other persons of dis-
tinction, the Marquis de Viomenil. <■ ^^ s9 ?-
second in command of Rochambeau's army. Admiral d'Es-
taing. the Marquis de Lafayette, and Gen. Henry Knox.
^ hen Swan went to France, the house and farm were adver-
tised as to let. possession to bo given on April 1, 1789.
The present man-ion house, known as the Swan House,
was built ab,.ut the year 1790. upon an elevated and attrac-
tive site, nothing about it indicating the fact that it stands on
a ledge <>f rucks. Its prominent feature is a circular dining
hall, thirty-two feet in diameter, crowned at the height of
136 COL. JAMES SWAN.
twenty-five feet by a dome, and having three mirror windows.
Perhaps some French chateau furnished its model, for it con-
tained no fireplaces or heating conveniences of any kind.
Much elegant furniture, family plate, and man}' fine paint-
ings once embellished its interior, which, it was said, were
stored in one of Swan's vessels at Paris at the commence-
ment of the French Revolution, and as their owners perished
durinsr the Reisrn of Terror, thev were never reclaimed.
Between Madame Guillotine who took off their heads, and
Swan who took off their trunks, little was left of these unfortu-
nate Frenchmen. Upon the decease of Mrs. Sargent. Swan's
daughter, this with the other property was distributed among
the heirs, Mrs. Bartol. Mrs. Sullivan, and Rev. John T. Sar-
gent. Man\ - quaint old images were originally set up around
the grounds. The stone pedestals, curiously carved, yet
remain, but the sculptured forms that once adorned them
long since disappeared. A portion of this estate is now the
property and residence of Mr. William Gray, Jr.
Swan's career was an extremely checkered one. He was a
merchant, politician, soldier, and author before the age of
twenty-two. and after acquiring a fortune in a foreign land,
passed the last twenty-two years of his life in one of its
prisons. A native of Fifeshire. Scotland, he came in early
youth to Boston, where he was a clerk in a store at the same
time as Henry Knox, Benjamin Thompson, and others who
subsequently attained celebrity. Our first public knowledge
of him is when, at the age of eighteen, his proposals were
published in the " Boston Gazette" of March 30. 1772. for
printing —
"A Dissuasive to Great Britain and her Colonies from the Slave
Trade to Africa, by James Swan, a friend to the welfare of the
Continent. To be published by subscription, one pistareen each
book."
As might be expected of one who. young as he was, had
token so bold a stand for human freedom, he was one of the
SWAN IX ST. FELAGIE. 137
Tea Part}' in December, 1773. He accompanied "Warren as
a volunteer aid to Bunker's Hill, and was wounded at bis side ;
took part as a captain of artillery in the expedition which,
early in 177G, drove the British fleet out of Boston Harbor;
was secretary to the Board of War of Massachusetts in 1777,
and was afterwards adjutant-general of the State.
Deeply in debt, he went, in 1787, to Paris with letters to
Lafayette and other influential men. soon acquired reputation
and a fortune, and after a visit to the United States, returned
to Europe in 1798 and engaged in commercial affairs of great
magnitude. Before 1794 he had paid all his debts, even
those from which he had previously been discharged. On the
claim of a German, with whom he had large dealings. Swan
was imprisoned in St. Pelagic in 1808, and remained there
until his liberation, keeping up all the while an indefatigable
litigation in the French courts. His long detention was
partly voluntary, since his fortune would have enabled him to
have procured his release on payment of the claim against
him. This, however, he refused to do, believing it unjust,
and judgment was finally rendered in his favor. Manly in
person and dignified in manner, Swan was also a man of
great enterprise and benevolence. His widow, who was a
very eccentric person, resided here until her decease in 182.").
Their son James married Lucy, daughter of Gen. Knox.
St. Pelagie, which had seen Madame Roland and the Du-
Bany led to the scaffold, and within whose walls the Era-
press Josephine experienced her first vicissitude of fortune,
became later a prison for debtors. Swan's sojourn here has
been thus described : —
'•Vainly did Lafayette, who often visited him, or his rich friends
seek to prevail upon him to escape from this retreat. His lodging
was a little cell, modestly furnished, upon the second floor. He
was a fine-lookinur old gentleman, said to resemble in his counte-
nance Benjamin Franklin. The prisoners treated him with great
respect, yielding him as much space as possible for air and exercise,
clearing a path for him, and even putting aside their little furnaces,
138 GEN. HENRY JACKSON.
upou which they cooked their meals, at his approach, for fear that
the smell of charcoal should be unpleasant to him. lie had won
their love by his considerate and uniform benevolence. Not a day
passed without some kind act on his part, often mysterious aud
unknown in its source to the recipient. Frequently a poor debtor
knocked at his door for bread, aud in addition obtained his liberty.
''One creditor only retained the venerable captive, hoping each
year to see his resolution give way, and each year calling upon him
with a proposal for an accommodation. The director of the prison,
the friends of the colonel, and even the jailers urged him to accept
the proposed terms, and be restored to his country and family.
Politely saluting his creditor, he would turn toward the jailer and
simply say, ' My friend, return me to my chamber." Toward the
end of the year 1S29 his physician had obtained for him the privilege
of a daily promenade in one of the galleries of the prison where he
could breathe a purer atmosphere than that to which he had long
been subjected. At first he was gratefal for the favor, but soon said
to the doctor, ' The inspiriting air of liberty will kill my body, so
long accustomed to the heavy atmosphere of the prison.' The
Revolution of July, 1S30, threw open his prison doors in the very
last hour of his twenty-second year of captivity. After the triumph
of the people he desired to embrace once more his old friend Lafay-
ette, lie had that satisfaction upon the steps of the Hotel de Ville.
The next morning he was dead."
Gen. Henry Jackson, a frequent visitor at Madam Swan's,
was buried in a tomb near the house, removed when "Wood-
ward Park was laid out through the place. An inscription
upon it, stating that it was erected by the hand of friendship,
closed with some eulogistic verses to the memoiy of the
"Christian, Soldier, Patriot, and Friend. "
Jackson, who had served with reputation as a colonel in the
Revolutionary army, and who as the agent of the government
had superintended the construction of the frigate '' Constitu-
tion." was a bachelor, a man of wit and gallantry, convivial
to a fault, and was nearly as corpulent as his bosom friend
Gen. Knox himself. '• Can he still eat down a plate of fish
he can't see over, God bless his fat soul?" was the significant
query of Gen. Greene in a familiar letter to the latter.
SAMUEL IIAGBORNE. 139
CHAPTER V.
BURIAL-GROUND TO DUDLEY STREET.
Flasrborne. — Danforth. — Davis's Store. — Robert Calef. — Witchcraft. —
Cotton Mather. — Wonders of the Invisible World. — More Wonders. —
Calef's Book burnt. — George Burroughs. — Dorr. — Fox. — Willard.
— Social Library. — Roebuck Inn. — Gov. Summer's Birthplace. —
flen. Greaton. — Old Red Tavern. — Deacon Monroe. — Capt. Joseph
Weld. — Elder Heath. — Bowie-. — Greyhound Tavern. — Fire-engines.
— Welde. — Walter. — Eliot.— Indian Bible. — Gookin. — Old Gram-
mar School.
I) ESUMIXG our journey along the old town street, both
^ >i<k'< of which were formerly lined with buttonwood-
trees, we have on our left, between Eustis and Dudley Streets,
the homesteads of Ilagborne, Hewes. Peacock. Thomas "Welde,
and Eliot, the original proprietors of the land between the
street and the training-field.
Samuel Ilagborne. one of the wealthiest of the early inhab-
itants of Poxbury. was the original owner of the estate of
nine acres on the east side of "Washington Street from the
corner of Eu>tis to a point opposite Vernon Street, extend-
ing back to the training-field. lie also owned fift3 - -six acres
of upland and marsh upon Smelt Brook, known as Ilagborne's
Xeck. To Ilagborne belongs the credit of founding the free
school in Roxbury. the first mention of such an institution
occurring in his will, made in 1' 42. providing an annual pay-
ment for that purpose -"out of my great desire to promote
learning for God's honor and the good of his church," when
one should be •• set up." A further indication of his appre-
ciation of education is found in his will, in which he says,
•• My greate desire is that one sonne be brought up to learn-
140 REV. SAMUEL DANFORT.'I.
ing if my estate will afforde it." He died in January, 1G 13, and
his widow Catharine afterwards married Gov. Thomas Dud-
ley. His dwelling-house, which stood near the Eustis Street
corner, had been in 1G59 " lately consumed by fier."
In 1G57 this estate was purchased by Rev. Samuel Dan-
forth, after whose decease it became the property of Edward
Dorr, who in May. 1707, sold the northerly part of it to
Robert Calef.
A native of Framlingham, England, Samuel Danforth was
brought to New England b}' Nicholas, his father, in 1G34.
and graduated at Harvard in 1G43. Rev. Mr. Welde having
returned to England, Danforth on leaving college was invited
to assist Eliot, and the evangelical employments of the latter
among the Indians having rendered a colleague necessarv, he
was ordained at Roxbury on Sept. 2i. 1G50.
" On the 11th of the 9th mo. 1651," says the town record,
" there was voted a levy upon all the inhabitants for the
raysing of 50 pounds, towards the building or buying of an
house for Mr. Danforth our pastor." This was nine years
prior to his purchase of Capt. Joseph "Wold's house, in which
he finally resided. Here he continued until his decease, and
neither " the incompetency of the salary," nor •• the provoca-
tion which unworthy men in the neighborhood sometimes
tried him withal, could persuade him to remove unto more
comfortable settlement."
Evidence of his uncomfortable proximity to the Greyhound
Tavern, hinted at above, is also seen in the fact that he exerted
his influence to have such persons only keep houses of public
entertainment as would k - keep good order and manners in
them" ; and when from his study window. •• he saw any town
dwellers trifling there, he would go over ami chide them
away." What with the venerable apostle Eliot on one side
and the godly Danforth upon the other, the tavern roisterers
would seem to have been under a pretty thorough surveillance.
Danforth's sermons were usually enriched with fortv or
REV. SAMUEL DANFORTH. 141
fifty passages of Scripture. Cotton Mather says, •• lie was
very affectionate in his manner of preaching, and seldom left
the pulpit without tears." He thus alludes to his astronomical
studies : —
" Non dubium est quin eo iverit quo Stella eunt,
Danforthcs, qui stellis semper se associavit";
and with his accustomed quaintness adds. " Several of his
astronomical composures have seen the light of the sun." He
published a particular account of the comet of 1GG4, and a
series of almanacs. That part of the diary in the church
records written by him is filled with accounts of comets,
earthquakes, prodigies, and other phenomena of nature. In
the church record, under date of Nov. 19, 1G74, Eliot writes
this touching passage : —
" Our Rev. pastor, Mr. Samuel Danforth, sweetly rested from his
labors. It pleased the Lord to brighten his passage to glory. He
greatly increased in the power of his ministry, especially the last
5-ummer. He cordially joined with mc in maintaining the peace of
the churches. We consulted together about beautifying the house
of God, with ruling elders, and to order the congregation into the
primitive way of collections." '-.My brother Danforth," said he,
•'made the most glorious end that I ever saw."
Welde thus eulogizes him in verse that reminds us that his
decease immediately followed the completion of the new
church edifice : —
Mighty in scripture, searching out the sense,
All the hard things of it unfolding thence;
He lived each truth, his faith, love, tenderness,
None can to th' life as did his life express.
Our minds with gospel his rich lecture fed,
Luke and his life at once are finished.
Our new-built church now suffers, too, by this,
Larger its windows, but its Lights are less."
Danforth's remains were laid in Gov. Dudley's tomb, his
funeral being celebrated i% with a great confluence." A public
collection was taken up for the widow, a daughter of Rev.
142
AARON AND CHARLES DAVIS.
John Wilson, of Boston, the second (Sunday following. Hi-
son. Rev. John Danforth, was minister of Dorchester from
1G82 to 17;JU. Another son, Rev. Samuel, was minister of
Taunton from 1688 to 1727.
The building on the corner, but a small portion of which
has survived the widening of Eustis Street in 18.30, was the
warehouse of
\ A a r o n and
Charles Davis.
The brothers
Davis did a
large and lucra-
tive business in
the early part
of the century
*| in packing and
shipping pro-
visions, which
they carried on
many years at
the old corner. They were the sons of Capt. Aaron Davis,
who lived at the Boston line.
Allen's furniture store, formerly a gambrel-roof structure,
standing end to the street, having its main entrance by a large
porch on the south side, though outwardly much altered, has
the solid oak timbers and other evidences of being quite old.
A century and a half ago this was the residence of James
Mears, the tanner. The old tannery, that once stood a little
to the south of it, was taken down when Webster Hall was
built in 1845. Commodore Loring, the Tory, who lived at
Jamaica Plain, served his apprenticeship here.
Despite its commonplace appearance, this ancient building
claims our attention. If witches or the powers of darkness
ever visited so reputable a town as Roxbury, this of all others
is the spot they would instinctively avoid, for here dwelt
AAEON AND CHARLES DAVIS 3 STOP.E.
ROBERT CALEF. WITCHCRAFT. 143
Rubort Calef, their arch enemy, and here be carried on his
trade of clothier, which he had previously pursued for many
years in Boston. '• Calf." as his enemies loved to call him.
deserves everlasting remembrance for the prominent part
he took in giving a quietus to the witch business in New
England.
He alone had the courage to speak out boldly his own
thought and that of manv others. In an age of credulitv and
superstition, he opposed reason and common-sense to fanati-
cism and delusion, and wrought a revolution in the minds of
men which he fortunately lived long enough to see. Of his
personal history, we know only that he was a native of Eng-
land ; that his occupations were those of a clothier and bus
bandman ; that I12 was a selectman of Roxbury, — sufficien:
proof of the esteem in which he was hold by his fellow-citi-
zens : and that he died at his house in Roxbury on April 13.
1719, at the age of seventy-one. and was interred in the ok
burving-ground hard l>v.
The situation of the people of Massachusetts at the time
the witchcraft delusion broke out was particularly distressing.
Privateers infested her coast ; French and Indian enemies
harassed her frontier; public credit was at a very low ebb,
and a strong political party opposed every measure except
adherence to the old charter ; but worst of all was the appre-
hension that the Devil was let loose among them. The many
were credulous, the io^r. who believed witchcraft to be im
posture or delusion, were afraid to discover their sentiments
lest some who pretended to be bewitched should accuse them,
and in such case there was no room to hope for favor.
" This sudden burst of wickedness and crime
Was but the common madness of the time,
When in all hinds that lie within the sound
Of Sabbath bells, a witch was burned or drowned.''
Such was the condition of the popular mind when Calef 's
letters to Rev. Cotton Mather, written iu 1693 and 1G9-1,
144 COTTON MATHER.
exposed, with merited severity of language and merciless
logic, the utter absurdity of the proceedings in the witch
trials in Salem, as well as the fallacies upon which thej-
rested ; controverted the then prevalent definition of witch-
craft, the assumed source of power to produce it ; asserted
that the Devil had no power to afflict any with diseases or loss
of cattle without a commission from the Most High ; and
demanded Scriptural authority for the use of the revolting
indecencies then in vogue, and b)* means of which it was
claimed that witches might certainlv be known. One of these
epistles closes in these words : —
"And thus, Sir, I have faithfully performed my duty, aud am so
far from doing it to gain applause or from a spirit of contradiction,
that I expect to procure me many enemies thereby, but (as in case
of a fire) where the giory of God, and the good and welfare of man-
kind are so nearly concerned, I thought it my duty to be no longer
an idle spectator, and can and do say in this whole affair I have
endeavored to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God
and towards man."
To single out Mather as an adversary was certainly " tak-
ing the bull by the horns," and required some moral courage.
No man had spoken or written more full)' or plainby than he
upon the subject.
''The only men of dignity and state
Were then the minister and the magistrate,
Who ruled their little realm with iron rod,
Less in the love than in the fear of Odd,
And who believed devoutly in the powers
Of darkness working in this world of ours,
In spells of witchcraft, incantations dread,
And shrouded apparitions of the dead."
Mather was a good and a learned man, but withal a great
lover of the marvellous and lamentably credulous. At the
opening of the trials in Salem the magistrates applied to the
Boston clergy for advice, and unhappily that given, drawn up
by Mather, was such as to encourage rather than to avert the
abominable proceedings.
MARGARET RULE. 145
It is undeniable that his book, entitled '• Memorable Provi-
dences relating to Witchcraft," his prominence in the case of
the afflicted Goodwin children, and the zealous and strenuous
assertion of his opinions upon this subject, had been influ-
ential in preparing the public mind for the terrible scenes that
were enacted at Salem village in the previous year, by which
twenty innocent persons had been publicly and ignominiously
hurried out of existence ; and not long after this deplorable
tragedy he was found by Calef at the bedside of a young girl
in Boston, one Margaret Rule, whose case, similar to that of
some of the afflicted girls at Salem, bade fair, under his man-
agement, to renew the popular excitement with all its attend-
ant horrors.
To prevent so disastrous a result, Calef drew up an account
of her case, viewed from his common-sense standpoint, which
was shown to some of Mather's friends. This produced a
message from Mather to Calef that he should be arrested for
slander, and in which he called Calef " one of the worst of
liars." Calcf's reply to the angry minister was, to appoint a
time and place where the two could meet and compare notes
respecting the occurrences in question. Mather sent word
that he would meet him. " But instead of doing so," says
Calef. ' ; at your and your fatther's [Rev. Increase Mather]
complaint, I was brought before his Majesty's justices by
warrant for -scandalous libels' against yourself, and was
bound over to answer at sessions. Accordingly, though I
waited at sessions, there was no one to object aught against
me. whereupon I was dismissed."
Mather afterwards printed the testimony of several wit-
nesses, who stated that they saw Margaret Rule "lifted up
from the bed wholly by an invisible force a great way towards
the top of the room where she lay." To this case, of what
is now familiarly known in spiritualistic circles as " levita-
tion." Calef. neither denying nor admitting the fact, answers
that if it was so, then the Papists, who maintain against the
146 SPIRITUALISM.
Protestauts that miracles had not ceased, were in the right
after all, — a skilful evasion, that, while it left the points in
controversy untouched, placed his adversary in an uncom-
fortable dilemma.
The facts underlying the Salem witchcraft and modern
Spiritualism are undoubtedly identical, but both are overlaid
and weighted by fraud and imposture. Proper medical treat-
ment of the bewitched girls, and a healthy state of public
sentiment respecting religion, would probably have averted the
wretched catastrophe. In estimating the progress of the past
two centuries in enlightenment, the history of these two move-
ments is eminently instructive. The intimate union existing
between the seen and unseen worlds is now a commonly
received article of belief among thinkers, and this sentiment
of our foremost poet finds almost universal acceptance : —
" The spiritual world lies all about us,
Aud its avenues are open to the unseen
Feet of phantoms that come and go, and we
Perceive them not save by their inrluence, or
When, at times, a most mysterious Providence
Permits them to manifest themselves to mortal eyes."
One of the lessons of the Salem tragedy should not be lost
sight of. It was brought to a close neither by force of argu-
ment nor by pity for its victims, but simply because persons
elevated in station began to be accused, and then the moot
question as to whether the Devil could afflict in a good man's
shape received at once an affirmative reply. Then came the
sober second thought, and men began to ask the question, —
" Were such things here as we do speak about,
Or have we eaten of the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner ? "
" Can such tilings be
And overcome us like a summer's cloud,
"Without our special wonder? "
The only reply was, —
" The earth hath bubbles as the water has,
And these are of them."
"more wonders of the invisible world.'' 147
"When the storm had nearly spent itself. Mather drew up an
account of the trials, published with the title of •• Wonders
of the Invisible "World." The chief point which he considers
established by them was, that a great conspiracy existed
among the Powers of Darkness to root out the Christian
religion from New England.
To Mather's •• Wonders." Calef replied with •• More Won-
ders of the Invisible World," published in London, in the
year 1700. He opposed facts in the simple garb of truth to
fanciful representations, yet he offended men of the greatest
learning and influence. '* His narrative.*' savs the historian
Hutchinson, — excellent authority, and a relative of Mather's,
— ,; gave great offence, he having condemned the proceedings
at a time when in general the country did not see the error
they had been in, but in his account of facts, which can be
evidenced b}' records and other original writings, he appears
to have been a fair relator." He argues the case against the
prevalent madness with skill and effect, showing great famil-
iarity with the literature of the subject, and has, to the mind
of the unprejudiced reader, an evident advantage over his
learned and reverend antagonist, both in argument and
temper.
While his language to Mather is invariably respectful, and
his animus apparently that of an earnest seeker after truth,
Mather, on the contrary, exasperated to the highest pitch by
Calef s book, in his diary and elsewhere, betrays the utmost
spite and venom whenever its author is alluded to. •• That
miserable man," i- a weaver turned minister," "a wicked
Sadducee," "a vile fool," "that instrument of Satan,"
k - a coal from hell." — such are some of the choice epithets
hurled at him by the irate divine.
"This vile volume." so he writes iu his diary, "he seut to Lon-
don to be published, and the book is printed, and the impression
is this day week arrived here. The books that I have sent over
into England, with a design to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, are not
148 REPLY TO "MOKE WONDERS."
published, but strangely delayed, and the books that are sent over
to vilify me and render me incapable to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ, those are published."
Calef was compelled to send his book three thousand miles
away to have it printed, no printer in Boston daring to under-
take it, and no bookseller there having the hardihood to offer
it for sale, or give it shop room. It was regarded by the
parishioners of those influential divines, the Mathers, as the
most wicked and impudent of slanders.
" My pious neighbors," says Mather's diary, " are so provoked at
the diabolical wickedness of the man who has published a volume
of libels against my father and myself, that they set apart whole days
of prayer to complain unto God against him, and this day (Dec. 4,
1700) particularly. ... I humbled myself before the Lord and con-
fessed and bewailed my sins, which gave a triumph unto his justice
in the humbling dispensation which was now upon me. . . . Neither
my father nor myself thought it proper for us to publish unto the
churches our own vindication from the vile reproaches and calum-
nies that Satan by his instrument Calf had cast upon us, but the
Lord put it into the hearts of a considerable number of our flock
who are in their temporal condition more equal unto our adversary
to appear in our vindication."
This vindication was entitled " Some few Remarks upon
a Scandalous Book," which they called '• a firebrand thrown
by a madman." Their motto, " Truth will come off con-
queror," proved a satire upon themselves, Calef obtaining a
complete triumph, his book, which was long read and admired,
having been often reprinted.
By order of the president of Harvard College, the Rev. Dr.
Increase Mather, the "wicked book " was publicly burnt in
the college yard, the scene of the holocaust being the area
between Massachusetts, Harvard, and Stoughton Halls.
This fact, though not mentioned by any of the historians of
that seat of learning, is nevertheless a noteworthy item in
the annals of intellectual progress and freedom in New Eng-
land. A few of Calefs friends stood bv him, but almost the
EDWARD DORR. 149
entire communit\' sided at first with his influential clerical
opponents, and this no doubt induced his removal from Bos-
ton to Roxburv, where we soon afterwards find him.
• • More Wonders " has been erroneously attributed to Rob-
ert Calef, Jr. There is no difficulty in supposing it to be the
work of the mature mind of a man of forty-five, the age of
the father, while it is in the highest degree improbable that it
could have been the production of a youth of twenty ; for
in 1693 the second son of a man born in 1648 or 1640 could
have been no older. Moreover, the extreme youth of the
writer would have afforded Mather the best possible weapon
to make use of against his audacious assailant ; besides, the
name of the author, given upon the title-page, is Robert
Calef, and not Robert Calef. Jr.
Rev. George Burroughs, one of the principal victims of the
Salem witchcraft, who was convicted mainly on account of
his almost superhuman strength, had at one time resided in
Roxbury, where he had been admitted a member of the First
Church, April 12, 1674.
It only remains for us now to notice the connection between
the sturdy opponent of superstition in 1693 and the earliest
illustrious martyr in the cause of American freedom in 1775.
Mary, the daughter of Robert Calef, was, in 1712, married
to Dr. Samuel Stevens, of Roxburv, whose daughter Man-
became the mother of Gen. Joseph Warren.
Xext beyond the premises once occupied by Calef and by
Mears was the mansion and garden of some three or four
acres belonging to Edward Dorr, whose possessions originally
extended from Eustis Street to a point opposite Vernon.
After his death in 1734 the business of tanning was carried
on here by his son. Capt. Ebenezer Dorr. Joseph, the grand-
son of Capt. Ebenezer. who married Anna Ruggles. was the
father of Capt. Jonathan and Nathaniel Dorr, well-known
citizens of Roxburv. During the last centurv the Dorr fam-
il\ occupied a prominent position here.
150
EBEXEZEU FOX.
The shop of the painter, John Ritts Penniman, was on the
spot now covered by Webster Hall. Some of his pictures of
persons and places in old Roxbury yet survive. Penniman
was at one time employed by Willard, the clock-maker. In
the rear of the wooden building next south of the hall is a
fragment of a very old building which not unlikely formed a
portion of Calef's premises. Beyond the new " Hotel Com-
fort " is the dwelling-house once occupied by Zabdiel Adams,
father of the well-known physician, Dr. Z. B. Adams, of Bos-
ton. His hat store was where Potter's oyster-house is now.
Opposite Webster
Hall, where Warren's
apothecary store is,
was the residence and
shop of a very deaf old
gentleman named Fox,
whom very many per-
sons now living well
rememl icr. Ebenezer
Fox. a native of Rox-
bury and a resident of
the town at the time
of his death in 1S43,
was when a boy an
apprentice to a farmer
named Pelham. and in
his old age published a little volume of " Revolutionary Ad-
ventures." Becoming dissatisfied with his situation, and
hearing daily complaints of the injustice and tyranny of the
British government. —
••I, and other boy-."' says Fox, i; situated similarly to myself,
thought we too had wrougs to be redressed and rights to be main-
tained, and we made a direct application of the doctrines we daily
heard in relation to the oppressions of the mother country to our
own circumstances, and thought that we were more oppressed than
our fathers were."
KBEXEZER FOX.
EBENEZER FOX. 151
Fox. and a companion named Kelly who lived with Isaac
Winslow. on Meeting-House Hill, formed a plan to leave
home privately and make their way to Providence, R. I.,
where they expected to find employment as sailors on board
some vessel. At eisrht o'clock on the evening of the 18th of
April. 177.3, the night before the battle of Lexington, they
met on the steps of the First Church, and started on their
wav, each with a small bundle of clothing, and half a dollar
in his pocket. After a brief rest on the steps of Dr. Gordon's
church in Jamaica Plain, they kept on to Dedham, where the}'
slept on the ground, and earl}' next morning continued their
journey. Soon from all quarters came rumors of the Lex-
ington affair, and they were frequently stopped and eagerly
'juestioned. but kept on their way. and finally arriving at
Providence, there parted company, Fox shipping as a cabin
boy to the West Indies.
Passing over his other adventures we come to his enlist-
ment in the '• Protector." a twenty-gun ship commanded by
C'apt. John Foster Williams, and fitted out by the State of
Massachusetts to protect her commerce from British cruisers.
Fox was on board the •• Protector " during the action with
the •• Admiral Duff," and when in a subsequent cruise she
was captured he became an inmate of the Jersey prison-ship.
His latter years were passed in Roxbury. in the building
before us. where until 1837 he kept a crockery-ware store,
which was also the post-office while he was postmaster of
Roxbury, from 1831 to 1835.
In his old age he was so deaf that in the exercise of this
double calling he occasionally made some ludicrous mistakes.
A story is told of the old gentleman's responding to a lady's
inquiry fur a letter with. "Oh yes. ma'am. I've some very
nice ones."' and mounting some steps, all the while expatiating
upon the merits of the article, took down from an upper shelf
an assortment of a very useful rather than ornamental utensil
of housekeeping, greatly to the disgust of the applicant.
152 S1MOX WILLARD.
For several generations the Willards have been famous
throughout the countrv, as clock and watch makers, one of
their clocks having been placed in the Capitol at Washington.
when it was first built, others adorning Harvard College.
Jefferson College. Va.. the old State House. State Street.
Boston, and the First Church, Roxbury.
In the ki Boston Gazette " of Feb. 22, 1773, is the follow-
ing advertisement : —
" BeDjamin "Willard at his shop in Roxbury Street, pursues the
different branches of clock and watch work, aud has for sale musical
clocks playing different tunes, a new tune every day iu the week and
on Sunday a Psalm tune. These times perform every hour without
any obstruction to the motion or going of the clock. A new inven-
tion for pricking barrels to perform the music, and his clocks are
made much cheaper than any ever yet known. All the branches of
this business likewise carried ou at his shop in Grafton."
Simon Willard, probably the brother of Benjamin, came to
Roxbury in 1780, and occupied the premises north of those
where the round clock or dial, his handiwork, yet remains,
after the lapse of more than half a century. He learned his
trade of an Englishman named Morris, and at the age of
fourteen had succeeded in constructing a clock that was pro-
nounced superior to those of his master. Upon the Lexing-
ton alarm he volunteered in the Grafton Company, and
marched to Roxbury with no other apparel than that in which
the summons found him at his bench. On coming to Roxbury.
and until in 1802 he received a patent from the government
fur his improved timepiece, he devoted himself almost exclu-
sively to the manufacture of eight-day clocks, which were for
many years, and up to the period of the introduction of
pianos, a chief ornament of the parlor. The improved clock
soon became a favorite, and is to this day considered the
most reliable and accurate timepiece in use.
Mr. Jefferson sent for Willard expressly to construct the
clock for his college, and was so much pleased with his skill
SIMON* WILLARD. 153
that he gave him substantial tokens of his regard. Talking
freely with him about a pending treaty, as Mr. "Willard
refrained from expressing an opinion upon its merits, Jeffer-
son intimated that he knew but little of public affairs. Soon
afterwards he desired Mr. Willard to examine a beautiful
French clock, and see what was the matter with it. He did
so, and on rising to depart left the various parts of the clock
scattered about the table. "Don't go, Willard." said the
President, '- until you have put the works together." " Oh."
said Willard, -'you can do that." "I cannot." said Mr.
Jefferson. " Ah ! " said Willard, " you can't put the wheels
of a clock together, yet you expected that I could be familiar
with treaties."
lie constructed the large clock for the Capitol at Washing-
ton when at the age of eighty-two. That at the head of
State Street, made half a century ago, was one of the last of
his works, and the one of all others upon which anxious eyes
have been oftenest turned, especially at the approach of its
hands to the hour of two p. >i., by those with notes to pay.
and not yet provided for. Willard's great mechanical skill
was manifested also in much of the philosophical apparatus
now in use at Cambridge. The celebrated Orrery of Mr.
Pope was perfected by him after it had been abandoned as a
failure by its inventor. Willard died Aug. 30, 1848, aged
ninetv-five years four months and twentv-seven davs.
Simon Willard, the vounger. was orderly sergeant of the
Norfolk Guards for more than a quarter of a century. He
succeeded to his father's business, which he afterwards carried
on in Boston, attaining marvellous skill and accuracy in the
manufacture of chronometers, specimens of which are to be
found in many of our dwellings. Aaron, the brother of Simon.
Sen., and also a clock-maker, who died in 1844, at the age
of eighty-seven, first kept where the apothecary shop num-
bered 2224 Washington Street now is.
The first public library of Roxbury was established in
154 ROEBUCK INN.
180.5, and was kept in the lower story of the building where
the dial is. Reorganized as the " Social Library" in 1831,
and as the " Roxbury Athenaeum" in 1848, it was incorpo-
rated in 1851. and is now located in Guild Row.
Bacon's Block, opposite, is the site of Edward Dorr's resi-
dence about the middle of the last century, and also that uf
Major Wiiliam Bosson. a veteran of the Revolution, and one
of the minute-men at Lexington. Dean's Block, at the corner
of Ruggles Street, was formerly a tavern kept by Thomas
Mayo, having for its sign a horn of plenty.
The building now Smith's carriage-shop, which like so
many others once stood end to the street, is one of the old
landmarks, dating back perhaps one hundred and fifty years.
During the siege it was doubtless occupied as the quarters of
a portion of Col. Ebenezer Learned's regiment, which was
stationed at the lines, and which probably filled the few
houses then standing in this locality, and temporarily aban-
doned by their occupants. Nathaniel Felton, scythe-maker,
bought the premises of Edward Dorr in 17G3. Deacon
Joshua Felton carried on the business of a blacksmith here
for many years. The brick building beyond, occupying the
site of Felton's former residence, was the place of business,
half a century ago. of Mr. John Lemist. an active merchant,
who was lost in the steamer "Lexington." in Long Island
Sound, many j'ears ago.
William Bowman lived in the old house on the corner of
Palmer and Washington Streets. Lucv. his widow, the sister
of Gov. Sumner, continued to reside here for many years.
Their son, a captain in the army, distinguished himself in the
last war with England, especially at the battle of Niagara
and in the sortie from Fort Erie. The corner of this build-
ing, now Mr. John Newton's provision store, was taken off to
widen Warren Street a few years since. Half a eenturv airo
this was Hazlitt's Tavern, its sign being a deer's head.
Afterwards it was known as the •• Roebuck Inn," John
GOV. SUMNER'S BIRTHPLACE. 155
Brooks being its landlord. Formerly, the street was nightly
filled with market-wagons from this point to the store near
the burying-ground, kept by the Davises, who carried on an
extensive barter trade with the countrymen for their farm
produce.
Cobb's grocery store, opposite Warren Street, formerly Dea-
con Caleb Parker's, was before the Revolution the site of the
house of a farmer named Pelham, whose farm was situated
near the creek, belonging to the heirs of Rev. Dr. Porter.
In the rear of Hall's Block is an old-fashioned, two-story,
gambrel-roofed hou-c. in which, on Nov. 9, 174G, Gov. In-
crease Sumner was horn. It was moved back from the street
in 1852, when the block was built, and is not far from one
hundred and fifty years old. On either side of the front door
were magnificent lnittonwoods. that were cut down more than
half a centurv ago. The house is one of the few remaining
on Roxburv Street that antedate the siege. The youthful
days of the future governor were passed here ; here he kept
his law office : here his grandfather, Edward Sumner, died
in 17C3 ; and here his widowed mother resided until her death.
Increase Sumner, father of the governor, and fourth in
descent from William and Mary Sumner who settled in Dor-
chester in 16-35, was a farmer, who, by industry, frugality,
and success in subduing his paternal acres and in making
rough places smooth, acquired a considerable property. He
was a man of colossal size and great strength of muscle.
Tradition-; of wonderful feats of strength performed by him
in hi-:- youthful days are remembered in Roxbuiy and its
vicinity to this day. After his death, which took place in
November, 1771. and the opening of the siege in the follow-
ing spring, the house being exposed to the shot of the enemy,
the family removed to Dorchester and resided temporarily
on the farm left by the elder Increase to his son, called
•• Morgan'-;.'' where he built the house now the residence of
Hon. Mar-hall P. Wilder.
15G
GEX. GREATON.
On Sept. 10, 17G5. John Greaton, Jr., leased of Samuel
Sumner for ten years a building where Barupton's store now
stands, for the sale of West India goods. Greaton was a
prominent " Son of Liberty," was one of the Roxbury com-
mittee of fifteen to carry into effect the non-importation agree-
ment, and was an officer in the " • Governor's Horse Guards."
a Boston organization, composed of the elite of the citizens,
and forming the escort on all
occasions of ceremony or com-
memoration.
He was actively engaged in
the Lexington battle, in com-
pany with his friends and neigh-
bors "Warren and Heath, and
was successively chosen major,
lieutenant-colonel, and colonel
of Heath's regiment. His com-
mission of colonel, signed by
the President of Congress, and
dated July 1. 177.3, is now in
my possession. Dining the
siege of Boston he led several
gen. gkeaton-. successful expeditions to the
islands in the harbor, bringing off live stock and destroying
the fodder and other supplies destined for the British garrison
in Boston. Heath mentions in his diary for June 27, 1775,
that '■ A redoubt was opened by Col. Greaton at Dorchester
Neck, on this side the causeway," and that some cannon-shot,
directed toward them by the enemy, fell short.
Taking part in the unfortunate invasion of Canada, he was
taken down grievously ill at Fort George, in September, 177G.
In a letter to Gen. Heath, dated July 31, 177G, he says.
"Our fatigues and hardships have been very great. The men
are in very low spirits. You would hardly know the regiment
now, it is so altered in every shape."
GEN. GREATON. 157
Joining Washington's feeble army at Morristown in Decem-
ber. Greaton and his men. after sharing in the toils and glories
of the Trenton and Princeton campaign, with true patriotism
volunteered to remain with the array after the expiration of
their term of service, and until reinforcements could arrive.
In the campaign ending with the surrender of Bnrgoyne, we
find him doing good service in Nixon's brigade, and as senior
officer at Albany, in 1779, he was for a time commander of
the northern department. After commanding his regiment
during the whole war. he was somewhat tardilv rewarded with
promotion to the grade of brigadier-general on the Conti-
nental establishment on Jan. 7, 1783.
Worn out in the service. Greaton, on the disbanding of the
army in October. 1783, returned to Roxbury, where his family
had again established themselves, but survived the journey only
a short time, and died on the lGth of December following.
The remains of this faithful and patriotic soldier repose in the
old burying-ground, but no stone marks their resting-place.
In 17C0 Greaton was married to Sarah, daughter of Richard
and Ann Humphreys. His eldest daughter, Ann, married
Samuel Heath, a son of his friend the general. His son,
Richard Humphrey Greaton. an ensign in his father's regiment
and afterwards a captain in the United States army, was
wounded in St. Clair's battle with the Indians, and died at
New Orleans in May, 1815. The family is now extinct in
Roxbury.
The family tradition is. that on the morning of the Lexing-
ton battle, while the men were hastening to the scene of
action, and their wives and children, momentarily expecting
the onslaught of the king's troops, were making haste to
depart also, with little expectation of ever again beholding
their deserted homes, Mrs. Greaton. taking her younger
children in a cart, together with such indispensable articles as
could be carried, made her way to Brookline, the older chil-
dren walking along by the side of the vehicle.
158 OLD RED TAVERN. CArT. JOSEPH WELD.
On the site of Diamond Block there was a very old house,
possibly the residence of the Denisons, and in which Edward
.Sumner lived in 17.30. Early in the present century it was
known as the old Red Tavern, and was kept by Martin
Pierce, the father of Mrs. Lot Young, who recently deceased at
the age of ninety-eight. Mrs. Young distinctly remembered
seeing Washington when he visited here in 1789. Her mother
performed the journey from Swanzy, where the family then
resided, to Roxbury. in 178G. on horseback and alone, meet-
ing only a single person, a miller, on the road.
This dilapidated old building was pulled down one night
b}* some young men who thought it too shabby to be seen by
Pres. Monroe, on the occasion of his visit to Boston, in July,
1817. The perpetrators of the exploit put up a sign stating
that it was done by " Captain Hatchet." Mr. Sumner, the
owner of the building, had the reputation of hiding his money
in stone walls and other out-of-the way places. •• I recol-
lect," said the late John Wells Parker, " of going with a party
of youngsters to see if there was any ' treasure trove ' on the
premises, but the old man soon appeared upon the scene and
stoned us away. He could jerk a stone to a great distance."
Between the Denison estate and that of Elder Heath,
beginning at Vernon Street, was the homestead, containing
two acres of garden and orchard, belonging to Capt. Joseph
Weld, a man conspicuous in the early days of the town, and
a brother of Rev. Thomas Welde, who lived on the opposite
side of the street. He came over in 1G33, kept a store on
Roxbury Street, and represented the town from 1G3G to
1G41. In military matters he was quite prominent, having
been the first ensign of the Artilleiy Company in 1G38, and
also the first captain of the Roxbury Military Company.
During her four months' detention t; it being winter," and
until she was driven into exile, Capt. Weld had the custody
of Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, a woman •• of ready wit and bold
spirit," whose unorthodox opinions gave a world of trouble to
DEACON MONROE. 159
our Puritan progenitors. Weld was the firm friend of the
apostle Lliot, and is said to have been the wealthiest mer-
chant of his day in Xew England. Upon one of his many
vovastes to London he was arrested and placed under heavv
bonds, at the suit of Alderman Barclay, whose ship had been
seized in New England. Weld having been one of the jury
that condemned her. As a recompense for important ser-
vices to the colony he received from the town the valuable
estate in AVest Roxbury, recently known as the Bussey Farm.
which he bequeathed to his son John, who like his father
held the rank of captain.
Capt. Weld was interred in the old burying-ground on
Eustis Street on Oct. 7. 1046. His widow afterward mar-
vied Anthony Stoddard, of whom the estate in Roxbury
Street was purchased by Rev. Samuel Danforth in 16.">7.
The homestead was many years in the possession of the
Bromfield family.
Vernon Street was in the olden time known as the •• Way
to the Watering-Place." which was at Smelt Brook, a few
rods from the street. The brook ran for some distance par-
allel to the street. Over it was a bridge, beyond which a
lane, known as the " Town Lane." led into the country road
to Dcdham. Prior to 1842, when it received its present
name, it was for a brief period known as Norfolk Street.
The large three-story frame building on the same side,
beyond Vernon Street, was for over half a century the resi-
dence of Deacon Xehemiah Monroe, a well-known citizen, by
trade a cabinet-maker, who died here in 1828. It had been
the residence of James Orr. blacksmith, who bought it of
Edmund Weld.
ki Deacon Roe." as he was called, was an odd fish, and
something of a humorist, as well as a deacon of Dr. Porter's
church. Standing at his doorway one morning, soon after
the Universalist Church was built, he was accosted by a
Gtranger, who asked him if he had seen a strav white horse
160 EDMUND KEAN. ELDER HEATH.
passing that way. "No," was the reply. ••AYhere had I
better look for him ? " queried the stranger. -i Oh well ! " said
the deacon. " p'r'aps you'd better go to the Univarsalist
grounds, 'bout eveiything fetches up there nowadays."
A small wooden building, numbered 2331, formerby Haz-
litt's Tavern, but kept at the time by Edward Jones, was the
place of refuge of the great but eccentric actor, Edmund
Kean, when driven by a mob from the Boston Theatre on
the night of Dec. 21, 1825. Kean's refusal to play to a thin
house on a former occasion was resented at the very first
opportunity by the audience, who would not allow him to
utter a word, and who drove him from the sta2;e with a
shower of projectiles. The crushed tragedian fled hither in
disguise, and was taken in a close carriage the next morn-
ing from the house of Mr. Jones, to Worcester.
On the southwest corner of Roxbury Street, beginning at
Vernon Street, la}' the homestead and farm of three acres of
Elder Isaac Heath, a native of Xazing, England, by trade a
harness-maker, a principal founder of the Grammar School,
and one of the fathers of the town, who came over in lG3o ;
his brothers "William and Peleg Heath having preceded him.
Heath was a member of the Legislature in 1G37-8, and
about the same time was made ruling elder, — a special recog-
nition of his prudence, wisdom, and godliness. This office
placed him in intimate relations with Eliot, who consulted him
in all his plans and difficulties.
The ruling elder occupied an elevated seat between the
deacons' seat and the pulpit, and continued in office through
life. Elder Heath assisted Eliot in his Indian labors, accom-
panying him in his toilsome expeditions through the wilder-
ness, and expounded the gospel to the natives. He died
Jan. 21, 1G60, aged seventy-five. At his decease none were
left of his household but his aged widow and his son-in-law,
John Bowles, whose children inherited his property. " My
will is," so reads a clause in that document, "that John
GREYHOUND TAVERN'. 1()1
Bowles shall be rnayntayned at Sehole and brought up to
learning in what way I have dedicated him to God, if it please
him to accept him."
The family of Bowles, prominent in town affairs for nearly
a century afterwards, resided here.= John Bowles, a founder
of the grammar school, a ruling elder of the church, and a
member of the General Court in lGf.">, died here 21st Septem-
ber, 1680. Elder Bowles was a leading member of the Mas-
sachusetts company for colonizing New England, and was a
warm friend of the apostle Eliot, who said of him, " Prudent
and gracious men set over our churches for the assistance of
their pastors, such helps in government had he (Eliot) been
blessed withal, the best of which was the well-deserving Elder
Bowles. God helps him to do great things among us." His
son. Hon. John Bowles, who married a granddaughter of
Eliot's, was in 1G90 Speaker of the House of Representatives.
He left a son, Major John Bowles, who served the town faith-
fully in various capacities. From him was descended Capt.
Ralph Hart Bowles, a brave Revolutionary officer.
Next in importance to the church as a centre of town life
was the public house or inn, the exchange in which, over a
mug of ale, were discussed the news, politics, and gossip of
the day, and whose social attractiveness made it a source
of constant solicitude to the fathers of the town.
Where Graham's Block now stands, opposite Vernon Street,
formerly stood the Greyhound Tavern. It had been the site
of a public house from a very early period ; for Danforth,
Eliot's colleague, who lived near it, could from his study win-
dow take note of •• town dwellers trifling there," and would
<ro over and •' chide them awav."
"As ancient is this hostelry
As any in the laud may be ;
Built in the old colonial day,
"When men lived in a grander way,
With ampler hospitality.
A kind of old Hobgoblin Hall,
11
lb* 2 DRUNKENNESS.
With weather stains upon the wall.
And stairways worn and crazy doors,
And creaking and uneven floors,
And chimneys huge and tiled and tall."
Located as it was on the only road leading to Boston (for
there were then no bridges), the Greyhound was a noted
resort in the days when public meetings, festive gatherings,
and other assemblages of a political, social, or business char-
acter were usually held in such places, and being famous for
the excellence of its punch, it was much frequented by the
convivial spirits of Boston and vicinity.
Joshua Hewes, the original owner of this estate, came over
in 1G33, probably with Cotton and Hooker in the "Griffin."
He was a merchant of large transactions, and held many
responsible trusts both public and private. On Aug. 27, 1642.
Sergt. Joshua Hewes was directed by the town k - to see to it
that the people of Roxbury in every house, or some two or
more houses, joyne together for the breeding of salt peeter in
some outhouse used for poultry or the like, and to give them
directions about the same." In 1641 he was a representative
to the General Court, and joining the Artillery Company,
became a lieutenant in 1643. Quite recently an old grave-
stone was dug up by workmen excavating for the post-office
extension in Post-Office Square, upon which was this inscrip-
tion : " Here l} - eth y e Bodv of Joshua Hewes aged G6 years.
Departed this Life y e 25 day of January 1C7.3."
John Greaton, the last landlord of the Greyhound, licensed
as an innkeeper in 1741, was the father of Gen. Greaton.
He kept a West India goods store here and also at the South
End of Boston. His eldest son, James, a graduate of Yale
College, was master of the Roxbuiy grammar school in
1756-8; rector of Christ Church, Boston, in 1759-67, and
afterwards of the church at Huntington, L. I.
Drunkenness was severely punished by the sober, Godfear-
ing men of the early settlement. On March 4, 1633, the
Court order that Robert Coles. —
LIQUOR LAWS. 1G3
"For drunkenness by him comitted at Rocksbury shal be dis-
franchised, weare about his necke & soe to hange upon his outward
garment a D made of redd clothe & sett upon white, to contynue
this for a yeare and not to leave it off att any tyme when he comes
amongst company under penalty of XL shillings for the first offence
& V pounds the second, & after to be punished by the courte as
they thinke meete; also he is to weare the D outwards and is
enjoyned to appear at the next Generall Court & to contynue there
uutil the court be ended."
Numberless must have been the " red-letter days " of this
unfortunate namesake of l, old King Cole," for his name
recurs in connection with public admonitions with great fre-
quenc}* in the old records. The scarlet letter is still worn by
votaries of Bacchus, with a difference. Instead of being
placed upon the neck, it is fastened permanently upon the
nose. May not the Puritan legislators have derived their
hint from this circumstance?
'•In 1637," says Josselyn, k - there were in Boston two
houses of entertainment called ' Ordinaries,' into which, if a
stranger went, he was presently followed bj* one appointed to
that office, who would thrust himself into his company unin-
vited, and if he called for more drink than the officer thought
in his judgment he could soberly bear away, he would pres-
ently countermand it, and appoint the proportion, beyond
which he could not get one drop."
Innkeepers were forbidden to suffer any to be drunk or to
drink excessively: viz.. above half a pint of wine for one
person at a time, or to continue tippling above the space of
half an hour, or at unreasonable times, or after nine of the
clock at night. A person found drunk, so as to be thereby
bereaved or disabled in the use of his understanding, appear-
ing in his speech or gesture, '■ had to pa}' ten shilling or be
set in the stocks." Tobacco could not be taken in any inn or
" common victual house" except in a private room there, so
as neither the master of the said house nor anv 2,uest there
lGi GREYHOUND TAVERN.
'• should take offence thereat," under penalty- of half a crown.
None might retail strong water, wine, or beer, either within
doors or without, except in inns or victualling-houses allowed.
No beer might be charged higher than two pence the Win-
chester quart, and innkeepers and other householders were
made responsible for the sobriety of their inmates.
As early as 1G43 Richard "Woody, who dwelt in the imme-
diate vicinity of the Greyhound, had leave from the town
" to draw wine." In 1G53 leave was given John Gorton and
Robert Pepper, " to brew and sell penny beare and cakes and
white bread." In 1G78, just after the Indian war. intemper-
ance had become so prevalent that the town voted that
'• neither wine nor liquors shall be sold at any ordinary in Rox-
bury." and that there should be but one ordinary in the town.
Sewall notes in his diary a visit to this inn. He says : —
'•Monday July 11, 1G87. I hire Eras coach in the afternoon,
wherein Mr. Hezekiah Usher and his wife, and Mrs. Bridget her
daughter myself and wife ride to Roxbury and visit Mr. Dudley and
Mr. Eliot the father, who blesses them. Go and sup together at
the Greyhouud Tavern, with boiled bacon and roast fowls. Come
home between ten and eleven. Brave moonshine."
In 1752, and for many years subsequently, the Masonic
Fraternity celebrated St. John's Day here. Here the Courts
were held during the prevalence of small-pox in Boston, in
1764, and here wild animals were occasionally exhibited, as
appears by the following advertisement in the k - Gazette" of
April 20, 1741 : —
" To be seen at the Greyhound Tavern in Roxbury, a wild crea-
ture which was caught in the woods about SO miles to the westward
of this place, called a catamount. It has a tail like a Lyon ; its legs
are like bears, its claws like an Eagle, its eyes like a tyger. He is
exceedingly ravenous, aud devours all sorts of creatures that he
can come near. Its agility is surprisiug, it will leap 30 feet at one
jump, notwithstanding it is but 3 months old Whoever wishes to
sec this creature may come to the place aforesaid paying one shilling
each shall be welcome for their money. *'
RECRUITING STATION. 165
The Greyhound was a recruiting station for the Canada
expeditions of the old French war. A characteristic figure of
that day was the recruiting sergeant. He was a picked man
of his corps, had seen service, was erect and soldierly in his
bearing and of gentlemanly address. Such a one as we
describe, dressed in his trim regimentals, and carrying a
cane, might at that time have been seen promenading up and
down the quiet town street in front of the old tavern, a fife
and drum enlivening the scene, a gaping crowd of boys and
idlers following on. and among them perhaps some farmer's
son, captivated by the handsome uniform and the jaunty,
dashing air of the soldier, and upon whom the crafty sergeant
has his eye.
Soon gathering a crowd, he proceeds to business, and
enforces the argument with some doggerel verse. These
fragments of his siren song have been preserved by the
grandson of one who was himself a listener to it : —
" Here 's two guineas on the head of the drum,
For every volunteer that will come,
And enter into constant pay, —
It 's 'over the hills and far away.'
It *s over the hills, it 's over the main,
To Crown Point and Lake Champlain.
" At Quebec there are many stores
Besides great quantities of furs,
We "11 have a share as well as they,
Though its 'over the hills and far awa}". '"
The most notable of the celebrations of the repeal of the
Stamp Act is thus described in the k ' Massachusetts Gazette "
of Aug. 18, 1768: —
" About 5 o'clock, the morning (Aug. Hth) was ushered in by
the firing of 14 caunous iu Liberty Square, and hoisting the flag on
Liberty Tree. At noon several of the principal gentlemen of the
town and a great number of other persons of credit assembled at
Liberty Hall, where was a baud of music, and the much-admired
American song was melodiously suug to the great pleasure of a
number of gentlemen and ladies who were at the windows of the
It) 6 LIBERTY SONG.
houses in the neighborhood as also to a vast concourse of people in
the square. Fourteen toasts were then druuk, and after again firing
the cannon the gentlemen set out in their chariots and chaises for the
Greyhound Tavern in Roxbury, where an elegant entertainment was
provided. After dinner the new song was again sung and 45 toasts
drunk aud the afternoon was spent sociably with great harmony
and affection for the liberties of their country. After consecrating
a tree sacred to Liberty in Roxbury, they made an agreeable excur-
sion round Jamaica Pond, in which excursion they received the kind
salutations of a friend to the cause by the discharge of cannon. It
is allowed that this cavalcade surpassed all that has ever been seen
in America."
A Tory account says, " The selectmen and representatives
of Boston made part of the company with some who were
immediate actors in the riot which they were celebrating, and
in that which next succeeded." The liberty song spoken of
had just been received by James Otis, from its author. John
Dickinson. It was first printed on July 4, 17G8, and is the
earliest of the Revolutionaiy h-rics to advocate independence
and union. It was sung to the tune of '"Hearts of Oak."
A few stanzas are here given : —
"Come, join hand in hand, brave Americans all,
And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty's call.
No tyrannous acts shall suppress your just claim,
Or stain with dishonor America's name.
" In freedom we 're born and in freedom we '11 live,
Our purses are ready — steady, friends, steady,
Not as slaves but as freemen our money we '11 give.
" This bumper I crown for our sovereign's health,
And this for Britannia's glory and wealth,
That wealth and that glory immortal may be,
If she is but just and we are but free.
" Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all!
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.
In so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed,
For Heaven approves of each generous deed."
Just after the battle of Lexington, and in pursuance of an
agreement with the British General Gage the house of John
FIRE-ENGINES. 1G7
Greaton — it had then ceased to be a tavern — was the place
appointed by the Massachusetts Congress for the issue of
permits to persons wishing to enter the town. It was con-
veniently situated for this purpose, but as it was much
exposed to the shot from the hostile batteries on the Neck, it
was shortly afterward torn down. An idea of its size may be
formed from the fact that when demolished it was found to
contain no less than forty fireplaces. Permissions to enter
Boston were thus worded : —
'■'Permit A. B. the bearer hereof with his family, consisting of —
persons icith his effects (fire-arms and ammunition excepted), to pass
unmolested into the toxen of Boston between sunrise and sunset.
By order of Provincial Congress.
Jos. Warren, Prest."
The story of the old hostelry is told. To him that asks
the question, -'Shall I not take my comfort at mine inn?"
it shall be answered, No. thou shalt not. The inns have all
gone out. The mirth and jollity, the comfort and content
they were wont to bestow, as well as " entertainment for man
and beast." all these have suffered a permanent eclipse.
Flower de Luce, Punch-Bowl, Peacock, Greyhound, alike
with their patrons, have long since passed away,
" And, like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Left not a rack behind."
On the site of the Greyhound was located the first fire-
engine of Roxbury in 1784, when, agreeably to an act of the
General Court, the selectmen appointed the following engine-
men, viz. : —
John Swift. Joseph Richardson. Amos Smith.
David Swift. William Dour. Aaron Willard.
John Williams, Jr. Joshua Felton. Wm. Bosson, Jr.
Elijah Weld. Daniel Munroe. Abel Hutchins.
Joseph Weld.
168 FIRE-ENGINES.
And in 1785 were added the names of —
Capt. Samuel Mellish. Jeremiah Gore. William Blaxey.
Eusigu R. H. Gkeatox. Jesse Doggett.
They chose Daniel Munroe, captain, William Bosson. Jr.,
clerk and treasurer, and adopted rules and regulations. This
was subsequently the location of the engine named the ■• En-
terprise." Fire wards were first chosen in 1784. Roxbury
lias hitherto been exempt from any serious conflagrations.
The town records frequently allude to the necessity of pro-
viding ladders to facilitate the extinguishing of fires, and in
17-46 a legislative enactment affixed a penalty of ten shillings
upon ever}* householder, living within ten rods of a neighbor's
house or barn, who failed to provide himself with one.
A new fire-engine was, in 1787, established near the Punch-
Bowl Tavern. In 1 7 D ."> the town voted to pay half the ex-
pense of repairing the ''new" fire-engine in Warren Street
(Punch-Bowl Village). The members of this company were.
John Ward. Joseph Crehore. Capt. Belcher Haxcock.
Isaac Davis. James Pierce. Lieut. William Bossox.
Joseph Davexport. Samuel Barry.
In 1802 a new engine, called the "Torrent No. 2," was
accepted and its company of twenty-one men appointed. A
new engine was purchased by subscription in 1819 for No. 1.
and the town was asked for land on which to build its house
on the northerly corner of the burying-ground. •• the hearse-
house to be removed."
In 1831 the chief engineer, Joshua B. Fowle, reported that
there were in Roxbury seven fire-engines, with four hose-reels
attached. They were located as follows : —
No. 1, Dudley St. (uew house). No o, Spring Street.
2, Centre St., by Poorhouse. 6, Eustis Street (new house).
3 and 1, Jamaica Plain. 7, "Norfolk." at Punch-Bowl.
The first suction engines were made in Roxbury many years
ago by William C. Ilunneman. Previously the supply of
water was brought in buckets and emptied into the •■ tub."
REV. THOMAS WELDE. 1G9
Passing the Greyhound, we come to the homestead of two
acres of the Rev. Thomas Welde, first pastor of the First
Church, which was originally the property of Richard Pea-
cock. All the estates on this side of the street, from Eustis
to Dudley, extended back to the training-field, and all save
Danforth's were in the form of long, narrow strips, running
parallel with Dudley Street, and having a depth of nearly one
thousand feet. The dwellings were on the street, the gar-
dens and orchards in the rear. Welde's residence was near
the northerly corner of Zeigler Street, not far from where the
City Hotel stood. This was a brick building, erected for a
residence by George Zeigler, about the commencement of the
century. The hall of this hotel was prior to 1840 a favorite
place for dancing parties and political meetings, the latter
beins; sometimes held on Sunday evening.
Daniel AVelde, who lived here at one time, was probably
the brother of Rev. Thomas and Captain Joseph. He was
chosen by the town in 1G54 " to record births and burialls."
He was one of the first teachers of the Grammar School in
Roxbury. and for his interest in schools the General Court
in 1659 rewarded him with two hundred acres of land. He
subsequently bought John Watson's place, near Stony River
Bridge, where he died July 22, 16GG, aged eighty-one.
Rev. Thomas Welde. a native of Tirling, in Essex, Eng-
land, was educated at the University of Cambridge, and then
settled in the ministry in his native place. Incurring the
penalties of the laws against Nonconformists, he was obliged
to fly for safety to New England. While standing in jeop-
ardy from that arch-persecutor, Laud, Welde and Rev.
Thomas Shepard " consulted together whether it was best to
let such a swine root up God's plants in Essex, and not give
him some check.'' Arriving at Boston in the " William and
Francis." June .">, 1G32, he was ordained pastor in July,
Eliot being soon after settled as teacher. In 1G39 he
assisted Eliot and Mather in making the tuneful New Eng-
170 WELDE. ANNE HUTCHINSON.
land Version of the Psalms, which was used for many years
in our churches. Their versification was wretched enough,
but Welde sometimes wrote with spirit and taste.
Sent in 1C41 to England with Hugh Peters, as agent for
tbe colonies, upon the supposition that "great revolutions
were now at hand " ; that monarchy being then upon the eve
of the great civil war, and Bishop Laud's anathemas being no
longer a source of anxiety, Welde did not return, but obtained
a living at St. Mary's, Gateshead, County Durham, opposite
Newcastle, and died in London on March 23, 1CG1 . Welde had
given " the greatest encouragement of any man else," says
Mather, " for invitation of his friends to come over to New
England, vet was it observed true of him which some note of
Peter the Hermit, who sounded an alarum and march to all
other Christians to the Holy Land, but a retreat to himself."
At his departure he left a fine library, for the purchase of
which Eliot solicited aid from England. His estate was
inherited by his son Thomas, who was made " clerk of the
writs" in 1654, was several years a representative, and was
an influential citizen.
• k Valiant in the faith, a defender of the truth and of the
churches in this land, both in the pulpit and with his pen,"
Welde had great influence with the magistrates, by whom he
was frequently consulted, and was naturally conspicuous in
the persecution of Roger "Williams and Anne Hutchinson,
whom Winthrop called the ki American Jezebel." Her claim
to this opprobrious title rests upon the fact of her having
affirmed that Welde and some other ministers did not preach
a covenant of grace, and moreover, to the other fact, that hold-
ing opinions not then received by the clergy as orthodox, she
dared to express them. The conspicuous and reprehensible
part AVelde took in the cruel persecution ending in the excom-
munication and banishment of this gifted woman and her fol-
lowers, places him in the same category with Laud and other
persecutors for opinion's sake.
REV. NEHEMIAH WALTER. 171
While a prisoner for four months in the house of Welde's
brother, in Roxbury, not even her husband or children being
allowed to see her, except with leave of the Court, Mrs. Hutch-
inson was exposed to the visitations of this " holy inquisitor,"
whose efforts to convince her of error were, as a matter of
course, wholly futile. In the simplicity of his bigotry, Welde
was surprised at her hardness of heart in slighting the excom-
munication of the church. ''But," says Mr. Savage, the editor
of ki Winthrop's Journal" and a descendant of Mrs. Hutch-
inson, " the blood of this ' Jezebel.' besides being licked
by the dogs, was in two generations mixed b} T intermar-
riage with that of the more orthodox Welde, his grandson,
Rev. Thomas Weld, first minister of Dunstable, having taken
to wife a granddaughter of this same outcast from heaven
and from the church of Boston."
The " Short Story of the Rise, Reign, and Ruin of the Anti-
nomians," usually attributed to Welde, was the production of
John Winthrop, Welde contributing the preface to the second
edition. The discrepancies found in the existing copies of
this book were due to the unskilful manner in which, at that
time, books passed through the press. Corrections were
made while the sheets were being struck off, and the corrected
and uncorrected sheets were afterwards bound up indiscrimi-
nately. In this wa}- the number of different copies might be
multiplied to any extent.
Next to the Welde estate came that of the Rev. Xehemiah
Walter, Eliot's colleague and successor. Originally the prop-
erty of John Woody, it contained two and a half acres, its
front extending from Felton's shop to Swain's new building,
the northerly limit of Eliot's homestead.
Walter, though of English parentage, was a native of Ire-
land and a graduate of Harvard College. Before coming to
New England he had been trained in one of the best schools
in Ireland. At thirteen, he could converse fluently in Latin.
Besides his great proficiency in the languages and in the phi-
172 REV. NEHEMIAH WALTER.
losophy of his day, he was a superior general scholar. During
a sojourn of a few months in Annapolis. Nova Scotia, he
obtained such mastery of the French language as enabled him
to preach occasionally, in the absence of their pastor, to the
French congregation in Boston in their own tongue. Dis-
couraged with the prospect here, he had taken passage in a
ship for England, and waited only for a wind. when, on a Sat-
urday afternoon, he received a message from Roxbury desiring
of him a sermon on the morrow. The church had for some
time been seeking a colleague for their aged pastor, and were
much divided in respect to several very worthy candidate-,
but on hearing Mr. Walter, they hastened to invite him.
Their good old minister was so charmed with his preaching
that on the first day of hearing him he stayed the church after
evening service, and was for putting it immediately to vote
whether they would give him a call. Mr. Joseph Dudley
(afterwards governor) opposed so sudden a motion, but after
a short dekvy he received a unanimous call, the church making
its choice July loth, and the town in public assembly Sept.
9, 1G88, approving and confirming it.
Eliot, then in his eighty-fourth year, presided at his ordina-
tion, and for the first time in the Puritan church joined the
two offices of pastor and teacher in Mr. Walter. •• Brother."
said Eliot. ''I've ordained you a teaching pastor, but don't
be proud of it. for I always ordain my Indians so." Respect-
ing Walter's ordination. Judge Sewall's diarv savs : —
"Wednesday, Oct. 17, 1633. Ride in the hackney-coach with
Gov. Bradstreet and his lady to Roxbury to the ordination of Mr.
Nehemiah Walter. Mr. Eliot, Mr. Allen, Mr. Willard also there.
Dauforth, of Dorchester, laid on hands; Mr. Eliot ordained ; Mr.
Allen gave the right hand of fellowship, desiring he might keep to
Christ's institutions in their purity, for which God's people came
over hither. Mr. Walter, giving the blessing, said, ' Happy are
they who are faithful in the work Christ calls them to.' etc. The
132d Psalm sung. Dined at Mr. Dudley's; Bradstreet and Eliot sat
REV. THOMAS WALTER. 173
at upper end of table. At meeting, iu the fore seat, sat Mr. Brad-
street, Dautbrth. Richards, Cook, Sewall, Wilson, and Gookiu. In
time of first prayer the governor came by from his progress."
"Walter was an admirable preacher, always studying his dis-
courses, which were remarkable for perspicuity and simplicity,
and delivering them with great animation, though with a
feeble voice. He was low of stature and of a veiy delicate
bodily frame. In the beginning of his ministrv he preached
extemporaneously, but a severe illness that affected his head
and impaired his memory, compelled him to make use of notes
ever afterward.
Wnitefield, who visited Mr. Walter in 1740, calls him a
good old Puritan, and says, " I had but little conversation
with him my stay was so short, but I remember he told me he
was glad to hear I said that man was half a devil and half a
beast." How so good a man could approve a sentiment so
repugnant to reason and common-sense is one of the insolu-
ble mysteries of the human mind.
Mr. Waiter married Sarah, sister of Cotton, and daughter
of Increase Mather. Two of his sons, Thomas and Nathan-
iel . were in the ministry, Nathaniel being for forty years set-
tled over the Second Church of Roxbury. The pastorate of
Eliot and Walter covered a period of one hundred and eighteen
years, the latter dying in 1750 at the age of eighty-seven.
Rev. Thomas Walter, his son, and his colleague from 1718
until his death, which took place on Jan. 10, 172.3, at the
early age of twenty-eight, possessed all his father's vivacity
and richness of imagination with greater visfor of intellect.
He graduated at Harvard College in 1713 ; was one of the
most distinguished scholars and disputants of his time ; and
was the first to reform the church music of America. Rev.
Dr. Chauncy reckoned him as one of the first three clergy-
men, for extent and strength of genius and power, New
England had produced, and believed that had he not died in
the prime of life, he would have been known as one of the
first of our irreat men.
174 CHURCH MUSIC. — JOHN ELIOT.
In 1721 Mr. Walter, who excelled in the science of har-
mony, being grieved and annoyed beyond measure at the
very indifferent performances in the sanctuary, published in a
small volume " The Grounds and Rules of Music Explained ;
or, An Introduction to the Art of Singing by Xote. Fitted to
the Meanest Capacity." The music was printed with liars for
the first time in America. The tunes were composed in three
parts only. It ran through successive editions until 17GI.
This book threw the churches into commotion, some battling
for the old and some for the new way of singing, — that is, b}'
rote or note. •• I have great jealousy," said a writer in the
"New England Chronicle." " that if we once begin to sing
by note, the next thing will be to pray by rote, and then
comes popery."
Mr. Walter's sermon, "The Sweet Psalmist of Israel."
delivered in 1722, and dedicated to Judge Paul Dudley, has
been pronounced the most beautiful composition among the
sermons handed down to us by our fathers. His uncle, Rev.
Cotton Mather, commemorated him in a discourse which was
shortly afterwards printed, with the title of ■• A Good Reward
of a Good Servant."
The apostle Eliot's estate of two and a half acres was a
long, narrow strip, having a front of one hundred and forty-
five feet on Washington Street, facing the old schoolhouse
and Gov. Dudley's residence, his orchard extending back to
the Training Field, just beyond Winslow Street. Rev. Mr.
Walter's estate adjoined him on the north, while the highway
to Dorchester (Dudley Street) formed his southern boundary.
The lower part of Warren Street, not then laid out, divides
Eliot's lot.
His house stood just in the rear of the People's Bank build-
ing, and is probably the old house that was pulled down when
that was built, and which was long owned and occupied by
the Mears family. It was of two stories, with a gambrel roof,
its porch or main entrance in the centre, and is remembered
JOHN' ELIOT.
175
as a very old house by the most aged persons now living in
Roxbury. Its next occupant after Eliot was Deacon Samuel
Williams, who married Theoda, daughter of Deacon William
Jirh* t^irt-
Parkc. Their son. Rev. John Williams, of Deerfield, was car-
ried into captivity by the Indians. North of Mears, on a part
of the Eliot estate, was the house and lot of William Blaney.
176 JOHN ELIOT.
Xazing, in Essex. England, has the distinction of being
the birthplace of the apostle. He was educated at Jesus
College, Cambridge ; then taught awhile in the grammar
school at Little Baddow, kept by that eminent and learned
divine, Thomas Hooker, in whose household Eliot received
those strong religious impressions that determined him to
become a preacher ; and finally, as England afforded small
encouragement at that day for a Puritan minister, he took
passage in the ki Lion," bound for New England, arriving at
Boston on Nov. 2, 1631. Here, in the absence of Mr. Wil-
son, pastor of the church, he preached for a short time.
Respecting his settlement. Gov. Winthrop says: —
"Mr. John Eliot, a member of the Boston congregation, whom
thej' intended presently to call to the office of teacher, was called to
be a teacher to the church at Eoxbury, and though Boston labored
all they could, both with the congregation of Eoxbury and with Mr.
Eliot himself, alleging their want of him and the covenant between
them, yet he could not be diverted from accepting the call of Eox-
bury, so he was dismissed."
From the period of Welde's departure for England in 1G41
until the settlement of Danforth as his colleague in 1G50, and
again from the death of the latter in 1G7-4 to 1688, Eliot was
sole pastor, having on his hands the double labor of his
own large parish and that of converting the Indians. The
special merit of Eliot, and which entitled him to be called the
"Apostle," lay in his zealous and unwearied efforts to Chris-
tianize the Indians. This, in the language of the charter of
the Massachusetts Company, was declared to be " the princi-
pal cause of this plantation." The oaths of the governor
and deputy-governor bound them to do their best for this end,
and upon the seal provided for the colony an Indian with
extended hands raised the Macedonian cry, '■ Come over and
help us." " That public engagement." wrote Eliot to a friend
in 1659, u together with pity for the poor Indian and desire
to make the name of Christ chief in these dark ends of the
earth, and not the rewards of men, were the very first and
LEARNS THE INDIAN LANGUAGE.
177
COLONY SEAL.
chief movers, if I know what did first and chiefly move in
mv heart when God was pleased to put upon me that work
of preaching to them."
lie first devoted two years to the arduous task of acquiring
their language from a native, " a
pregnant-witted young man who had
been a servant in an English house."
This man. a Long Island Indian,
who had been taken prisoner in the
Pequod war. was hired by Eliot to
live in his family and teach him his
language. He left his service before
1648, and was succeeded by Job
Xesutan. Of him. Major Gookin
relates that. "In the expedition
against King Philip, in 1675, one
of our principal soldiers of the Praying Indians was slain, a
valiant and stout man. Job Xesutan. He was a very good
linguist in the English tongue, and was Mr. Eliot's assistant
and interpreter in his translation of the Bible and other books
in the Indian tongue."
Laborious, indeed, was the task of making a grammar, as
Eliot was compelled to do. of a tongue in which a word of
thirty-four letters was required, to express ' ; our loves.'' The
expression in this form might be intelligible, but it would cer-
tainly be lengthy. ••Our question" took fifty letters, and
other simple words and phrases in proportion. There is
point in Cotton Mather's back reading of Eliot's name,
T o i 1 e. When Eliot first entered upon this unpromising
field of labor, there were nearly twenty tribes of Indians
within the limits of the English planters, all bearing a strong
resemblance to each other in language, manners, and religion,
lie was violently opposed by the sachems and pawwaws, or
priests, who were apprehensive that the introduction of a new
religion would be the means of their losing their authority.
12
178
PREACHES TO THE INDIANS.
Once when alone with them in the wilderness, they commanded
him to desist from his labors on peril of his life, but he calmly
replied, '• I am about the work of the great God, and he is
with me, so that I neither fear you nor all the sachems in the
country. I will 20 on. You touch me if von dare."
ELIOT PREACHING.
The opening scene of this memorable mission at Nonantum,
an Indian word signifying " rejoicing," is best given in Eliot's
own language : —
"Upon Oct. 28, 1616, four of us [Eliot, Gookin, ami Heath of
Koxbury, ami Rev. Thos. Shepard, of Cambridge] went unto the
Indians inhabiting within our bounds, with desire to make known
the things of their peace to them. A little before we came to their
wigwams, five or six of the chief of them met us with English salu-
tations bidding us much welcome. We found many more Indians,
men, women, and children, gathered together from all quarters round
about according to appointment to meet with us and learue of us.
Waaubon, the chief minister of justice among them exhorting and
inviting them before thereunto, being one who gives more grounded
hopes of serious respect to the things of God than any that as yet I
have known of that forlorn generation; and therefore since we first
begun to deal seriously with him hath voluntarily offered his eldest
INDIAN QUESTIONS. 179
sou to be educated aud traiued up iu the knowledge of God, aud
accordingly his sou was accepted and is now iu school at Dedham,
whom we found at this time standing by his father among the rest
of his Indian brethren in English clothes.
"After a prayer in English and in a set speech familiarly opening
the principal matters of salvation to them, the nest thing we
intended was, discourse with them by propounding certain questious
to see what they would say to them, that soe we might skrue by
variety of means something or other of God into them, but before
we did this we asked them if they understood all that which was
already spoken, and whether all of them in the wigwam did uuder-
stand, or only some few; aud they answered to this question with
multitudes of voyces that they all of them did understand all that
was then spoken to them."
These are some of the questions asked by these untutored
sons of the forest, at this and subsequent meetings : —
"Whether Jesus Christ did understand, or God did understand
Indian prayers? How came the English to differ so much from the
Indians in the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, seeing they all
had at first but one father? How came it to pass that the sea water
was salt, and the laud water fresh? What is a spirit? Whether
they should believe dreams? Why did not God give all men good
hearts, that they might be good? and why did not God kill the devil
that made all men so bad, God having all the power? "
An amusing incident took place at one of these public
meetings. George, a drunken Indian, cried out, i% Mr. Eliot,
who made sack ? who made sack ? " This, it will be perceived,
was a cavil about the origin of evil. It is said that he was
soon snubbed by the other Indians, who cried out that it
was a " pappoose " question. This same fellow afterwards
killed a cow, and sold it to the college for a moose.
To Harvard College, that seat of knowledge,
Hies Indian George one day,
A capital hoax upon President Oakes
And the learned professors to play.
So by way of a ruse, he. sells them a moose, —
I leave you to fancy the row
When they sit at their meat, and discover the cheat,
For lo! he had sent them a cowt
180 MISSIONARY LABORS.
Eliot •• kept a constant lecture to them, one week at the
wigwam of Waban. a new sachem, near Watertown Mill, and
the other, the next week, in the wigwam of Cutshamokin,
near Dorchester Mill." His labors were also extended to vari-
ous points on the Merrimac River, to Yarmouth, Martha's
Vineyard, Lancaster, Brookfield. and the country of the
Xipmucs, which included parts of Southwestern Massachu-
setts and Northern Connecticut. -The neighboring ministers
greatly encouraged him in his work, and often supplied his
pulpit while he was absent preaching among the natives.
Accounts of these meetings were published in England, where
they excited great interest. To show its appreciation of
his labors, the General Court, on May '2G, 1C47, ordered,
• k that £10 be given Mr. Eliot as a gratuity in respect of his
pains in instructing the Indians in the knowledge of God,
and that order be taken that the £20 per annum given by
the Lady Armine for that purpose, may be called for and
employed accordingly."
There was a great fishing-place at one of the falls of the
Merrimac. where the Indians assembled in great numbers in
the spring of the year, and Mr. Eliot went to meet them.
He hired a Nashua or Lancaster Indian to beat down a path
for him from Roxbury through the woods, and to notch the
trees, that he might find his wav through. A sachem with
twenty men did escort for him, and the journey occupied
three days. '-It pleased God," he says, "•to exercise us
with such tedious rain and bad weather that we were extreme
wet, insomuch that I was not dry night nor clay from the
third day of the week to the sixth, but so travelled, and at
night pull off my boots, wring my stockings, and on with
them again."
Eliot once had an interview with King Philip, to whom he
explained the way of salvation, exhorting him to repent.
The haughty chieftain, who refused to treat with any but
kt my brother, King Charles of England," rose, took hold of
JOHN ELIOT. 181
Eliot's button, and told him that he cared no more for the
gospel than he did for that button.
One of Eliot's sound maxims was, that the Indians must be
civilized in order to their being Christianized. One season
of hunting, he said, undid all his missionary work. He
therefore urged upon them the necessity of industiy, cleanli-
ness, good order, and good government. The simple code
he drew up for them punished idleness, licentiousness, cruelty
to women, vagrancy, looseness in dress, and filthiness in per-
son. They soon began to be neat and industrious, to put
aside their old habits, and to assume the manners of the
whites. A court was established at Nonantum in 1647. on
Eliot's petition, over which presided Justice Waban, whose
'•gift lav in ruling, judging of cases, wherein he is patient,
constant, and prudent." There was no circumlocution at his
office. Here is a specimen warrant : kt You, }"ou big consta-
ble quick you catch urn Jeremiah Offscow ; strong you hold
urn : safe }*ou bring urn afore me, "Waban, Justice Peace."
His sagacious and sententious judgment in a case between
some drunken Indians would do no discredit to a much higher
civilization than that at Nonantum : "Tie um all up, and whip
urn plaintiff and whip um 'fendant and whip um witness."
Meantime, Eliot, after twelve years of labor, had translated
the Bible into the Indian tongue. This lasting monument to
lii> industry, of a version into a language destitute of an alpha-
bet, constitutes an epoch in literature. Cotton Mather's state-
ment, that " Eliot writ the whole with but one pen." seems
incredible. The New Testament was first printed at Cam-
bridge in 1661, and the whole Bible in 1660. A new edition
of two thousand copies was printed in 1686. Copies of this
work are exceedingly rare, and are so highly prize! by col-
lectors that a thousand dollars have been paid for a single one.
This was the first Bible printed on this continent, and remained
the only one until the War for Independence had freed the
colonies from the literary a* well as the political fetters which
182
INDIAN* BIBLE.
had been fastened ou them by the mother country. The ex-
pense of publishing was principally borne by the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel, at the head of which was the
excellent Robert Boyle, through whose influence £50 were
annually paid to Eliot by the society.
Eliot's Bible was first dedi-
cated to the Parliament in 1C5'J.
The restoration of the monarchy
necessitated it to be dedicated
afresh, this time to Charles IE
who received it •' very gra-
ciously," says Boyle, who pre-
sented the book to him; "but
though he looked a pretty while
upon it, and shewed somethings
in it to those that had the honor
to be about him, yet the unex-
kobert botle. pected coming in of an extraor-
dinary envoy from the emperor hindered me from receiving
that fuller expression of his grace towards the translators
and dedicators that might otherwise have been expected."
The "merry monarch" was almost the last person in the
world properly to appreciate a serious labor of this kind.
A lac-simile of the title-page of the Indian Bible follows :
MAMUSSE
W U NNEE T U P A N A T A M W E
UP-BIBLUM GOD
NAN'EESWE
XUKKONE TESTAMENT
KAH WONK
WUSKU TESTAMENT
NE QUOSHKINNUMUK NASHPE WVTTIN NEMOH CHRIST
NOH ASOOWE>IT
JOHN ELIOT
CAMBRIDGE
PKlNTF.UOOF'NASHfE SaML'EL GkeeN KaH MaRMADL'KE JOHNSON
1663
ELIOT'S ESCArE FROM DROWNING. 183
Primers, grammars, psalters, catechisms, "The Practice
of Piety," '-Baxter's Call." and other books in the Indian
tonsrue followed the Bible, and soon there were fourteen
places of Praying Indians, as they were called, under Eliot's
care, and about eleven hundred souls apparently converted.
Xo pains were spared to teach the natives to read and write,
and ; 'in a short time," says Bancroft, "a larger proportion
of the Massachusetts Indians could do so than recently of the
inhabitants of Russia." The work was continued by the
Mayhews, Fitch, John Cotton, Gookin, Pierson, and others.
In 1673 six Indian churches had been gathered.
But now came Philip's war, the death-blow to the work
upon which the apostle had set his heart, and in which he
had been nearly spent. In the course of the conflict some
of the Praying Indians joined the English, while some de-
serted to Philip. This so exasperated the people that the
utmost exertions of Kliot, Gookin, and Dan forth were required
to save the Christian Indians who remained at home from
their fury, and in so doing they incurred the popular resent-
ment. These Indians were for their own safety removed to
Long Island in Boston Harbor, where they were exposed to
privations of every kind, and after the war was over were
settled at Xatick and elsewhere. The remembrance of their
injuries made a breach between them and the English that
was never healed. In 1G8-1 the Indian towns had been re-
duced to four. The tribes dwindled, and finally disappeared.
The following incident, related by Eliot, exhibits the popular
feeling : —
•• 1G7G. Ou the 7th day of the 2d mouth, Capt. Gookins, Mr. Dan-
forth & Mr. Stoughton w r sent by the councill to order matters at
Long Island for the Indians planting there y' called me with them.
In our way thither a great boat of about 11 ton meeting us turned
head upon us (whether wilfully or by negligence God he knoweth)
that run the sterne of our boat where we 4 sat under water. Our
boats saile or something tangled with the great boat, and by God's
mercy kept to it. My cosiu Jacob and cosin Perrie being forwarder
184 "a great apostacy." — DUTCH visitors.
iii our boat, quickly got up into the great boat. I so sunk that
I drauk in salt water twice and could not help it God assisted
my two cosins to deliver us all and help us up iuto the great boat.
We were not far from the castle where we went ashore, dryed and
refreshed and then went to the Island performed our work returned
well home at night, praised be the Lord. Some thanked God and
some wished we had been drowned. Soone after, one that wished
we had been drowned, was himself drowned about the same place
where we were so wonderfully delivered."
Taken in connection with the threats against all those friendly
to the praying Indians, there can be little doubt that this col-
lision was premeditated. Another extract from the same
source, Eliot's church record, possesses much interest : —
" 1G77. The Indian war now about to finish wherein the praying
Indians had so eminent an interest. The success of the Indians
was highly accepted with the soldiers, and they were welcomed when-
ever they met them. They had them to the Ordinaries, made them
drink and bred them by such an habit to love strong driuk, that it
proved a horrible snare unto us. They learned so to love strong
drink that they would spend all their wages & pawu auy thing they
had for rumb or strong drink. So drunkenness increased and quar-
relling and fighting and more, the sad effects of strong drink.
Praying to God was quenched, the younger generation being
debauched & the good old generation of the first beginners was gath-
ered home by death. So that Satan improved the opportunity to
defile, to debase & bring into contempt the whole work of praying
to God. A great apostacy defiled us, and yet through grace some
shined at Deer Islaud & the work is yet on foot to this day — praised
be the Lord. When the Indians were hurried away to au Island at
half an hour's warning, their souls in terror, they left their good
books, bibles, only some few carried their bibles, the rest were
spoiled and lost, so that when the war was finished as they returned
to their places they were greatly impoverished but they especially
bewailed their want of bibles. This made me meditate upon a new
impression of a bible, aud accordingly took pains to revise the first
edition."
"We get a glimpse of the old apostle from the journal of two
Dutch travellers, Messrs. Dankers and Sluyter, in 1079-SO,
nearlv two hundred vears ago : —
JOHN DUN'TOX. 185
" The best of the ministers we have yet heard is a very old man
named Johu Eliot. . . . On arriving at his house he was not there,
aud we therefore went to look around the village and the vicinity.
We found it justly called Rocksbury, for it was very rocky and had
hills entirely of rocks. Returning to his house we spoke to him
and he received us politely. Although he could speak neither
Dutch uor French, and we spoke but little English, we managed by
means of Latin and English to understand each other. We asked
him for an Indian Bible. He said in the late Indian war all the
Bibles and Testaments were carried away and burnt or destroyed, so
that he had not been able to save any for himself, but a new edition
was in press. Thereupon, he went and brought us the Old Testa-
ment, and also the New Testament, made up with some sheets of
the new edition, so that we had the Old and New Testaments com-
plete. He also brought us two or three small specimens of the
grammar. We asked him what we should pay him for them, but he
desired nothing. He deplored the decline of the church in New Eng-
land, and especially in Boston, so that he did not know what would
be the final result. We inquired how it stood with the Indians, aud
whether any good fruit had followed his work. ' Yes, much,' he said,
' if we meant true conversion of the heart.' He could thank God
there were Indians whom he knew were truly converted of heart to
God, and whose professions were sincere. He accompanied us as
far as the jurisdiction of Rocksburv extended, where we parted from
him."
A few years later he was visited by the eccentric book-
seller, John Dunton. a writer as well as a vender of books,
and who has secured a passport to immorlaality by being
transfixed at the end of a verse of the " Dunciad." lie
says : —
'• My next ramble was to Roxbury, in order to visit the Rev. Mr.
Eliot, the great apostle of the Indians, the glory of Roxbury. as well
as of all England. He was pleased to receive me with abundance of
respect, and inquired very kindly after Dr. Annesley, my father-in-
law, and then broke out with a world of seeming satisfaction, ' Is
my brother Annesley yet alive? Blessed be God for this informa-
tion before I die.' He presented me with twelve Iudian Bibles, aud
desired me to bring one of them over to Dr. Annesley, as also with
twelve speeches of converted Indians which himself had published."
186 "the christian commonwealth."
That Eliot carried his dislike of controversy to an extreme
that savored of weakness, was evident whenever his opinions
conflicted with the views of those in authority. Says Win-
throp, under date of November, 1034 : —
"It was then informed us how Mr. Eliot had taken occasion in a
sermon to speak of the peace made with the Pekods, and to lay
some blame upon the ministry for proceeding therein without con-
sent of the people, and for other failings (as he considered). We
took order that he should be dealt with by Mr. Cotton, Mr. Hooker,
and Mr. Welde, to be brought to see his error and to heal it by some
public explanation of his meaning, for the people began to take
occasion to murmur against us for it.
'•The aforesaid three ministers, upon conference with the said
Mr. Eliot, brought him to acknowledge his error in that he had mis-
taken the ground of his doctrine, and that he did acknowledge that
for a peace only (whereby the people were not to be engaged in a
war), the magistrates might conclude plebe inconsulto, and so prom-
ised to express himself in public next Lord's day."
Having written a treatise called "The Christian Common-
wealth," containing a frame of government as deduced from
the Scriptures for the benefit of the Indian converts, Eliot
had it published in London in 1654. This, by the way, is
supposed to be the first political treatise by a citizen of this
country. The fathers of the colony were not only spiritually-
minded men, but they were exceedingly wary and politic, and
on the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II this
book, which defended the universal principles of popular free-
dom, was, in March, 1CC1, condemned by the governor and
council as being •• full of seditious principles and notions in
relation to established governments, especially that estab-
lished in their native country." Obedient to their mandate,
Eliot did not hesitate to suppress his book, and even went so
far as to speak of Cromwell and his friends as " the late inno-
vators in the government of Great Britain," and to acknowl-
edge the form of government by kings, lords, and commons as
not only lawful but eminent. His "acknowledgment" was
eliot's charity. 187
ordered to be posted up in the principal towns and the book
to be called in.
Eliot was a founder and principal promoter of the grammar
school in Roxbury, and was zealous and unwearied in his
efforts for the establishment of common schools throughout
the colony. In his will he bequeathed a valuable estate for
the support of the school at Jamaica Plain which bears his
name.
He appears also to have been the first to lift up his voice
against the treatment which negroes received in New England,
and " made a motion to the English within two or three miles
of him," says Rev. Cotton Mather, " that at such a time and
place they would send their negroes once a week to him, for
he would then catechise them and enlighten them to the ex-
tent of his power." He adds that Eliot did not live to make
much progress in this undertaking. His efforts to prevent
the selling of Indian captives into slavery were also futile.
"He that would write of Eliot," sa}*s Cotton Mather,
'• must write of charity, or sa}- nothing." The parish treas-
urer on paying him his salary, knowing his man, tied it up in
a handkerchief in as man}* hard knots as possible, hoping he
would be thereby compelled to cam - it home. On his way
he called to see a poor sick woman, and told the family that
God had sent them some relief. "With tearful e}'es and
trembling hands he endeavored to untie the knots. After
many fruitless efforts to get at his mone\*, impatient at the
delay, he gave the handkerchief and its contents to the
mother, saying, '• Here, my dear, take it; I believe the Lord
designs it all for you." " The parish treasurer," says Horace
B. Sargent, " is not the first nor last man who has defeated
his own benevolent intentions by tying up funds too tightly."
When the venerable and aged man was paying him one of
his last visits. Joseph Dudley met him at his door, full of
reverence and love. " Me thinks, sir," said he, "the angels
are hovering here about us, and think it long till thev take
188 PREJUDICE AGAINST WIGS.
you up from us." " Truly, sir," replied the good old man, " I
am good for little here below, only while I daily find my un-
derstanding going and my memory and senses decaying I
bless God, my faith and charity grow." He offered to give
up his salary when he could no longer preaeh, but the society
told him that they accounted his presence worth any sum
granted for his support, even if he were superannuated so as
to do no further service for them.
"His apparell was without aivv ornament except that of
humility," saj-s Mather. "Had 3-011 seen him with his
leathern girdle (for such a one he wore) about his loins, you
would almost have thought what Herod feared, that John
Baptist was come to life again." He disdained the pride,
vanity, and finerv of the time, which he silentlv rebuked in
the wise and grave order of his own house. Frugal and
temperate through a long life, he never indulged in the lux-
uries of the table. His drink was water, and he said of wine,
"It is a noble, generous liquor, and we should be huinbty-
thankful for it, but, as I remember, water was made be-
fore it."
So strong was his prejudice against wearing wigs, that he
thought all the calamities of the countiy, even Indian wars,
might be traced to that absurd fashion. For men to wear
the hair long he thought "a luxurious feminine protexfty."
But the fashion prevailed, and Fliot lived to see many an
orthodox minister wear a great white wig ; and it is reported
that he gave over the utterance of his grieved spirit, saying
only as a last word of complaint that "the lust was in-
superable." Perhaps Eliot might have carried his point had
he adopted the clever expedieut of Clemens of Alexandria,
who informed the astonished wig-wearers that when they knelt
at church to receive the blessing they would be good enough
to recollect that the benediction remained on the wig, and did
not pass through to the wearer.
His wife, who died three years before him, was •• skilled in
MRS. ELIOT. 189
physic and chirurgery," and dispensed medicines to the sick
and needy in her vicinity. She also managed the private
affairs of her husband, whose charities far exceeded his means,
that he might devote his whole time and strength to his pub-
lic labors. Once, when there stood several kine of his own
before his door, she. in order to try him, asked him whose
they were, and she found he knew nothing of them.
The affection with which this excellent woman was regarded
by all, is seen in the following incident. A sum of money
had been contributed to redeem William Bowen, of Roxbury,
from captivity among the Turks, but news of his death arriv-
ing about the time "good ould Mrs. Eliot lay at the point
of death." it was applied to the erection of a ministerial
tomb, and it was at the same time resolved that Mrs. Eliot,
for her great services to the town, should be honored with
burial there; but before the tomb was finished, "the good
ould gentlewoman" was dead, and she was placed there,
"wherein was man never yet laid." It is touching to read
in Eliot's diary the brief entry on this occasion: "In this
year (1GS7) my ancient, dearly beloved wife dyed. I was
sick unto death, but the Lord was pleased to delay me and
keepe (me) in my service which was but poore and weake."
The death of this venerable and Christlike man,
" Such priest as Chaucer sung in fervent lays,
Such as the heaven-taught skill of Herbert drew,"
occurred on May 20, 1690, at the age of eighty-six. Had he
been a Roman Catholic, he would assuredly have been canon-
ized. Rev. Joseph Eliot, of Guilford. Conn., was the only
one of his sons who had living posterity bearing his name.
The poet Fitzgreene Halleck was a descendant of the
apostle.
The Eliot portrait, now in the possession of the family of
the late Hon. William Whiting, an engraving from which is
given on page 175, was bought by him in London, in 1851,
190 GEX. GOOKIX.
of a dealer in pictures, who unfortunately could give no infor-
mation respecting its history, and who supposed it to repre-
sent some missionary to the East Indies. The costume is that
of the period, and exhibits a similar style of collar, gloves
of nearly identical pattern, and hair and beard of a similar
cut to those represented in the portrait of Gov. Endecott.
The accessories consist of a book, probably the Indian Bible.
and in the background a city, perhaps Cambridge, where Eliot
was educated. On its upper left-hand corner is the inscrip-
tion : "John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians, nat. 1604,
ob. 1690." The portrait was probably painted for the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, doubtless at the
suggestion of Eliot's friend and correspondent, Hon. Robert
Boyle.
Daniel Gookin, the neighbor and intimate friend of Eliot,
when he began preaching to the Indians, and his companion
in many of his perilous journeys among them, had formerry
been a Kentish soldier, and " a very forward man to advance
martial discipline, and withal the truths of Christ." All else
that can be gleaned concerning his connection with Roxburv
is, that he was here from 1644 to 1648 ; was a representative
from Roxbur}* to the General Court, of which he was some
years speaker, and was one of the founders of the grammar
school. Prior to his removal to the more congenial soil of
New England, he had been a planter in Virginia. In 1652 he
was made a magistrate, and he was the last major-general of
the colon}- under the old charter. In 1656 he was a visitor
at the court of Oliver Cromwell, who employed him to induce
emigration from Massachusetts with a view to the settle-
ment of Jamaica, which England had recently conquered from
Spain. In this he was unsuccessful. After a life of great
usefulness, he died on March 19, 1687, at the age of seventy-
five. Judge Sewall, in his journal, characterizes him as "a
right good man."
In 1675, with Eliot and Danforth, he stood boldly forward
THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 191
in behalf of the praying Indians, -whom the enraged people
would have destroyed. For this display of heroism the}' were
openly threatened with death, in placards posted up in
Boston. One of these, dated Feb. 28, 1G75-6, reads as
follows : —
" Reader, thou art desired not to suppress this paper but to pro-
mote its desigue. which is to certify (those traytors to their king
and countrey) Guggins and Dauford, that some generous spirits
have vowed their destruction. As Christians we warue them to
prepare for death, for though they will deservedly dye, yet we wish
the health of their souls.
" By the new Society, " A. B. C. D."
The old-fashioned two-story brick building, the lower part
of which is used as a market, was in the olden time " The
Free School in Roxburie," and was long the only building on
the ground now occupied by Guild Row. The old school has
a history, and fortunately found a historian in Mr. Charles K.
Dillawa}', a gentleman well known and highly esteemed as
an educator, and who has for mam' years taken an active
interest in the schools of the town. Nine generations of
Roxbury bo} - s have imbibed freely at this fountain of learn-
ing, a goodly number of whom have reflected credit on their
Alma Mater. Governors, judges, and generals, patriots
statesmen, and heroes, a list too long to be here given, have
illustrated its history, and have invested its homely old walls
with a claim to our reverential regard.
A Roxbun' poet has thus humorously described some of
the old-time methods of inculcating knowledge : —
" Then, Learning's altar flamed with genial birch,
And tingling ribs proclaimed how keen its search;
Then wit and wisdom found their shortest track
Up to the brain, by travelling through the back.
Just as the woodman makes his axe descend
Its handle best, by thumping t'other end;
And still their course they well knew how to strew
"With bumps that Gall and Spurzheim never knew."
192 THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
Upon a part of the lot supposed to have been given by Gov.
Thomas Dudley, though it mav have been the sift of the
apostle Eliot, '• with the help of many well-disposed per-
sons, by the way of subscription," this old schoolhouse, the
third that has stood here, was erected in 1742, '*a good
handsome bell " being also given for the use of the school by
Hon. Paul Dudley. Bv the year 1820 the growth of the
town had necessitated the addition of a second story, but
even with this enlargement of its capacity it soon became
totally inadequate to the requirements of the school, and in
1834 the house was sold, and a new one built in Mount Ver-
non Place, now Kearsarge Avenue, upon land purchased of
the Warren heirs.
The first house was repaired in 1G65. In 1C81 the condi-
tion of this temple of learning was thus depicted lry the
teacher : —
" Of inconveniences I shall mention no other but the confused and
shattered and nastie posture that it is in, not fitting for to reside in,
the glass broke, and thereupon very raw and cold ; the floor very
much broken and torn up to kindle fires, the hearth spoiled, the
seats some burned and others out of kilter, that one had as well-
nigh as goods keep school in a hogstye as in it."
The decayed state of this scliola illustris, as above graphi-
cally portrayed, explains the vote of the town some time pre-
viously, that without its consent " The scollers should not
keep scool in the meeting hous."
In the will of Samuel Hagburne, made in 1G42, is this pro-
viso, to which the origin of the school may be traced : "When
Roxburie shall set up a free schoole in the towne, there shall
10 shillings pr. ann. out of the neck of land, and 10 shil-
lings pr. ann. out of the house and houselot, be paid unto it
forever." The first active step was taken when some sixty
of the principal inhabitants, t; wellnigh the whole town,"
bound themselves to the payment of certain sums yearly for
the support of a free school. This the} - followed up in 1G40
THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 193
by pledging their houses, barns, orchards, and homesteads to
this most praiseworthy object.
The preamble to this agreement recites that : —
•'Whereas the inhabitants of Roxburie, out of their religious
care of posteritie, have taken into consideration how necessarie the
education of their children in literature will be to fltt them for pub-
licise service both in church and commonwealth in succeding ages;
they therefore have unanimously consented and agreed to erect a
free schoole in the said town of Roxburie and to allow £20 pr.
annum to the schoolmaster."
They then proceeded to choose seven feoffees " for the well
ordering of the schoole and schoolars." who had entire charge
thereof, and also of the collection and disbursement of the funds
f< >r its support. For near a centur}* this method was pursued,
but as sufficient sums came in gradually from other sources,
the rents originally subscribed ceased to be exacted. The
property of the school consists of various pieces of real estate
scattered over the town, most of which have been advanta-
geously leased for a long term of years, and to-day its income
is scarcely equalled b}' that of an}' institution of the kind in
Xew England. The feoffees and the trustees of the Bell and
other estates devised to the school were united into one body
by the Act of January 21, 1789, incorporating ''The Trustees
of the Grammar School in the Easterly Part of the Town of
Eoxbury."
Among the principal benefactors of this well-endowed insti-
tution were Lawrence Whittamore, " an ancient Christian."
Elder Isaac Heath, the friend and coadjutor of Eliot in his
Indian labors, Thomas Bell, the generous London merchant
and the most liberal benefactor of the school, and William
Mead, whose gift, small though it was, comprised his entire
estate. The General Court in 1GG0 granted it five hundred
acres of land. This was laid out in Oxford, but in 1790, by
vote of the town, the proceeds arising from the sales thereof
went into the town treasury, the school never receiving a dol-
lar of the money.
194 THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
In 1669 John Eliot and Thomas Weld, feoffees, in a peti-
tion to the General Court, stated that " the first book and
charter was burnt in the burning of John Johnson's house.
[This fire occurred on April 6, 1645.] It was renewed, but
some of the hands of the donors are not unto this second
book personally which were to the first, nor are they attaina-
ble, being dead." The present book is a small parchment-
covered quarto of one hundred and twenty pages, containing
entries by different hands from 1G4G to 1787. The early
entries are few in number, and without regular order. It
embraces a copy of the agreement for the support of the
school in 1645, names of donors and amounts pledged, choice
of feoffees, teacher's receipts, etc.
Of John Eliot's active agency in the establishment of the
school, and the high reputation it thus early enjoyed. Cotton
Mather, in his " Magnalia," thus speaks : —
"God so blessed his endeavors that Roxbury could not live
quietly without a free school in the town, and the issue of it has been
one thing that has almost made me put the title of Schola illustris
upon that little nursery ; that is, that Roxbury has afforded more
scholars, first for the college, and then for the public, than any other
town of its bigness, or, if I mistake not, of twice its bigness in New
England. From the spring of the school at Roxbury there have run
a large number of the streams which have made glad the whole city
of God."
Joseph Hansford, serving in 1650, is the first of its teach-
ers whose name has come down to us, unless an entry in the
old school record, dated 1G48, allowing for the board of
; ' Father Stowe" and his son, establishes the presumption,
certainly a fair one, that Stowe preceded him in that office.
Teachers not residents of the town were boarded out wherever
convenience dictated, and their board was paid by the trus-
tees. Ward Chipman, afterward an eminent Canadian jurist,
while teaching here in 1770, was boarded at Dr. Thomas Wil-
liams's at eight shillings per week. In 1652 the feoffees agreed
THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 195
with Daniel "Weld to teach, and '- that he provide convenient
benches with forms, with tables for the scholars, a convenient
seat for the schoolmaster, and a desk to put the dictionary
on, and shelves to lay up books." In 1G63 John Prudden
promises and engages "to use his best skill and endeavors,
both by precept and example, to instruct in all scholasticall.
morall, and theologicall discipline the children (soe far as
they are or shall be capable) of those persons whose names
are here underwritten, all A. B. C. Darians excepted." The
names of fifty-eight persons are signed to this covenant.
For this large and beneficent labor the Pruddential considera-
tion was £25 per annum, three fourths in Indian corn or pease,
and one fourth in barley of good merchantable quality, and
at the current rate, to be delivered at the upper mills in Eox-
burv. Five hundred dollars was the salary paid Master Pren-
tiss at the beginning of this century, together with the use of
a dwelling-house. At present the principal of the school
receives four thousand dollars per annum.
However desirous the inhabitants of the town may have
been that their children should receive an education, they
were certainly not over-liberal to the schoolmaster. The}*
refused in 1714 to levy a tax of £10 "for the better support
of a grammar schoolmaster to teach school in the town
street." They paid him in corn, as we have seen, which must
frequently have been against the grain ; they boarded him out,
possibly to the lowest bidder, as was the case with town
paupers ; and he sometimes received his pay in coppers, a3
appears by the following receipt : —
Roxbury, April 8, 1773.
Received of Colo. Williams of the Feoffees of the Grammar
School, a bag of coppers, weight 34 pounds in part of my salary for
the year current, the same being by estimation £4. 13. 4. lawful
money, and for which I am to be accountable.
JOHN ELIOT.
196 THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
To draw even a small salary paid in copper is no light
matter, and Mr. Eliot had weisrhtv reasons for taking his
in small instalments. Being an inmate in the family of
Mr. Isaac Winslow, just across the brook from the school-
house, he did not have to cany it far, though it is quite likely
he made it go a great way. This .young gentleman after-
wards succeeded his father as minister of the New North
Church, Boston.
In 16G3 the town gave for the use of the schoolmaster ten
acres of common land, " that is to say. the use of the wood
and timber for his own use, not to give and sell am*, and so
this to be forever for the use of the schoolmaster." In
March, 1680, it was ordered that the parents of the scholars
supply fuel for the use of the school, either half a cord of
wood or four shillings for each child, excepting those only
who were too poor. In 1735 eight shillings in money, or
two feet of wood, were required, those who furnished nei-
ther, not to have the benefit of the fire, poor children excepted.
Seventy years later the master was requested not to instruct
such children as neglected to pay " fire money." Consider-
ing its ample income and the large supply of woodland owned
by the free school, this seems to have been an unreasonable
exaction.
Among the instructors of this school who afterwards became
famous were Gen. Joseph Warren and Gov. Increase Sum-
ner, natives of Roxbury, and William Cushing, an associate
justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and who
subsequentry declined the high honor of chief justice of that
court, tendered him by Washington. Of those who attained
eminence in the clerical profession, the name of Samuel
Parker, bishop of the diocese of Massachusetts, deserves
mention. Benjamin Tompson, " learned schoolmaster and
physician, and ye renowned poet of New England," taught
here in 1700-3. Ward Chipman, a Loyalist, who accompanied
the British troops to Halifax in 1776, and became deputy
TEACHERS. 197
muster master general of the Loyalist forces in New York
in 1782, was instructor here in 1770. Removing to New
Brunswick, he attained the highest honors, and became presi-
dent and commander-in-chief of the colon}-.
Robert Williams, master of the school in 1777, exchanged
the ferule for the sword, served as lieutenant and paymaster
in Col. Henry Jackson's "Boston Regiment," was in the
battles of Springfield and Monmouth, N. J., and in Sullivan's
campaign against the Indians, and remained until June, 1784,
when the regiment, the last body retained in the continental
service, was disbanded. He was afterwards a merchant of
Boston, and part owner of the ship " Commerce." in which he
sailed to the East Indies. Shipwrecked on the Arabian
coast, Williams, after being plundered and stripped by the
Arabs, and undergoing terrible hardships and privations,
suffering the extremes of hunger and thirst, more than once
lying clown in despair to die, at length succeeded in reaching
Muscat, five hundred miles from the scene of the disaster,
and returned to Boston, after a three 3-ears' absence, in 1794.
The standard of admission must originally have been of the
simplest, since in 1728 it was so raised that only such were
received as could spell common, easy English words, either in
the primer or in the Psalter. Sixty years later applicants
were required "to read tolerably well by spelling words of
four syllables." To-day. in addition to the three R's. a fair
knowledge of grammar and geography are essential. When
the addition of a second story was made in 1820, the school
was divided, and the primarj- department placed under the
charge of Deacon " Billy" Davis. Under the mastership of
John Howe, the Grammar School became a Latin School,
when, in 1G74, the legacy of Mr. Bell became available. The
salary of the teacher was at the same time increased. Out of
eighty-five scholars in 1770. only nine were students of Latin.
In 1844. after a five years' experiment of making it a High
School, its organization as a Latin School was restored, such
198 "whitewash hall."
English studies only being permitted as were compatible with
the latter character.
The three-story wooden building north of the schoolhouse
was built a century ago, and was owned by Deacon Samuel
Sumner. In one of its upper rooms, known at the time as
'• Whitewash Hall," the early meetings of the brethren who
afterwards organized the First Baptist Society were held.
WARREN STREET. 199
CHAPTER VI.
WARREN STREET AND WALNUT AVENUE.
Warren Street. — Edward Sumner. — Old Scboolhouse. — Sumner Hall.
— Funeral of Washington. — Blue Store. — Dove's Corner. — Auch-
muty Estate. — Gardiner's Green. — Admiral Winslow. — Warren's
Birthplace. — Mead's Orchard. — Perrin. — Donald Kennedy. — The
Rocking Stone. — Elm Hill. — Grove Hall. — Ebenezer Seaver. —
Walnut Avenue. — Williams's Homestead. — Rock Hill. — Peter Parley.
THE >v Way to Braintree," or Upper Road to Dorchester,
as it was afterwards called, was laid out in 1663. It
received its present appropriate name, Warren Street, in
1825, when — and it marks the epoch of transition from the
old to the new town more clearly than anything else does —
all the existing roads, to the number of forty, received names
from the town authorities, who had, however, as early as
1806, been instructed to perform that duty. The name had
been borne by the principal street in Punch-Bowl Village as
early as 1791. as appears by a petition to the selectmen from
the engine company there located.
In 1712 Gov. Dudley, Rev. Xehemiah Walter, Samuel
William*. Edmund Weld, and Edward Sumner gave, "for
the benefit of the town." a highway two rods in width
through their lots, which, it will be remembered, fronted the
town street on the west and the training-field on the east.
This highway extended from " the green commonly called
Gardiner's Green to the other highway lately fenced out
from the Greyhound to Mr. Calfe's, leading to Boston." B3'
opening this road, which was known until 1825 as " the New
Lane," direct communication was made between Roxbury
200 EDWARD SUMNER.
Street and the Dorchester Road, which, as well as the Brain-
tree Road, was only reached formerly by passing around the
old brick schoolhouse. At the beginning of the century
Warren Street was styled " The Great Plymouth Road."
Successive widenings, the first occurring in 1798 and the
last in 1872, have given it respectable dimensions, and it is
now one of the most frequented as well as one of the most
sightly of the streets of Roxbury.
Palmer, formerly Sumner, Street was accepted in 1817.
bavins been laid out in 1802 from Lucv Bowman's, on the
corner of Washington, to Aaron Davis's in Mull Street. Ed-
ward Sumner, who lived in the house numbered twenty-two,
was a thrift}' and industrious man, owned considerable real
estate in Roxbury, and was quite a noted character. Among
the many anecdotes related of him is this : —
"In answer to the advertisement of a young Boston merchant
for silver dollars for shipment to China, a Roxbury farmer applied
at the merchant's counting-room in his usual working attire, and
modestly inquired if he advertised for silver dollars. ' Yes,' said
the merchant sharply, 'I have advertised for them, but I do not
wish to buy less than one hundred at a time. Have you any? ' ' I
think I have : what premium do you pay?' ' I pay three per cent,
but,' added the merchant with a sneer, ' I will pay you six per cent
for all that you have.' 'That sounds very well,' said the farmer.
' and as my memory is not the best, please write that on paper and
read it to me.' 'What is your name?' 'Edward Sumner.' Soon
the merchant read the following agreement : ' Edward Sumner
thinks that he has some silver dollars, and I agree to pay him six
per cent premium for the amount he may have, if over one hundred
dollars.' 'That's well,* said Sumner; ' now go with me and I will
see if I have any.' After unloading barrels and baskets of vege-
tables from his wagon in front of the store, much to the astonish-
ment of the merchant a large basket of dollars was found, which,
with his assistance, was carried to the counting-room, where the
amount, including the premium, was ascertained and a check handed
to him in payment. But Sumner, whose turn had now come, de-
clined to receive it. Said he, 'My young friend, a short time ago
you did not think that I had any money, now I do not know that
NEW SCHOOLHOUSE. 201
you have any in the bank. There is my money, and you must hand
me yours.' The merchant, who by this time began to see his mis-
take, was obliged to send his clerk to the bank and draw the money.
Before leaving, Sumner told the merchant that, as he was by far the
older man, he would like to give him a little good advice. 'Young
man,' said he, 'don't you ever again judge a man by his dress, if
you do, you may again be deceived.'"
" Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way,
With blossomed furze unprofitahly gay,
There, in his noisy mansion, skilled to rule,
The village master taught his little school."
" And well our sires can tell
How learning entered where the cowskin fell,
How proved each stripe across his back that flew,
A sluice, where knowledge ran in gutters through.'*
Sumner Hall, the first wooden building on the right-hand
side of Palmer Street, built in 1798 in accordance with a vote
of the town to erect " a decent schoolhouse" in some con-
venient place, was called the " New Schoolhouse in Roxbury
Street." The land was given to the town for this purpose by
Gov. Increase Sumner in 1795. The building is described in
a petition of the proprietors, as " fort}*-four by twenty-two
feet, the lower part a very commodious schoolhouse, the
upper or second story finished as an elegant assembly-room
and drawing-rooms connected therewith." The}' ask the town
to sanction their doings and to authorize them to lease the
premises except the schoolroom. This, it is presumed, was
done, as a public school was kept here many years. "We may
judge of its commodiousness from the fact that in 1829. when
it had one hundred and sixty-four pupils, the committee, on
measuring the schoolroom, found that it would " very incon-
veniently hold, but not accommodate," seventy-two only.
As early as in 1617, the towns were required to provide a
schoolmaster to teach children to read and write, and upon
increasing to the number of one hundred families or house-
holders, '• to set up a grammar school." The forethought
202 SCHOOLS. — EDUCATION.
and urgency of Eliot and his co-workers had already estab-
lished upon a permanent foundation the " Free School of
Roxbury " in the easterby parish, but this in time became in-
sufficient, and school accommodations in the remoter parts of
the town were for man}* years far short of their requirements.
In 1790 the selectmen reported the number of pupils in the
town schools, except the old grammar school, as follows,
the average attendance being one hundred and ninety'-five : —
The school near Workhouse, Centre St., Master Ruggles, 25
" in Warren St. (Punch-Bowl Vill.) " Michael McDonald, 33
" Jamaica Plain, " Morris, 80
•' Upper Jamaica Plain, " AValker, 20
" Spring Street, " James Griggs, 67
In each of these schools the pupils were taught to spell, to
read and speak the English language with propriety, together
with writing, arithmetic, and " such other branches of human
knowledge," say the committee, "as their respective capaci-
ties are capable of imbibing." In some instances the children
of poor parents were obliged to neglect the opportunity of
learning, because their parents were unable to pay a small
sum towards the maintenance of the school. This evil was
at once remedied by a vote empowering the selectmen to draw
on the town treasurer for the sums necessary to make up this
deficiency, not to exceed forty shillings to one school. Two
schoolhouses were soon afterwards established in " Canter-
bury." one at the corner of Bourne and Canterbury Streets,
the other on Poplar Street. Nine school districts were formed
in 1807, four of which were in the easterly parish. The first
and second were accommodated in the t; new" building above
described. At this time the total expenditure for the town
schools was raised from one thousand dollars to fifteen hun-
dred dollars, the pupils, numbering three hundred and eighty-
one, having increased in the same ratio. In 18 1G new vitality*
was infused into the system. The appropriation was increased
to two thousand dollars, and uniformity in the rules and regu-
SCHOOLS. — EDUCATION. 203
Iations and also in text-books was authorized, "the masters
hitherto using such books as they liked." In 181G "a new
school-book," containing the Constitution of the State and
of the United States, was provided. In 1819 " Cnmmings's
Geography" and " Murray's English Exercises" were recom-
mended. " Grimshaw's United States History" and the study
of English composition were introduced in 1822, and "Col-
burn's Arithmetic" in 1826.
But it was not until 1829 that radical changes were made.
In that year the committee found a large part of the children
destitute of books of any kind, and the remainder imperfectly
supplied. They therefore bought and distributed among the
instructors such school-books as in their judgment were best
suited to the wants and capacities of the scholars. They also
formed subcommittees for visiting the schools at convenient
times and without ceremony ; and in view of the fact that
there were thirty per cent of absentees, the\' recommended
to parents to require the regular and constant attendance of
their children. They also expressed their surprise at finding
the largest school superior to all the others, suggested a revis-
ion of the school system, the creation of another school dis-
trict, an increased appropriation, and recommended that some
of the schools be kept a whole year. The attendance in the
eleven schools follows, the right-hand columns showing the
number present : —
Sumner Street . . . . 1C4 143
Workhouse 99 69
Near Gen. Dearborn's . CG 49
Lower Plain 57 42
Upper Plain 70 53
Eliot (Plain) C2 43
In accordance with the suggestion above made, the com-
mittee in the following year proposed, and the town adopted
a proposition, to thereafter use the schoolhouses in districts
Xos. 1. 2, .'3, and 4 for primary schools for pupils under eight
Eliot (Plain district)
. 40
23
By Swallow's (Taft's)
. 52
3G
Lower Canterbury . .
. 49
32
Upper Canterbury . .
. 29
25
. 82
55
204 EDUCATION. — SUMNER HALL.
years of age, to be taught by females, and that some accom-
modations be provided and maintained by the town, situated
conveniently for the said four districts, for a town school,
consisting of pupils over eight years of age, and comprising
a department for girls and one for boys, to be taught by two
masters. The upper hall of the town house was in 1831 fitted
up for this purpose, and the appropriation increased to three
thousand dollars, or a little less than sixty cents per capita
for each inhabitant. In 1839 the estate on Bartlett Street,
now the Dudley School for girls, was purchased, and the
Washington School was built in the following vear. In 1841
there were in Roxbury eleven primary and three grammar
schools, — the Westerly, Dudley, and Washington.
While the improvements in our public schools within a few
years, both in their appliances fur the physical comfort of the
pupils and in the facilities for learning, are undoubtedly very
great, it must be admitted that the wider range of acquisition
under the present system is obtained at the expense of thor-
oughness. How, indeed, could it be otherwise, when the
number of studies is so largely increased, while at the same
time the hours of stud}' are so considerably curtailed ? The
hours for school formerly averaged seven and a half per day.
Now, the}- are five and a half. Vacations of six days in
August and two at Thanksgiving, with five yearly holidays
in addition to Saturday afternoons, were then all that were
allowed, while at present one fourth of the year is given to
vacations and holidays.
" Yet is the schoolhouse rude,
As is the chrysalis to the butterfly;
To the rich flower, the seed. The dusty walls
Hold the fair germ of knowledge, and the tree,
Glorious in beauty, golden with its fruits,
To this low schoolhouse traces back its life."
Sumner Hall was the first hall built for public gatherings,
and was the largest in the town for some vears. It was occu-
FUNERAL OF WASHINGTON. 205
pied by Washington Lodge of Freemasons in the early part
of the century. Funeral honors were here paid to the mem-
ory of Washington, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 1800. A news-
paper of the day furnishes the following account : —
"At sunrise the discharge of sixteen guns, by Capt. Jesse Dog-
get's company of artillery, and the tolling of the bells reminded the
citizens that the appointed day had arrived. All business was sus-
pended. At eleven a. m. the citizens and military of the town
assembled at Sumner Hall and its vicinity, the bier was brought out
of the hall and received by Capt. Barnes's company of infantry, and
the procession moved down the main street to the Boston line, and
then countermarched to Rev. Mr. Porter's meeting-house, in the
following order : —
" Capt. Barnes's company, with arms reversed, the drums muffled,
and the music playing a dead march; boys under fourteen accom-
panied by their instructors; youths between fourteen and eighteen
years of age conducted by two drill sergeants ; the infantry companies
of Captains Dunster and Curtis ; Capt. Dogget's artillery ; Capt. Win-
chester's light infantry ; Capt. Davis's troop of cavalry dismounted ;
music; Washington Lodge of Freemasons; reverend clergy; the
bier carried by six sergeants ; the pall supported by Major Bosson,
Capts. Dogget, Winchester, Curtis, Dunster, and Davis ; selectmen
and committee of arrangements ; town clerk ; town treasurer, and
overseers of the poor, followed by the citizens, four abreast.
" On arriving at the meeting-house, the children, the Freemasons,
and the military opening and dressing in ranks with the escort, the
bier and those who followed it passed through. As a token of grief
each one in the ranks, except the escort, as the bier approached
bowing his head a little, placed his right hand over his eyes until
the bier had passed him. This had a very affecting appearance,
especially in the children, who were very numerous. The bier was
carried into the meeting-house and placed in front of the desk, one
sergeant standing at the head, one at the foot, and two at each side
during the service. After the prayer, by Rev. Mr. Bradford, a
eulogy was delivered by Rev. Mr. Porter, which was afterward
published. The vocal and instrumental music was under the direc-
tion of Mr. Ebenezer Brewer.
" While the procession was moving, minute guns ' with full load-
ings ' were fired by a detachment of artillery, from the fort to the
southwest of the meeting-house, and ine of the pieces through the
200 BLUE STORE.
identical embrasure from which the Americans discharged the first
canuon against the British troops in Boston during the &iege. The
committee of arrangements consisted of twelve of the most promi-
nent citizens, including Gen. Heath, Judge Lowell, Major Head,
Ebenezer Seaver, Esq., and Nathaniel Ruggles, Esq. William
Heath, Jr., and Samuel Blauey, acted as marshals, and the total
expense to the town was the modest sum of one hundred and forty-
two dollars."
As early as in 1699 there was a dwelling-house ami shop
on the spot now occupied b}' the " Blue Store." and judging
from the apparent age of the latter and the solid character
of the materials employed in its structure, they may be iden-
tical. Here James Howe, the baker, made bread for the
American soldiers during: the siege of Boston, and between it
and the "great house" of Dr. Jonathan Davies, along the
New Lane, now Warren Street, Col. Ebenezer Learned daily
formed his regimental line. John Parker, afterwards of Par-
ker's Hill, and Thomas Rumrill, father of "William Rumrill,
the carpenter, were apprentices with Howe. Rumrill and a
fellow-apprentice who slept in the Metcalf house, adjoining
the bakery, were aroused one night by an alarm of fire, and
found that the upper part of the bake-house was in flames.
Fortunately, a huge iron kettle filled with water was at hand.
Seizing it, the}' carried it up the stairs and extinguished the
flames. Next morning, although it was empty, their com-
bined efforts were hardly adequate to the task of carrying it
down.
In 1759 Edward Sumner gave to his daughter, Hannah
Newman, this estate, containing half an acre, with the build-
ings thereon, described in the deed of gift as being " directly
in front or opposite the house where I now live." Early in
the present century this was a West India goods store, kept
by Lewis and Brewer. So comprehensive was the assortment
of goods in the old store that a bet was once made that what-
ever article might be called for would be on hand. The taker
THE AUCHMUTY ESTATE. 207
of the bet, supposing he had '• a sure thing." called for " hen
yokes," an unheard-of commodity, but to his astonishment
they were promptly produced. Elijah Lewis, the senior part-
ner, father of Ex-Mayor George Lewis, of Roxbury. built and
lived in the brick dwelling-house adjoining. The large, square
wooden mansion house beyond was the residence of Mr.
Samuel Doggett.
Taber Street, originally named Union, laid out in 1802 and
accepted in 1819, " began at the New Lane, between W. II.
Sumner's land and the house of Andrew Newman, deceased,
and continued by William Cummins's " on the northwest cor-
ner of Taber and Winslow Streets. It was named for Elna-
than Taber, a native of New Bedford, of Quaker parentage,
who came to Roxbury at the age of sixteen, served as an
apprentice to Aaron Willard, and afterwards engaged in clock
making on his own account. He was the first resident on
the street.
Zeigler Street, named for George Zeisrler. an active and
enterprising citizen, was accepted and laid out in 1801, from
Warren to Eustis Street, and has recently been extended to
Washington Street. His is one of the very few names met
with in the first two centuries in Roxbury indicative of any
other than a pure English origin. The large square house,
now Scott's carriage factorv, was mam* vears asro the resi-
dence of Charles, the brother of Aaron Davis.
The Auchmutv estate, original!}* Isaac Morrill's and after-
wards Samuel Stevens's, contained fourteen acres, and was
bought in August, 1733, of Joseph Scarborough by the elder
Judge Auchmutv for £300. Its present boundaries, Warren,
Cliff, Washington, and Dudley Streets, include hundreds of
dwellings and stores and the Dudley Street Baptist Church.
Soon after the death of the elder Auchmuty in April, 1750,
Dr. Jonathan Davies bought of the widow about one half of
the estate, the remainder coming into possession of the son.
Upon the site of the old homestead, at the corner of Warren
2( is
DR. DAVIES.
ami Glcnwood Streets, he built, shortly after his marriage to
Small Williams in 1781, the house yet standing, and which
has evidently seen better days. Here the doctor, who was a
noted practitioner, died early in 1801, at the age of eighty-
five. This was for many years the residence of Mr. Joseph
Adams. Dr. Davies had previously resided in the old house
bought of Peter Seaver in 1758, in which William Dove, the
DOVE'S CORNET..
painter, afterwards lived : it was occupied for barracks during
the siege, and was torn down to make room for the " Hotel
I )artmouth."
The brick building seen on the left of the picture, once the
residence of Samuel J. Gardner, a prominent lawyer, was
afterwards for many years the home of Dr. Charles M. Wind-
ship, father of Dr. George B. Windship, the strong man.
recently deceased. Dr. C. W. Windship. who married a
daughter of George Zeigler, died here Aug. 27. 1852, aged
seventy-nine. His father, also a distinguished physician, a
graduate of the University of Edinburgh, was surgeon of the
••Bonne Homme Richard." C'apt. John Paul Jones.
Robert Auchmuty the elder, by birth a Scotchman, studied
law at the Temple, London, came to Boston about the year
ROBERT AUCHMUTY. 20 l J
1700, attained great eminence as a lawyer, and was judge of
the Court of Admiralty for Xew England from 1733 until
1747. In 1711 he was sent to England as agent for Massa-
chusetts in its boundary dispute with Rhode Island. While
there he advocated the expedition to Cape Breton in an ably
written pamphlet, published in April, 174-1. This tract prob-
ably gave the historian Smollett the erroneous impression that
Auchmuty was the originator of that brilliant enterprise, the
credit of which belongs to Gov. Shirlev. His services in the
settlement of boundaries between Massachusetts, New Hamp-
shire, and Rhode Island were so valuable, that in December,
173S. he received from the former a grant of two hundred
acres of land. His talents were extraordinary, and he was
famous for his wit and shrewdness. "Old Mr. Auchmuty,"
says a contemporary, "would sit up all night at his bottle,
yet argue to admiration next da}*, and was an admirable
speaker." To him, it was said, the profession in Massachu-
setts is mainly indebted for the high character it has since
maintained.
Samuel, his son, rector of Trinity Church, Xew York, was the
father of Sir Samuel, a lieutenant-general in the British army,
distinguished as the conqueror of Montevideo in South Amer-
ica. A daughter, Isabella, became the wife of Benjamin
Prat, afterward chief justice of Xew York. This gentleman,
who had in his youth lost a leg by a fall from an apple-tree,
had studied law in Auchmuty' s office, and soon rose to the first
rank in his profession. The graphic pen of John Adams,
seizing upon the occasion of the memorable discussion of the
writs of assistance in the council chamber of the Old State
House in Boston, when, as he says, " the child Libert}* was
born," thus depicts Prat: " In a corner of the room must be
placed as a spectator and an auditor, wit, sense, imagination,
genius, pathos, reason, prudence, eloquence, learning, and
immense reading, hanging by the shoulders on two crutches,
covered with a great cloth coat, in the person of Mr. Prat,
15
210 Gardiner's green.
who bad been solicited on both sides, but could engage on
neither, being as chief justice of New York about to leave
Boston forever." This seems excessive praise, but John
Adams never did anything by halves, and as he was not par-
ticularly given to eulogy, we must conclude that in this in-
stance it was well merited.
The triangular space between Dudley and Warren Streets
was two centuries ago the garden and nursery of Peter Gar-
diner, and was long known as '• Gardiner's Green." Some
of this land belonged to the town, and in 1780 a committee
reported to a town meeting that the common land formerly
there was so no longer, and that there was scarce width
enough for the highways between Dr. Davies's land and Mr.
Mears's k ' at or near the corner." Until the lower part of War-
ren Street was laid open, this was the point of beginning of
the Braintree Road. This and the Warren estate beyond,
originally belonged to John Leavens, one of the early pro-
prietors of the town, who came over in 1G32 in the same ship
with Edward Winslow and Robert Gamblin. This most eligi-
ble site was asked for an Episcopal church in 1739, but
the petition was not favorably considered, " a true Catholic
spirit" toward '* brethren in the faith " being as yet practically
unknown. Almost a century was to elapse before churches
of other than the " Orthodox " faith could be tolerated here,
and it was not till 1833 that St. James's Church, in St. James
Street, was established. The petition is as follows : —
" To the Inhabitants of the Town of Roxbury : —
" The memorial of us, the subscribers (and sundry others) . Inhab-
itants of said town sheweth, That by the blessing of God and the
benevolence of divers Catholick and charitable disposed Christians,
we purpose to build an Episcopal Church in this town. Its there-
fore prayed that you would grant soe much of the common ground
near the house of Robert Auchmuty. Esq., as shall be thought need-
full or proper for such a buildiug, leaving sufficiency of road on all
sides, and which we shall look upon as only just and equal, but an
earnest of a true Catholic spirit to your brethren iu the faith, which,
ADMIRAL WINSLOW
211
that the great God, the giver of every good thinic. may ever estab-
lish between the true churches and the members thereof, are the
devout prayer of us, the subscribers.
•■ Leonard Laukmax Francis Brini.ky
Richard Smith Joxa Pl'k
Robert Auchmuty Lewis Vassall."
Situated upon rising ground, a short distance south of
Dudley Street, and approached from the west by Kearsarge
ADMIRAL WINSLOW.
Avenue which once bore the name of Mount Vernon Place,
is the "Warren Cemetery, laid out by the First Religious
Society in 1818 and given to the town in 1841. It has an
area of about one and a half acres. South of it is the pres-
ent building of the old Roxbury Grammar School, erected
in 1853.
Kearsarge Avenue perpetuates the fame of Admiral John
A. Winslow, a resident of Roxbury for nearly thirty years.
His home was here, and in it his widow and daughter still
reside. After his brilliant achievement of sinking the Con-
212 ADMIRAL WINSLOW. — THE WARREN ESTATE.
federate cruiser "Alabama" off Cherbourg, which, as has
been well said, will never be forgotten •• till the pilgrim can
walk dry-shod from Calais to Dover," he was, on his return
home, formally welcomed b} _ the citizens of Roxbury on Nov.
22, 1SG4. The State of New Hampshire has fittingly testified
its sense of his services to the country, by forwarding from
the mountain that gave its name to Winslow's vessel, a granite
bowlder, which his widow has placed over his remains at
Forest Hills, with this inscription : —
REAR ADMIRAL
JOHN ANCRUM WINSLOW,
U. 6. NAVY,
BORN WILMINGTON, N. C,
Nov. 19, 1811,
DIED IN BOSTON, MASS.,
Sept. 29, 1S73.
he conducted the memorable
ska fight ik command of
c. s. ship "kearsarge"
in the english channel,
June 19, 1804.
THIS BOWLDER FROM
KEARSARGE MT., MERRIMACK CO., N. H.,
IS THE GIFT
OF CITIZENS OF WAR.NKK, N. n.,
AND IS ERECTED TO HIS MEMORT
BY HIS WIFE AND SURVIVING CHILDREN.
The Warren estate extended from Warren Place to More-
land Street, and contained seven acres. It was bought in
1G87 by the general's grandfather, Joseph Warren, of John
Leavens, who then occupied the dwelling-house on the estate.
The Warren homestead was a cottage farm-house, built .in
1720 by the first Joseph Warren, who was a housewright.
It was in military occupation during the siege, Col. David
Brewer's regiment being quartered here in the summer of
1775, and the grounds were " improved" for barracks. The
brothers Ebenezer and Samuel Warren successively resided
THE WARREN HOMESTEAD.
213
in the old house, which, on the death of the latter in No-
vember. 1805, came into the possession of Dr. John C.
Warren.
When in 1833 the estate was offered for sale, no one would
give over a thousand dollars for it. The present value of the
land alone is nearly half a million dollars. Real estate in
Roxburv was therefore considered as worth no more at that
TUE WARF.KN HOMESTEAD.
time than it was seventy years before, when this same estate
was appraised at £202. When put up at auction and sold, it
brought, to the astonishment of the spectators, five thousand
two hundred and ninety dollars. At the sale Dr. John C.
Warren reserved the site of the old house ; and when it be-
came impossible to preserve the old mansion any longer, he
built in 1*40 the stone cottage that now occupies the spot.
An exact model of the old homestead, made partly of the
original materials, is retained in the family. On the front of
the present house are two tablets, bearing these inscrip-
tions : —
2U
TIIC WAKKEX HOMESTEAD.
" On this spot stood the house erected in 1720 by Joseph Warren,
of Huston, remarkable for being the. birthplace of Gt n. Joseph War-
ren, his grandson, who icas killed at the battle of Bunker Hill, June
7 7, 277.5."
"JoJm Warren, a distinguished physician and anatomist, was also
horn lure. The original mansion being iit rains, this house was built
!■>/ John C. Warren, M. />., son of the lust named, as a permanent
memorial of the spot."
The Warren farm contained many valuable fruit-trees.
Here, it is claimed, originated the Roxbnry Russeting, else-
where known
as the Boston
Russeting, a
fine apple, with
a red bloom,
keeping late in
the spring, but
w h i c h h a s
greatly deteri-
orated. One
hundred and
twenty-three of
these trees were
cut down dur-
ing the siege
for military pur-
poses, a very
» serious loss to
Mis. Warren, who depended very much upon their product
for her support. Her husband, the father of the general.
was killed by a fall from one of them in 1755. His son John,
who was sent by his mother to call his father to dinner, met
the body as two laborers were bearing it towards the house.
Warren's father was a farmer, industrious, upright, and of
good understanding, who filled several town offices with credit.
WARREN HurSE
JOSEPH WARREN. 215
Mary, his widow, was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Stevens,
and granddaughter of Robert Calef, whose courage and in-
dependence of character she transmitted to her famous son.
Mrs. "Warren was left with the charge of four sons. — Joseph,
Samuel, who continued to live with his mother and cultivate
the paternal estate, Ebcnezer, and John. She attained an ad-
vanced age. was hospitable, kind, and benevolent, and contin-
ued until her death in 1803, at the age of ninety, to reside in
the family mansion, where she was long an object of general
interest. In her old age, when her own children had left
their fireside to take their part in the active scenes of life, it
was one of her dearest pleasures to gather a group of their
children and the children of others around her, and to do all
in her power to promote their enjoyment. On Thanksgiving
day she depended on having all her children and grandchil-
dren with her, and until she was eighty years of age she her-
self made the pies with which her table was loaded.
Joseph, her eldest son. born on June 11, 1741, graduated at
Harvard College in 1759. and became a successful physician.
A college anecdote shows his fearlessness. Several of his
class, in the course of a frolic, shut themselves into a chamber,
and barred the door so as to exclude him. Warren, bent on
joining them, and seeing near the open window of the cham-
ber a spout reaching from the roof to the ground, went to the
housetop, walked to the spout, slid by it down to the window,
and threw himself into the room. At this instant the spout
loll, when he quietly remarked that it had served his purpose.
In 1700-01 he taught the Roxbury Grammar School, at a
salary of £11 10s. per annum.
He had a graceful figure and an elegant address, was scru-
pulously neat in person, and frank and genial in manner, —
traits that made him a welcome visitor in polite circles, and a
general favorite. He was especially attentive to the poor, to
whom his hand was ever extended to afford relief. The
political agitation of the day soon drew him into its vortex.
21(5
JOSEPH "WARREN.
He wrote for the public journals, worked zealously in the
private and public meetings of the patriots, and soon became
a leader whose fervid oratory and tireless activity, together
with his personal popularity, made him the peer of Samuel
Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., as well as the idol of the peo-
ple. In him they found not only the firmness and decision
required in a leader, but prudence and wariness in all his
plans. At the time of his death he was president of the
Congress of Massachusetts, and chairman of the Committee
of Public Safety, being
thus virtually at the head
of the new commonwealth.
At his own suggestion,
Warren was selected to de-
liver the oration on March
•j, 1775, commemorating
the "Boston Massacre."
in defiance of the threats
of British officers that it
would be at the price of the
life of any man to speak on
'■ that anniversary. The pa-
triots looked forward to the
day with deep interest, and
not without apprehension.
There was " a prodigious concourse." and the Old South was
crowded. About forty British officers in uniform filled the
front pews or sat upon the pulpit stairs. There was some
delay in the appearance of the orator, who at length entered
the window back of the pulpit by a ladder. An awful still-
ness preceded his exordium. lie began in a firm tone of
voice, and proceeded with great energy and pathos. - w Such
another hour has seldom happened in the history of man. and
is not surpassed in the records of nations." •• It was pro-
voking enouirh to the military." says Frothingham. "Warren's
JOSEPH WARREN.
JOSEPH WARREN". 217
biographer. " that while there were so many troops stationed
here with the design of suppressing town meetings, there
should yet be one for the purpose of delivering an oration to
commemorate a massacre perpetrated by soldiers, and to show
the danger of standing armies." It is said that some of the
officers groaned as the enthusiastic audience applauded. One
of them, seated on the pulpit stairs, in the course of the
delivery held up one of his hands, with several pistol bullets
on the open palm, when the orator, observing the action.
gracefully dropped a white handkerchief on them.
At Lexington, where he was said to have been the most
active man on the field, a musket ball took off a lock of hair
close to his ear. Ou that memorable occasion he delighted
the people with his cool, collected bravery, and united the
characters of the general, the soldier, and the physician. Here
he was seen animating his countrymen to battle and fighting
by their side, and there he was found administering to the
wounded. Three of the brothers, Joseph, John, and Eben-
ezer, were in this battle. The latter, afterwards a judge of
the Norfolk Count}* Court of Common Pleas, was a deputy
commissarv at Roxburv during the siege. Warren's great
influence was exerted in maintaining order and discipline
amongst the troops that had hastily collected in the environs
of Boston after the battle, and only three days before the
engagement at Bunker's Hill he was made a major-general by
the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts.
lie opposed the project of occupying Charlestown Heights
on the ground of the lack of ammunition, but when the step
was determined on, resolved to share in its dangers. To the
entreaties of friends who would have held him back from
the field, he replied. '- 1 know that I ma}* fall, but where is
the man who does not think it delightful and glorious to die
for his country?" Declining the command tendered him by
Prescott, he took his station in the redoubt, which he was one
of the last to leave, and fell near it, while slowlv retiring.
218 mead's orchard.
Kossuth, the famous Hungarian orator and patriot, delivered
an address to the people of Roxbury at Norfolk Hall, on
May 10, 1852. He was told by the gentleman who formally
extended to him the invitation of the citizens, that the remi-
niscences of Roxbury presented nothing particularly interest-
ing to him, excepting its having been the home of John Eliot,
the apostle to the Indians. k ' Pardon me," said Kossuth.
•• but was it not the birthplace of Warren?" "A prophet is
not without honor save in his own country " ; but the neglect
of the people of Roxbury, after the lapse of a century, to erect
a monument to her most illustrious son is indeed surprising.
Besides the marble bust by Stephenson, on the engine-house
in Dudley Street, the only other permanent memorial of War-
ren, in his native place, is the '• Joseph Warren Monument
Association," organized in I860. There is a fine statue, by
Dexter, in a building near the Bunker Hill Monument. Be-
yond the neat little Swedenborgian Church at the corner of
.St. James Street, is a small, wedge-shaped strip of ground
once ambitiously named "St. James Park," but not b}' any
means to be regarded as the rival of that famous London
pleasure-ground. From its proximity to the old homestead,
this would be a most eligible site for the proposed Warren
monument.
Opposite the Warren house, at the corner of Cliff Street,
there was a wooden structure built originally for the Baptist
society, but subsequent!}' sold to the Methodists, who removed
it in 1852 to this spot. Early on Sunday morning, March
29, 18G8, it was totally destroyed by fire, and so intense was
the heat that the church-bell was melted by the flames into an
indistinguishable mass.
William Mead, who died in 1G83, leaving no descendants,
gave house and land, all his worldly possessions, to the
Roxbury Grammar School. tk Mead's orchard." the land re-
ferred to. extended from below Tolman Place to the corner
of Walnut Avenue. The house now occupied by Mr. J. J.
DONALD KENNEDY.
210
MEAD'S house.
Munroe, the painter, the front portion of which is very old,
is probably that in which Mead resided. It was built in the
stjde of two centuries ago, and until its alteration by its
present owner its roof sloped at the rear nearly to the ground.
The old building contained three ovens. Being the property
of the school, it
was often the
residence of its
teachers in the
olden time, one
of whom, Dr. X.
S. Frentiss. occu-
pied it in 1807.
Tiic land on the
opposite side of
Warren Street,
n o w Pockville
Place, was not
long ago a rocky ledge, higher than the tops of the houses
now standing upon it. The rising ground near Montrose
Avenue was once known as Gorton's Hill, from John Gorton,
an early resident here, who in 1053 had leave from the town
•'to brew and sell penny beare and cakes and white bread."
I lis estate of six: acres was called the ' ; "Wolf Trap." The
area now included in Montrose and Forest Avenues was known
later as Warren's Pasture. One of Paul Dudley's milestones
stood until recently on the opposite side of the road.
Donald Kennedy's residence, between Waverley and Clif-
ford Streets, was built about 1704, by Samuel Ilawes, who
inherited a portion of the Holbrook property, and whose son
Benjamin occupied it until 1830. At that time the mania
for silk-growing was very prevalent, and the Roxbury Land
Company bought the estate for a mulberry plantation. The
solid oak timber in the frame of the house was cut from the
place itself. Here the 4 * Doctor. "' as he is called, who is
220 AUGUSTUS PEBRIX.
well known as a geuial, warm-hearted, and public-spirited
man. has resided since 1844. When quite young, Donald
Kennedy came to this country from Scotland, his native
land, and after working in a tannery in Roxbury, commenced
in a small way the manufacture and sale of his famous ''Medi-
cal Discovery," from which he has realized a fortune.
A portion of Copeland, Waverle}', Clifford, and Woodbine
Streets is within the limits of the estate of the late Augustus
Perrin, and formerly belonged to Hon. John Read. Some
seven acres on Warren Street were inherited by Benjamin and
John H. Hawes from Capt. John Holbrook, to whom his
brother Daniel in 1787 bequeathed thirty-seven acres lying
between this locality and Dorchester, on both sides of Blue
Hill Avenue. The Perrin property, which was acquired in
the manila straw hat manufacture, had its origin in the chari-
table bestowal of a dinner 1)3- Mr. Perrin' 5 mother, upon a sick
and destitute sailor, who in return, taught young Perrin the
mystery of weaving manila straw, an art then wholly unknown
in this country. The sailor had on one of these hats, and
seeing that it attracted the boy's attention told him that if he
would procure the straw he would show him how to make
them. The widowed mother was then living; with her children
in Spring Street, West Roxbury. and there the business was
begun. First the boy, then the mother, and afterwards one
of his sisters acquired the art, which soon grew to such
dimensions, that the family removed to Boston, and estab-
lished the business upon a more extended scale. The large
brick building kuown as the Old Ladies' Home, between
Copeland and Waverley Streets, was long the residence of Mr.
Perrin.
Mavwood Street indicates the localitv known as Mav's
Woods, where was formerly a pond, and was also a part of
the John Read estate. Opposite this street, about midway
between Warren Street and Walnut Avenue, there was, till
quite recently, a portion of the old wall at the southern limit
TIIE ROCKING STONE. I? 21
of John Eliot's lot, which, it is not improbable, made part of
its original boundary. South of Eliot's pasture was an eight-
aere lot, orisrinallv Edward Bugbee's. The land on both
sides of Gaston and Roslyn Streets, and including a part of
Mr. Samuel Little's estate, was once the propert}- of Aaron
White, the owner of the Mount Pleasant farm. On the cor-
ner of Quincy Street there was a tavern, kept many years ago
by John White.
The old farm-house on the French, formerly the John
Lewis estate, has near it an old pear-tree, from which origi-
nated the excellent winter fruit known as the Lewis pear, first
described and brought into notice by Samuel Downer of Dor-
chester. The estate of forty acres includes French's Woods,
which is, with the region about it, according to the late Prof.
Agassiz, one of the most interesting spots to the geologist in
New England. Huge bowlders of conglomerate are strewn
around here in most admired disorder, evidently the result of
glacial action.
One of these, the Roxbur}- " Rocking Stone," a famous
natural curiosity, was located on the Munroe farm, and may
yet be seen in the northwest corner of Mr. J. P. Townsend's
estate, on Townsend Street. Strangers came from a distance
to gaze and wonder, and it even attracted scientific observers.
This bowlder was removed many years since, tradition, says,
by old Deacon Munroe, who had been so annoyed b}' visitors
to the rock who trampled down his vegetables, that he hired
a number of men, who with crow-bars displaced it, after great
effort, from its original position. The stone remains at a dis-
tance often or twelve feet from its old site, but the rock has
disappeared.
The approach to Elm Hill, formerly the residence of Mr.
Rufus Greene Amory, now that of Mrs. J. D. W. Williams,
is through a lane bordered by large elm-trees, one of which,
at a distance of twelve feet from the ground, is twent}*-five
feet in circumference. A singular object is to be seen in the
222 ELM HILL. GROVE HALL.
stone fence back of the field to the right of this lane. It is a
large elm-tree trunk, making with its two lower branches
twenty-five feet of the horizontal wall, and presenting a sur-
face as fiat as though it had been planed.
The mansion house, built early in the present century, is
finely situated on elevated ground, the large open field in its
front sloping gradually down to the street and affording an
opening for a magnificent view of the city and harbor. To
add to its attractiveness, Mrs. Amory and her four charming
daughters made it a seat of elegant hospitality and social
enjo}'ment, and it had numerous visitors. These young ladies
were afterwards Mrs. Joseph L. Cunningham, Mrs. Col. Free-
man, Mrs. Dr. Jeffries, and Mrs. Edward L. Cunningham.
Mr. Amory's brothers, John and Thomas Amory. and a sister.
Mrs. John Lowell, were at the same time residents of Rox-
bury, the mansions of the two former being on Amory Street.
Much of the costly furniture at Elm Hill, belonging to the
period of Louis Quinze. is said to have originally graced the
chateaus of the French noblesse, who either emigrated, or
were guillotined during the Revolution.
S. G. Reed's estate, formerly Daniel Bugbee's, comes next.
Here, in 1794, Ebenezer Bugbee, tanner, owned five acres and
the buildings thereon. For many years he kept a tavern
here, a two-story house painted red. a little back from the
road on the westerly side, where Mr. William A. Simmons
now resides.
The Grove Hall mansion, built in the year 1800, and for
many years the residence of Thomas Kilby Jones, a Boston
merchant, was remodelled afewj^ears since, and is now known
as the " Consumptives" Home." Situated at the intersection
of Washington Street and Blue Hill, formerly Grove Hall
Avenue, it occupies a conspicuous and sightly position, and
is surrounded with ample grounds. The estate of ten acres,
originally the homestead of Samuel Pay son, was owned by
John Goddard earlv in the last centurv. It was afterwards
HON. EBENEZER SEAVER. 223
the site of Stephen Kent's tavern, which, after his death in
17(37, was kept for more than thirty years by his widow. The
'■ Home" was founded in 1862 by Dr. Charles Cullis. upon
the plan of Midler's famous orphan asylum. He began with-
out any funds, and depends upon daily contributions to sup-
ply its daily wants. Dr. Cullis calls this institution a '• work
of faith," and looks upon the contributions he receives as
direct answers to his prayers. The usual number of patients
is from thirty-five to fifty. All poor persons sick with con-
sumption are freely admitted, irrespective of age or color.
Beyond Grove Hall, and partly within the ancient limits of
Dorchester, lie the mansion and grounds of Hon. Marshall P.
Wilder, whose eminent services in behalf of the agricultural
and horticultural interests of our country have rendered his
name almost a household word throughout the land. The
house, which has been recently altered, was built on what was
known as the Morgan farm, by Increase Sumner. During
the siege of Boston, it was the place of refuge and residence
of his widow and children, one of whom was the future gov-
ernor of the State. Mr. Wilder' s pear orchard contains
nearly one thousand varieties of that fruit. On the opposite
side of Columbia Street is the cottage in which Gen. William
H. Sumner once resided.
Near the corner of Schuyler Street and Blue Hill Avenue,
is the house once occupied by Hon. Ebenezer Seaver. The
street, named for him, and extending from Brush Hill Turn-
pike, now Blue Hill Avenue, to Walnut Avenue, was for-
merly designated ; ' The Long Crouch." Robert Seaver, his
emigrant ancestor, whose homestead was on Stony River,
came over in the " Mary and John.'" in 1634, was a freeman
in 1G37, and died in 1682, leaving numerous descendants.
Hon. Ebenezer Seaver, "the Squire" as he was commonly
called, was very prominent in town politics, being frequentlv
chosen moderator of town meetings, and also one of the
selectmen, general!}' chairman of the board, and administering
224
IIOX. EBENEZEIt SEAVER.
town affairs with scrupulous integrity, wisdom, and econ-
omy. He had long enjoyed the honorable title of "Father
of the Town,"' when on his retirement from public service,
in 1830, he received the thanks of the town for his " long, faith-
lid, and unremitting sendees for nearly forty years past."
He was for some years a member of the Legislature, was in
Congress from 1803 to 1813, and one of the Committee on
Foreign Affairs that reported a manifesto as the basis of the
declaration of war with Eng-
land in 1.S12, and was a
member of the convention
which in 1820 amended the
State Constitution. He was
a lifelong Democrat, and
Gov. Eustis. Major Read, and
Squire Seaver formed a trio
of political cronies whose
influence was felt by their
party throughout the State.
John Randolph gave him the
title of '-the old Warhawk
of the Democracy." Though
a graduate of Harvard Col-
lege, he preferred the occupation of a farmer to either of the
learned professions, and closed a useful and honorable life on
March 4, 1*44.
As exemplifying the simple methods then in use in trans-
acting the public business of the town, no less than the con-
fidence and trust reposed in its public servants, it ma}* be
mentioned that on Mr. Seaver's retirement from the chair-
manship of the board of selectmen, all the auditing and book-
keeping occasioned by the transfer, consisted in his pulling
out a roll of bills which he passed over to his successor, with
the remark that it was " all right," — as it undoubtedly was.
His grandson, Mr. Augustus Parke;-, who inherited and
LION*. EBEXEZER PEAVER.
WALNUT AVENUE. 225
resides upon the estate of Mr. Seaver, inherited also his
grandfather's taste for agriculture, a pursuit in which he has
been highly successful. One of the products of the Seaver
farm is the fine apple known as the " Seaver Sweeting."
Returning to Walnut Avenue, formerly Back Street, and
anciently " the Way to the Great Lotts, next Gamblin's
End, aud so to Rocky Swamp," our starting-point, is the
locality once known as " Clewly's Corner," where were for-
merly two grist-mills. Clewly's lot extended from the school
land at the corner of "Walnut Avenue (Mead's orchard) to
Circuit Street, and up the hill to Fountain Street. His house
stood where the frame building occupied by Mr. Wiswall
stands, at the corner of Mount Warren. In 1737 Joseph
Clewly petitioned the town for a small strip of land, having,
as he says, 4i purchased a grist mill with design to serve his
good neighbors as well as himself, and so finds it necessary
to build a small granar}* in order to lay in a supply of grain
while }* e same is cheapest." In 1711 he was allowed b} - the
town of Boston to remove his grist-mill from Roxbury and to
set it on Fort Hill.
To the west of Clewly's lies the locality known as " Tom-
my's Rock," a rough and stony region, originall}' the " Rocky
Pasture," and sufficiently elevated to afford a fine view
towards the southwest. Its name was derived from Tom
Ilommagen, an old negro, who lived near the Swiss cottage
on Circuit Street, near Washington. In requital for profes-
sional services, Tom bequeathed his body to Dr. Windship,
and this delightful memento mori was long the skeleton in
the doctor's closet. At the foot of Tommy's Rock is the
Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph, built in 184G. Oppo-
site, is a square stone building belonging to it, only notewor-
thy for having been subjected to the visitation of a" smell-
ing " committee of the Legislature in Native American times.
A small cemetery adjoins the church.
Emerging here from the region of brick and mortar, one
15
226 WALNUT AVENUE.
sees upon every side, in the handsome residences and lovely
grounds that line the avenue, such evidences of the wealth
and taste of their owners, as make this one of the most
attractive of the many fine avenues in the vicinity of the
metropolis. Among its noticeable features are the chapel of
the Walnut Avenue Religious Society, on the corner of Dale
Street, and the fine residences of Messrs. Fenno, Chadwiek.
the late Horatio Harris, Aaron D. "Williams, and William V.
Hutchings.
The chapel, the residence of Mr. Fenno, and the Lewis
School stand on the thirty-acre pasture, once the apostle
Eliot's, extending from the intersection of Warren and Walnut
nearly to Bower Street. To the south lav " the Great Lotts"
and "• Fresh Meadow." Less than half a century ago this fine
avenue was a narrow road, from the sides of which large
coveys of quails would frequently start up. Eighty years ago
it contained but six houses, — the " Bngbee" house, the
Abijah Seaver house, opposite to and not far from Chad-
wick's, J. D. Williams's house, Deacon Samuel Sumner's,
Stedman Williams's, and the Scarborough house. The four
last named are vet standing.
South of Clewly's and extending as far as Dale Street was
a thirteen-acre lot belonging to Edward Sumner. Just this
side of Dale Street a brook, originating in May's Pond, for-
merly crossed the road and flowed into Smelt Brook. The
large square house a little to the north of it is on the site of
the old house of Daniel Bugbee, and also the homestead of
his ancestor. Edward Bugbee, an early settler of the town.
which having fallen to decay, was pulled down by some young
men for a frolic, many years ago.
Beyond Dale Street and a little to the west of the avenue,
lies Washington Park, upon which is an eminence called
Hone}'suckle Hill. All this territory extending westward to
Washington Street and southeast of the Maccarty farm was
the estate of Abijah Seaver, grandfather of Benjamin, mayor
WALNUT AVENUE. 227
of Boston in 18.32 and 1853, and a descendant of Robert the
emigrant. Midway between Dale and Townsend Streets,
dividing the Seaver estate into two nearly equal parts, and
having a front of some eight hundred feet on Walnut Avenue,
came the southern boundary of the Maccarty farm, an exten-
sive tract reaching nearly to Centre Street on the west. In
1836, the period of Eastern land speculation, the ■' Roxbury
Land Company" purchased the Seaver and other adjacent
estates, and soon owned all the land between the Dedhaui
Turnpike and "Walnut Avenue, from St. James Street to the
Kingsbury estate beyond Townsend Street.
The Munroe farm of twenty -two acres, between Munroe
and Townsend Streets, was bought b} T the town in 1829 of
Deacon Xehemiah Munroe. A large part of this land, which
is very rocky, and which adjoins the French estate, was con-
veyed to him by William Dorr in 1784. The western portion
of this territory, fronting the avenue, constitutes a small park
of great natural beauty. South of it lies the fine estate and
residence of the late Horatio Harris.
The old Williams homestead, on the corner of Oriole
Street, is well preserved, but it has been greatly modernized.
The fine large elm back of it gives to the old mansion a com-
fortable, homelike air. Upon this estate, which contained
about fifty acres, originated the "Williams Favorite," a large
and handsome dessert apple, worth}* of a place in every gar-
den. It is a fact that the apple-tree, set out so extensively b}-
the first settlers here, soon produced a fruit superior in size
and flavor to what it had borne in England. Opposite the
residence of Mr. William V. Hutchings and just beyond West-
minster Avenue, is the Kingsbury house, which stands on the
farm once the property of Stephen Williams, son of Col.
Joseph Williams, who lived in Perrin's Lane, now Bartlett
Street. The old farm-house beyond, once the residence of
Deacon Sumner, is in a very dilapidated condition. A little
daughter of the deacon's, who fell into the old well belonging
228
MOSES "WILLIAMS S REMINISCENCE*.
to the place and was rescued, became the grandmother of Ex-
Mayor Lewis.
Mr. Muses Williams, a descendant of Robert, whose home-
stead we have already visited, and who, though eighty-eight
years of age. retains his physical and mental vigor to a won-
J. D. WILLIAMS'S HOUSE.
derful degree, has kindly furnished some reminiscences of this
region, so familiar to his bovhood. He savs : —
"The two Williams houses on Walnut Avenue, the oue uow
owned by Aaron D. Williams and the oue formerly owned by my
brother Stedman Williams, were previously owned by my grand-
father, Capt. John Williams. By his will he gave the former to my
lather, the latter to my uucle, Jouathau Williams, who was mar-
ried, ami who occupied it twenty years or more. He then sold it to
my father, aud removed to Luneuburg, Mass. My father bought it
■with the farm about it for my brother Stedman, who moved into it
when he was married, and lived in it until he died.
"The old house ou the east side of Walnut Avenue, situated
about half-way between A. D.'s aud Stedman's, belonged eighty or
SCARBOROUGH.
220
ninety years ago to Deacon Samuel Sumner. He had two wives.
and I have always understood that he obtained the estate in right
of his first wife, who was a Williams. I thus am well satisfied that
all three of these houses and bordering estates were built ami owned
by my ancestors. A. D. Williams's house and my brother Sted-
mau's were originally lean-tos. My father altered his and gave it
the form it now has, before my remembrance; and I remember when
my brother Stedmau altered his. I do not think that my grand-
father built the two houses which he gave to my father and uncle,
but my great-grandfather probably did.
"Scarborough was uncle to my father by marriage. He mar-
ried a Williams, but left no children. His house was the one now
owned by Mr. Ellicot. It was at one time the residence of Samuel
Wait, and is at the bend of the road on the north sid^e of the avenue
as far up as Forest Hills."
Among the early Roxbury names, now extinct here, is this
of Scarborough. It is, however, kept in remembrance as the
name given to the
street leading from
the corner of the
avenue, where the
estate originally
was, to Morton
Street. John Sear-
borrow, admitted -
a freeman in 1640.
•• was slaine the 4th
of the 9th month stedm.vn- ^tlliams-s hovse.
1G4G. charging a great gunne." Samuel, the last of the Rox-
bury Scarboroughs, died here in 1789. South and southwest of
the Scarborough estate, which contained eighty-two acres, lay
the common land of the town, the last of which was sold in
1812, to Samuel AVaitt. Upon the Scarborough homestead
there was a majestic tree, beneath whose spreading branches
the tired minute-men from Lexington were fed, by one who,
when an ancient dame, loved to recall the past. Much of the
230 ROCK HILL. — L. M. SARGENT.
land beyond School Street on both sides of the avenue re-
mains unimproved, and well merits its old titles of " Rocky
Pasture" and •« Rocky Bottom."
Lucius Manlius Sargent built, and for many years resided
in the cottage in the midst of a grove on Rock Hill, near
the southwest corner of Seaver Street and Walnut Avenue,
now the residence of Rev. A. IT. Plumb. Mr. Sargent, who
was a fine scholar, was also well known as a writer under
the nor/I de plume of '• Sigma," and rendered efficient service to
the cause of temperance both as a lecturer and an author. His
series of "Temperance Tales "passed through one hundred
and thirty editions, and was reprinted in many languages.
His writings were characterized by honesty of opinion and
boldness and vigor of style. He was six feet in height and
admirably proportioned, was fond of horseback riding, and was
an athlete in muscular power. He had a finely formed and
uncommonly large head, oval face, gray, penetrating eyes,
well-formed mouth, and a Roman nose. He was affable,
genial, and kind-hearted, and was admired and loved for his
many generous and noble qualities.
The wall-paper on the parlor of the Stedman Williams house,
near the corner of Glen Road, is unique. It is nearly one hun-
dred years old, represents an English landscape, and is as fresh
and perfect in color and appearance as if put on yesterday.
The painter, Gilbert Stuart, who passed here a portion of his
Roxbury sojourn, has left appropriate mementos of it in two oil
portraits of Stedman Williams and Betsey his wife, daughter
of Col. Joseph Williams. Tradition says there were serious
misgivings as to the prudence of this match. The young
lady was for those days highly accomplished, and all unused
to the detail and drudgery of farm life, but it is certain that
she performed the duties devolving upon her in a most exem-
plar}' manner.
Forest Hill Street was. half a century ago, known as
•• Jube's Lane," having but one habitation upon it, — '* a
FOREST HILLS. 231
wretched collection of hovels and sheds occupied by a Moor-
ish-looking man named Jupiter, who kept swine, and who had
a bevy of wild-eyed children." On this street is the house
built in 1803 by S. G. Goodrich, best known as ,; Peter Par-
lev." and in which he lived man}* years. He achieved fame
by his books for children, of which a fabulous number were
-■ild. and which gave him a world-wide celebrity. He repre-
sented his district in the Massachusetts Senate in 1837 and
1 838, and was a prominent speaker in behalf of temperance and
uf the political organization known as the Whig part}-. Mr.
Goodrich is described at this time as " tall and slender, grace-
ful in lineament and speech, with a classic face, wearing gold-
bowed spectacles that gave him an aristocratic air, and upon
public occasions charming all with his eloquence."
Prolonging our walk a short distance we come to Morton
Street, from which Forest Hills Avenue conducts us to the
beautiful cemetery of that name, consecrated on June 28, 1848.
Much of its territory, naturally picturesque and diversified,
and now so tastefully embellished, was wild land not long
ago. and as Roxbury Common was almost valueless, save as
the source of the town's fuel supply for its schools and its
ministers. The filling up of the old graveyards, and their
repulsive condition, moved Gen. Dearborn and other citizens,
in 1846, to petition the newly established city* government
of Roxbury for a rural cemetery. The purchase of the Joel
Seaverus farm of fifty-live acres for that purpose was the
result, and to this other pieces of land adjoining have from
time to time been added. This cemetery, located in " Can-
terbury." near the geographical centre of the town, and
bounded by Morton. Canterbury, and Walk Hill Streets, has
now an area of two hundred and twenty-six acres. The
approaches to it are over excellent roads, by well-cultivated
grounds and charming rural residences, affording the most
agreeable of the many delightful drives in the vicinity of
Boston.
232
FOREST HILLS.
The work of laying out the grounds of this " Garden of the
Dead" was assigned to Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, who did so
much to secure its establishment, ami whose skill and taste
had been so successfully exerted at Mount Auburn. Hill and
dale, lake and grove, picturesque rocks, cool grottos, fra-
grant flower-beds, and ever-varying landscapes render this an
FOREST HILLS GATEWAY.
exceedingly attractive spot ; and a saunter through its princi-
pal avenues, with their beautiful monuments and interesting
inscriptions, is a pleasure long to be remembered.
The original wooden gateway, with its Egyptian designs.
gave place, in 18G5, to the present tasteful structure of Rox-
bury stone and Caledonia freestone, in the style known as the
modern Gothic. Upon its front, in golden letters, is this
inscription : —
-I am the Resurrection and the Life'":
and upon its inner face : —
"He that keepeth Thee will not Slumber."'
FOREST HILLS. 233
At the left of the entrance, near Lake Dell, is an elegant
marble receiving- tomb, the finest in the countrv. built in IS 70.
Its catacombs, two hundred and eighty-six in number, are
five tiers deep, and are ranged on each side of arched pas-
sages ten feet wide, paved with white and black marble tiles.
It has a Gothic portico of white Concord granite, and its floor
is covered with French tiles. On either side of the arched
doorway are wall spaces for mural tablets or inscriptions.
Three avenues diverge towards different parts of the cem-
etery from the main entrance, opposite which, on .Snow-
flake Hill, is a stone bell-tower and observatory one hun-
dred feet in height, completed in 187G. From it is obtained
a magnificent view of the Blue Hills, the surrounding towns,
and several of the islands in Dorchester Bay.
The eminences that gave the cemetery its name are the
Eliot Hills, a range of four heights in its southwestern part ;
Consecration Hill, at its northeastern angle ; Chapel Hill.
north of Lake Dell ; the large hill south of Consecration Hill,
named for the illustrious Warren ; and Cypress Hill, over-
looking the neighboring cemetery of Mount Hope, and pre-
senting to the view an extensive and pleasing rural landscape.
Lake Hibiscus, a charming sheet of water, is near the centre
of the cemetery, and is approached by avenues from its differ-
ent parts. It was formerly a meadow supplied by copious
springs, and has an area of three acres. One of the most
attractive spots at Forest Hills is the grotto on Dearborn
Hill.
Some of the more striking and picturesque of the numerous
bowlders scattered over the ground have been sulfered to
remain in their natural state. One of the most remarkable
of these groups is in the lot of Gen. William H. Sumner, on
the western slope of Mount Warren, where stands a statue of
great beaut}", representing the Angel of the Tomb protecting
the ashes of the dead. The Sumner shield and arms, also a
medallion head, ornament the base of the statue.
234 FOREST HILLS.
Among the eminent men whose ashes repose in this ceme-
tery are Gen. "Warren, Gen. Heath, and Admiral Winslow.
Many super') monuments and simple inscriptions attest alike
the taste and skill of the sculptor, and the strong affection of
surviving: kindred. The "Ascending; Angel," on the Gould
lot, '• Memory," on Lake Avenue, and those of Dwight, Per-
kins, and Lovering, are especially noticeable. From such a
bewildering multitude of marbles, it is a relief to turn to the
ivy-mantled bronze tablets, let into the natural rock, commem-
orating those patriotic young soldiers, Wilder and Howard
Dwight. On the summit of Mount Warren, in a lot in the
shape of a half-moon, the ashes of Gen. Warren with others
of his family have been reinterred, after being taken from
their original resting-places. In the soldiers' lot is a statue
in bronze of a volunteer soldier, by the sculptor Milmore. It
is nearly seven feet in height, on a pedestal of six, and is a
memorial of the volunteers from Roxbury in the war for the
Union.
One has but to place in imagination this beautiful cemetery
side by side with the neglected and dilapidated Eustis Street
graveyard of thirty years ago, to appreciate the beneficent
labors of the man who -sleeps on yonder hill. The Dearborn
monument, on the summit of Mount Dearborn, near the lot
in which the general was interred, is an elegant Corinthian
column of white marble, on a base which extends by scrolls
on each side to smaller pedestals bearing funeral urns. The
shaft is surmounted by a funeral urn with flame. On the front
of the base is a raised tablet inscribed as follows ; —
II . A . S . DEARBOE X ,
Obiit Julii 29, 1S31,
^Etat 67.
And on the opposite side :
" OSSA IN TERUA
QL'AM DILEXIT, COLOT, ORNAVIT,
CIVES ET AM1CI MCERENTES
CONDIML'S.*
.MOUNT HOrE CEMETERY. 235
At the corner of Walk Hill and Canterbury Streets is an
old house, now owned by E. M. Fowler, which was built by
Stephen Williams more than a century ago. The old house,
now -Lambert's, once the Isaac Williams house, stands on the
opposite side of Canterbury Street, a little east of Fowler'-.
Another Williams mansion of a later date is that on Back
Street, in which lived Benjamin Payson Williams, a man of
hip.h character, and who tilled with credit numerous public
stations.
Mount Hope Cemetery, on Canterbury Street, a little south
of Forest Hills, lies partly in Dorchester, and contains over
one hundred acres. It was consecrated on June 24, 1852,
and on July 01. 1857. its proprietors transferred it to the city
of Boston. This cemetery is located in an attractive valley,
and besides the natural beauty of the grounds and their
floral and other embellishments, contains some fine monu-
ments, notablv the army and navy monument, and the Odd
Fellows' Memorial, a group representing David and Jonathan,
by Thomas Ball.
236 SMELT BROOK.
CHAPTER VII.
MEETING-HOUSE HILL.
Smelt Brook.— Dudley Estate. — Thomas Dudley.— Joseph Dudley.— Paul
Dudley. — Isaac "Winslow. — Town House — Hourlies. — Roxbury Com-
mon. — Siege of Boston. — Gen. Thomas. — Roxbury Camp. — Annals
of the Siege. — The First Church. — Church Music. — Eliot's Church
Record.
HAVING hitherto followed the old highway from Boston
over the Neck, to a point where the natural configuration
of the ground admitted of lateral roads, that to Dorchester on
the left, and the Cambridge road on the right, we find our-
selves at Smelt Brook, a small stream, that, flowing in a
northerly direction across Dudley Street, through the home
Jots of Heath, Weld. Dcnison, and Johnson, finally lost itself
in the marshes near the mouth of Stony River. This stream,
once so considerable, and whose waters supplied with pisca-
tory delicacies the scantily furnished tables of the early set-
tlers, has wholly disappeared from view, if we except that of
the poet, who asserts that
" Men may come, and men may go, »
But I flow on forever,"
and its bed lies buried twenty feet below the present level of
the street across which it originally ran. To the westward of
it, and south of the Cambridge road, lay the Dudley estate
and Meeting-House Hill.
The Universalist Church covers the site of Gov. Dudley's
mansion, and his well, the sole remaining memento of it, is
still in existence beneath that edifice. Rumor has it that
this mansion was the one originally erected at Newtown
THE DUDLEY ESTATE. 237
(Cambridge), removed thence on the governor's change of
residence in 1C3G, and concerning which Gov. AVinthrop
charged him with extravagance in having it wainscoted.
Dudley replied to the charge, that the extravagance com-
plained of was •• only for the warmth of the house, and the
cost small, and that the wainscoting consisted only of clap-
boards nailed to the wall in the form of wainscoting." In its
day. this was one of the best houses in the town. It con-
tained two parlors, a parlor chamber, a hall chamber, study,
and other room?. The library, consisting principally of
religious treatises and law books, contained also a few vol-
umes of history, and a poem. '■ Y e Vision of Piers Plowman."
Few of the early settlers could afford the luxury of books,
their scant collections consisting mainlv of the writings of
Puritan divines.
The old mansion was razed to the ground a few davs after
the battle of Bunker's Hill, and its brick basement walls,
facing north and east, made the angle of the work that was
erected here by the Americans. The entrenchments at this
point included the garden, and extended to the hill east of
the meeting-house. These were ploughed down soon after
the close of the war, by Gov. Sumner, who for some years
previous to his decease enjoyed possession of the land in right
of his wife. In making the necessary excavations for the
church, the wine cellar of the mansion was unearthed, and,
strange as it may seem, the liquors were, after a lapse of forty-
five year-;, found intact.
Miantonomoh. the great sachem of Xarragansett, came
here in 1010. and was " well entertained" b} - Gov. Dudley;
but refusing to treat by a Pequod interpreter. — and no
greater insult could have been offered to the proud warrior,
— departed for Boston " in a rude manner," says Winthrop,
'■ without shewing any respect or sign of thankfulness to the
governor for his entertainment." A contemporary tells us
that this sachem *• was a very good personage, of tall stature,
238
MIANTOXOMOH.
subtile and cunning in his eontrivements, as well as haughty
in his designs.'' When before the Court at Boston, he was
very deliberate in his answers, "shewing a good understand-
ing in the principles of equity and justice, and great ingenu-
ity." He demanded that his accusers be brought before him
face to lace, and if they failed in proof then to he made to
sutler what himself, it* he had
been found guilty, deserved.
i. < .. death. Defeated in a
buttle with I'ncas, a rival
chieftain, whom he had at-
tacked unawares, he was
made prisoner, being unable
to escape on account of the
armor with which his friend
Samuel Gorton had provided
him for the security of his
person. The haughty sachem
disdained to ask for his
life, and Uncas, who was disposed to bury the hatchet, acting
upon the advice of the magistrates and ministers of the col-
ony, buried it in the skull of his defenceless captive. At
a later period Gov. Shute was. on his arrival in Boston, for
a time the guest of Chief-Justice Paul Dudley, and we may
be certain that during the entire colonial period no New
England mansion entertained a larger number of visitors of
distinction.
The Dudley homestead, containing between five and six
acres, lay between what are now Washington and Bartlett
Streets on the south, and Roxbury Street on the north, ex-
tending from Guild Row to Putnam Street, the eastern
boundary of the land of the First Parish. Smelt Brook
was originally the eastern boundary of the homestead.
Thomas, eldest son of Col. "William Dudley, came in pos-
session of the estate on the death of Judije Paul Dudlev. it
DEATH OF MIANTONOMOH.
THE DUDLEY ESTATE. 239
being entailed on the first male heir. lie had .several children.
but his brother Joseph had none, and wished him to take
the paternal estate, and keep up the style of the family.
Thomas, whose habits were those of a rough farmer, declined
doing this, professing his inability to take charge of the estate
in the way desired by his brother, telling him that if he in-
sisted on his residing there and supporting the ancient man-
ner of living, he should put his oxen into the governor's
carriage instead of the family horses. Joseph urged the mat-
ter, and Thomas tried the experiment, and to show his con-
tempt for ceremony or style, actually told his coachman to
yoke his oxen into the family carriage, and then getting into
it ordered him to drive to Wood's, the pewterer, in Roxbury
Street, where he bought a pewter cider mug. and then directed
him to •• gee round ,; aud return home. This laughable esca-
pade threw so much ridicule on the family honors, that it in-
duced Joseph to exchange " the good farm in the woods." the
residence of Col. William Dudley, with his brother for the
old homestead. The entail was accordingly broken in his
favor, and he occupied the family mansion until his removal
to Boston, when it became the residence of Isaac Winslow.
Esq. By his will, dated June 13, 17G7. Joseph entailed it
for the benefit of his nephew, William Dudley.
Mr. Hyslop. the father-in-law of Increase Sumner, pur-
chased of Joseph a portion of the estate, and gave it to his
daughter, who held possession until 1806, when Joseph,
eldest son of William Dudley, recovered it by a suit at law.
At this period, these acres, now covered with handsome
buildings, were an open field, with a pretty high hill where
the Eliot Church stands. In 1811 that part of Dudley Street,
west of Washington was laid out through the estate and
accepted by the town with its present name, and in 1825 the
land on both sides of it having been alienated by Col. Dudley,
its unthrifty owner, was cut up into house-lots and sold.
The distinguished familv who flourished here for a centurv
240 THOMAS DUDLEY.
and a quarter, and whose name and fame are inseparably
connected with Roxbury, played in its time an important part
in the affairs of New England. It furnished two of its gov-
ernors, a chief justice, and a Speaker of the House, besides
other less prominent but useful and honored citizens, and
numbers among its descendants many personages of note.
A few only of the name now remain in Roxbury.
Thomas Dudley, second governor of Massachusetts, and one
of the most eminent of the Puritan settlers of New England,
was the son of Capt. Roger Dudley, who was "' slaine in the
wars." Brought up a page in the family of the Earl of North-
ampton, he was afterwards a clerk in the office of Judge
Nichols, a kinsman of his mother, thus obtaining a knowl-
edge of the law which was of great service to him in his after
career, and early exhibited unusual intelligence, courage, and
prudence. These qualities procured for him at the age of
Qv ~ twenty-one the captaincy of an
yyTpif. English company, which he led at
the siege of Amiens, under the heroic
Henry of Navarre, and later on, the
stewardship of the estate of the Earl of Lincoln, which he suc-
ceeded, by judicious management, in freeing from a heavy
load of debt. A Puritan, and a parishioner of the famous John
Cotton, he with four others undertook, although he was then
fifty years of age, the settlement of the Massachusetts Colon}-,
and came over with the charter as deputy governor in 1630.
His letter to the Countess of Lincoln depicts clearly and forci-
bly the trials and obstacles that beset the pioneers to the
western wilderness. Dudley at first settled in Newtown, but
removed to Roxbury to place himself under the spiritual
charge of Eliot and Welde. In 1644, at the au;e of sixtv-
eight, Dudley was chosen sergeant major-general, the highest
military office in the colonies. He was governor in 1634,
1640, 1645, and 1650, and deputy governor or assistant in
the intervening years, and from the time of his arrival until
c:>
THOMAS DUDLEY. 241
bis death, which took place at his home in Koxbury, on July
31, 1653, in his seventy-seventh year.
Dudley was a man of sound judgment, inflexible integrity,
great public spirit, and exemplary piety. How strongly he
was imbued with the intolerance of his age. is evident from
the prominent part he took in the banishment of Roger Wil-
liams, Wheelwright. Anne Hutchinson, and others. " I am
Cully persuaded." said he. '• that Anne Hutchinson is deluded
by the devil.'' To an inquiry from Holland, whether those
that differed from him in opinion, " yet holding the same
foundation in religion, as anabaptists, antinomians, seekers,
and the like, might be permitted to live among you," he
made this short answer: '- God forbid our love to the truth
should be grown so cold that we should tolerate errors." In
his will he bears this testimony, '• I have hated and doe hate
every false way in religion, not onely the old Idolatiy and
Superstition of Popery, which is wearing away, but much
more (as being much worse) the more heresies, blasphamies
and error of late sprung upp in our native county* of England
and secretly received and fostered." Time brings his re-
venges, and it is worth noting, that on the site of the dwelling
of Thomas Dudley, one of the mo*t intolerant of men, now
stands a Universalist Church. After his death these lines
were found in his pocket : —
" Let men of God in courts and churches watch
O'er such as do a toleration hatch,
Lest that ill egg bring forth a cockatrice
To poison all with heresy and vice.
If men be left and otherwise combine,
My epitaph 's, I dy*d no libertine."
It was said that Dudley carried prudence in mone} - matters
to an extreme bordering on '• close-fi->tedness," and that a
too great eagerness for pecuniary gain was an obvious trait
in his character. If so, it explains what Gov. Belcher is
said to have written of him : —
1G
242 THOMAS DUDLEY.
" Here lies Thomas Dudley, that trusty old stud,
A bargain 's a bargain, and must be made good."
Sterner, more exclusive, and less conciliatory in his manner
than his contemporary, Winthrop, he doubtless suffered by
the comparison. Such was his independence that he " with-
stood magistrates and ministers when he thought them worthy
of reproof," and would yield to no popular opinion to gain
honor and authority. A dispute he had about a mortgage of
land with Edward Howe, of Watertown, " an occasion of
grief to godly minds and of reproach to the Court." led to the
wholesome law for recording all deeds of conveyance.
It is amusing to read the account of the quarrel between
two such patriarchs as Winthrop and Dudley. Winthrop is
himself the relator. He had accused Dudley of extortion
and usury, because he had sold seven and a half bushels of
corn to receive ten for them after harvest. Dudley replied
that he had done nothing illegal, and among other " hot words
about it," told the governor that if he had thought that he
had sent for him to his house to give him such usage, he would
not have come there. He, in turn, complained that Winthrop
had exercised too much authority, and demanded of him
how he had derived such power, whether from the patent or
otherwise. The governor smartly replied that he had not
exceeded his authorit}', and ' k speaking somewhat apprehen-
sively," as he himself says, the deputy began to be in a pas-
sion, and told the governor that if he " were so round he
would be round too." Then the governor "bade him be
round if he would." So the deputy rose up in great fury and
passion, and the governor grew very hot also, so as they both
fell into bitterness, but by mediation of the mediators they
were pacified.
The differences that had long subsisted between them ter-
minated, as it was most fit they should, at Concord. Win-
throp's Journal, under date of April 24, 1G38, presents us
with this charming picture of mutual concession and fraternal
love : —
THOMAS DUDLEY. 243
" The governor aud deputy went to Concord to view some land for
farms, and going down the river about four miles they made choice
of a place for oue thousand acres for each of them. They offered
each other the tirst choice, but because the deputy's was first granted
and himself had store of land already, the governor yielded him the
choice. So at the place where the deputy's land was to begin there
were two great stones, which they called the 'Two Brothers,' in
remembrance that they were brothers by their children's marriage,
and did so brotherly agree, aud for that a little creek near those
stones was to part their lands."
His daughter, Anne Dudley, who married Gov. Bradstreet,
became quite celebrated as a poet. A volume from her pen,
printed in 1G50, is the first book of poetry published in
America. Among her descendants, inheritors of her poetic
genius, two names occur well known to American literature.
— Oliver Wendell Holmes and Richard H. Dana. In her
elegy on her father are these lines : —
" One of the founders, him New England know,
Who staid thy feeble sides when thou wast low,
Who spent his state, his strength, and years with care
That after comers in them might have share;
True patriot of this little commonweal,
Who is 't can tax thee aught but for thy zeal?
Truth's friend thou wert, to error still a foe,
Which caused apostates to malign thee so.
Let malice bite and envy gnaw its fill,
He was my father, and I '11 praise him still."
This epitaph is also from her pen : —
"Within this tomb a patriot lies,
That was both pious, just, and wise.
To truth a shield, to right a wall,
To sectaries a whip and maul;
A magazine of historv,
A prizer of good company,
In manners pleasant and severe,
The good him loved, the bad did fear;
And when his time with years was spent,
If some rejoiced, more did lament."
244 JOSEPH DUDLEY.
Joseph, son of Gov. Thomas Dudle}", was born in Roxbury,
July 23, 1C47, after his father had attained the age of sev-
enty. He was educated for the ministry, but soon turned his
thoughts to civil affairs, early devoting himself to public
business with distinguished abilitv and diligence. Possessing
talents of a high order, he held many public offices. He was
present at the battle with the Narragansetts in December.
1G75, and as one of the commissioners, dictated the terms of
a treat}* with that once-powerful tribe. He was a member of
the General Court from 1G73 to 1C75; one of the commis-
sioners for the United Colonies from 1C77 to 1G81 ; an
assistant from 1676 to 1685; president of New England, by
a commission from James II, dated 27th September, 1G85,
until December, 1G8G ; president of the council and chief
justice of the Supreme Court in 1687-89; chief justice of
New York in 1G91-92 ; deput}- governor of the Isle of Wight,
England, from 1G94 to 1 702 ; member of the British Parlia-
ment for Newton, England, in 1701; and finally closed his
long official career as governor of Massachusetts from 1702
to 1715.
Dudley then retired to his rural home in Roxbury. where
he died on April 2, 1720. " He was buried." says the " Bos-
ton News Letter," --on the eighth, in the sepulchre of his
fathers, with all the honors and respect his country was
capable of doing him. He was a man of rare endowments
and shining accomplishments, a singular honor to his coun-
try. He was early its darling, always its ornament, and in
age its crown. The scholar, the divine, the philosopher, and
the lawyer all met in him." Two regiments of infantr}' and
two companies of cavalry took part in his funeral, minute-
guns were fired from the Castle, and all the bells in Boston
were tolled. This excessive eulogy and these public funeral
honors, taken in connection with the intense hatred his earlier
political conduct had excited, mark him out as an extraordi-
nary man, and such, indeed, he was.
Joseph Dudley.
JOSEPH DUDLEY. 245
"When the final effort was made, in 1682. to save the charter
of the colony, Joseph Dudley and John Richards were sent to
England as its agents. " Necessity and not duty," wrote
Randolph, the English commissioner, "hath obliged this
government to send over two agents. The}* are like to the two
consuls of Rome, Caasar and Bibulus. Major Dudley, if he
finds things resolutelv managed, will cringe and bow to anv-
thing." The agents found on arrival, that his Majesty was
•• greatly provoked " at the long delay of the colon}' in send-
ing them, and as they were instructed not to give up the
charter, could effect nothing. Dudley, whose advice for its
surrender had cost him his popularity at home, remained,
became a prominent candidate for the chief magistracy, and
returned with the coveted commission, which he retained
until superseded by 'Andros, in December, 1686. As presi-
dent of the council in the oppressive government then set up,
and all the more as a native citizen upon whom they had
heaped their honors, he incurred the extreme resentment of
the people, and on its overthrow in April, 1689, Dudley, who
as chief justice was upon the circuit of Xarragansett, was
seized at Providence, brought to Boston, thrust into jail,
and treated with great severity.
In his letters and petitions to the council for enlargement.
Dudley makes no attempt to excuse his political conduct, but
artfully appeals to their sympathies, urging his " unsteady
health." and the " ruine " to his affairs, having a great family
to support, desires their Christian consideration of these
tilings, and professes to have no other interest nor desire but
such as should promote " the security of religion and liberty
in the English nation." Tho^e familiar with Dudlev's
character, — and the men he addressed knew it well. — must
have received the latter assurance with no little incredulity.
They, however, were willing to mitigate the hardships of
which he complained, but the people would not consent, and.
as we shall see. promptly and effectually reversed their action.
246 JOSEPH DUDLEY.
Dudley's case was taken into consideration by the General
Court, which resolved, on June 28th, " that Mr. Jo. Dudley
is not baylable," but a little later arrived at this more lenient
conclusion : —
" Upon the several motions of Mr. Joseph Dudley, and in consid-
eration of his great indisposition of body. It's ordered that he
shall be forthwith removed from the prison and confined to his own
house at Roxbury till further order, not to go out of his said house
or precincts of his yard or backside adjoining, at any time except to
the publique worship of God on the Sabbath and lecture days, and
that under a sufficient gard to conduct him from his own house to
y e said meeting and back again, which gard is to be ordered and
appointed by the captain of the Foot company in Roxbury. And he
the said Mr. Dudley to give bond to the value of 10.000 pounds with
sufficient sureties, to be and remain a true prisoner according to the
contents and true meaning of this order, until he shall be released by
order of law, or otherwise disposed of by direction from the gov-
ernment of the Mass. colony."
Having given the required bond, his prison doors were
opened and he hastened home, happy to exchange its gloomy
walls for those of his comfortable mansion in Roxbury. His
enjo}'ment, however, was of very brief duration, for, —
" About twelve o'clock at night, being Saturday night, about two
hundred or three hundred of the rabble, Dearing and Soule • heading
of them,' weut and broke open his house and brought him to town.
The keeper of the jail would not receive him, and they took him
to Mr. Paige's (whose wife was a sister of Dudley's). Monday
night, the 15th, they broke into Mr. Paige's house, smashing his
windows in the search for Dudley, who promised to go to prison
again, and remain until the fury of the people should be allayed.
The lGth iust. Mr. Dudley walked to the prison, accompanied with
several gentlemen, there being no stilling the people otherwise."
A letter of October 4 shows Dudley still dissatisfied with
prison life and fearful for his health. He writes : —
"I have suffered neer six months' imprisonment to y e very great
hurt of my health and occasions necessary for y e support of a great
JOSEPH DUDLEY. 2-47
family. Above twelve weeks since, .it j e direction of Mr. Adding-
ton, and as he acquainted mee by order of yourselves, I gave a very
extraordinary and unusual bond to obtain but the sight of my family
and the benefit of so much air as was necessary to save rae from
perishing, which lasted me but three or four hours, when I received
a very urgent letter from Mr. Bradstreet for ray return to y e prison
to save y a rage of y° people at that instant. I have since been
often told tbat a very few days should bring me that ease and rest
which I desire, but the time is passed hitherto and now the winter
is approaching, the inconveniences whereof I am unable to bear. I
entreat you at large to consider and resolve what may be agreeable
to reason and justice and not to see my destruction and mine, but to
shew me the kindness of a brother, as God knoweth I am. I have
no interests nor hopes but what is in common with my country,
whose present sufferings I take my share of, and hope that nobody
professing religion can take pleasure in these strange methods of
late used towards mee."
The boon he had so often prayed for was at last accorded,
and on Jan. 7. 1690. after an imprisonment of nearly nine
months, Dudley was permitted to go under guard to his family
to settle his affairs, and on the 9th of February following,
sailed with his fellow-prisoners for England. He was favor-
ably received there, and the appointment of chief justice of
Xew York was conferred upon him. but after holding it less
than two years he was suspended from office on account of his
continued residence in Roxbury. While occupying this posi-
tion, the trial and condemnation of Jacob Leisler for proceed-
ings similar to those by which the patriots of Massachusetts
had rid themselves of Andros. occurred, increasing his un-
popularity at home. Returning to England in 1G93, he con-
tinued his efforts to obtain the government of Massachusetts,
renewing them on the death of Sir William Phips, and again,
this time with success, on the decease of Lord Bellomont in
1701. Dudley had been trying to reconcile his countiymen
ever since the Revolution. His family interest was large.
Stoughton. the lieutenant-governor, retained his friendship
and secretly corresponded with him. By bis superior sense
248 JOSEPH DUDLEY.
and polished manners he acquired the notice and esteem of
manj- considerable persons at Court.
Sir Richard Steele, one of the famous coterie of wits of
Queen Anne's reign, and the daily companion of Dudley dur-
ing his last residence in London, acknowledged that "■ he
owed an abundance of those fine thoughts and the manner of
expressing them, which he has since presented to the world,
to his happy acquaintance with Col. Dudle}', and that he bad
one quality which he never knew any man possessed of but
him, which was, that he could talk him down into tears when
he had a mind to it by the command he had of fine thoughts
and words adapted to move the affections." To the dissenters
in England he recommended himself bv a grave, serious de-
portment, recovering also the favor of man}' of the New Eng-
land ministers, and even had the address to reconcile himself
to Rev. Cotton Mather, from whom he obtained a letter favor-
ing his cause, which he made known to the king, and which
removed his objection to Dudley on the score of his being so
obnoxious to the people. His income was moderate, yet with
economy he made a decent appearance in England, and edu-
cated several of his children there.
One of the last of the official acts of William III was to
commission Joseph Dudley governor of the colony of Mas-
sachusetts Bay. '• It was a proud day for Joseph Dudley."
says the historian Palfrey, " when, after ten years of uneasy
absence from home, he landed from the ' Centurion ' man-of-
war, under a salute that shook the town, and went up King
Street to the Province House to assume the government for
Queen Anne." Though received with marks of respect, the
prejudices against him were great, and for the first seven
years he had no rest. So unpopular was he, even in his native
town, that the people of Roxbury would not have Mr. John
Barnard, afterwards so eminent as the minister of Marble-
head, for their minister, because that excellent man had
accepted some particular attentions from the governor. His
JOSEPH DUDLEY. 249
policy of gaining over his enemies (for he was sure of his
friends) at length brought him ease and quiet, so that the last
days of his administration were his best days.
Dudley paid an early visit to Rev. Cotton Mather. A let-
ter-writer of the period tells us. " Mr. Dudley hath been with
the young pope, who hath absolved him of whatever hath
been amiss, so that now he is a very good man." At this
interview, Mather advised him not to come under the influ-
ence of Bvfield and Leverett. "The wretch," savs Mather,
in his diary. •• went unto these men and told them that I had
advised him to be in noways advised by them, and influenced
them into an implacable rage against me." Mather had set
his heart upon the presidency of Harvard College. After the
choice of Leverett to fill that office, a choice that Dudley had
promoted, there was war to the knife between Dudley and the
Mathers, father and son. Both wrote him angry letters,
charging him with unrighteousness ; with plotting against the
liberties of the province : with the " guilt of innocent blood "
in the cases of Leisler and Milburn ; with " covetousness.
the main channel of which has been the reign of bribery which
you. sir. have set up in the land where it was hardly known
till you brought it in fashion " : and with spending his Sunday
afternoons with some persons •• reputed very ungodly."
The governor replied in a calm and dignified manner, reprov-
ing them for the spirit and temper of their letters in which lie
was treated with an air of superiority and contempt, and for
their great credulity in raking together whatever had been
imputed to him "these many years the bruit of the town."
either through prejudice or mistake, as a foundation for such
grave charges. " Why." asks he. " have you been so long
silent, and suffered sin to lie upon me year after year? It is
vain to pretend Christian love and respect, or zeal for the
honor of God, or public good, vain to pretend pressure of
conscience just at this season. Every one can see through the
pretence, and is able to account for the spring of these letters,
250 JOSEPH DUDLEY.
and how they would have been prevented without easing any
grievances you complain of. Your wrath against me is cruel,
and will not be justified." He well knew what was the root
of their bitterness, and closes his letter by thus exposing it :
■• The college must be disposed against the opinion of all the
ministers in New England except j'ourselves, or the governor
torn in pieces. This is the view I have of your inclination."
Applying himself with great diligence to the public business,
Gov. Dudley conducted the wars with the French and the
eastern Indians, terminated in 1713 by the treaty of Utrecht,
with good judgment ; but the death of the queen in 1714, and
the accession of a new sovereign who knew not Joseph, paved
the wa} T for his retirement, which took place in November,
1715.
No native of New England has ever experienced so many
vicissitudes, and enjoyed so many public honors and offices,
as Joseph Dudley. In private life he was amiable, affable,
and polite, elegant in his manners, and courteous in his
intercourse with all classes. Had he remained in this sphere
he would have been justly esteemed. His person was large,
and his countenance open, dignified, and intelligent. The
'•News Letter" of April 11, 1720, says, --He was a very
cornel}* person, of a noble aspect and a graceful mien, hav-
ing the gravity of a judge and the goodness of a father.
In a word, he was a finish't gentleman of a most polite
address, and had uncommon elegancies and charms in his
conversation." Ambition was his ruling passion, and in
attaining his ends, means were a secondary consideration.
His cringing to Randolph, when at heart he despised him,
was a blot on his character, and his secret insinuations to the
disadvantage of his country were a greater, both being for the
sake of recommending himself to court favor. Grave and
dignified on the bench, he managed the affairs of the prov-
ince with success, and supported the dignity of a governor at
the same time that he added largely to his patrimonial estate
PAUL DUDLEY. 251
by his excellence as an economist. He was the first native
of Xew England to sit in the British Parliament. " Of all the
statesmen," says President Quinc}', ,; who have been in-
strumental in promoting the interests of Harvard College,
Joseph Dudley was the most influential in giving to its con-
stitution a permanent character." Besides his benefactions
to the college, he gave £50 b}- will to the Roxbury school, for
the support of a Latin master.
Paul, son of Gov. Joseph Dudley, was born at the old
homestead in 1075, and after graduating at Harvard College,
in 1690, went to London and studied law at the Temple.
When in 1702 his father was made governor, he accompa-
nied him hither with the commission of attorney-general of
the province. He was afterwards a member of the Legislature,
and of the Executive Council, and .Speaker of the House. In
1718 he became a justice of the Supreme Court, and from
1745 until his death, which took place on Jan. 25, 1751, was
chief justice of Massachusetts. He was a thorough and
accomplished lawyer, and on the bench displayed quick
apprehension, uncommon strength of memory, and extensive
knowledge. The manner of the celebrated jurist, Lord Mans-
field, is said to have been like his. When he spoke it was
with such authority and peculiar energy of expression as
never failed to command attention and deeply impress the
minds of all who heard him. '• Thus," says Chief-Justice
Sewall, his successor, •• while with pure hands and an upright
heart he administered justice in his circuit through the
province, he gained the general esteem and veneration of the
people."
Beginning his career with great zeal on the side of the
Crown, and sustaining measures tending to abridge colonial
privileges, he became unpopular, and shared with his father in
the bitter animosity of the Mathers. His talents and inde-
pendence in office gradually reinstated him in the favor of the
people. To him may be traced many of the reforms which
252 PAUL DUDLEY.
obtained in the practice of the courts and the mode of admin-
istering justice. That he was at times inclined to be arbi-
trary is evident from a tradition, that having one da}- driven
along as far as Increase Sumner's, on his way to Boston, he
stopped and demanded of a laboring man who was passing,
that he should go to his (the judge's) house and fetch a law-
book he had left behind. The man seemed astonished at the
demand, but asked, "Can one fetch it, sir?" "Oh, yes,"
said Dudley. " Then go yourself," was the reply.
Paul Dudley was one of the few Americans who have been
honored b} 7 an election to the Royal Society of London, to
whose "Transactions" he contributed materials for the nat-
ural history of New England. He was a benefactor of
Harvard College, and in his will provided for the annual
" Dudleian " lecture to be delivered before it. These lectures
have of late been discontinued. One of the four subjects to
be treated was, —
" The detectiug and convicting and exposing the idolatry of the
Romish Church, their tyrannous usurpations, damnable heresies,
fatal errors, abominable superstitious, and other crying wicked-
nesses in their high places, and finally that the Church of Rome is
that mystical Babylon, that man of sin, that apostate church spoken
of in the New Testament."
At a town meeting held in March, 1720, the selectmen of
Roxbury were desired to return thanks to the Hon. Paul
Dudley for building the upper stone bridge over Smelt Brook
in the town street, and that henceforth it be called by the
name of •'Dudley's Bridge." The flood of time has swept
this memorial into oblivion. Other and more durable monu-
ments of his beneficence still remain in the old milestones yet
extant in Roxburv, marked with the initials " P. D." Jud^e
Paul, and Col. "William Dudley, his brother, were, with Col.
Fitch, the original proprietors of what is now the town of
Dudley, Mass., then a tract of land lvm? between Oxford
and Woodstock, on the Connecticut line, fifty-five miles west
of Boston.
PAIL DUDLEY.
253
In l7"->. soon alter his return to his native country, he
married Lucy, daughter of Col. John Wainwright. of Ips-
wich. A specimen of the epistolary courtship of that day is
PAUL DUDLEY.
preserved in a letter he addressed to Mrs. Davenport, the
sister of his ■• divine mistress." As we peruse it in cold
blood, it is easy to believe that the ladv to whom it was ad-
2.34
PAUL DUDLEY
dressed •■ .smiled all along" as she read this ardent outpour-
ing ot' his •• most sincere, passionate, dutifull. and constant
soul." Mere it is : —
■• Dear Madam. — It is Impossible but that you must take notice
of that most affectionate Respect and Dutiful Passion I Bear to your
most charming ami amiable Sister, and you as easily Guess at my
Design in it. which I Blush at the thought of. But the just Honour
and Regard I have and ought to have to Col Waiuwright and IIi>
lady iu this affair, forbids my pursuing it any further till I have
mentioned it to them ; for
Which Reason it is that
I am now going Hither
(Tho' with a Trembling
ami heavy heart; and
Carry with me a letter
from the Governonr to
your Father that he
would plea>e allow me to
wait upou my Sweetest.
fairest Dearest Lucy.
But Uuless My Dearest
Dame will assist and
make Au Interest for me
I Cant Hope for Success.
I Confess I have no
grounds To ask or Ex-
pect such a favor from
you, unless it Be by re-
minding you of The many
obligations you have al-
ready laid Me Under, and this is au argument that goes a great way
with Noble aud Generous miuds, and I am sure if you did but kuow
what I Uudergoe Both Day and Night, You would Pity me at least.
I must beg of You, therefore, If you have any Regard to my Health
and happiness. I might say to my life, You would show your Com-
passion and friendship To me in this matter ; and Hereby lay such
au obligation upon me as shall not. cannot Ever Be forgotten.* I
Beg a thousand Pardons of my Dame for this freedom ; And Pray
her not to Expose my folly to any one, tho' If She thinks it proper,
or that it will Doe me any Service, She may Read (to the mark
LUCT Dl'DLET.
ISAAC WDfSLOW. 255
above) to my Divine Mistress ; I know you have smiled all along,
and By this time are weary of my Scrawle. I'll have Done, there-
fore, when I have asked the favour of you to present, as on my
knees, my most Sincere, passionate, Dutifull, and Constant Soul to
My Charming Nymph, With whom I hope to find It upon My Re-
turn, of which I shall be most Impatient.
" Dear Madam. I once more beg pardon of You, and pray You to
think me in Earnest in what I Write, for Every Word of it Comes
from the Bottom of My Soul, and I Hope Before I have done to
Convince My Dearest Lucy of the truth of it tho' as yet She Believes
nothing that I say to her. Madam, I am, with all affection and
Respect your most obliged tho' now Distressful Humble Servant.
"PAUL DUDLEY.
"You may show all of this letter if you think fit, Mrs. Daven-
port."
Mrs. Lucy Dudley died Oct. 24, 1756, aged seventy-two.
In a funeral sermon preached by Rev. Amos Adams, this
tribute is paid to her exalted character : "She. for abilities
of mind, for wisdom, knowledge, prudence, discretion, a
heavenly temper, pure morals, unaffected piety, shining
graces, and an unsullied character, has been rarely equalled
by any of her sex among us."
The last occupant of the Dudley mansion was Isaac Win-
slow, Esq., a gentleman highly esteemed for his benevolence
and other virtues. He was third in descent from John,
brother of Gov. Edward Winslow, graduated at Harvard
College in 1727. then entered the counting-room of James
Bowdoin, a principal merchant of Boston, and subsequently,
with his brother Joshua, carried on an extensive and profita-
ble business in that city. With the proceeds of consignments
from Bristol, England, vessels were built in Boston aul
loaded with fish for Leghorn, or some other foreign port,
return cargoes being taken for Bristol. They also became
considerable shipowners, and had one ship constantly in the
London trade. Joshua was one of the consignees of the
famous tea destroved in Boston Harbor in 1 773. Isaac retired
256 ISAAC WINSLOW.
from business in 1753, when he became a resident of Rox-
buiy, occupying at first a house on the north side of Roxbury
Street, nearly opposite the Unirersalist Church, and after the
death of Madam Lucr Dudlev, the widow of Judge Paul, in
1 750, made Dudley house his home. In June, 1760, he
received the thanks of the town for a gift of land near Meet-
ing-House Hill.
Winslow seems at first to have taken part with his country-
men in their resistance to the mother countiy, for in 1772 he
was made chairman of the Roxbury Committee of Correspond-
ence. He was, however, too conservative to suit the temper
of the times, and the committee's first report, says the old
record, " made great uneasiness in the meeting, and numbers
of the inhabitants withdrew." We next find him a ''man-
damus councillor," one of a body of advisers of the governor,
formerly chosen by the province, but now appointed by Gage,
the roval governor. Andrews's diarv. under date of Aug. 29,
1774, says, " It is rumored this morning that a compan}* or
two has marched for Roxbur}-, as there is to be a town meet-
ing this day." Next day he says, u They (the townspeople)
met with no interruption in the business of their meeting,
save that Isaac Winslow attended, and declared his entire
willingness to resign his councillorship ; made an apology for
his acceptance of it, and said it was more owing to the per-
suasions of others than to his own inclination."
Says the ''Boston Gazette" of Sept. o, 177-1: "We are
able to assure the public, upon good authority, that Isaac
Winslow, Esq., one of the lately appointed councillors, waited
on Gov. Gage last Monday, when he made an absolute and
full resignation of his place at the board, since which, he has
not appeared in council, but given the strongest assurances
that he never will act in that station."
Though a loyalist, his moderation and his character as a
man made him far less obnoxious than his Tory townsmen,
Auchmut}-, Hallowell, Hutchinson, and Loring. His virtues,
UNIVERSALIS! CHURCH. 257
however, could not save him. and immediately after the Lexing-
ton affair, he took refuge in Boston. The Committee of Safety
voted on April 00, 1775, " That a permit be required for Mr.
Isaac Winslow's effects to be carried into the town of Boston
from Roxbury, to-morrow." Next day the}' order Col. Ger-
rish to deliver permits for such as desire to enter Boston
with their effects, at the house of Mr. John Greaton, Rox-
bury. "All such, to be protected from any injuiy or insult
whatever, in their removal." In March. 177G. with his family
of ten persons, he accompanied the royal army to Halifax,
and died in New York in the following year. His first wife,
Lucy, daughter of Gen. Samuel Waldo, died in Roxbuiy in
1768. at the age of forty-three. A fine large oil painting, by
Blackburn, representing the family in the garden of the Dud-
ley house, is now in the possession of Mr. Samuel Winslow,
a great-grandson of Isaac.
1S20-1 is a marked year in the history of religious opin-
ions in this town, for it is the date of the formation of two
parishes in Roxbury, the Baptist and the Universalist, both
at that time considered heretical, and both largely made up
of seceders from the First Church, then the only religious
organization east of Jamaica Plain. The first Universalist
sermon ever heard in Roxbury was delivered in the First
Church, with Dr. Porter's permission, by Elhanan Winchester,
in 1793. Twent}- years later, Rev. Hosea Ballou began a
course of Sunday-evening lectures in Roxbury, assisted on
alternate weeks by Rev. Paul Dean. These, as well as the
business meetings of the parish, were held in the Town Hall
until the completion of the church edifice.
The First Universalist Society in Roxbury was incorporated
Feb. 21, 1820, on the petition of Samuel Parker. William
Hannaford, W. J. Newman, Samuel S. Williams, and others.
Purchasing its well-selected site for one thousand dollars, the
present commodious building was completed in December,
and on Jan. 4, 1821, Rev. Hosea Ballou preached the dedi-
17
2.38
UNIVERSALIS! CHURCH.
cation sermon, since which lime services have been regularly
held within its walls. When the corner-stone was laid, the
Rev. Dr. Porter participated in the service-, and walked in
the procession arm-in-arm with Father Ballon. At the instal-
lation of its first pastor, Rev. Hosea Ballon. 2d. on July 2U.
1821, an original hymn.
of considerable merit, was
contributed by Mr. John
Howe, of Roxbury. A
church of twenty-two mem-
bers having been gathered,
it was publicly recognized
on Jan. 1. 1822. and a ser-
mon was preached on the
occasion by Rev. Edward
Turner. During Mr. Ry-
der's administration one
hundred and thirty -six
members were added, and
the edifice was renovated
and repaired. The high
pulpit was taken down, and
the oltl square pews made
way for the more graceful
circular seats of to-day.
In March, 18GG, the chapel, erected in 1841. was greatly en-
larged and improved.
Intemperance was very prevalent in this .section sixty years
ago. •• Roxbury Neck" was then, and for some time after, a
general rendezvous for marketing. A portion of what is
called the •• Point" was especially riotous and drunken. Dr.
Ballon found in a layman of the town. Edwin Lemist. a faith-
ful co-worker in the warfare against intemperance and dis-
order, and succeeded in impressing his views and feelings so
thoroughly upon the entire parish that its work, both for tem-
rxivERSALisT cerr.cn.
TOWN HOUSE. 259
perance and religion, has ever since been well and faith-
fully done.
Rev. Mr. Patterson, in his historical discourse, from which
many of these facts have been gathered, refers thus to the
'•manly man" who for many years collected and disbursed
the revenues of the society. Saj-s Mr. Patterson : —
'• If ever there was a faithful official, Joseph W. Dudley was that
official. It was one of the fundamental doctrines of his religion
that the minister is a man needing food and raiment and shelter
just like other men ; that the laborer is worthy of his hire, and that
a failure to receive it at the appointed and expected time may em-
barrass him, just as it would any other man. "When we thanked
him for a payment, as it was our pleasure to do, he would respond.
'No thanks; it's yours; you've earned it '; often adding, 'I wish it
was more,' and sometimes saying, with a bright twinkle in his eye.
that when he ' hired a mau and paid him promptly, he expected him
to stay at home and do his own work, and not be running off and
sending some bungler in his place.' "
PASTORS OF THE FIRST UNTVEBSALIST SOCIETY.
Hosea Ballou, 2d. D. D.. 2G July, 1821, 23 April, 1833.
Asiieh Moore. January, 1839, 1810.
Cyrus H. Fay, January, 1S11. 26 March, 1849.
W.m. II. Ryder. D. D.. November, 1819. January, 1359.
J. G. Bartholomew. D. D.. 19 July 18G0, 1 Jan., 1866.
Adoxiram J. Pattersox.P. P. September, 1866.
Col. Joseph Dudley, in 1810, gave a portion of his patrimo-
nial estate as a site for a Town House. A two-story brick
building was erected, and was so far completed in February,
1811 , that a town meeting was then held there. The use of the
upper story was granted by the town in 1818 to the Norfolk
Guards, for an armory. A grammar school was subse-
quently kept there, and in 1826 its basement was leased to
Nathaniel Dorr for a market. After 1846 it was known as
the City Hall. Latterly it was used as a Court House, hav-
ing cells for prisoners in its basement. Since its demolition,
in 1873, to make room for the Dudlev School building:, the
■2 GO
TOWN HOUSE.
huge pineapple that formerly surmounted the edifice has
adorned a paint shop on Bar,tlett Street.
An entry in the town records in 1083 of money paid John
Ruggles for "'mending the Town Hous." implies that at that
time such an edifice existed, though ail knowledge of its
location has long been forgotten. Town meetings were in
toivx norsE.
the olden time usually held in the old meeting-house, parish
ami town affairs being transacted at the same time and
place, no distinction being made between them. In the
earliest days, '• Brother John Johnson's house"' was occa-
sionally the place of meeting. While the First Church was
rebuilding in 1803-4, meetings were held in the brick build-
ing since known as Ionic Hall; and from March. 1805, until
the completion of the Town Hall, the room over Nathaniel
Ruggle's store, on Centre Street, served the purpose. The
town meeting and the pulpit were in those days almost the
sole agencies in the formation of public opinion.
By the fire in Capt. John Johnson's house in April, 1G4j,
TOWN* HOUSE. 261
all the records of the town were destroyed. The earliest
existing volume begins with a memorandum respecting the
garrison at the Castle, dated 1647. Then follows a note of
the five men chosen to " order town affairs," the appoint-
ment of a committee to repair the church, and references to
the fining of such as have no ladders to gain access to their
house-tops in case of fire ; these are all previous to 1652. since
when the records have been regularly kept. The Record of
Houses and Lands contains this memorandum : —
"We whose names are underwritten being chosen by the towue 
