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THE
TOWN OF EOXBUEY
MEMORABLE PEESONS AND PLACES
HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES, WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
OP ITS OLD LANDMARKS AND NOTED PERSONAGES
By FRANCIS S. DRAKE
BOSTON
MUNICIPAL PRINTING OFFICE
1905
1.
COPYRIGHT :
BY FRANCIS S. DRAKB.
A. D. 1878.
[DOCUMENT 93. 1905.]
REGISTRY DEPARTMENT
CITY OF BOSTON
(Formerly called Record Commissioners' 1 Reports)
This volume, which is the thirty-fourth in the series formerly
issued under the direction of the Record Commissioners, is
reprinted from the original plates purchased from the estate
of the late Francis S. Drake, and issued as one of the volumes
relating to the early history of Boston.
OLD COURT HOUSE, BOSTON.
EDWARD W. McGLENEN,
City Registrar.
J
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
VI ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAO*
INDIAN SACHEM. INDIAN WIGWAM - - - - - - 3,4
JAMAICA POND ----_--.... 405
LEE, W. R., RESIDENCE -----..._ 393
LIBERTY TREE -'-------_.- -82
LORINQ HOUSE ----_-_-_-- 419
MEAD'S HOUSE ----------- 219
MEETING-HOUSE HILL -------- Frontispiece.
MINUTE-MAN ------_..._ 315
NAZING PARISH CHURCH ---..--__ 19
NORFOLK HOUSE ----------- 364
OLD MILL -___-.. 319
PARKER, THEODORE, RESIDENCE. OAK 452, 454
PARSONAGE ----- 310
PARTING STONE -----------379
PILLOET ---....-326
PINE-TREE SHILLING. PINE-TREE SIXPENCE - 62
PLAN OF PEWS, FIRST CHURCH --------285
PORTER, REV. ELIPHALET - 313
PYNCHON, WILLIAM --------- - 13
ROXBURY UPPER FORT. PLAN OF ROXBURY FORT - - 376, 372
RUGGLES HOUSE ---------- 306
SEAL OF ROXBURY --------- Title-page.
SEAVER, EBENEZEB .--. - 227
SECOND CHURCH ----- 447
SHIP OF PILGRIMS -----------7
SHIRLEY, Gov. WILLIAM, Autograph ------ 125
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT ---------- 424
SPINNING WHEEL ----.-_-_. 311
STAND-PIPE .--_--.-__-- 375
STONE POUND- -----------381
STORMING OF NARRAGANSETT FORT -------16
SUMNER, Gov. INCREASE --------- 355
SWAN HOUSE - ----135
THIRD CHURCH ----- 419
TOWN HOUSE 260
UNION FLAG -- 81
UNIVERSALIST CHURCH ---------- 258
WARREN, DR., COUNTRY SEAT -------- 413
" HOMESTEAD. HOUSE ------- 213, 214
" GEN. JOSEPH -- 216
WILLIAMS HOUSE. JOHN D., HOUSE ----- 133, 228
" COL. JOSEPH ---- 385
" STEDMAN, HOUSE ---------229
WINSLOW, ADMIRAL J. A. _-_---- 211
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
PASB
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION ----._.. j_42
CHAPTER II.
GBNERAL 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 nnissent 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.
Nazing, England. Pynchon. Annals. Philip's "War. Revolution
of 1689. Stamp Act. Ante-Revolutionary Action of the Town.
Minute-men. Lexington. Siege of Boston. Revolutionary An-
nals. Shays's Insurrection.
READER, before asking } T OU to accompany me in a retro-
spective stroll through the ancient town of Roxbury,
noting its old landmarks, treading its old ways, reconstruct-
ing its old dwellings, and making the acquaintance of its
men and women of mark in by-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 wholby 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 they 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 they 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 largf 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." The}' 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-
able body of men that
perhaps the world has
ever produced.
Just prior to its set-
tlement, a pestilence
had swept away a
large portion of the ^
Indian population of ~i
Massachusetts Bay,
thus clearing the way
for the emigrants, and
enabling them to es-
tablish themselves
without opposition,
a circumstance the
pious Puritan could
hardly fail to regard i
s providential. No distinct traces of
aboriginal occupation have ever been observed in Roxbuiy,
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-
bury, and Dorchester, was Chickatabut, who lived on the
^ a ^ Neponset River,
near the Massachu-
setts Fields, in what
is now Quincy . This
sagamore, who was
the greatest in the
countr}', had, in
1631, only fifty or
sixty subjects, and
many of these, with
the sachem himself,
died of small- pox
in 1633. Of him
Thomas Dudley wrote, "This man least favoreth the Eng-
lish of an}- sagamore we are acquainted with, by reason
of the old quarrel between him and those of Pfymonth,
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-on 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 conve^-ances 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 1669, 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 very vicious person. He had considerable
SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS BAT. 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
(Wampatuck) , 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,
Wej'mouth, 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, Blackstoue, at Shaw-
mut, now Boston ; "Walford, at Mishawam, now Charlestowu ;
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 wind being faire, they wente aborde and their
frendes, where truly dolfull was y e sight of that sade and mournfull
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 Dutch strangers that stood on the
Key as spectators could not refrain from tears. Yet comfortable
6 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, 1 630-1. This,
which is the most interesting document in our early annals,
was composed under difficulties, and, as he himself says,
' ' shorth', 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 my 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 1627, 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
also 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, 1629, 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 iu 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 one 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
London and Amsterdam of some French preparations against us
SHIP OF THE PILGRIMS.
8 THOMAS DUDLEY'S ACCOUNT.
(many of our people brought with us being sick of fevers aud 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 Eiver, 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 fell to
building, wherein many were interrupted with sickness, and many
died weekly, yea, almost daily, among whom were Mrs. Pynchon,
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, 1630, 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 necessarily 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, and such as shall come to us hereafter to their advantage
be compelled so to do, and 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 and goats, died at
sea in their passage hither, which, together with the loss of our six
months' building, occasioned 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 in 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 and 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 off, at such a time, the inhabitants there took an 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, and 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 }*ear 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, Payson, Parker, Seaver, "Weld, and "Williams. Out-
10
KOXBURY COLONISTS. NAZIXG.
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.
Nazing, a rural village in Essex County, England, the home
of many of the fathers of Roxbuiy, around which clustered
the affections and remembrances of their youth, comprises
the northwest corner of Waltham. Half-hundred. It is on 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 given by Harold II to Waltham Abbey.
XAZI:;O PAF.ISII cnur.cn.
Its old parish church may be regarded as the parent of the
First Church of Roxbury. It is situated on the side of a hill
overlooking paits 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, Payson,
Peacock, Graves, and others, who, between the years 1G31
and 1640, 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. PYNCHON. 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 Roxbury
settled chiefly in the easterly part of the town, next to Boston.
From the town street, now called Roxbury 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 da}* has therefore been fixed upon as the official date
of its settlement. Roxbury 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 Nazing worthies. Isaac, his elder brother, did not quit
Nazing until 1635. Earl}' 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 by 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
FIRST YEARS.
PYNCHON.
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 1635
a great movement in England among the friends of religious
liberty sent three thousand persons to Xew England. After
1633, 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 and salt boiled together, it was
ARRIVAL OF THE " WILLIAM AND FKANCIS."
so good who could wish better?" " It would have been a
strange thing," said another, "to see a piece of roast beef
or mutton or veal."
AVilliam Pynchon, " a gentleman of learning and religion,"
and one of the assistants or magistrates who came over with
Winthrop, was, sa3~s Prince, the annalist, "the principal
founder of the town of Rocksbury, and the first member who
joins in forming the Congregational church there." In 1636
he led a party from Roxbur}', among whom were Hemy
Smith, his son-in-law, and Jehu Burr, to the Connecticut,
PYNCHON'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 formerh" resided. lie was many
3'ears a magistrate, and was largely concerned in the beaver
trade till, as we are told, ct the merchants increased so many
that it became little worth, by reason of their outbuying 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 1650, of his
" Meritorious Price of
Our Redemption," in
opposition to the then
prevalent Calvinistic
view of the atonement,
caused his deposition
from the magistracj-,
and the burning of his
book in the market-
place of Boston, by
order of the Court, who
cited him before them
and placed him under
heavy bonds. The scene of this auto da fe 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.' " Pynchon'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,
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, 1651, Pynchon 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 Ma} r , 1652. Before that
time, Pynchon, 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 1655,
and died there in October, 1661, at the age of seventy-two.
A street in Roxbury perpetuates the name of its principal
founder. No other memorial of him exists here save Eliot's
notice of him in the Records of the First Parish.
Roxbury ma}' 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, bj" 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 Indians by the
Small Pox, whereof Chickatabut, Sachem of Neponset dyed."
1636. The Koxbury people worked on the fortification at Cornhill.
1636, Oct. 7. The General Court met at Roxbury, having ad-
journed from Cambridge on account of the small-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& month. This was the
most mortal week that ever Roxbury saw, to have five dy in otie
week and many more lay sick about town."
1646. "This year, about the end of the 5th month, upon a sud-
daine, innumerable arrays 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
and fasting in divers places, and the Lord heard and on a suddaine
took them all away in all parts of the country, to the wonderment
of all men. It was the Lord for it was done suddainely." Dan-
forth says, "they marched thorow our fields like armed men, and
spoyled much corn."
1646-7. "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" 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 Pierson Quakers, tied
to a carts tail and whipt through the town with 10 stripes after
receiving 20 at Boston, and again 10 stripes at Dedham."
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 and dreadful comet seen in New England."
1667, March 25. " Samuel Ruggles, going up the meeting hill, was
struck by lightning, his two oxen and horse killed, a chest in 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 &c."
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."
1668, 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. He threw her out at a cham-
ber window and brake her neck."
1675. "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 Natick,
baptised, and sent by the church to Assawamsic 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, and 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 KAEEAGANSET FOBT.
The war with the Indians in 1675-6, " Philip's War," as it
is called, allusion to which is made by Eliot, was one of the
PHILIP'S WAR. LOSS OF THE CHARTER. 17
severest trials New England was ever called upon to en-
counter. Of Roxbnry'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 man}* slaine in the warr, no
towne for bigness lost more if an}* so many."
On July 6, 1G75, a body 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 destroyed at the famous Fort Fight,
Dec. 19, 1675. The roll of his company, which also em-
braces men from the adjacent towns, includes these of Rox-
bury :
HENRY BOWEN. THOM. CHENEY.
ISAAC MORRICE ABIEL LAMB.
THO. BAKER. SAMUEL GARDINER.
JOHN WATSON. JOHN SCOT.
ONESIPHOROUS STANLEY. NATHL'L WILSON.
JOHN CORBIN. JOHN NEWELL.
WILLIAM LINCOLNE. WM. DANFORTH.
JOSEPH GOAD. JOHN HUBBARD.
Some who escaped from this sanguinary engagement were
less fortunate in the Sudbury fight in the following April, in
which Thos. Baker, Jr., Samuel Gardiner, John Roberts, Jr.,
Nathaniel Seaver, Thos. Hawley, Sen., William Cleaves,
Joseph Pepper, John Sharpe, and Thomas Hopkins, of Rox-
bury, were slain.
Xew 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.
V.
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 modif3'ing 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 its 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 Graffs, 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 libel's," and
assure them they will pw" the Lord to " assist them to stere
right in these shaking times."
The abrogation of its charter in 1685 by James II, and the
arbitrarj 7 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 day once a j*ear. 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 " 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 slaver}'. The}- 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 yet are we, our lives and liberties, civil and
ecclesiastical, in their hands to do with as they please."
REVOLUTION OF 1689. 19
Early in 1689, 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 proceeding, and assisted them in the
capture of Fort Hill and the Castle. On Ma}' 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 instant May, it was signifyed 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 1686,
should resume the government of the colony according to charter
liberty. " JNO GORE Clerk."
Join Bowles and 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 Roxbur}" furnish few items of general interest. The cap-
ture of Louisburg in 1745, and the Seven Years' War, ending
in the conquest of Canada in 1763, 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 fair
share of prosperity seems to have been hers.
With the passage of the Stamp Act, early in 1765, 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 secretar}* 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 Gridley, the
veteran town clerk of Roxbury, is appended to all these ante-
revolutiona^ 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, and a
removal of the heavy burthens imposed on the American British
Colonies thereby. And that you 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 STEVENS.
EBEXEZER NEWELL.
ELEAZER WELD."
One of the most important results of the agitation, caused
by the laying of duties upon glass, paper, painters' colors,
and tea, in 1767, 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, 1767, 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 Province, 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,
snuffs, Glew, cheney ware, Pewterers Hollow ware, all sorts of mil-
linery ware, stays, Hatts, ready made apparell of all sorts, Gloves,
shoes, Broadcloths, that cost more than 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 and consumption of glass and paper made
in the Colonies of America, and more especially in this Province,
and also of Linnen and woolen cloths."
The committee to procure subscriptions to this document
were "William Bowdoin, Col. Joseph Williams, Capt. Eleazer
Williams, Deacon Samuel Gridley, Eleazer Weld, Henry Wil-
22 ROXBUKY INSTRUCTS HER REPRESENTATIVE.
liams, and Capt. Joseph Mayo. At a subsequent meeting
for the purpose of " strengthening the hands of the merchants
in their Non-importation Agreement," the names of those who
continued to import contra^ 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 26, 1769, 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
' i 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
declare, with respect to the revenue acts, that instead of
being reconciled to them, " we daily 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-
ufactures within the Province ; the removal of any unfavorable
impressions respecting this Province from the minds of the
British ministr}' 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 mone^-s, "the load of debt remaining
on the Province," and the great scarcity of cash say they,
" is a loud call to this."
"AARON DAVIS,
Capt. WM. HEATH,
Capt. JOSEPH MAYO,
ELEAZER WELD,
Lieut. NATHANIEL RUGGLES,
" Committee."
Three da}'s after the "Massacre," as the affray 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 very great inconveniences and sufferings of our fellow
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 Mouday
eveuing by a party of those troops, by firing with small arms 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."
Hutckinson, on the same day, returned the following
answer :
"GENTLEMEN :
" I have no au-
thority to order
" the King's Troops
from any place
where they are
posted by His Maj-
esty's order, or
the order of the
Commander in
Chief of the forces
here. Everything
that is in my
power to do with
respect to any al-
teration of the
place of quarter-
ing these troops
has already been
done by me in
pursuance of the unanimous advice of His Majesty's Council.
"T. HUTCHINSON.
"To THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF ROXBURY,
BOSTON, 8 March, 1770."
THOMAS HUTCHfNSON.
ROXBURY COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE. 25
On the firm demand of Samuel Adams, the troops were
removed and quiet was restored. Copy's fine picture of
the stern old patriot represents him when confronting Hutch-
insonwith 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 Roxbur}' were tolled in honor of the victims,
whose funeral took place on the same day the petition was
presented.
On Nov. 16, 1772, at a meeting held to consider "the
late alarming report that the judges were to receive their
salaries direct from the Crown," Capt. William Heath was
chosen moderator, and a committee, consisting of Col. Joseph
Williams, Isaac Winslow y Major Joseph Ma} r o, 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 be 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,
26 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 ' ' 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 they 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 they ' ' view these infringements and inno-
vations as insupportable burdens to which the} 7 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 dut}*. 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 young men of Roxbury 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 Roxbun*, 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 levy 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 necessaiy 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
prosperit}* of America, and that in such light they will be
viewed by this town, from whom they may not expect the
least protection." Finallj*. the}' 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
and 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
ro}'al governor, fortified the Neck between Boston and Rox-
bur}', 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-MEX ENROLLED. 29
Sept. 28, sent Capt. William Heath and Aaron Davis, giving
them for their guidance the instructions voted by 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. 26, after choosing a committee of fifteen per-
sons, viz., Moses Davis, Daniel Brown, Major Nathaniel
Ruggles, Lieut. Robert Pierpont, Caleb Hayward, 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 b}~ passing the following votes, viz. :
"To know if this Town will grant any Sum of Money for the
Encouragement of one Quarter part of the Militia in this Town in
order to their Perfecting themselves in Military Discipline, agree-
able to the Recommendation of the Provintial Congress.
"To Encourage one quarter part of the Militia Minutemen, so
cal'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 Suffitient Firelock, Baynot, thirty Rounds of Powder and Ball,
Pouch and Napsack.
"Voted that these Minutemen meet and Exercise twice a week
three Hours Lach time.
"Then Voted to allow Each Person one Shilling Lawfull Money
for every three Hours Duty.
"Voted that their be a fine laid on them the said Minutemen in
case they do not appear at time and place as Preflxt by the Com-
manding Officer.
" Then Voted that the fine be one Shilling Lawful Money for their
30 MINUTE-MEN ENROLLED.
non appearance unless they have an Excuse which shall be Satis-
factory to their Commanding Officers.
" Voted to choose a Committee to Draw up the Articles of Inlist-
raent 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 Inlisted, 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 fine 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 1775 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. 28, 1774, tells us that
"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 GREATON, Lieutenant.
Mr. JOSHUA FELTON, Ensign.
And at another meeting since, for another company, there
were chosen, "
AARON DAVis, Captain.
ROBERT PIERPONT, Lieutenant.
NATHANIEL FELTON, Ensign.
Capt. JOSEPH WILLIAMS, Sergeant.
LEXINGTON. ROLL OF ROXBURY MINUTE-MEN. 31
Aggressive military operations having been begun by
Gen. Gage, in the expedition to Salem, for the seizure of
cannon belonging to the Province, earl}' in March, 177.">.
couriers were stationed by the Americans at Roxbmy , 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-inen, 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 compan}- 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 Wynian, 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, and 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
(Served 28 days from April 19, 1775.)
Capt. Moses "Whiting.
1st Lt Jacob Davis.
2cl Lt. Moses Draper.
Sergt. James Herring.
Joseph Smith.
Samuel Foster.
John Cluly Jones.
Corpl. Gersham Jackson.
Jacob Whitemore.
Noah Parker.
Fifer, Wm. Dorr.
Drummer, John Gore.
Privates,
Joseph Bailey.
Wm. Bosson, Jr.
Samuel Bowman.
Jonathan Brintnall.
James Burrel, Jr.
Stephen Clapp.
Ebenezer Corey.
Nehemiah 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 Kneeland.
Benj. Kuower.
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 just roll of the Second
Company in Roxbury, commanded by Capt. William Draper in Col.
Wm. Heath's Regiment, the 19th day of April, when called to the 3d
day 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 Dinsdell.
Wm. Dinsdell.
Jona. Draper.
Nat. Draper.
Samuel French.
Samuel Gay. .
Thomas Giles.
Moses Griggs.
Thaddeus Hyde.
Lewis Jones.
Josiah Kenny.
Samuel Mayo.
Jere. Mclntosh.
Jacob Parker.
Stephen Mclntosh.
Nat. Perry.
Joshua Pond.
Samuel Richards.
Wm. Salter.
Eben. Talbot.
Benj. Weld.
Wm. Weld.
HARBOR EXCURSIONS.
33
Jona. Bird.
Moses Blackman.
Roland Clark.
Benj. Corey.
Timothy Crehore.
Nat. Davis.
Jno. Kneeland.
James Keith.
Ezra Kimball.
Timothy Lewis.
Samuel Lewis.
Samuel Lauchlin.
Isaac Whitney.
Jacob Whitney.
Stephen Whtiney.
Rufus Whiting.
Ephraim Wilson.
Moses Wilson."
" Roxbury, Dec. 16, 1775. A true and just roll of the Third
Company in Roxbury, commanded by Capt. Lemuel Child, in Col.
Wm. 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. Eben Weld.
Stephen Payson.
Ezra Davis.
Isaac Sturtevant.
Corpl. Payson 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 Foster.
Eben Goodenough.
John Foster.
Wm Gould.
Asa Morse.
Thomas Parker.
Eben 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
by the people of Weymouth 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
34 TROOPS 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 took off about eight hundred sheep and lambs from
Deer Island, together with a number of cattle, also a barge
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 Roxbmy, 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
16th, 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. 35
At the expiration of the siege, a portion of the armj' 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 others.
On May 23, 1775, the town instructed the selectmen to
" take care of the estates of those gentlemen that have left
them and gone into Boston." The loj'alists of Roxbury 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 sa}* :
"In 1774 the real arid personal estates were estimated at 19,572,
out of which sum, 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 in 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 in 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 next 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 EUGGLES,
JOSEPH MAYO,
DAVID WELD,
INCREASE SUMNER,
"Committee."
In consequence of this petition an abatement of two ninths
of its tax was allowed.
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
j'ear later, Roxbury instructs her representatives to favor the
adoption of a constitution for the State, but it was not until
May, 1 780, that the instrument was accepted by the town.
Toryism, which had been so effectually repressed two years
before, again began to show itself. Pierce's diary, under date
of April 19, 1777, says, "There were five tories carted out of
Boston, and tip't up in Roxbury. They 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.
INSTRUCTIONS 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 currenc}', bringing in its train fore-
stalling and enhanced prices for almost everything. In one
daj*, Samuel Williams, of Roxbury, 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, " 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 propertj*, which are to
be enjoyed equally b}' all ; an observance of the letter and
spirit of the Constitution ; a watch over the executive and
judicial departments, that any malpractices ma}' be discov-
ered and immediately stopped ; to secure the faithful and
economical expenditure of the public moneys ; a jealous
supervision of the public propert} 7 ; 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 they 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 they 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 any events that have yet taken,
or probablj* will take place, the necessity or convenience of
their repeal, and you are therefore to use your influence that
the absentees do not return."
Sha}-s's Insurrection broke out in the fall of 1786. Rox-
bury, as usual, performed her part in its suppression, sending
her artillery company under Capt. John Jones Spooner, and
also an infantry compan}' 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 Nov. 30, Roxbury sent some mounted
volunteers on a secret expedition, but the} T 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 Avar ; many 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 and 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 "New 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 " in the
present alarming condition of the country."
No sketch of the historj* 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 valley than are to be found in
Roxbury herself. Her citizens were among the original
founders of Dedham, in 1635 ; of Springfield, in 1636 ; New
Roxbury, now Woodstock, Conn., in 1683 ; Pomfret, Conn.,
in 1687; Lambstown, now Hard wick, in 1686; Dudley, in
1731 ; Bedford, N. H., in 1732 ; Warwick, in 1744 ; Worces-
ter, Colerain, and Oxford, besides others chiefly settled by
her, as Scituate, Braintree, Newbuiy, 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. "I gave New Roxbury the name
of Woodstock in 1690," says Judge Sewall, " because of its
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 place "comodiose" for a township in the Nip-
muck Country at " Seneksuk and Wapagusset and the lands
ajasiant."
Thither, in July, 1686, some thirty families of Roxbury
pioneers, denominated " 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, Gar}*, Johnson, Leavens, May, Lyon, Scar-
borough, and others of the best families of the town. A
large number were young men with growing families. 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-
buiy was celebrated Oct. 8, 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 b\- Gen. H. A. S. Dear-
born, and a centennial poem by Dr. Thomas Gra}-, of
Jamaica Plain. A dinner at the Norfolk House followed,
and in the evening the town was illuminated b}' fire-works
from the Old Fort, and a quantity of blazing tar-barrels on
Tommy's Rocks.
On Nov. 22 of the centennial j*ear 1876, 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,
1868, the following citizens occupied the mayor's chair :
JOHN JONES CLARKE 1846.
H. A. S. DEARBORN 1847-51.
SAMUEL WALKER 1851-3.
LINUS BACON COMINS 1854.
42 ANNEXATION.
JAMES RITCHIE 1655.
JOHN SHEEBURNE SLEEPER . . . 1856-8.
THEODORE OTIS 1859-60.
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 easterly 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 territorj r resulting from
it. Roxbur}* has Cochituate water, to be sure, a matter of
grave 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 Rox-
bury. Localities. Boundaries. Titles to Land. Persons and Es-
tates, 1636-40. 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.
T7IFTY years ago Eoxbury was a suburban village, with a
J- 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 busy 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 1867, 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 rocky, 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
extraordinarj' 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 only two days 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 " New England's Prospect," the earliest
topographical account of the Massachusetts colon}*, 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 the 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 1652. 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 cattell of that kind about 350, and dwelling houses
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 contains
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 land 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 Boston, 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; 18 tan-houses and slaughter-houses, one chocolate mill,
two grist-mills, 167 barns, 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 PONDS. GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS. 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. Stem* Brook, which has its rise in Muddj* 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 recentl}' constituted West
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 Canterbuiy, 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, tying 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 eight} r -six
acres. On the east was Boston, partly separated from her
by a shallow bay ; Brookline and Xewton made her northern
boundary ; Dedham la}' 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.
Roxbun-, easterly of Charles River, except the property of
the aforesaid towns which they have purchased of particular
persons. Roxbury 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, 1836; 23d April, 1838;
and 6th 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 Roxbury
was set off and incorporated 24th May, 1851. That part of
Roxbury tying between Muddy River and the brook, its origi-
nal boundary, was annexed to Brookline in 1844. In 1852
a portion of Dedham was annexed to West Roxbury. 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 1686, 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 Roxbury," 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 staje,
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 erroneously
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 Note of y e Estates and Persons of the Inhabitants of Rocksbury.
ACKE8. PEBSON8 AND ESTATES.
ACKKS. PERSONS AND ESTATES.
3
Edward Pason
1 00
00 00
19
William Webb
4 02
00 00
6
Martin Stebbin
2 00
00 00
20
Thomas Pigge
617
00 00
61
John Totman
2 06
00 00
21
John Perry
7
61
Laurence Wittamore
2 02
06 08
21
Pfrancis Smith
7
7
John Stonnard
2 00
09 00
211
Robert Gamlin
7 03
71
Giles Payson
2 10
03 04
22
William Chandler
7 06
91
Gawin Anderson
301
00 00
22
Widow Iggulden
7 06
10
Richard Peacocke
308
00 00
22
Abraham Newell
7 07
101
John Ruggles
3 04
13 00
24
Samuel Chapin
8
11
John Levins
3 17
00 00
241
William Cheiny
8
11
Edward Bugble
3 17
00 00
241
John Pettit
8
12
Edward Rigges
4 00
00 00
25
Robert Williams
8
12
Edward Bridge
4 02
00 00
251
William Perkins
8
12
Thomas Ruggles
4 01
15 00
26
John Graues
8
MM
Thomas Griggs
4 00
00 00
27
Edward Porter
9
12
John Hall
4 00
00 00
27
John Roberts
9
12
John Trumble
4 00
00 00
271
Daniel Brewer
9
121
Richard Peper
4 03
00 00
28
James Astwood
9
14
Robert Seauer
4 17
06 00
281
John Miller
9
15
John Corteis
5 00
00 00
30
Griffin Craft
10 00
15
John Mathew
5 01
00 00
37
Thomas Lamb
12 07
15
Abraham Howe
5 01
00 00
37
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
HI
Ralph Hemminway
5 09
14 08
John Johnson
15 12
06 08
171
John Buzwell
5 17
10 00
40
William Cartels
13 8
18
Thomas Waterman
6 01
16 08
George Holmes
13 10
10 00
Samuel Ffinch,
6 14
05 00
William Parke
15 01
10 00
4
50
HIGHWAYS.
ACRES. PER
SOXS AXD ESTATES.
ACRES. PHESONS AND E8TATK3.
188 John Gore
15 16
00 00
273 John Weld
23 03
15 00
204 Isaac Morrill
17 00
00 00
288 Joshua Hewes
24 00
-00 00
242 George Alcock
20 03
00 00
305 Philip Eliot
25 07
13 04
253 John Stow
21 02
17 04
333 Mr Thomas Weld 26 01
13 00
256 Elder Heath
21 18
03 04
356 Mr Thomas Dudley 10 00
00 00
267 Wm. Denison
24 07
06 03
Mr Elliot
8 goats
5
Kidds
Elder Heath
12 goats
T
Kiddi
John Johnson
6
4
Wm. Denison
2
3
Isaac Morrill
1
3
John Stow
20
8
Mr Sbeafe
14
10
Thos Waterman
7
e
Edward Bugbie
6
7
John Burckly
2
s
'1 homas Ffreeman
3
1
Edward Sheffield
2
i
Richard Peacock
1
1
1
1
William Chandler
1
i
In 1652 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, Isaac Johnson, Griffin Craft, and Peleg Heath, in
1663, 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 3*ear,
for pasturage, and were generally fenced across with a pair
of bars to keep out cattle. In 1663 it was agreed at a public
town meeting " 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
ma}* be least damage to his neighbor, through whose land he
is to have his way."
In 1816 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 1825 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, Roxburj" Street was paved
and sidewalks laid. The streets were first lighted in May,
1826, 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.
Hourly coaches began to run between Roxbury 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
in 1834 the Providence Railroad was opened with a single
track.
Omnibuses, which first came in use in London in 1830,
were superseded here in 1856 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 Roxbury 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 Roxbury in 1652 may be
made from Johnson's statement that there were then ' ' neere
upon" one hundred and twenty dwellings in the town. These
WjOuld 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 . . . 2,226. 1850 . . . 18,373.
1810 . . . 3,669. 1860 . . . 25,137.
1830 . . . 5,247. 1870 . . . 34,772.
1840 . . . 9,089.
Mathew "Withington's map of November, 1794, 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 Gr. 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 early daj-s, excepting that of the wealthy
and professional classes, consisted of home-made fabrics of
DRESS. 53
wool. 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 gentr}*, 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. They were held generally by the
cord and tassel at the neck.
Their Sunday suits were elaborate, ornamental, and expen-
sive, and lasted a lifetime. The}* 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 loosel}'. 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, originall}* worn by our emi-
grant ancestors, came again into fashion. A stricture on the
clress of the ladies in 1732 speaks of " shoe-toes pointed to
the heavens, in imitation of the Laplanders, with buckles of
a harness size." As early as 1689 ladies wore clress 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
1651 an}* 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
property objected to such a waste of
leather. Buskins, a kind of half-boot,
worn two centuries ago, are mentioned
in the inventor}' of Thomas Lamb, of
Eoxbury.
The usual mode of wearing the hair
was in the close-cropped fashion of the
Roundheads ; but there were alwaj-s
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 1649, 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 Sunda}^ appeared in silk hoods, lace neck-
erchiefs, slashed sleeves, and embroidered caps. The pro-
pi'iety of wearing veils in public was a matter of sharp con-
trovers}'. 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 1639 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 arrne 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 &c." 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 da} T s, 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. Bo} - s 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 1776: "He
was habited according to the fashion of gentlemen of those
da} r s, in a three-cornered hat, a club wig, a long 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 part}', and
slept in easy-chairs to keep their hair in condition. Hoops
" of monstrous size" were indispensable in full dress.
Near 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 headwa} T . 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 eggs, brown bread and cider. The dinner of
" 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
barlej* 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 butcher's meat, a want supplied to a considerable
extent by game and fish. Baked beans, baked Indian pud-
ding, and newly baked rye and Indian bread on "Wednesday,
and salt-fish regularly on Saturdays, are historical dishes,
though gradually losing their hold.
Although potatoes were sent here as earl}' as 1628 or 1629
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.
1762 and 1763 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 many can yet remember when every farmer had his
tobacco-yard, as well as his cornfield. It was to him physic
in sickness, and a comfort at all times. Most dishes were of
pewter. Forks were hardly known in England before 1650,
and silver forks first appeared in Boston after the war of
1812.
The first houses were of one story, with ver}* steep roofs,
mostly built either of cla}* and mud, or hewn logs, 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
gleamed the sky 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 long and
spacious, lighted on two sides, the
? others opening into the lean-to or
shed. The windows, which were
very small and opened on hinges,
were sometimes of oiled paper or
mica, but 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,
^^.Qyg^ 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 centuiy. 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-
alty 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
' O
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 fire, 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 alwaj's 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 wealthy 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. 28, 1739. Whereas it hath been too much the
unhappy practise of the negro servants of this town to be abroad in
the night at unseasonable 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. JOHX WILLLIAMS.
JOHN HOLBROOK. EBEXEZER WELD.
JAMES JARVIS. EBENEZER GORE.
NOAH PERIN, JR. THOMAS BAKER.
EBENEZER DORR. JONATHAN SEAVER.
NATHANIEL 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 1775 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 Eoxbury, 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.
PIKE-TREE SIXPENCE.
As there was little coin in the country, most of that brought
over 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 fixed rates, being
received in payment of taxes and
in ordinaiy pecuniary transactions.
The prices at which various kinds
of grain should pass current re-
quired constant revision at town-
meeting. In 1667, the town voted,
" That corn, amongst ourselves, shall pass current and be
paid and received from man to man, corn, 3s. ; pease, 2s.
8d. ; barley and malt, 4s. 6d. ; rye, 4s." The first traffic
with the Indians was bj* barter, to which succeeded the use
of wampum. Want of silver for a circulating medium led
the colony in 1652
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
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 mam* of these coins as
would outweigh the fair damsel in the scales.
A comparison of the present prices for the ordinaiy 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
PINK-TREE SHILLING.
SOCIAL USAGES. APPRENTICES. 63
now are. This is seen in the bequests of deceased persons,
a lad}-'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 centuiy 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
st3~le 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 why this is,
and what has been gained by the change. Marriages and
funerals were occurrences of much more ceremony than at
present. The bride wa8 visited dail} r 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 ha*d. 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 year 1800, common in
families of means. It usually 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.
tery, and science" of a shoemaker, agreeing also to teach
him to ' ' wright " :
"The said Joseph shall truly and faithfully serue, his Counsels
lawful and honest 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 and 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. 65
CHAPTER III.
THE NECK TO THE BUKYIKG-GROUND.
The Neck. Dangers. Paving. Executions. Salt-Works. Gen.
Palmer. Fortifications. Cannon secreted. Siege begun. Fugi-
tives from Boston. Roxbury Lines. Kufus Putnam. Brown's
House burnt. John Crane. Eoxbury Street. Boston evacuated.
Losses. French troops in Roxbury. George Tavern. "Washington's
Visit.
A 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
Cornhill, 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 1855 it was
widened from the burying-ground to Warren Street.
The Neck, as it has alwaj-s been called, was once covered
with trees, as various entries in the old records show. Those
of Boston, under date of March 23, 1635, say :
5
66 THE NECK. DANGERS.
"Brother Wileboare to see to y e gate and style next ULto Rox-
burie ; and whereas y> wood upon ye Neck of land towards Roxburie
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 tynies 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 full 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 Waltharn Street.
The appearance of this avenue sixty years ago was desolate
and forbidding enough. It is not eas}' 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 w&y 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 " in 1639 one of
Roxbury sending to Boston his servant maid for a barber
chirurgeon to draw his tooth, the}* 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 "enjo}'ned" to make
a sufficient way between the bury ing-place and the gate.'
Boston, in March, 1650, agreed with Peter Oliver, for 15
per annum for seven }'ears, " To maintaine the High Wayes
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 by a lottery towards paving
and repairing the Neck, and next year another was authorized
to raise funds for paving the highway from Boston line to
Meeting-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 maj'oralty of Josiah Quincy, the
Roxbury portion of it in 1824. 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 Roxbur}' 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 onry 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, former!}' 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 863 dwelling-houses and 6021 inhab-
itants. Many 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 e}'e of the stranger
journejnng by 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 " Neck " was
a peculiarly appropriate place.
Some pirates were executed here in 1819. When the Stamp
Act went into operation on Nov. 1, 1765, effigies of Grenville
and Huske, 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 day passing this spot he met
some British officers, one of whom remarked, " Go on, War-
ren, you will soon come to the gallows." Warren immecli-
atel}' 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 causeway. In
December, 1644, 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
Rocksbmy gate." Many of the poor people of Boston pur-
sued this occupation here while the Port Bill was in force.
GEN. JOSEPH PALMER. FORTIFICATIONS. 69
Salt, another of the industries of this locality, was also
made near the "Town Landing," though the "Salt Pans,"
established at a very earl}* da}', were nearer Dorchester.
After the close of the Revolution, Gen. Joseph Palmer
settled in Roxbury, and established salt-works on Boston
Neck. He had just completed extensive works for this pur-
pose, for which he had built a dam on the east side of the
Neck, when he discovered that the frost had strengthened the
brine, and that the ice formed upon it was perfectly fresh.
Elated by 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, 1788, 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 called Germantown, '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, 1630, projected the building of a for-
tified town upon the Neck, between Roxbur}' and Boston.
After surveying the ground, however, they decided to change
their plan, and fixed upon Newtown, 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 town.
"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 naturally so eligible for a defensive
work.
" We began a Court of Guard," says Winthrop, under date
of April 14. 1631, "upon the Neck between Roxbury and
Boston, whereupon should be alwaj's 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, aifairs 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
tins work was going on, the people, whose curiosity led them
to watch its progress, would speak slightingly of it, and sa}*,
" Gage's mud walls are nothing to old Louisburg, and, if
necessarj", 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 THE FORTIFICATIONS.
71
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 1860, 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, lying 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 be 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. GAGE.
72 NEW DEFENSIVE WORKS.
Just one month before the siege began, a committee of the
Provincial Congress on "the present state of the operations
of the British arm}* " reported :
"That two mud breastworks have been erected by them on Bos-
ton Neck at the distance of about 90 or 100 rods in front of the old
fortifications, the works well constructed and well executed. The
thickness of the merlons or parapet about 9 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. These works
are in 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 guns, 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 says :
"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, flanked by two bastions,
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 KOXBURY. 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
arras 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 Dorches-
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 safely 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
Roxbury, who deposited them in Muddj" 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 five 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 Roxbury lines and else-
where, and are 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 town, 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 enraged the soldiers to such a degree that I am in con-
tinual apprehension we shall soon experience another 5th 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 are 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 Neck, 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
man} 7 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 Roxburj* 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 any 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 took away the gingerbread from the little chil-
dren. "It's a distressing thing," wrote a British officer in
his diary, " to see them r 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 in 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 Deacon 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 allowing 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 the 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 battery 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, occupjnng
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 afford ample proof. Col. Huntington
writes as follows to Gov. Trambull : " Roxbury Camp, Sept.
6, 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 by the Americans, who were
sadl}* deficient in competent engineers. Bunker's Hill demon-
ROXBURY LINES. RUFUS PUTNAM. 77
strated the value of defensive works, and under the direction
of Col. Rufus I*utnam, 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 field works
that was a constant surprise to the veteran European soldiers
of former wars.
Rufus 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 1757-60 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 Dedham,
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 frequentl}* 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 mone}* in his pocket, who will do twenty
mean things to avoid breaking in upon his little stock. The
hostile pickets, covered by slight intrenchrnents, 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 the}* 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 chimneys 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. 79
from the house. Two brass pieces were drawn softly on the marsh
within three hundred yards, and upon a signal from the advanced
party of six, two rounds of cannon shot Avere 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 lines.
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 brave action this, and well performed," wrote young
Henry Knox to his wife from the American camp.
The artiller}* of this ke}* 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, wellnigh ended his
career. His comrades bore his body to a neighboring build-
ing, 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 man} r 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 countrj*, 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 eye fol-
80 ROXBURY STREET IN 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, saj's, " 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 Boxbury. 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 down to make room for 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 across 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 maj r 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 read}', and that if they would only give us notice, we
would meet them with an equal number of men. Capt. Judab
AMERICANS ENTER BOSTON.
81
Alden, who accompanied Col. Learned to the British outposts
with a flag some time afterwards, inquired of the officer in
command why they did not come out and make the troops at
Roxbury a visit. "Ah," replied he, "we should have to
think of that some time first."
Not the least interesting of the events connected with this
locality occurred on the afternoon of March
17, 1776. The occupation of Dorchester
Heights, a movement as skilfully executed as
it was carefulty 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, picked 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 troops were accompanied by Gen. Ward.
With what emotions of pride and satisfaction
must these patriotic citizens, albeit clad in
homespun and unattended by ' ' the pomp and
circumstance of glorious war," have marched into the town
as conquerors ! It was a proud da}- 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 Libert}' Tree," wrote Mrs. 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 arid their
strength."
An estimate of the losses sustained b} r .the people of Rox-
bury in 1775, made by the selectmen and Committee of Cor-
6
UNION FLAG.
82
ROXBURY SUFFERERS.
respondence, foots up 24,412 9s. 4d., 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
Dudlej 1 , and Robert Pier-
pont, Esq. Most of the in-
juries were inflicted by the
besiegers ; houses, fences,
orchards, and wood-lots,
as well as growing crops,
having been destroyed.
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 Roxbury and over the Neck. At their head
was the brave Viomenil, who ten years later sacrificed his life
in defence of his king, in the attack on the Tuileries. With
LIBERTY TKEK.
FRENCH TROOPS IN ROXBURY. 83
him came Berthier, afterwards Napoleon's adjutant-general,
and one of his marshals ; 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 Grassier, Alexander de Lameth,
Langeron, Anselme, and others who attained distinction in
the wars of the French Revolution. The officers wore
ehapeaux with a white cockade, a uniform of white broadcloth
faced 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 Hohenliuden. The
colonel proprietaireof 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
in America, had already returned to Europe.
Next came the Soissonnais, under its second colonel, Count
Segur, son 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 Yorktowu.
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 pom
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 Segnr 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, by feasts and balls,
which succeeded each other day after day."
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 infantry 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 by 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 twenty 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
small-pox in Boston. In 1730, while it was kept by Simon
Rogers, the Probate Court was held there. Samuel Hears,
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 lawyers 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 way from Marshfield, to join Winslow's expedition against
Annapolis Roj'al, in April, 1755. Edward Bardin, who kept
the "George" in 1769, changed its name to the "King's
Arms," a title soon dropped.
This tavern was burned by the enem}' 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 long continuance. In its yard bullbaits were a common
spectacle.
Hither Washington often came to inspect the outposts,
accompanied by his staif, 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 victor^*, as it was at Camden to sustain the most crushing
defeat, of the war.
It 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 artillerj*, 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 Roxbury 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. Thacher, 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, and 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 Coolej's,
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 every 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 and 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 earl}- 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 roadway, stood here. " Near this
gate," says Sewall's Diary, "Mary, Indian James's squaw,
was froze to death Nov. 27, 1685, being fudled." In 166&
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 bury ing-ground. Passing by inhei'itance to Col. Joshua
Lamb, and afterwards to Joshua Lamb Woodbridge, it was
purchased of the latter by Aaron Blaney. The wooden building
adjoining the stable was the residence of Major Ben Weld,
the painter, who was also a prominent militar}' man.
In a building that once stood just south of Huuneman
Street, the "Norfolk Gazette," the first newspaper in Rox-
bury, was published. It was issued weekly by Allen and
Watts, from Dec. 15, 1824, 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 thirsty 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 lying together, with liberty to
inclose the swamp and brook before the same, not annoying
any highway."
John Johnson, " surveyor-general of all y e armyes," was
ehosen 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
many public meetings' were held. When Anne Hutchinson
was taken into custody the General Court ordered that the
arms of her Roxbury adherents be delivered to ' ' goodman "
Johnson, the town of Roxbmy being required to take order
for their custody, and " if any charge arise, to be defrayed
by her husband."
Under date of Feb. 6, 1645, 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
da}* time (no man knowing by what occasion), and there
being in it seventeen barrels of the county'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 howses
only canying it to y e outhouses and barns thereby, and it
was a fierce wind & thereby drave y e element back from y e
neighbors howses which in a calm time would by y e great
heate have been set on fire." 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 Irv 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 by 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 Roxburj* 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 earl}' 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 sixty-eight.
His son, a merchant, who died in 1773 at the early age of
forty-eight, was, says an obituar} 7 notice, u A worthy, 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 drilling 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 gentlemanl}' 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
a dwelling-house, bake-house, orchard, and home lot.
The famil}* of Denison was one of distinction in our colonial
annals, though like those of Ruggles, 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 wife Margaret, and his sons Daniel, Edward, and George,
probably came over in the "Lion" with Eliot, in 1631, as
his name stands third in the record of the First Church.
GEORGE DENISOX. 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
1637, 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 Dudle} 1 , 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 Roxburj 7 , 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 many years, died
on March 22, 1718, when the name became extinct in
Roxburj*.
Of George, the youngest son, a romantic stoiy 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 1643, 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 lad}' to accompany him to America. They remained a
few j-ears in Roxbmy, where in 1646 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 elders. They afterwards
settled in Stoniugtou, Conn., where -he distinguished himself
in Philip's war as an energetic and capable commander. In
1676, with sixty-six volunteers and one hundred Christian
Indians, he slew sevent} r -six of the enemy without losing a
man, and took prisoner Canonchet, son of Miantouomoh, the
Narraganset chief. Capt. George Denison died in 1694, 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 j r ears, dying in 1712, at the great
age of ninety-seven.
James Howe's bakery stood on the vacant lot north of Mr.
J. H. Hunneman's house. At the time of his death, in 1796,
he occupied the old house adjoining, in which his widow
afterward lived. Mrs. D. L. Gibbens, 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
"Buckej-e." 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
BURYING-GROTJXD REDOUBT. 93
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 style 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 carry on
his trade in this vicinity, and was an ingenious and skilful
workman. A knowledge of weaving having been obtained
by 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 Roxbury, 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 BUEYING-GROUND REDOUBT.
their sentries, and immediately a heavj" 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 begun, 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 hourlj" into Roxbury
during the night."
EUSTIS STREET. OLD BURIAL-GROUND. 95
CHAPTER IV.
OLD BURIAL-GROUND TO DORCHESTER.
Enstis Street. Old Burial-Ground. Burial Customs. Dudley Tomb.
Ministers' Tomb. John Grosvenor. 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 1654, 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 in it in 1633. 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 those who died so long ago.
"Our fathers find their graves in our short memories, and
eadly 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 scener}', 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 boughs 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 workmanshipe, as
also to mak a doball gatt of 6 or 8 fote wid and to hing(e) it and to
find all stuf and stons and workmanshipe, 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 paye himself out of the town Eatt
(tax), in witness we have hereto sett to our hands the day above
Kitten. "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 many 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
1854, 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 actuallj* 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 earl}' 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 b\*
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 Roxbmy, on Aug. 19, 1685, when, as Judge
Sewall noted in his Diary, " Mr. Wilson, minister of Medfield,
prayed with the compan} r 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 Womens Mourning gloves 1. 16.
6 Kings 6. 12.
1 Barrilof 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 body had
as early as in 1 724 passed an act recommending a retrench-
ment in funeral expenses.
The extravagances and cost of funerals grew so burden-
some that in 1764 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 wittil}' 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 Steve ns'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
highest ground, is
covered with an oval
slab 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,
Whose 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 Churclryard, 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 }'ear 1686, 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, 1690.
Aged LXXXVI.
Also of
THOMAS WALTER,
Ordained Oct. 19, 1718. Died Jan. 10, 1725.
Aged XXIX.
NEHEMIAH "WALTER,
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: 3M: 1653.
A curious epitaph is this of one of the early teachers of the
Roxbury School and a graduate of Harvard College :
" Sub spe immortali, ye
Herse of Mr. Benj. Thomson
Learned Schoolmaster,
& Physician & ye
Renouned poet of N. Engl.
Obiit Aprilis 13, Anno Dom.
1714 & ^tatis suae 74
Mortuus Sed Immortalis.
He that would try
"What is true happiness indeed, must die."
102
JOHN GROSVENOR. OLD INSCRIPTIONS.
Among the old stones is one thus inscribed :
" Here lyeth buried ye Body of Mr. John Grosvenor, who Deed. Sept.
ye 27th in ye 4flth year of his age. 1691."
Upon it is the coat-of-arms of Gros-
venor, the family name of the Marquis
of Westminster, who is accounted the
wealthiest of English, noblemen. This
is the only coat-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 Eoxbuiy, 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 Alcocke, 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, 1704-5, aged about 62.
John Mayo, April 28, 1688, 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 18, 1714, aged 69 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 66.
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, 1681. "An (Anne Munke),
who was his first wife lieth by him aged 50 years, died April 3d, 1680."
" Here lyes interred ye body of WILLIAM DENISON, Master of Arts &
representative for ye town of Roxbury about 20 years, who departed this
life March 22<i 1717-18 aetatis 54.
" Integer atque Probus Dens Patria que fidelis,
Uixit nunc placide dormet 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.
On the north side of the yard are the gravestones of some
of the Warren family, including Joseph, the father of Gen.
Warren. Most 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 thrpugh the centre of this canal. Gen. Heath's man-
uscript journal, under date of March 9, 1796, 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 1832, 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 TRASK. TRAINING-FIELD.
small vessels laden with merchandise to Roxbuiy. The
canal, never a paying investment, long ago ceused 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 volenx, a circumstance which greatly inter-
fered with the solemnity of the occasion.
The old canal-house, where the lumber-yard of Win. 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 enjo3'ed its boating and other privileges as ontyboj'scan.
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 easy
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 engagement was worthy 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 old 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
tion of the triangle lying between Washington, Dudley, and
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 1762, perfecting his title by purchas-
ing of the town its right to use the ground for militar}- exer-
cises. Other grounds subsequently used for this purpose
were, the common west of the church, now Eliot Square,
" Ned's Hill," where the House of the Angel Guardian now
stands, and the W}*man 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 sixt}*-four, nor more than
two hundred men, and twice as many musketeers as pikemeu,
the latter being of superior stature. Its offi-
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 colony bore the
red cross of St. George in one corner, upon
a white field, the pine-tree, the favorite em- COLO - VIAL FLAO -
blem of New England, being in one corner of the four spaces
formed by the cross. Company trainings were ordered at
106 UNDERBILL . 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.
Underbill, 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 ITvstic.
Lieut. Richard Morris, also exiled for the same cause, was
one of the founders of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery
Compairy ; represented Roxbury in the General Court in
1635-6, and was the second commander of Castle William.
In March, 1633, he was Underbill's ensign, but " taking some
distaste to his office, requested the magistrates that he might
be discharged 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"
must be regarded as extremely 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, Weimouth, Hing-
ham, to be one regiment, whereof John Winthrope senior
TRAINING IN 1685. 107
esquire shall be colonel, and Thos. Dudlej T Esquire lieftenant
colonel." In the expedition under Stoughton against the
Pequods, in 1637, there were ten Roxbury men.
In 1646, Capt. Joseph Weld being dead, "the 3*oung men
of the town agreed together to choose one George Denison,
a young 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 26 bands in the Massachusets
government should be examined and drilled eight daies in a
yeare 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 they cannot get to serve some
magistrate or minister," says Lechford, " 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 1685 : " 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 iu
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 praj'ing 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, 1773, and furnished three gen-
erals to the Revolutionar}' army, 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.
In 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 many officers of distinction as well as a large num-
ber of intrepid soldiers. The officers of the military company
of the town which, in 1689, 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 1690, 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
company, 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 Dudlej', Esq , clerk. Roxbury was well repre-
sented in the Louisburg expedition in 1745. She sent two
companies, commanded by Nathaniel Williams and John
Ruggles, Ebenezer Newell being the lieutenant in the com-
pany of Estes Hatch. Among the officers from Roxbury
who served in the campaigns of 1758-60, 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, 1784, the Roxbury artil-
lery was formed, and John Jones Spooner, a gentleman of
high character, afterwards a clergj'mau, was chosen captain.
This corps, which did good service in Shaj's's Rebellion,
became an infantry company in 1857, taking its present name,
THE ROXBURY ARTILLERY. 109
the Roxbury City Guard. It famished three companies to
the war for the Union. After its change of name the old
members organized themselves as the Roxbury Artillery
Association.
The first parade of the company took place on Jul} r 5,
1784, the occasion being the celebration of the anniversary
of National Independence, the Fourth falling on Sunday. An
ej'e-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, saluting
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 Revolutionar}* 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 July 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 H.
Gibbs, commander ; reorganized in 1838, and disbanded in
1855. Col. Wm. H. Spooner, son of Major John Jones
Spooner, and grandson of Gen. Heath, commanded them in
1841. This corps was highl}* 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 countiy were Gen. T. J. C. Amory and Col.
Lucius M. Sargent.
On the corner of Mall Street, formerl}' a part of the train-
ing field, the large house built in 1804 by 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, original!}' the " Way to the Town Landing"
or wharf, was in 1825 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 tho 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 1786 levelled by order of
the town. The hill on which the}' stood was graded down
many 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 Neck, and got
upon Lamb's Darn, where he with his cattle and horse per-
ished. Finding it impossible to save his team he left it, and
endeavored to reach a barrack in the fort near bj*, 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 Zeigler, 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
Dudle}' 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 Merrill
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 Merrill'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 Dudle}* 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 b}* 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 BAPTIST 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 da}* that the remains of Mr.
Tucker, the early and genei'ous friend of the society, were
borne to the grave. The church was dedicated Nov. 1, 1820,
and on March 9,
1821, the societ}-,
consisting of
twenty-three per-
sons, under the
name of -'The
Baptist Church
in Roxbury," 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
DUDLEY STREET BAPTIST C
DBA. 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 1852, 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, 1868. The new house, which
was dedicated July 27, 1853, is of brick, in the pointed
Gothic stj'le, 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. KKSIGSED.
JOSEPH ELLIOT, March, 1822. June, 1824.
WILLIAM LEVERETT, June, 1825. July,. 1839.
THOS. FORD CALDICOTT, June, 1840. April, 1848.
THOS. DAVIS ANDERSON, August, 1848. December, 1861.
HENRY MELVILLE KING, April, 1863.
On the southeasterly side, after passing Warren Street,
came the estate of Wm. 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 1630, and for
more than half a century was one of her most useful and
honored citizens. For thirty-three j-ears he was her repre-
sentative in the legislature, was often a selectman, holding
also many other important trusts, public and private, and
was one of the earliest members of the Ancient and Honora-
114 EDMUND WELD. MOUNT PLEASANT.
ble Artiller}' Company. He died in 1685, at the age of
seventy-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, } - et 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
adjo3 r ning." The Unitarian Church, on the corner of Green-
ville Street, in which Rev. Wm. R. Alger preached from
1847 to 1855, is nearly on the site of the Edmund Weld
homestead. Moreland, Fahiand, Greenville, and a part of
Winthrop Streets are comprised within the limits of the Weld
estate. The home of the pfesent representative of this old
famil}*, 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, formerh*
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 1688. The Payson estate afterwards became the
property of John Holbrook, tanner, and in 1767 was bought
by Moses White. Daniel, the last of the Roxbun* Holbrooks,
died here in 1827, 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 Roxbuiy
farms bought for speculative purposes, and received its
EGBERT WILLIAMS. 115
present attractive name in 1835. Prior to 1868 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 }'et resides here at the age of eighty-
three, came to Roxbury in 1843. Twenty-one years of his
earl}" 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 1856-58 he was mayor of
Roxbury, and recent!}' represented his district in the State
Senate.
The homestead of Robert Williams, one of the early set-
tlers of Roxbury, in which five generations of the family
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 Alban}* Street, on both sides of Eustis Street, as
far as Magazine Street. It sustained great injur}" 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
twent) T acres of upland and ten acres of marsh, was bought
of the heirs of Dr. Thomas Williams by Aaron D. Williams
and William H. Sumner, and afterwards cut up into lots and
sold. The mansion was recentl}* 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.
116 MCCURTIN'S DIARY.
Robert, the emigrant ancestor of this the most prolific of
the old Roxbury families, came from Norwich, England, in
1638, and died at a great age in 1693. 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 burying-ground :
" 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 industr}*, 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
courteous manners, and when making his dail}' round of pro-
fessional visits upon his large white horse, being near
sighted, would bow to every window as he passed, so as to
avoid giving offence by omitting anybody.
The diary of Daniel McCurtin, one of the Pennsylvania
riflemen quartered here during the siege, contains some
amusing particulars. He says :
"Upon the 13th of August, 1775, we marched from Cambridge in
company with Capt. Morgan's company to a small village named
Eocksbury, 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 given them to the soldiers for barracks. The 14th being
DR. THOMAS WILLIAMS. 117
Sunday, we had to stand sentry at a place called Lamb's Dam 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 and 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 in 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 Ton*, but by no means an obnoxious one,
and he was too useful a citizen to be driven away, as were
the others. On hearing of the affair at Lexington he re-
marked to Edward Sumner, " 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.
118 EAST STEEET.
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, on 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 1832 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
A) ' 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 by 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 j T 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 1851, aged eighty. Her father, Andrew Cazneau, a
judge of admiralty before the Revolution, and whose property
she inherited, died at Roxbury in 1792. From 1822 to 1860,
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 years, 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
size, beauty, and excellence entitle it to the high estimation
in which it is every where held, originated about 1770 in
England, where it was known as t; 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
Mr. Bartlett, who was a Boston merchant, laid the founda-
120
EUSTIS HOUSE.
tion of his fortune by bringing to the United States a cargo
of English goods just 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,
EUSTIS 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 centuiy. 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-
EUSTI8 HOUSE. 121
stoiy, hip-roofed structure, with a stone basement, having a
piazza at each end, and is surmounted by an observator}'
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 fine
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 nortnern 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 beautifully
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 1867 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 are 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 Eoxbury 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, 1746,
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, 1756, 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 1764 the estate was bought by Judge Eliakim 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
loj'alist. his estate was confiscated, the purchaser, in Septem-
ber, 1782, being the Hon. John Read, a gentleman of consid-
erable political prominence in Roxbury in 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 Huckins 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
" lab3Tinth" in the grounds 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. Flaw, 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 } - ou discharge well j*our 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 by 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 da}* presented to the descend-
ants of the Puritans, that of ball-playing Sunday afternoons.
In 1798 the estate was purchased of Giles Alexander, Jr., b}*
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 brig 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, thej* 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
1756, was the son of a London merchant, who by marriage
became possessed of the estate of Otehall in the parish of
"Wivelsfield, 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 friendl}* 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 magistracy 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, by a
force of four thousand New England men led by 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 their
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, "Nil
desperandum Christo dud" giving to the expedition the air
of a crusade ; made a recruiting-house of the sanctuary ; and
not only preached Delenda est Carthago, but Parson Mood}*,
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 New Hampshire, offering it to him,
undoubtedly supposing that the governor's gout would make
the proposition safe. But in this he was mistaken. Went-
worth flung away his crutches and offered his services, and
Shirley had the mortification not only to make him an apology,
but to tell him that any change in the command would hazard
the expedition.
In spite of the formidable obstacles to be overcome, the
victorious New-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 years 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, 1749, 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 3'oung girl, his landlord's daughter, in Paris,
married her, and in August, 1753, brought L\s }'oung 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 1754, he had several
interviews with Shirlej*, 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 constantly 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. Shirlej',
whose character and appearance have perfectly charmed me.
His every word and action discover in him the gentleman and
politician."
In Februar3 r , 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 io
tioxbuiy, then occupied by his son-in-law, Judge Hutchinson.
Here he died on March 24, 1771, a poor man, and was interred
in the bury ing-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 Shirle}* mansion, died in Roxbury
on Jan. 13, 1813, aged eighty-five. In 1740, after the pre-
vailing epidemic had carried off several of the family, he was
taken by the wife of Daniel Bugbee, of Roxburj', 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 paj'master 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 Roxbury, the Has-
kins estate, a portion of the Perrin estate, and much of the
GOV. EUSTIS. 120
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 many years under his charge.
Read and his neighbor, Gov. Eustis, were great cronies, and
tradition says they occasional!} 7 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
seventj'-one, on Feb. 6, 1825.
In his profession, Dr. Eustis was faithful, humane, and in-
defatigable. His. urbanit}', 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
florid. 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 arm}-, whose
arrival in Roxbury was an occasion of such magnitude as to
be yet freshly remembered by many among us. He 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 artillerj', 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. They
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 Rifles, 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. ETJSTIS.
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 he was entertained at the gov-
ernor's residence. Col. Hamilton, of the Exchange Coffee-
House, 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 m}' 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 guests, 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 IGth of June,
1825, and the next morning was escorted to Bunker's Hill,
where he assisted in laying the corner-stone of the Monument.
He was ever}'where received with the greatest enthusiasm,
and a badge universally worn bore the words, "Welcome
Lafayette."
An amusing story, illustrating Lafayette'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 you married?" upon receiving the
gentleman's affirmative reply, he shook him warmly by the
hand, exclaiming, " Happj* 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
luck\ T dog ! " 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 ctf the master of the house was still
momentarily expected.
Dennis Street formerly extended through Quincy 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, but opposed to it is the fact
that the Denison family owned a large tract of bottom 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 Nov. 1697," says the old record, " there being an
ancient record of a highway from Giles Paj-son's Corner, to
the house formerly Robinson's, now Deacon Williams's, and
so forward
to Brantry
Road, two
rods wide,
said highway
is confirmed
from the cor-
ner of Ste-
phen Wil-
liams's Pas-
t u r e to
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 b}' the house of Daniel Holbrook. The Holbrook estate,
containing thirtj'-seven acres, ]ay partly in Roxbury and
partly in Dorchester.
The old farm-house on the easterly corner of the street
had been in possession 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 $6,000
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 1860, and died at his residence,
on Dec. 11, 1860, aged sixty-seven. His family still reside
in the old house.
The fine 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 1806 to 1811, and attorney-
general of the State from 1811 to 1832. 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
1787, 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
a, company at the capture of Louisburg, and died in 1759.
His son Nathaniel, a Tory, accompanied the British troops to
Halifax in 1776. 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, a moderate advance, but the latter declined to
purchase. Writing to Hancock in regard to the property,
Swan says, " 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 here, Swan made the house a
seat of hospitality, entertaining among other persons of dis-
tinction, the Marquis de Viomenil.
second in command of Rochambeau's army, Admiral d'Es-
taing, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Gen. Henry Knox.
When Swan went to France, the house and farm were adver-
tised as to let, possession to be given on April 1, 1789.
The present mansion house, known as the Swan House,
was built about the year 1796, upon an elevated and attrac-
tive site, nothing about it indicating the fact that it stands on
a ledge of rocks. 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 many 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
during the Reign of Terror, they 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} 1 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 j'ears 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, 3'oung as he was, had
token so bold a stand for human freedom, he was one of the
SWAN IN ST. PELAGIE. 137
Tea Party in December, 1773. He accompanied Warren as
a volunteer aid to Bunker's Hill, and was wounded at his side ;
took part as a captain of artillery in the expedition which,
early in 1776, 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
Lafaj-ette 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 finall}- 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 1825.
Their son James married Lucy, daughter of Gen. Knox.
St. Pelagic, which had seen Madame Roland and the Du-
Barry led to the scaffold, and within whose walls the Em-
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-looking old gentleman, said to resemble in Ms 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.
upon which they cooked their meals, at his approach, for fear that
the smell of charcoal should be unpleasant to him. He had won
their love by his considerate and uniform benevolence. Not a day
passed without some kind act on his part, often mysterious and
unknown in its source to the recipient. Frequently a poor debtor
knocked at his door for bread, and 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 1829 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 grateful 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, 1830, 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. He 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 memory of the
"CHRISTIAN, SOLDIER, PATRIOT, AND FRIEND."
Jackson, who had served with reputation as a colonel in the
Revolutionar}' 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 HAGBORNE. 139
CHAPTER V.
BURIAL-GROUND TO DUDLEY STREET.
Hagborne. 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. Sumner's Birthplace.
Gen. Greaton. Old Red Tavern. Deacon Monroe. Capt. Joseph
"Weld. Elder Heath. Bowles. Greyhound Tavern. Fire-engines.
"Welde. Walter. Eliot. Indian Bible. Gookin. Old Gram-
mar School.
RESUMING our journey along the old town street, both
sides of which were formerly lined with buttonwood-
trees, we have on our left, between Eustis and Dudley Streets,
the homesteads of Hagborne, Hewes, Peacock, Thomas Welde,
and Eliot, the original proprietors of the land between the
street and the training-field.
Samuel Hagborne, one of the wealthiest of the early inhab-
itants of Roxbur}*, was the original owner of the estate of
nine acres on the east side of Washington Street from the
corner of Eustis to a point opposite Vernon Street, extend-
ing back to the training-field. He also owned fifty-six acres
of upland and marsh upon Smelt Brook, known as Hagborne's
Neck. To Hagborne belongs the credit of founding the free
school in Roxbury. the first mention of such an institution
occurring in his will, made in Ifi42, 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 EEV. SAMUEL DANFORTII.
ing if my estate will afforde it." He died in January, 1643, and
his widow Catharine afterwards married Gov. Thomas Dud-
ley. His dwelling-house, which stood near the Eustis Street
corner, had been in 1659 " lately consumed by fier."
In 1657 this estate was purchased by Rev. Samuel Dau-
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 Dauforth was
brought to New England by Nicholas, his father, in 1634:,
and graduated at Harvard in 1643. Rev. Mr. Welde having
returned to England, Danforth on leaving college was invited
to assist Eliot, and the evangelical emploj'ments of the latter
among the Indians having rendered a colleague necessary, he
was ordained at Roxbury on Sept. 24, 1650.
" On the llth of the 9th mo. 1651," says the town record,
' ' there was voted a levy upon all the inhabitants for the
raj'sing 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 Weld's house, in which
he finally resided. Here he continued until his decease, and
neither " the incompetency of the salar}'," 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 " keep good order and manners in
them" ; and when from his study window, " he saw any town
dwellers trifling there, he would go over and 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 forty or
REV. SAMUEL DANFORTH. 141
fifty passages of Scripture. Cotton Mather says, " He 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,
DANFOETHUS, 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 1664, 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, 1674, 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
summer. He cordially joined with me 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 " 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. His
son, Rev. John Danforth, was minister of Dorchester from
1682 to 1730. 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 1856, was the
warehouse of
Aaron 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'S STOKE.
EGBERT CALEF. WITCHCRAFT. 143
Robert Calef, their arch enemy, and here he carried on his
trade of clothier, which he had previously pursued for many
3'ears 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 boldh* his own
thought and that of many others. In an age of credulity 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 hus
bandman ; that he was a selectman of Roxbury, sufficien:
proof of the esteem in which he was held 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
bury ing-ground hard b}-.
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 few, 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 lands 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 in 1693 and 1694,
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 they
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 by means of which it was
claimed that witches might certainty be known. One of these
epistles closes in these words :
"And thus, Sir, I have faithfully performed my duty, and 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 glory 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 plainly 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 God,
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." Calef'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 3'our 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 wa}* 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.
Protestants 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,
And its avenues are open to the unseen
Feet of phantoms that come and go, and we
Perceive them not save by their influence, 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 things 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 nearty 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 conspiracj" 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, j'et he offended men of the greatest
learning and influence. " His narrative," says 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 by 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 apparent!}' 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," "a weaver turned minister," "a wicked
Sadducee," " a vile fool," " that instrument of Satan,"
" a coal from hell," such are some of the choice epithets
hurled at him b}* the irate divine.
"This vile volume," so he writes in his diary, "he sent 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 "MORE 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 yai-d, 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 Calef s friends stood by him, but almost the
EDWARD DORR. 149
entire community sided at first with his influential clerical
opponents, and this no doubt induced his removal from Bos-
ton to Roxbury, where we soon afterwards find him.
' ' More Wonders " has been erroneously attributed to Rob-
ert Calef, Jr. There is no difficult}* 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 1649 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.
Marj*, the daughter of Robert Calef, was, in 1712, married
to Dr. Samuel Stevens, of Roxbury, whose daughter Mary
became the mother of Gen. Joseph Warren.
Next bej'ond 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 Roxbury. During the last century the Dorr fam-
ily occupied a prominent position here.
150
EBENEZER FOX.
The shop of the painter, John Kitts 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-
x % sons now living: well
EBEXKZEK FOX.
remember. Ebenezer
Fox, a native of Rox-
burj- and a resident of
the town at the time
of his death in 1843,
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, aucl other boys," says Fox, "situated similarly to myself,
thought we too had wrougs to be redressed aud 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."
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 eight o'clock on the evening of the 18th of
April, 1775, the night before the battle of Lexington, they
met on the steps of the First Church, and started on their
way, 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, the}' kept on to Dedham, where they
slept on the ground, and early next morning continued their
journey. Soon from all quarters came rumors of the Lex-
ington affair, and they were frequently stopped and eagerly
questioned, 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
Capt. John Foster Williams, and fitted out b} T the State of
Massachusetts to protect her commerce from British cruisers.
Fox was on board the ' ' Protector " during the action with
the wi 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 lad} T 's
inquiry for a letter with, " Oh j-es, 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 SIMON WILLARD.
For several generations the "Willards have been famous
throughout the country, 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 " Boston Gazette " of Feb. 22, 1773, is the follow-
ing advertisement :
" Benjamin Willard at his shop in Eoxbury Street, pursues the
different branches of clock and watch work, and has for sale musical
clocks playing different tunes, a new tune every day in the week and
on Sunday a Psalm tune. These tunes 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 on 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, 3 r et 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 Roxbuiy,
and until in 1802 he received a patent from the government
for 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 treat}*, 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, " \on 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."
He 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 e}*es
have been oftenest turned, especially at the approach of its
hands to the hour of two P. M., 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
ninety-five years four months and twent}*-seven days.
Simon Willard, the 3'ounger, 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.
1805, 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 of
Major William 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 localitj 7 , and temporarily aban-
doned by their occupants. Nathaniel Felton, scythe-maker,
bought the premises of Edward Dorr in 1763. 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 years ago.
William Bowman lived in the old house on the corner of
Palmer and Washington Streets. Lucy, 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 century ago
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 D avisos, 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 house, in which, on Nov. 9, 1746, Gov. In-
crease Sumner was born. 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 buttonwoods, that were cut down more than
half a century ago. The house is one of the few remaining
on Roxbuvy 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 1763 ; 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 1635, 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.
Traditions of wonderful feats of strength performed by him
in his youthful daj*s are remembered in Roxbury and its
vicinity to this da}'. After his death, which took place in
November, 1774, 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 temporarity
on the farm left by the elder Increase to his son, called
" Morgan's," where he built the house now the residence of
Hon. Marshall P. Wilder.
156
GEN. GREATON.
On Sept. 10, 1765, John Greaton, Jr., leased of Samuel
Surnner for ten years a building where Bampton's store now
stands, for the sale of West India goods. Greatou was a
prominent " Son of Libert}-," was one of the Roxbury com-
mittee of fifteen to cam* 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, 1775, is now in
my possession. During the
siege of Boston he led several
successful expeditions to the
islands in the harbor, bringing off live stock and destroj'ing
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 b} r Col. Greaton at Dorchester
Neck, on this side the causewa}-," and that some cannon-shot,
directed toward them by the enem}', fell short.
Taking part in the unfortunate invasion of Canada, he was
taken down grievously ill at Fort George, in September, 1776.
In a letter to Gen. Heath, dated July 31, 1776, 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. GKEATON.
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 army after the expiration of
their term of service, and until reinforcements could arrive.
In the campaign ending with the surrender of Burgoyne, 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 tardily 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 16th of December following.
The remains of this faithful and patriotic soldier repose in the
old bury ing-ground, but no stone marks their resting-place.
In 1760 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. Glair's battle with the Indians, and died at
New Orleans in May, 1815. The family is now extinct in
Roxbury.
The famil}- 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 TAVERX. CAKE. JOSEPH WELD.
On the site of Diamond Block there was a very old house,
possibly the residence of the Denisous, and in which Edward
Sumner lived in 1750. 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 Roxbuiy, in 1786, on horseback and alone, meet-
ing only a single person, a miller, on the road.
This dilapidated old building was pulled down one night
by 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 1633, kept a store on
Roxbury Street, and represented the town from 1636 to
1641. In militar}- matters he was quite prominent, having
been the first ensign of the Artilleiy Company in 1638, and
also the first captain of the Roxbury Militaiy Company.
During her four months' detention " it being winter," and
until she was driven into exile, Capt. Weld had the custody
of Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, a woman ci of read}' 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 Eliot, and is said to have been the wealthiest mer-
chant of his day in New England. Upon one of his many
voyages to London he was arrested and placed under heavy
bonds, at the suit of Alderman Bare-la}*, 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 colon} 1 he received from the town the valuable
estate in West 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, 1646. His widow afterward mar-
ried Anthony Stoddard, of whom the estate in Roxbury
Street was purchased by Rev. Samuel Danforth in 1657.
The homestead was man}' 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 Dedham. 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 Nehemiah 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.
" 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
(stranger, who asked him if he had seen a stray white horse
160 EDMUND KEAN. ELDER HEATH.
passing that way. "No," was the reply. "Where had I
better look for him? " queried the stranger. " Oh well ! " said
the deacon, "p'r'aps you'd better go to the Univarsalist
grounds, 'bout everything fetches up there nowadays."
A small wooden building, numbered 2331, formerly 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 stage 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, lay 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 1635 ;
his brothers William and Peleg Heath having preceded him.
Heath was a member of the Legislature in 1637-8, 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, 1660, 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. 161
Bowles shall be mayntayned at Schole 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 1645, 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 1690 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
go over and " chide them away."
"As ancient is this hostelry
As any in the land 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
162 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 usuall}* 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 1633, 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 b} 7 " the town ' ' 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 poultr} r 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 recentl}" 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 lyeth y e Body of Joshua Hewes aged 66 years.
Departed this Life y e 25 day of January 1675."
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 Roxbury 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. 163
"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
eujoyned to appear at the next Generall Court & to contyuue there
until the court be ended."
Numberless must have been the " red-letter days" of this
unfortunate namesake of "old King Cole," for his name
recurs in connection with public admonitions with great fre-
quency 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, " there were in Boston two
houses of entertainment called ' Ordinaries,' into which, if a
stranger went, he was presently followed by 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, bej'ond
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 pay 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 an}' guest there
164 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 1643 Richard Wood}*, who dwelt in the imme-
diate vicinity of the Greyhound, had leave from the town
" to draw wine." In 1653 leave was given John Gorton and
Robert Pepper, " to brew and sell penny beare and cakes and
white bread." In 1678, 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, 1687. I hire Ems 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 Greyhound Tavern, with boiled bacon and roast fowls. Come
home between ten and eleven. Brave moonshine."
In 1752, and for many years subsequent!}', the Masonic
Fraternity celebrated St. John's Da}* 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 " 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 80 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, and devours all sorts of creatures that he
can come near. Its agility is surprising, 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 sen-ice, 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
clown 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 jaunt}',
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'll have a share as well as they,
Though its 'over the hills and far away.' "
The most notable of the celebrations of the repeal of the
Stamp Act is thus described in the " Massachusetts Gazette "
of Aug. 18, 1768:
" About 5 o'clock, the morning (Aug. 14th) was ushered iu by
the firing of 14 cannons in Liberty Square, and hoisting the flag 011
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 band of music, and the much-admired
American song was melodiously sung to the great pleasure of a
number of gentlemen and ladies who were at the windows of the
166 LIBERTY SONG.
houses in the neighborhood as also to a vast concourse of people in
the square. Fourteen toasts were then drunk, and after again firing
the cannon the gentlemen set out in their chariots and chaises for the
Greyhound Tavern in Koxbury, where an elegant entertainment was
provided. After dinner the new song was again sung and 45 toasts
drunk and the afternoon was spent sociably with great harmony
and affection for the liberties of their country. After consecrating
a tree sacred to Liberty in Koxbury, 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, 1768, and is the
earliest of the Revolutionary lyrics 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. 167
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 with his effects (fire-arms and ammunition excepted), to pass
unmolested into the town 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 DORR. 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 BLANBY.
Ensign R. H. GUEATON. 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
has 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
1 746 a legislative enactment affixed a penalty of ten shillings
upon ever} 7 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 1795 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 HANCOCK.
ISAAC DAVIS. JAMES PIERCE. Lieut. WILLIAM BOSSON.
JOSEPH DAVENPORT. SAMUEL BARRY.
In 1802 a new engine, called the "Torrent No. 2," was
accepted and its company of twent}*-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. (new house). No. 5, Spring Street.
2, Centre St., by Poorhouse. 6, Eustis Street (new house).
3 and 4, Jamaica Plain. 7, "Norfolk," at Punch-Bowl.
The first suction engines were made in Roxbury many years
ago by William C. Hunneman. Previously the supply of
water was brought in buckets and emptied into the " tub."
REV. THOMAS WELDE. 169
Passing the Greyhound, we come to the homestead of two
acres of the Rev. Thomas "Wekie, 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 Dudlej* 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 1 840 a favorite
place for dancing parties and political meetings, the latter
being sometimes held on Sundaj" evening.
Daniel Welde, who lived here at one time, was probably
the brother of Rev. Thomas and Captain Joseph. Pie was
chosen by the town in 1654 " 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 Ston}* River
Bridge, where he died July 22, 1666, 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 safet}- 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 5, 1632, he was ordained pastor in July,
Eliot being soon after settled as teacher. In 1639 he
assisted Eliot and Mather in making the tuneful New Eug-
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 1641 to England with Hugh Peters, as agent for
the 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, 1661. Welde had
given " the greatest encouragement of any man else," says
Mather, " for invitation of his friends to come over to New
England, 3*et 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.
" 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 Eoger Williams and Anne Hutchinson,
whom Winthrop called the " 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 Welde 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," sa3*s Mr. Savage, the editor
of " 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 by 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," usuall}* 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 way the number of different copies might be
multiplied to any extent.
Next to the Welde estate came that of the Rev. Nehemiah
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 fluentty 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 masteiy 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-
urda} 7 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 worth}' candidates,
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 delay he received a unanimous call, the church making
its choice Juh' loth, and the town in public assembly Sept.
9, 1688, 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 diary says :
"Wednesday, Oct. 17, 1688. Ride in the hackiiey-coach with
Gov. Bradstreet and his lady to Roxbury to the ordination of Mr.
Nehemiah Walter. Mr. Eliot, Mr. Allen, Mr. Willard also there.
Danforth, 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, in the fore seat, sat Mr. Brad-
street, Danforth, Richards, Cook, Sewall, Wilson, and Gookin. 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 very delicate
bodily frame. In the beginning of his ministry he preached
extemporaneously, but a severe illness that affected his head
and impaired his memory, compelled him to make use of notes
ever afterward.
"Whitefield, who visited Mr. Walter in 1740, calls him a
good old Puritan, and sa3*s, " 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. Walter 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 1 750 at the age of eighty-seven.
Rev. Thomas Walter, his son, and his colleague from 1718
until his death, which took place on Jan. 16, 1725, at the
early age of twent}--eight, possessed all his father's vivacity
and richness of imagination with greater vigor 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 great men.
174 CHURCH MUSIC. JOHN ELIOT.
In 1721 Mr. Walter, who excelled in the science of har-
mony, being grieved and annoyed bej'ond 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 Note. Fitted to
the Meanest Capacity." The music was printed with bars for
the first time in America. The tunes were composed in three
parts only. It ran through successive editions until 1764.
This book threw the churches into commotion, some battling
for the old and some for the new way of singing, that is, by
rote or note. " I have great jealousy," said a writer in the
"New England Chronicle," " that if we once begin to sing
b}- note, the next thing will be to praj- 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
shortl}" 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. Dudle} r '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
Parke. Their son, Rev. John Williams, of Deerfield, was car-
ried into captivity by the Indians. North of Hears, on a part
of the Eliot estate, was the house and lot of William Blaney.
176 JOHN ELIOT.
Nazing, 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 Badclow, 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 " 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
they intended presently to call to the office of teacher, was called to
be a teacher to the church at Roxbury, and though Boston labored
all they could, both with the congregation of Roxbury 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 Rox-
bury, so he was dismissed."
From the period of Welde's departure for England in 1641
until the settlement of Danforth as his colleague in 1650, and
again from the death of the latter in 1674 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, " 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
my heart when God was pleased to put upon me that work
of preaching to them."
He 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
Nesutan. 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 Nesutan. 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.
He 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
countrj". I will go on. You touch me if you 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, 1646, four of us [Eliot, Gookiu, and Heath of
Roxbury, and 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 aiiy 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
son to be educated and trained up in the knowledge of God, and
accordingly his son was accepted and is now in 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 next thing we
intended was, discourse with them by propounding certain questions
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 under-
stand, or only some few; and 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 land 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, " 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 cow!
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
Nipmucs, 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 26, 1647, ordered,
" 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 way 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 day 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
" 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 industry, 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 "\Vaban, whose
" gift lay in ruling, judging of cases, wherein he is patient,
constant, and prudent." There was no circumlocution at his
office. Here is a specimen warrant : " You, you big consta-
ble quick you catch um Jeremiah Offscow ; strong 3-011 hold
um ; safe you bring um 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
um 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
his 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 1663. A new edition
of two thousand copies was printed in 1686. Copies of this
work are exceedingly rare, and are so highly prized 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 as well as the political fetters which
182
INDIAN BIBLE.
had been fastened on 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 Bo3"le, through whose influence 50 were
annual!}' paid to Eliot by the societ}-.
Eliot's Bible was first dedi-
cated to the Parliament in 1659.
The restoration of the monarchy
necessitated it to be dedicated
afresh, this time to Charles II,
who received it " ver}' gra-
ciousty," says Boyle, who pre-
sented the book to him ; ' ' but
though he looked a pretty while
upon it, and shewed some things
in it to those that had the honor
to be about him, yet the unex-
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 fac-simile of the title-page of the Indian Bible follows :
MAMUSSE
WUN.NEETUPANATAM WE
UP-BIBLUM GOD
NANEESWE
NUKKONE TESTAMENT
KAH WONK
WUSKU TESTAMENT
NB QUOSHKINNUMUK NASHPK WUTTINNEMOH CHRIST
NOH ASOOWESIT
JOHN ELIOT
CAMBRIDGE
PRINTEUOOPNASHPB SAMUEL GREEN KAH MARMADUKE JOHNSON
1663
ROBERT BOYLE.
ELIOT'S ESCAPE FROM DROWNING. 183
Primers, grammars, psalters, catechisms, " The Practice
of Piety," "Baxter's Call," and other books in the Indian
tongue followed the Bible, and soon there were fourteen
places of Pra} - ing Indians, as they were called, under Eliot's
care, and about eleven hundred souls apparently converted.
No pains were spared to teach the natives to read and write,
and "in a short time," sa}*s 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 Eliot, Gookin. and Danforth 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 Natick and elsewhere. The remembrance of their
injuries made a breach between them and the English that
was never healed. In 1684 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 :
" 1676. On the 7th day of the 2d month, 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 14 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. /
in our boat, quickly got up into the great boat. I so sunk that
I drank in salt water twice and could not help it God assisted
my two cosins to deliver us all and help us up into 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 :
" 1677. 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 drink, that it
proved a horrible snare unto us. They learned so to love strong
drink that they would spend all their wages & pawn any 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 Island & the work is yet on foot to this day praised
be the Lord. When the Indians were hurried away to an 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, and 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 1679-80,
nearly two hundred years ago :
JOHN DUNTOX. 185
" The best of the ministers we have yet heard is a very old man
named John Eliot. . . . On arriving at his house he was not there,
and we therefore went to look around the village and the vicinity.
We found it justly called Eocksbury, for it was very rocky and had
hills entirely of rocks. Keturning to his house we spoke to him
and he received us politely. Although he could speak neither
Dutch nor 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, and
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 immortaality by being
transfixed at the end of a verse of the " Dunciad." He
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 Indian Bibles, and
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, 1634 :
" 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 wa} r , is
supposed to be the first political treatise by a citizen of this
country. The fathers of the colony were not only spiritualty-
rninded men, but they we're 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, 1661, 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," says Cotton Mather,
" must write of charity, or say 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 cany 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 eyes and
trembling hands he endeavored to untie the knots. After
man}* fruitless efforts to get at his money, impatient at the
delay, he gave the handkerchief and its contents to the
mother, saj'ing, "Here, my dear, take it; I believe the Lord
designs it all for }*ou." " 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. "Methinks, sir," said he, "the angels
are hovering here about us, and think it long till they 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 ni}* memorj* and senses deca}'ing 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 an} T sum
granted for his support, even if he were superannuated so as
to do no further service for them.
' ' His apparell was without any ornament except that of
humility," says Mather. "Had you 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,
vanit}*, and finery of the time, which he silently 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 humbly
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 country, even Indian wars,
might be traced to that absurd fashion. For men to wear
the hair long he thought "a luxurious feminine protexity."
But the fashion prevailed, and Eliot 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
onty as a last word of complaint that ' ' the lust was in-
superable." Perhaps Eliot might have carried his point had
he adopted the clever expedient of Clemens of Alexandria,
who informed the astonished wig-wearers that when they knelt
at church to receive the blessing the}* 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 vicinit}*. 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 (1687) 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 GEN. GOOKIN.
/
of a dealer in pictures, who unfortunatelj 1 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 cit}*, 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 formerly
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 Roxbury
is, that he was here from 1644 to 1648 ; was a representative
from Roxbury 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 colony 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 destro} - ed. For this display of heroism they were
openly threatened with death, in placards posted up in
Boston. One of these, dated Feb. 28, 1675-6, reads as
follows :
"Reader, thou art desired not to suppress this paper but to pro-
mote its designe, which is to certify (those traytors to their king
and countrey) Guggins and Danford, 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.
Dillaway, a gentleman well known and highly esteemed as
an educator, and who has for mam' } T ears taken an active
interest in the schools of the town. Nine generations of
Roxbury bo} r s have imbibed freely at this fountain of learn-
ing, a goodl}' 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 walla
with a claim to our reverential regard.
A Roxbury 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 may have been the gift 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. By the year 1820 the growth of the
town had necessitated the addition of a second stoiy, 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 1665. In 1681 the condi-
tion of this temple of learning was thus depicted by 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 scJwla 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 1642, 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, " wellnigh the whole town,"
bound themselves to the payment of certain sums yearly for
the support of a free school. This they followed up in 1646
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-
licke 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
for its support. For near a century 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 by that of any institution of the kind in
New 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
Roxbury."
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 1660 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 the}' 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 1646 to 1787. The earl}'
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 entr}' in the
old school record, dated 1648, 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 1668 John Prudden
promises and engages "to use his best skill and endeavors,
both bj r 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 Rox-
bury. 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. They
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, as
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 weighty 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 carry 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 1663 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 any, 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 Gushing, an associate
justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and who
subsequently 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 1 700-3 . 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 colony.
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 down 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 fail-
knowledge of grammar and geography are essential. When
the addition of a second story was made in 1820, the school
was divided, and the primary department placed under the
charge of Deacon " Billy" Davis. Under the mastership of
John Howe, the Grammar School became a Latin School,
when, in 1674, 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 Schoolhouse. Stunner 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 " 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 anj'thing 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
Williams, 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." By
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 onh r 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,
having been laid out in 1802 from Lucy Bowman's, on the
corner of Washington, to Aaron Davis's in Mall Street. Ed-
ward Sumner, who lived in the house numbered twenty-two,
was a thrifty 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 unprofitably 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 1 798 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 " forty-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." They 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 1647, 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 easterly parish, but this in time became in-
sufficient, and school accommodations in the remoter parts of
the town were for many 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 Kuggles, 25
" in Warren St. (Punch-Bowl Vill.) " Michael McDonald, 33
" Jamaica Plain, " Morris, 80
" Upper Jamaica Plain, " Walker, 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
deficienc} 7 , 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 "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 1816 new vitaluvy
was infused into the system. The appropriation was increased
to two thousand dollars, and uniformity in the rules and regu-
SCHOOLS. EDUCATION. 203
lations and also in text-books was authorized, "the masters
hitherto using such books as they liked." In 1816 "a new
school-book," containing the Constitution of the State and
of the United States, was provided. In 1819 " Cummings'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, they 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 .... 164 143
Workhouse 99 69
Near Gen. Dearborn's . 66 49
Lower Plain 57 42
Upper Plain 70 53
Eliot (Plain) 62 43
Eliot (Plain district) . 40 23
By Swallow's (Taft's) . 52 36
Lower Canterbury ... 49 32
Upper Canterbury ... 29 25
Spring Street 82 55
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
Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 for primary schools for pupils under eight
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 year. 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 for the phj'sical 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 s} T stem 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 study are so considerabty curtailed ? The
hours for school formerly averaged seven and a half per day.
Now, they 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 }'ears. 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 cne of the pieces through the
206 BLUE STORE.
identical embrasure from which the Americans discharged the first
cannon against the British troops in Boston during the siege. The
committee of arrangements consisted of twelve of the most promi-
nent citizens, including Gen. Heath, Judge Lowell, Major Read,
Ebenezer Seaver, Esq., and Nathaniel Ruggles, Esq. William
Heath, Jr., and Samuel Blaney, 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 and shop
on the spot now occupied by 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, they 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. H.
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 Zeigler, 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 factory, was many years ago the resi-
dence of Charles, the brother of Aaron Davis.
The Auchmuty estate, originally Isaac Merrill's and after-
wards Samuel Stevens's, contained fourteen acres, and was
bought in August, 1733, of Joseph Scarborough by the elder
Judge Auchmuty 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
208
DR. DAVIES.
and Glenwood Streets, he built, shortly after his marriage to
Sarah 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
DOVK'S CORNER.
painter, afterwards lived ; it was occupied for barracks during
the siege, and was torn down to make room for the " Hotel
Dartmouth."
The bi'ick 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
sevent}"-nine. His father, also a distinguished physician, a
graduate of the University of Edinburgh, was surgeon of the
' Bonne Homme Richard," Capt. John Paul Jones.
Robert Auchmuty the elder, by birth a Scotchman, studied
law at the Temple, London, came to Boston about the year
ROBERT AUCHMDTY. 209
1700, attained great eminence as a lawyer, and was judge of
the Court of Admiralty for New England from 1733 until
1747. In 1741 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, 1 744. 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. Shirley. His services in the
settlement of boundaries between Massachusetts, New Hamp-
shire, and Rhode Island were so valuable, that in December,
1738, 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 day, 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, New 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 New York. This gentleman,
who had in his youth lost a leg b}' 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 Liberty 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 had 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 1785 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 highwaj^s between Dr. Davies's land and Mr.
Mears's " 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 'bej'ond,
originally belonged to John Leavens, one of the early pro-
prietors of the town, who came over in 1632 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 building, 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 in the faith, which,
ADMIRAL WINSLOW.
211
that the great God, the giver of every good thing, may ever estab-
lish between the true churches and the members thereof, are the
devout prayer of us, the subscribers.
" LEONARD LAUKMAN FRANCIS BRINLEY
KICHARD SMITH JONA PUK
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 by the citizens of Roxbury on Nov.
22, 1864. 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 :
EEAK ADMIRAL
JOHN ANCRUM WINSLOW,
TJ. B. NAVT,
BORN WILMINGTON, N. C.,
Nov. 19, 1811,
DIED IN BOSTON, MASS.,
SEPT. 29, 1873.
HE CONDUCTED THE MEMORABLE
SKA FIGHT IN COMMAND OF
D. s. SHIP "KEARSAROE"
IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL,
JUNE 19, 1804.
THIS BOWLDER FROM
KEARSAROE MT., MERRIMACK CO., N. II.,
IS THE GIFT
OF CITIZENS OF WARNER, N. H.,
AND IS ERECTED TO HIS MEMORY
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
1687 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, ou 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
Roxbur}- was therefore considered as worth no more at that
TUB WARREN HOMESTEAD.
time than it was seventy years before, when this same estate
was appraised at 292. 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 1846 the stone cottage that now occupies the spot.
An exact model of the old homestead, made parti}' of the
original materials, is retained in the family. On the front of
the present house are two tablets, bearing these inscrip-
tions :
THE WARREX HOMESTEAD.
" On this spot stood the house erected in 1720 by Joseph Warren,
of Boston, remarkable for being the birthplace of Gen. Joseph War-
ren, his grandson, who was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill, June
17, 1775."
"John Warren, a distinguished physician and anatomist, was also
born here. The original mansion being in ruins, this house was built
by John C. Warren, M. D., son of the last named, as a permanent
memorial of the spot."
The Warren farm contained many valuable fruit-trees.
Here, it is claimed, originated the Roxbury Russeting, else-
where known
as the Boston
Russeting, a
fine apple, with
a red bloom,
keeping late in
the spring, but
which has
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
Mrs. 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 1 755. 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.
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, Ebenezer, 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 ninet}', 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
fell, when he quietly remarked that it had served his purpose.
In 1760-61 he taught the Roxbury Grammar School, at a
salary of 44 16s. 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.
216
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 Quinc}', 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
5, 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. He began in a firm tone of
voice, and proceeded with great energy and pathos. " Such
another hour has seldom happened in the history of man, and
is not surpassed in the records of nations." "It was pro-
voking enough to the military," says Frothingham, Warren's
JOSEPH WABREN.
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. On that memorable occasion he delighted
the people with his cool, collected bravery, and united the
characters of the general, the soldier, and the phj'sician. Here
he was seen animating his countn*men 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 County Court of Common Pleas, was a deputy
commissar}' at Roxbury 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.
He 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, " I know that I may fall, but where is
the man who does not think it delightful and glorious to die
for his countr} r ? " 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 slowly 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. *' 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 1860. 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 by any
means to be regarded as the rival of that famous London
pleasure-ground. From its proximit}' 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 subsequently sold to the Methodists, who removed
it in 1852 to this spot. Early on Sunday morning, March
29, 1868, 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 1683, leaving no descendants,
gave house and laud, all his worldly possessions, to the
Roxbury Grammar School. " 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.
219
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
style 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. N.
S.Prentiss, occu-
pied it in 1807.
The land on the
opposite side of
"Warren Street,
now Rockville
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 1653 had leave from the town
"to brew and sell penny beare and cakes and white bread."
His 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 17G4, by Samuel Hawes, who
inherited a portion of the Holbrook property, and whose son
Benjamin occupied it until 1836. 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 " Doctor," as he is called, who is
220 AUGUSTUS PERRIN.
well known as a genial, 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 Koxbury, 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, "Waverley, 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 Ij'ing
between this locality and Dorchester, on both sides of Blue
Hill Avenue. The Perrin property, which was acquired in
the inanila straw hat manufacture, had its origin in the chari-
table bestowal of a dinner by Mr. Perrin's 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.
Maywood Street indicates the locality known as May's
Woods, where was formerly a pond, and was also a part of
the John Read estate. Opposite this street, about midwa}"
between Warren Street and Walnut Avenue, there was, till
quite recently, a portion of the old wall at the southern limit
THE ROCKING STONE. 221
of John Eliot's lot, which, it is not improbable, made part of
its original boundary. South of Eliot's pasture was an eight-
acre lot, originally 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 property 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 Roxbury " Rocking Stone," a famous
natural curiosity, was located on the Munroe farm, and may
3'et 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 by 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 of ten 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 twenty-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 flat as though it had been planed.
The mansion house, built early in the present century, is
finery 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. Amoiy and her four charming
daughters made it a seat of elegant hospitality and social
enjoyment, 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 a few years 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 Payson, was owned by
John Goddard early in the last century. It was afterwards
HON. EBENEZER SEAVER. 223
the site of Stephen Kent's tavern, which, after his death in
1767, was kept for more than thirty years by his widow. The
" Home" was founded in 1862 by Dr. Charles Cullis, upon
the plan of Miiller'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 recentl} r 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 1637, and died in 1682, leaving numerous descendants.
Hon. Ebenezer Seaver, "the Squire" as he was commonly
called, was very prominent in town politics, being frequently
chosen moderator of town meetings, and also one of the
selectmen, generally chairman of the board, and administering
224
HON. EBENEZER 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 1839, he received the thanks of the town for his ' ' long, faith-
ful, and unremitting services 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 1812, 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, 1844.
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 may 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 Parker, who inherited and
HON. EBENEZER SEAVER.
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, and 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, " purchased a grist mill with design to serve his
good neighbors as well as himself, and so finds it necessary
to build a small granary in order to lay in a supply of grain
while y e same is cheapest." In 1741 he was allowed by 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, originally the " Rocky
Pasture," and sufficiently elevated to afford a fine view
towards the southwest. Its name was derived from Tom
Hommagen, 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 1846. 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, Chadwick,
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 lay "the Great Lotts"
and "' Fresh Meadow." Less tlian 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 " Bugbee" 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 yet 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 Ma3 r '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
Honeysuckle Hill. All this territor} 7 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 1852 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 " Eoxbury
Land Company" purchased the Seaver and other adjacent
estates, and soon owned all the land between the Dedham
Turnpike and Walnut Avenue, from St. James Street to the
Kingsbury estate be}'ond Townsend Street.
The Munroe farm of twenty-two acres, between Munroe
and Townsend Streets, was bought by the town in 1829 of
Deacon Nehemiah 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 territon 1 , 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, worthy of a place in every gar-
den. It is a fact that the apple-tree, set out so extensively by
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 AVILLIAMS'S REMINISCENCES.
to the place and was rescued, became the grandmother of Ex-
Mayor Lewis.
Mr. Moses 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 boj'hood. He says :
"The two Williams houses on Walnut Avenue, the one now
owned by Aaron D. Williams and the one 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
father, the latter to my uncle, Jonathan Williams, who was mar-
ried, and who occupied it twenty years or more. He then sold it to
my father, and removed to Lunenburg, 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 on the east side of Walnut Avenue, situated
about half-way between A. D.'s and Stedman's, belonged eighty or
SCARBOROUGH. 229
ninety years ago to Deacon Samuel Sumiier. 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 and owned
by my ancestors. A. D. Williams's house and my brother Sted-
man'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 Stedman 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 side of the avenue
as far up as Forest Hills."
Among the early Roxbur}' 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 Scar-
borrow, admitted
a freeman in 1640,
' ' was slaine the 4th
of the 9th month STEDMAJT WILLIAMS'S HOUSB.
164G, charging a great gunne." Samuel, the last of the Rox-
bury Scarboroughs, died here in 1 789. 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 "Waitt. 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. H. Plumb. Mr. Sargent, who
was a fine scholar, was also well known as a writer under
the nom 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 st}*le. 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-
plary 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 1833 by S. G. Goodrich, best known as " Peter Par-
ley," and in which he lived many years. He achieved fame
by his books for children, of which a fabulous number were
sold, and which gave him a world-wide celebrity. He repre-
sented his district in the Massachusetts Senate in 1837 and
1838, and was a prominent speaker in behalf of temperance and
of the political organization known as the Whig party. 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
Seaverns farm of fifty-five 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, and 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 1865, 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 country, built in 1870.
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 qf 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 1876. 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 formerlj* 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 suffered 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 beauty, 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.
Man} 7 superb 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
H. A. S. DEARBORN,
OBIIT JCLII 29, 1851,
^ETAT 67.
And on the opposite side :
" OSSA IN TERRA
QUAM DILEXIT, COLCIT, OHNAVIT,
CITES ET AMICI MCERENTES
CONDIMCS."
MOUNT HOPE 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 centmy 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's.
Another Williams mansion of a later date is that on Back
Street, in which lived Benjamin Payson Williams, a man of
high character, and who filled 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 31, 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, notably 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. Koxbury 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
lots of Heath, Weld, Denison, 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. Dudle}"'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 1636, and concerning which Gov. Winthrop
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, stud}*,
and other rooms. 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 mainly of the writings of
Puritan divines.
The old mansion was razed to the ground a few days 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 years, found intact.
Miantonomoh, the great sachem of Narragansett, came
here in 1640, and was " well entertained" by 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
MIANTONOMOH.
subtile and cunning in his contrivements, 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 face, and if they failed in proof then to be made to
suffer what himself, if he had
been found guilty, deserved,
i. e.j death. Defeated in a
battle with Uncas, a rival
chieftain, whom he had at-
tacked unawares, he was
DEATH OF MIANTONOilOH.
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, la}- 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 Judge Paul Dudlej', it
THE DUDLEY ESTATE. 239
being entailed on the first male heir. He 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 st3"le, actualty 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 " and return home. This laughable esca-
pade threw so much ridicule on the famity 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. B} 7 his will, dated June 13, 1767, 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 family who flourished here for a century
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 u slaine in the
wars." Brought up a page in the famity 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
twenty-one the captaincy of an
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 Colony,
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 age of sixty-
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 j r ears, and from the time of his arrival until
THOMAS DUDLEY. 241
his death, which took place at his home in Roxbury, on July
31, 1653, in his seventj'-seventh 3*ear.
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
fully persuaded," said he, ' that Anne Hutchinson is deluded
by the devil." To an inquiry from Holland, whether those
that differed from him in opinion, " } T et 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, u I have hated and doe hate
every false way in religion, not onely the old Idolatry and
Superstition of Popery, which is wearing awaj^, but much
more (as being much worse) the more heresies, blasphamies
and eiTor of late sprung upp in our native country 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 most 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 'a, I dy'd no libertine."
It was said that Dudley carried prudence in money matters
to an extreme bordering on " close-fistedness," 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 :
16
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 conciliator}' in his manner
than his contemporarj*, 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 3'ield 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 authority, 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, 1638, presents us
with this charming picture of mutual concession and fraternal
love :
THOMAS DUDLEY. 243
" The governor and 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 one thousand acres for each of them. They offered
each other the first 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, and 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 1650, 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 history,
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 Dudley, was born in Roxbury,
July 23, 1647, 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 ability 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} 7 with that once-powerful tribe. He was a member of
the General Court from 1673 to 1675 ; one of the commis-
sioners for the United Colonies from 1677 to 1681 ; an
assistant from 1676 to 1685 ; president of New England, by
a commission from James II, dated 27th September, 1685,
until December, 1686 ; president of the council and chief
justice of -the Supreme Court in 1687-89; chief justice of
New York in 1691-92 ; deputy governor of the Isle of Wight,
England, from 1694 to 1702 ; member of the British Parlia-
ment for Newton, England, in 1701 ; and finally closed his
long official career as governor of Massachusetts from 1 702
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 infantry 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. They are like to the two
consuls of Rome, Caesar and Bibulus. Major Dudley, if he
finds things resolutely managed, will cringe and bow to any-
thing." The agents found on arrival, that his Majesty was
" greatly provoked " at the long delay of the colony 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 magistracj r , 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 the}' 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 Narragansett, 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 " mine " to his affairs, having a great family
to support, desires their Christian consideration of these
things, and professes to have no other interest nor desire but
such as should promote " the security of religion and liberty
in the English nation." Those familiar with Dudley'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
enjoyment, 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,' went 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 16th inst. 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. 247
family. Above twelve weeks since, at y 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 me from
perishing, which lasted me but three or four hours, when I received
a very urgent letter from Mr. Bradstreet for my return to y" prison
to save y" rage of y e people at that instant. I have since been
often told that 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 ruine, 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
New 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 1693, 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 countrymen
ever since the Revolution. His family interest was large.
Stoughton, the lieutenant-governor, retained his friendship
and secretly corresponded with him. By his superior sense
248 JOSEPH DUDLEY.
and polished manners he acquired the notice and esteem of
many 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. Dudley, and that he had
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 by a grave, serious de-
portment, recovering also the favor of many 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 Dudlej* governor of the colon}^ of Mas-
sachusetts Bay. " It was a proud day for Joseph Dudley,"
says the historian Palfrey, ' ' when, after ten j-ears 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 j'oung 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 Byfield and Leverett. "The wretch," says Mather,
in his diar}', " went unto these men and told them that I had
advised him to be in no ways 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 he
was treated with an air of superiorit}' and contempt, and for
their great credulity in raking together whatever had been
imputed to him ''these manj* 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 yourselves, 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 way 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
comely person, of a noble aspect and a graceful mien, hav-
ing the gravit}^ 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 New England to sit in the British Parliament. " Of all the
statesmen," says President Quincy, "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 by 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 1675, 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 Avhich
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 day 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 by 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 detecting and convicting and exposing the idolatry of the
Romish Church, their tyrannous usurpations, damnable heresies,
fatal errors, abominable superstitions, and other crying wicked-
nesses in their high places, and finally that the Church of Eome 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 Roxbury, marked with the initials "P. D." Judge
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 lying between Oxford
and Woodstock, on the Connecticut line, fifty-five miles west
of Boston.
PAUL DUDLEY.
253
In 1703, soon after his return to his native country, he
married Lucy, daughter of Col. John "\\ r ain wright, 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 lady to whom it was ad-
254
PAUL DUDLEY.
dressed ' ' smiled all along " as she read this ardent outpour-
ing of his " most sincere, passionate, dutifull, and constant
soul." Here 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 and 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 Wainwright and His
lady in 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
(Tlio' with a Trembling
and heavy heart) and
Carry with me a letter
from the Govemour to
your Father that he
would please allow me to
wait upon my Sweetest,
fairest Dearest Lucy.
But Unless My Dearest
Dame will assist and
make An 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-
( /IT
* minding you of The many
obligations you have al-
ready laid Me Under, and this is an argument that goes a great way
with Noble and Generous minds, and I am sure if you did but know
what I Undergoe 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
an 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
ISAAC WINSLOW. 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 and
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 destroyed in Boston Harbor in 1773. Isaac retired
256 ISAAC WINSLOW.
from business in 1753, when lie became a resident of Rox-
bury, occupying at first a house on the north side of Roxbury
Street, nearly opposite the Universalist Church, and after the
death of Madam Lucy Dudley, the widow of Judge Paul, in
1756, 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 country, 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 royal governor. Andrews's diary, under date of Aug. 29,
1774, sa}*s, "It is rumored this morning that a company or
two has marched for Roxbury, as there is to be a town meet-
ing this day." Next day he says, " 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."
Sa} r s the "Boston Gazette" of Sept. 5, 1774: "We are
able to assure the public, upon good authorit}', 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,
Auchmuty, Hallowell, Hutchinson, and Loring. His virtues,
UNIVERSALIST 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 30, 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 they 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 injury or insult
whatever, in their removal." In March, 1776, 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 Roxbury 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 "VVinslow,
a great-grandson of Isaac.
1820-1 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 Roxburj* was delivered in the First
Church, with Dr. Porter's permission, by Elhanan "Winchester,
in 1798. Twenty 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. 24, 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
258
UNI VERBALIST CHURCH.
cation sermon, since which, tune services have been regularly
held within its walls. "When the corner-stone was laid, the
Rev. Dr. Porter participated in the sen-ices, and walked in
the procession arm-in-arm with Father Ballou. At the instal-
lation of its first pastor, Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, on July 26,
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. 4, 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 old square pews made
way for the more graceful
circular seats of to-day.
In March, 1866, 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.
Ballou 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-
TTlfrVERSALIST CHT7KCH.
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. Says 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 man 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 FIBST UNIVEBSALIST SOCIETY.
HOSEA BALLOU, 2d, D. D., 26 July, 1821, 28 April, 1838.
ASHER MOORE, January, 1839, 1840.
CYRUS H. FAY, January, 1841, 26 March, 1849.
WM. H. RYDER, D. D., November, 1849, January, 1859.
J. G. BARTHOLOMEW, D. D., 19 July 1860, 1 Jan., 1866.
ADONIRAM J. PATTERSON, D. D. 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 Dudley School building, the
260
TOWN HOUSE.
huge pineapple that formerly surmounted the edifice has
adorned a paint shop on Bartlett Street.
An entry in the town records in 1683 of money paid John
Ruggles for " mending the Town Hous," implies that at that
time such an edifice existed, though all knowledge of its
location has long been forgotten. Town meetings were in
TOWN" HOUSE.
the olden time usually held in the old meeting-house, parish
and 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, 1645,
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 regularty kept. The Record of
Houses and Lands contains this memorandum :
" We whose names are underwritten being chosen by the towne
upon the 29th of Jan. fifty four to examine the transcript which
Edward Denisou was to write out according to the coppies deliv-
ered to him, having examined the said transcript upon the 14th of
Feb. fifty four, we find that he hath performed exactly according to
the coppies committed to his charge what he was entrusted with to
write for the towne so far as we are able to discerne. Witness our
hands
"JOHN JOHNSON
WILLIAM PARKE
GRIFFIX CRAFT
EDWARD RIG"
There is also an early volume containing the record of
births, marriages, and deaths. The other original sources of
information concerning the town are the records of the
churches, more especially those of the First Parish and those
of the old grammar school, and the colonial records.
The institution of towns with their government of select-
men had its origin in Massachusetts. They were established
by the act of the General Court, granting a tract of land to a
company of persons understood to be capable of supporting a
minister. This land was held by them at first as proprietors
in common. Each town had quite early a board of select-
men, a clerk, a treasurer, one or more surveyors of highways,
a constable, and one or more tithing-men. They transacted
the joint business, to build the meeting-house, to choose
and support the minister, admit new associates, distribute
262 SELECTMEN.
the lands among individuals, make the roads, preserve order,
make by-laws, to assess and collect taxes for town expenses,
to apprentice the children of pauper parents, and to regulate
a variety of miscellaneous affairs. The constable's duties
appear to have embraced those of treasurer, town crier,
keeper of the peace, and sheriff.
In 1649 the town voted that " Y e five men shall have for
y e present yeere full power to make and execute such orders
as they in their apprehension shall think to be conducing to
the good of the town." They were also empowered " to
order and dispose of all single persons and inmates within
the town who lived an idle and dissolute life to sendee or
otherwise," an admirable regulation, and one the re-enact-
ment of which would be most salutary. These " selectmen"
were for a long time the only town officers. In 1665 five
pounds a year was allowed them towards their loss of time
and expenses. Refusal or neglect to accept a town office was
punished by a fine of forty shillings. BJ T the colonial law of
1631, none but church members could become freemen or
voters, a state of things that ceased with the abrogation of
the old charter by Charles II. Subsequently, a single rate
or tax on 20, besides poll tax, was required. In voting,
each kernel of corn counted in the affirmative and each bean
in the negative. Notices of town meetings and official proc-
lamations were affixed to the meeting-house door as the most
public place. Ballot stuffing or other "little irregularities"
having crept in, the town in November, 1670,
" Voated, that for the better regulating and maintaining order in
our yearly elections for time to come, that none but the selectmen
in being and the constables shall take in voates for election of town
officers and they may examine the persons that bring in voats for
others, and if they see Ne(e)d they may look over every mans per-
tikuler voats that so no decaite may be used for corrupting our
elections, and these only to be the men to looke over the voats from
yeare to yeare."
TOWN WATCH. 263
The instructions to the town watch, which was set at nine
p. M. and dismissed at five A. M., have a little of the Dogber-
rian flavor :
"If after ten o'clock they see lights, to inquire if there be war-
rantable cause ; and if they hear any noise or disorder, wisely to
demand the reason ; if they are dancing and singing vainly, to ad-
monish them to cease ; if they do not discontinue after moderate
admonition, then the constable to take their names and acquaint
the authorities therewith.
"If they find young men and maidens not of known fidelity
walking after ten o'clock modestly to demand the cause, and if they
appear ill-minded to watch them narrowly, command them to go to
their lodgings, and if they refuse, then to secure them till morning."
All towns were required by law to be provided with stocks
and a whipping - post. The
stocks were a wooden frame of
small timber that could be opened
or shut, wherein persons disor-
derly on Sabbath or town
meetings were confined during
meeting as a punishment for mis-
behavior. This, as well as the
"cage," or place of detention STOCKS.
for persons arrested, was near the meeting-house. In 1692
the watch-house was in the town street, and it was voted in
town meeting that one should be built on Meeting-House Hill.
A constantly recurring subject and a prolific source of con-
tention at town meetings was the running at large of cattle,
swine, etc. A vote against turkeys going at large was
passed in 1656, though not without an earnest protest being
recorded, it being ordered " that they shall be counted tres-
passers in corne, as liable to pay damages as well as other
cattle." Warnings by the constable to temporary visitors to
depart the town are very frequent. According to the old
English system brought over by our ancestors, of mutual
264 HOURLY COACHES.
security or frankpledge, dating back of the Norman Con-
quest, no stranger might abide in any place save a borough,
and only there for a single night, unless sureties were given
for his good behavior, thus preventing tramps from becoming
a burden to the town. To prevent forestalling, the town in
1723 voted that " no person nor slave shall buy up any pro-
visions going to Boston market, except for their own use,
under penalty." In 1734 the town voted to fine any person
who runs or gallops a horse in a calash, chaise, chair, cart, or
sled in the town, or from Boston Line to Mr. Jarvis's (the
Greyhound Tavern), or in the road to the lower county
bridge by the mills, or round the Square and by Mr. Samuel
Williams's. A centur} r ago the usual pleasure drive was
"round the Square"; that is, through Roxbury Street,
round the meeting-house, through the lane now Bartlett
Street, and through Dudley and Eustis Streets to the Neck.
The lower part of Warren Street was not then opened. In
1768 the town voted " not to do anything to prevent people
playing football in Roxbury Street."
In 1666 the town for the first time chose a " clarke," who
was to keep the town records, and have everything' exactly
transcribed, " unlesse such things as either are ridiklus or
inconvenient." Since the days of Edward Denison, the first
town clerk, several eminent citizens have from time to time
filled this post, prominent among whom for fidelit}' and
length of service were Deacon Samuel Gridley, Dr. N. S.
Prentiss, and Joseph W. Tucker, Esq. Among the able and
faithful town treasurers we find the names of Col. Joseph
Williams, Noah Perrin, and Joseph W. Dudley.
On the 1st of March, 1826, Brooks Bowman commenced
running an hourly stage-coach from the Town House to the
Old South Church, Boston ; fare each way twelve and a half
cents. Prior to this a two-horse stage-coach, leaving once in
two hours and canying forty-five passengers per day both
ways, was the only public conveyance between the two
MEETING-HOUSE HILL. 265
places. A post -horn was blown to notif} 1 passengers to be
in readiness. The "Governor Brooks," of Bowman's line,
built at Troy, N. Y., was the first omnibus seen in Boston.
It was liberal!}' patronized, and the " Xorthender" was soon
added to the line. With the growth of the town the hourlies
gave place to the half-hourlies, and in 1856 these were in
turn supplanted by horse railroads.
The gun-house of the artiller}' company was located on
land belonging to the First Parish, in the rear of the present
Dudley School and fronting Roxbury Street, on what is now
Putnam Place. The first, coeval with the organization, gave
place to a new structure in 1836. All the meetings of the
company were held here until its transformation to an infan-
try company in 1857.
The elevation beyond the Dudley estate has from time
immemorial been known as "Meeting-House Hill." It was
also called " Roxbury Hill," and just before the Revolution,
from the fact of Isaac Winslow and other friends of the
British government residing on or near it, it received the name
of " Tory Hill." Putnam Street, its eastern limit, was given
to the town by the First Church. Its western slope touched
Stony River. Eliot Square was of course included, and this
part of the hill, anciently called " Roxbmy Common," was
the public square in which upon great occasions the people as-
sembled. After the training-field was disposed of in 1762, this
spot was for years devoted to militia trainings, musters, etc.
Cotton Mather relates of John Eliot, who continued to
preach while his strength lasted, that, going up this hill to
his church in his old age, with much feebleness and weariness,
he said to the one who led him, " This is very like the way
to heaven, 'tis up hill ; the Lord, b}- his grace, fetch us up."
Spying a bush near him, he instantly added, "And truly
there are thorns and briers in the waj*, too." " Here," says
Mather, ' ' is something for the good people of Roxbury to
think upon when they are going up to the house of the Lord."
266
ROXBURY COMMON.
No doubt rnanj* of them have spontaneously made similar re-
flections while toiling up under a July sun, notwithstanding
their pathway has been smoothed by the blasting and removal
of rocks, and the clearing away of thorns and briers. As for
gliding smoothly up the acclivity in a horse-car, the good Eliot
would as soon have expected to be translated to heaven on the
tail of a comet. Bears were uncommonly numerous in the win-
ter of 1725. In one week in September, no less than twenty
were killed within two miles of Boston. Paul Dudleyls inter-
leaved almanac, under date of June 7, 1740, says, "A good
fat bear was killed on our meeting-house hill, or near it."
On the 14th of August, 1773, a scene of unusual interest
was here presented. A large number of invitations, printed
on the backs of pla}*ing-cards, had been sent to prominent
citizens of Boston and vicinity. A copy of one of these,
now in the possession of Mr. Jeremiah Colburn, is here
given :
384
TICKET admits the BEAKER to the
-L FESTIVITY of the Sons of LIBERTY to
be celebrated on Roxbury Common on SAT-
URDAY the Fourteenth Instant.
N. B. Dinner precisely Ten Minutes before
One ; and the Company to break up exactly
at Five 0' Clock.
August 10, 1773. (6s.)
A contemporary chronicler says :
" On Saturday last, being the anniversary of the memorable 14th
of August, 1765, when the primitive, free, and independent spirit
of uncorrupted British subjects in America made a second successful
effort against tyranny and oppression, the sons of Liberty, with their
fathers and friends from this and the neighboring towns, convened
on Eoxbury common to the number of four hundred. There was a
superb tent erected, sufficiently capacious to contain the numerous
guests. Early in the morning a number of the friends of Liberty
ROXBURY COMMON. 267
assembled under a spacious elm (near Stony River), which they
ornamented by hoisting a large union flag thereon, and named said
Elm, LIBERTY TREE, by fixing an inscription on the trunk.
"Unfortunately the forenoon was wet, which prevented a con-
siderable number of gentlemen who had engaged their company
from sharing in the festivity of the day. But at the hour of dinner
it ceased to rain, and two ranges of tables were filled. During the
entertainment a select band of music patrolled the tent and gladdened
the hearts of the patriots with the celebrated song of the farmer.
The banquet was worthy the occasion.
"Mirth and decency shook hands during the whole festival;
smiling joy animated every countenance; a determined resolution
to oppose to death every attempt to rob or enslave them, gave a
superlative dignity to the whole. Patriotic toasts were drunk,
enlivened by a feu de joie from the cannon, and the soft sympathy
of collected music.
"At six o'clock the company retired, having by their deportment
through the day established this sacred character, that the enemies
to usurpation and oppression are the great examples of order and
decency."
Upon this hill were encamped the patriot forces assembled
on the Lexington alarm, and here was the main post of the
right wing of the army during the siege of Boston. Its first
commander was Gen. John Thomas, whose headquarters
were in the parsonage house opposite. "When in July, Gen.
Ward took command of the right wing at Roxbury, Thomas
commanded a brigade under him, and continued so to do
while the siege lasted. This excellent officer, a native of
Marshfield, Mass., was bora in 1725. He attained distinc-
tion as a medical practitioner, was surgeon of a regiment sent
to Annapolis Royal in 1746, became colonel of a provincial
regiment in 1759, and served under Amherst in the following
campaigns, ending in the conquest of Canada. Made a pro-
vincial brigadier, Feb. 9, 1775, he was appointed to the same
rank by Congress, June 22, and to that of major-general,
March 6, 1776. On the evening of March 4, 1776, he, with
three thousand men, occupied and fortified Dorchester
268 MEETING-HOUSE HILL.
Heights, throwing up in a single night such formidable works
as to compel the evacuation of Boston by the enemy, and
terminating the siege. Intrusted soon afterward with the
command in Canada, he joined the army before Quebec on
May 1, 1776, but an attack of small-pox, then fearfull}* prev-
alent and fatal in his arm}*, carried him off, near Chamblee,
on the river Sorel, on the 3d of June.
The siege of Boston, the most important event in her
annals, opened here with the march of Lord Percy to Lexing-
ton on the memorable 19th of April, 1775, and virtually
closed with that of Gen. Thomas, from this point to Dor-
chester Heights, on the night of March 4, 1776. It lasted
nearly eleven months, during which, Roxbury, ban-ing the exit
of the enemy from the beleaguered town by land, bore the brunt
of the conflict, and suffered severely from the enemy's cannon,
and also from the devastation caused by military occupation.
It was estimated that on the 20th of April, at least ten
thousand men had assembled in arms around Boston. The
militia regiments of Prescott, Warner, Learned, and Heath
were already on the ground. Major-Gen. Artemas "Ward,
senior Massachusetts officer, took the chief command at
Cambridge, and held it until the arrival of Washington on
July 2. Aided by Generals Thomas, Heath, and Putnam, he
strove to bring order out of confusion, and all had their
hands full. After a few days' continuance before Boston,
many of the minute-men, who had left home so hastily as to
be wholly unprovided for a campaign, and who had in many
cases left their families equally uncared for, returned home,
leaving the land entrance to Boston almost unguarded. Col.
Lemuel Robinson, of Dorchester, with only six or seven
hundred men, held this important pass for several days.
" For nine days and nights," says Gordon the historian,
" the colonel never shifted his clothes nor lay down to sleep,
as he had the whole duty upon him, even down to the adju-
tant, as there was no officer of the day to assist. The offi-
MEETING-HOUSE HILL. 269
cers in general had left the camp in order to raise the required
number of men. The colonel was obliged, therefore, for the
time mentioned, to patrol the guards every night, which gave
him a round of nine miles to traverse."
Says the diary of a British officer in Boston, under date of
May 9, "At Roxbury there must be between two and three
thousand men. Upon the hill where the church is they have
four guns ; they have plenty of others, but I don't find they
have any batteries."
Such was the weakness of the besiegers at the very key to
their position that on the 4th of Ma} r , two weeks after the
siege had begun, the Committee of Safety wrote to the gov-
ernments of Connecticut and Rhode Island a pressing request
for three or four thousand men "to secure a pass of the
greatest importance to the common interest," and on the
9th, strong fears being entertained of a sally from Boston, a
council of war requested of the committee a force of two
thousand men to reinforce the troops at Roxbury. The com-
mittee at once ordered the commanding officer of the ten
nearest towns to muster " immediately one half of the militia
and all the minute-men and march forthwith to Roxburj r ,
so that the British troops might not come and possess them-
selves of that post." Before it was properly strengthened
General Gage entertained such a design. Gen. Thomas
gained information of what was intended on the day it was
to be executed.
" His whole force," says Gordon, " consisted of only seven hun-
dred men. The post included a large, broad, high hill. A road led
to the top of it, visible in some parts to persons at the entrance into
Boston. It passes over the hill and descends into a hollow, from
whence you can turn off, and passing circuitously enter again upon
the said road. [This is the hill upon which Mr. N. J. Bradlee's
residence and observatory now stand.] The general took advan-
tage of this circuit and continued marching round and round the
hill, by which he multiplied their appearance to any one who was
reconnoitring them at Boston. The dress of the militia was
270 KOXBURY CAMP.
extremely various, and consisted of their common clothing, which
prevented the discovery of a deception that might otherwise have
been soon detected had they worn uniform and possessed regular
ensigns. Breastworks were at once ordered to be erected at differ-
ent places to prevent the enemy's passing into the country from
Boston Neck."
Let us glance for a moment at the American camp.
Greene, on arriving at the Rhode Island camp, Jamaica
Plain, two weeks before the Bunker's Hill battle, found it
" in great commotion " ; the men " a factious set" ; the offi-
cers unable to control them ; several companies with clubbed
muskets upon the point of starting for home ; the commissa-
ries beaten off; and "an excitement which in a few days
more would have proved fatal to the campaign." Applying
himself strenuously to the task of checking the confusion and
in exercising and disciplining his brigade, his success was
such, that on the 28th of June he was able to write, that
"though raw, irregular, and undisciplined," his men were
under much better government than any around Boston.
The Southern riflemen furnished a picturesque element to
the camp. They were dressed in white hunting-shirts orna-
mented with a fringe, round hats, on which appeared the
motto, " Libert}' or Death," buckskin breeches, Indian moc-
casins and leggins, also ornamented with beads and brilliant!} 1 "
dyed porcupine quills, and were tall, stout, and hardy men,
inured to frontier life. They were armed with rifles, toma-
hawks, and long knives, the latter worn in the wampum belt
that confined the hunting-shirt to the waist. At a review, a
company of them, at a quick advance, fired three balls into
objects of seven inches diameter, at two hundred and fifty
yards. "With them it was a disgrace to shoot their game any-
where except in the head, and they inspired such terror in
the British camp that they were there spoken of as " shirt-
tail men, with their cursed twisted guns, the most fatal widow
and orphan makers in the world." Daniel Morgan's com-
ROXBUKY CAMP. 271
pany marched from Winchester, Va. , to Cambridge, a dis-
tance of six hundred miles, in twenty-one daj^s without losing
a man by sickness or desertion on the route. Otho Holland
Williams, afterwards Greene's able coadjutor at the South,
was a lieutenant in one of these companies.
The greatest obstacle to the establishment of good disci-
pline was found in the officers rather than the men. The
social equality and familiarity that had subsisted at home
between the men and their officers was continued in the
camp. An illustration of this is furnished by a visitor lo
Roxbury, who overheard the following dialogue: "Bill,"
said a captain to one of his privates, "go and bring a pail
of water for the mess." " I sha'n't," was the reply; "it's
your turn now, captain ; I got the last." A more illustrious
instance was that of Col. Rufus Putnam, the chief engineer
of the army in Roxbuiy. " "What ! " says a person meeting
him one day with a piece of meat in his hand," cariying home
your rations yourself, colonel?" "Yes," says he, "and I
do it to set the officers a good example."
Washington, upon his arrival at camp, on July 3, 1775,
found himself at the head of a force of about fifteen thousand
men, "a rabble in arms" is the contemptuous phrase of a
British officer, lax in discipline, impatient under the neces-
sary restraints of military life, without much organization,
destitute of powder, and without uniformity in dress, weap-
ons, or equipment. Officers and men were scarcely distin-
guishable by any outward insignia of rank. " Imagine such
an army," sa} r s a writer, " without artillery or effective small
arms, without magazines or discipline, and unable to execute
the smallest tactical manoeuvre should their lines be forced at
any point, laying siege to a town containing ten thousand
troops, the finest in the world. It was, moreover, without a
flag, or a commander having absolute authority, until Washing-
ton came. Picture to yourself a grimy figure behind a rank of
gabions, his head wrapped in an old bandana, a short pipe
272 ROXBUKY CAMP.
between his teeth, stripped of his upper garments, his lower
limbs encased in leather breeches, yarn stockings, and hob-
nailed shoes, industriously plying mattock or spade, and
your provincial soldier of '75 stands before you."
With all its deficiencies, there were some compensations in
the American camp. A common feeling of patriotism gave
it unity of action, and almost all were familiar with the use
of fire-arms in hunting and fowling, and not a few had served
in frontier campaigns against the French and Indians. The
effect of "Washington's arrival, and of the energetic measures
he at once adopted to transform these improvised forces into an
army, is thus graphically described by Chaplain Emerson :
" There is great overturning in the camp as to order and regu-
larity. New lords, new laws. The strictest government is taking
place, and great distinction is made between officers and soldiers.
Every one is made to know his place and keep in it, or be tied up
and receive thirty or forty lashes, according to his crime. Thou-
sands are at work every day from four till eleven o'clock in the
morning. It is surprising how much work has been done. It is
very diverting to walk among the camps. They are as different in
their form as the owners are in their dress, and every tent is a por-
traiture of the temper and taste of the persons who encamp in it.
Some are made of boards, and some of sail-cloth ; some partly of
one and partly of the other. Again, others are made of stone and
turf, brick or brush, some are thrown up in a hurry, others cun-
ningly wrought with doors and windows, done with wreaths and
withes in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and
marquees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy. In these
are the Khode-Islanders, who are furnished with tent equipage and
everything in the most exact English style. However, I think this
great variety is rather a beauty than a blemish in the army."
Meeting-House Hill Common was the grand parade of the
arm} 7 . Here the guards for the advanced lines on the Neck,
for the main guard in Eoxbury Street, for Lamb's Dam, Mill
Creek, and for the other forts and redoubts, and the fatigue
parties emploj-ed on the fortifications, were formed every
morning and inspected by Thomas, Spencer, or Greene. The
ROXBURT CAMP. 273
Rhode-Islanders were stationed at Jamaica Plain, the Con-
necticut brigade was on Parker's Hill, the Massachusetts men
at the lines, on Meeting-House Hill, and in its vicinity. The
vacated estates of the loyalists, Loring, Auchmutj*, Hutchin-
son, Bernard, and Hallowell, were all in military occupation.
Of those who in the Roxbury camp were already known to
fame, or were soon to achieve distinction, were Thomas,
already mentioned ; Heath, a native of the town, sturdy, hon-
est, and patriotic, and well read in military science ; Spencer,
of Connecticut, a man past sixty, " a most respectable citi-
zen, but, from inexperience, not qualified for councils of war" ;
Greene, of Rhode Island, who, after Washington, was per-
haps the best officer in the patriot army ; Knox, a native of
Boston, young, ardent, and active, whose skill as an engineer,
and whose enterprise and fertility of resource, signally dis-
played in his feat of transporting heavy cannon and stores in
the dead of winter from Ticonderoga to the camp, contributed
materially to the success of the siege ; Morgan, afterwards
the celebrated leader of the rifle corps, and the conqueror of
the dreaded Col. Tarleton ; Greaton, another native of Rox-
bury, whose faithful services were rewarded at the close of the
war with the rank of brigadier-general, and who returned home
only to lay his bones in the old bury ing-ground, literally worn
out in the service ; and Crane, the commander of the Massa-
chusetts artillery throughout the entire contest.
The adjutant of Spencer's Connecticut regiment was John
Trumbull, son of the patriotic governor of that State, after-
ward celebrated as a painter, and whose historical pictures
adorn the Rotunda of the Capitol at Washington. In his
' ' Autobiography " he s&ys :
" The regiment reached the vicinity of Boston early in May, and
was stationed at Roxbury. The parade and alarm post was a field
on the hill between the meeting-house and the then road, in fall
view of the enemy's lines at the entrance of Boston. Our first occu-
pation was to secure our own positions by constructing field works
18
274 BUNKER'S HILL.
for defence. The enemy occasionally fired upon our working par-
ties, and in order to familiarize our raw soldiers to this exposure, a
small reward was offered in general orders for every ball fired by
the enemy which should be picked up and brought to headquarters.
This soon produced the intended effect, a fearless emulation among
the men ; but it produced also a very unfortunate result, for when
the soldiers saw a ball roll sluggishly along, they would attempt to
stop it, by which means several brave lads had their feet badly
crushed, whereupon the order was withdrawn.
"From the upper windows of Thomas's headquarters, near the
meeting-house, Charlestown was in full view, though at too great a
distance for the naked eye to discern what was doing on the day of
the Bunker's Hill battle. "When the firing became frequent and
heavy, the troops in Eoxbury were ordered under arms and to theii
posts. Gen. Spencer's regiment was drawn up on their parade ir
full view of the enemy's lines, and it was not long before we attracted
their attention and their fire. Several of their heavy shot passed
over us, and we were soon ordered to fall back to the hill behind the
meeting-house. It was my duty as an adjutant to bring up the rear
and pick up stragglers. In crossing a stone fence, which the regi-
ment in their retreat had nearly levelled, a soldier was on my right,
not more than two feet distant, when I heard the rush of a heavy
ball, and the poor fellow at my side fell, and cried out that he was
killed. He was taken to the rear and soon died. There was no ex-
ternal wound, but the body over the region of the heart was black
from extravasated blood. The regiment fell back to the summit of
the hill, and we there passed the night on our arms. Charlestown,
which lay full in our view, was one extended line of fire. The
British were apparently apprehensive that their obstinate enemy
might rally and renew the action, and therefore kept up during
the night a frequent fire of shot and shells in the direction of Cam-
bridge. The roar of artillery, the bursting of shells (whose track
like that of a comet was marked on the dark sky by a long train of
light from the burning fuse), and the blazing ruins of the town,
formed altogether a sublime scene of military magnificence and
ruin. That night was a fearful breaking-in for young soldiers, who
there for the first time were seeking repose on the summit of a bare
rock surrounded by such a scene."
"TVTiile the British were attacking Bunker's Hill," says Heath,
" a furious cannonade and throwing of shells took place at the lines
on the Neck against Roxbury, with intent to burn that town, but
ANNALS OF THE SIEGE. 275
although several shells fell among the houses and some carcasses
near them, and balls went through some, no other damage was sus-
tained than the loss of one man killed by a shot driving a stone
from a wall against him."
The diaries of Gen. Heath, of Samuel Bixby of Col.
Learned's regiment, of Samuel Hawes of Capt. Pond's
Wrentham company, Ezekiel Price, and others, contain some
incidents of interest respecting Roxbury's part in the siege.
They are placed in chronological order :
"May 5, 1775. Col. Learned's regiment pitch their tents in
Roxbury, near the meeting-house.
" 30. Capt. Pond's company moved to Commo. Loring's house.
" June 5. A barge and four men belonging to a man of war, cap-
tured and taken to Cambridge, was this day brought to Roxbury in a
cart. Its sails were up, and three sailors in it with their oars, row-
ing, made diversion for the country people. It was marched round
the meeting-house, while the engineer fired the cannon for joy.
"17. Battle of Bunker's Hill.
"25. Sunday. Paraded at the burying-yard. Firing continued
at Charlestown and Cambridge. The Rhode-Islanders laid out a
piece of ground for an intrenchment, and went to work intrenching.
Gen. Thomas ordered them to cease work, but they swore they
would not, and he thought best to let them go on with it.
" 19. Our men are ordered to another place to entrench.
" 21. A fatigue party cut fascines for the fort.
"22. We are still intrenching here. We have thrown up a
strong work across the street, and also one across the road to
Dorchester.
"23. We are still building the fort.
"24. A house near our intrenchment was ordered to be taken
down, as it might be set on fire by a bombshell, and render the
intrenchment too hot for us. A party soon began the work, and the
British opened fire upon them with shot and shell. Our soldiers
would go and take up a burning bomb, and take out the fuse. Two
Americans, attempting to set Brown's barn on fire, were killed. In
the evening two heavy cannon were brought to the work on Work-
house Hill. Major Crane fired seven shots into the British works
on the Neck, and drove the regulars from Brown's house precipi-
tately. Two houses in Roxbury were set on fire by shells.
276 ANNALS OF THE SIEGE.
" 26. A party of the British about daybreak advanced and fired
on the American sentinels near the George Tavern. The picket
guard turned out, and after sharp firing the British retreat.
" 27. We are building defences on Dorchester Neck.
" 30. Last night the Khode-Islanders, under Lieut. Drury, went
down to the guard with a field-piece and fired nine times at the reg-
ulars, who returned three shots.
" July 1. We are fortifying on all sides, and making it strong as
possible round the fort on the hill by the workhouse. We have two
24-pound cannon, and forty balls to each. We have hauled apple-
trees, with limbs trimmed and sharp, and pointing outward from the
fort. We finished one platform, and placed the cannon on it just at
night, and then fired two balls into Boston, that hit the barracks of
the regulars. This night works are to be opened near Gates's bank,
in Brookline.
"2. In the morning, a brisk cannonade from the British lines,
and some shells thrown. A carcase set fire to the house of Mr.
Stephen Williams, the tinman, near Roxbury bury ing- place, which
was burnt down. By the activity of the troops/ the flames were
prevented from spreading, although they had to work in the face of
a constant and heavy fire from the enemy. There is scarcely a house
in the lower part of Roxbury that is not much injured by shot and
bombs. Our people have lost only one man by them, which is very
remarkable, as one hundred at least were fired into Roxbury during
the week.
" 5. Both of the new generals, Washington and Lee, came into
Roxbury to-day. In the evening a regular, said to be a trumpeter
in the Light Horse, with a flag, came from the intrenchments on
Boston Neck, blowing his trumpet till he came to the American sen-
tinels, whom he passed, and got through Roxbury Street as far as
the foot of Roxbury Hill, where he was stopped, blindfolded, and
then carried to headquarters. [He came out under pretence of Gen.
Burgoyne's hearing that Gen. Lee had a letter for him.]
" 8. Last night we planted two pieces of artillery within range
of the enemy's outpost on the Neck. Brown's house burnt.
" 9. The regulars, last night, made an advanced battery (a half-
circle work) near Brown's, on the Neck, and moved a floating bat-
tery up in the Bay so as to cover the right flank of their works on
the Neck. Sunday we cut down and trimmed the limbs of some
apple-trees, sharp, and built a sort of breastwork across the road
(Roxbury Street), with their points toward Boston, to stop the
Light Horse should they come to attack us.
ANNALS OF THE SIEGE. 277
" 11. This morning a party of our men burnt Brown's store,
yhich escaped the flames last week. The regulars, upon the ap-
proach of our men, quitted their advanced work with precipitation.
Part of a work this day traced out on Col. Williams's hill [where
the Stand-Pipe is], and a strong abatis completing from the marsh
land back of Capt. Davis's house across the road into Lamb's
meadow.
' ' 12. In the forenoon Col. Greaton with one hundred and twenty-
six men went in whale-boats to Long Island, burnt the house on it,
and the barns, with a large lot of hay intended for the British cav-
alry. One armed schooner and several barges put off after the
Americans, and some of the ships of war near the island cannonaded
them, but though they narrowly escaped being taken, Col. Greaton
and his daring band gained the shore. One man of the detachment
on shore that came to the assistance of Greaton was killed. Thirty
odd whale-boats were this day brought from Dorchester on men's
shoulders. The bell on the meeting-house tower taken down this
day and carried away by the parish committee.
"13. Works in the meadow, near the George Tavern, go on
briskly, although a heavy cannonade all the forenoon from the lines
and the floating battery, and a number of shells thrown, but no
damage done. Generals Washington and Lee visited the Roxbury
camp.
" 14. This day a fortress was begun on Col. Williams's hill,
back of the works on the hill near the workhouse. We were amused
with a heavy fire of cannon and mortars from the lines of the regu-
lars on the Neck, and from one of their floating batteries, against
two hundred of our men, who were throwing up a breastwork in
front of the George Tavern and within a few rods of the regulars'
advanced guard. Our people kept at their work, and never returned
a shot. Three bombs burst near them without injuring a man.
Most of the cannon-shot were taken up and brought to the general.
" 15. Last night two hundred men were ordered to march
quietly down to George's Tavern, and throw up a breastwork on
the marsh
"18. In the evening a strong party took possession of an
advanced post in Koxbury, and the next day there was an incessant
cannonade kept up on the works. There was an appearance of a
sortie by the British during this cannonade, but they disappointed
Gen. Thomas, who made excellent dispositions to receive them.
"31. Our guard near George's Tavern were drove in. Tavern
278 ANNALS OF THE SIEGE.
and barn burnt, ' cannon roared like thunder ' in all directions.
Shells fly into Roxbury, but generally went over us.
" Aug. 1. The floating battery is brought up towards Brookline
fort. Our men at Col. Eead's fort (Mill Creek) fired on her till
they drove her back to her old place. The same day they fired
from Roxbury Hill fort, and it was said that they fired through their
barrack. Bixby says, we fired the twenty-four pounder in the great
fort above the meeting-house three times. One ball went into Bos-
ton, two struck their breastwork.'
"2. Our men were to begin an intrenchment this night near
Lamb's Dam, and it was expected that the regulars would oppose
them.
" 8. Morgan's riflemen arrived.
"13. Being Sunday, we went to hear Mr. Willard, and after
meeting, our men went to intrench down at the George Tavern, and
about break of day they got home. Learned's men began to intrench
' down by Roxbury burying-yard, on each side of the street, one in
the orchard at the right hand, and one at the left hand, down towards
George's Tavern.' Being fired upon ' we mind it not.'
"15. The field-pieces placed near Lamb's Dam fired upon the
intrenchments of the regulars on the Neck. They returned the fire,
and wounded one man in the head slightly. Lieut.-Col. Putnam
ordered to take down the fence that enclosed the George Tavern.
"18. Behold their spite! This morning before sunrise the
enemy fired on our working party on the Neck, this side the George
Tavern. Our riflemen fired at them, and it is thought killed two of
them. Notwithstanding all their firing of balls and bombs, yet
there was not one man wounded on our side.
" 19. Ordered, that as the general has lately been informed that
the enemy contemplates erecting a battery somewhere near Brown's
house and the George Tavern, a picket consisting of two hundred
men be raised for the night, and continue till further orders, to
drive them back whenever they may attempt to raise such a battery.
"22. Col. D. Brewer ordered to remove his regiment to War-
ren's grounds.
"24. Three hundred men ordered to intrench at the lower end
of Roxbury Street last night, and three hundred men stationed at
Lamb's Dam to protect them.
"27. Ordered that the alarm-post for Col. Danielson's regiment
be the new works to the left of where the main guard is posted.
"29. A company of riflemen arrive to-day.
ANNALS OF THE SIEGE. 279
" 31. Six hundred men with canteens of water are ordered to
parade in the orchard west of Blaney's store, to be employed as Col.
Putnam may direct.
" Sept. 2. This morning we spied the enemy intrenching at
Brown's chimneys and fired at them from the lower fort, and with a
field-piece went down to the right hand of the burying-place, and
b ad not been there long before we were ordered off, and the cannon
began to play upon the enemy from Roxbury fort on the hill and
the field-pieces from the breastwork in the thicket. The occasion
of our men's firing on them was this : They had advanced about
thirty or forty rods this side their breastwork on the Neck and
were intrenching there. They fired at us, but did no damage. At
night a platform was carried down to the thicket in order to mount
a cannon there.
' ' 6. Our fatigue parties are at work on both sides below George's
Tavern and at Lamb's Dam. Our men went down below the tavern
as a safeguard for the sentries. The works advanced beyond the
George Tavern without any molestation.
" 7. The commanding officer of the main guard is not to permit
any person to carry any boards, spars, or rails to the right and left
of the burying-ground, as in case of bombardment or cannonading
from the enemy, the troops would be greatly exposed thereby.
" 8. Our fatigue party building a fort on the hill above Lamb's
Dam fired on by the enemy. They fling six or seven balls and two
shells.
" 9. At night our men carried several cannon down to the thicket
to the breastwork there. The redoubt at Lamb's Dam nearly fin-
ished, and mounted with four eighteen-pounders.
" 12. Major Crane is directed to post a detachment of the train
in the fort near Lamb's Dam, to guard, superintend, and conduct
the ordnance in those works. Our men intrenching at Lamb's Dam
not above half a mile from the enemy's breastwork. All the cattle and
horses in and about Roxbury common, and on the lands unimproved
by the owners, to be removed from thence, and the cattle and sheep
lately come from Rhode Island, for the use of the army, to be pas-
tured there.
" 19. As there are six large boats now lying before Col. Fellows's
quarters which are exposed to' great injury from the weather, the
quartermaster-general is directed to order a sufficient number of
teams to carry said boats from the above-named place to the Mill
Creek, under the care of Col. Read. Enemy firing upon Roxbury
280 ANNALS OF THE SIEGE.
daily, fire returned. Capt. Poulett, of the 59th British Regiment,
had his leg shot off as he was sitting at breakfast at the lines.
" 21. Prisoners confined at the main guard having been exposed
to the enemy's fire, in future to be immediately removed to the
guard at the meeting-house.
"23. The enemy began to fire about nine o'clock. They fired
above one hundred balls, but through the good hand of Divine
Providence they did not kill one man. One or two men slightly
wounded. Our men fired three cannon from our breastwork near
Lamb's Dam. One of the balls went into Boston among the houses.
' Last Saturday,' says Henry Knox, ' let it be remembered to the
honor and skill of the British troops, that they fired one hundred
and eight cannon-shot at our works, at not a greater distance than
half point blank shot, and did what? Why, scratched a man's
face with the splinters of a rail fence ! '
" Oct. 2. The regiment commanded by Col. Greaton turned out
and was reviewed, made a fine appearance and performed their
exercise well. One of the new boats was launched, several others
completed.
" 5. Col. Eead to take charge of the ordnance and ordnance
stores at Bead's battery until further orders. The creek guard to
consist of thirty privates, which guard is to keep centries at Read's
battery. This morning the enemy discharged nine cannon at our
meeting-house where about two thousand men were collected, but
'hurted ' not one man.
"23. Went to Roxbury with the general officers, and the com-
mittee from Congress [Dr. Franklin, Messrs. Lynch, Harrison, and
others] to dine on turtle." Heath's Diary.
"Nov. 24. Orders came last night from Washington to Gen.
Thomas for every man to lie by his arms and with his clothes on, as
an attack was expected from the enemy, who had given out word
that they would take supper with us in Roxbury on Thanksgiving
night.
"25. Main guard will in future parade in the street from Howe's
bakehouse to the guard-house. The drums and fifes to beat down
the street from the colonel's quarters as far as his right every morn-
ing at sunrise, and at one hour before sunset, to call the troops to
prayers.
" Dec. 6. Main guard to parade from Howe's bakehouse to Dr.
Davies's great house.
"1776, Jan. 3. Twenty men out of each regiment in Roxbury
to cut fascines. ' I believe we have it bv and by.'
ANNALS OF THE SIEGE. 281
" March 1, 2, 3. A. number of mortars moved to Roxbury.
Screwed hay brought from Chelsea, and great preparations mak-
ing. Heavy cannonade. Col. David Mason, chief engineer at
Lamb's Dam, injured by the bursting of a ten-inch mortar.
" 4. At one o'clock I was at Roxbury; it seemed as if it had
been raining men for some time. The general had ordered over two
regiments from Cambridge, and had called out five regiments of
minute-men, and as many more almost had come in volunteers, well
armed and ready to take part in the conflict. To the honor of the
militia in the neighborhood, it was said they behaved nobly on this
occasion ; for when those who had teams were called on for their
assistance, not the least excuse was made, but one and all, with one
voice, said, 'Yes, I am ready; I will go with my team,' and many
more came than could be made use of. A little before sunset we
marched off from Roxbury, but for more than half a mile before we
came to Dorchester lines we overtook teams in great plenty, nor did
we find any vacancy till we came to the lines. In some places they
were so wedged in together we were obliged to leave the road to
get forward. Reached the lines at seven o'clock, where we waited
half an hour for orders, when a signal was given, and the cannonade
began at Lamb's fort, and was immediately answered by a very
warm fire from the enemy's lines. Our party, consisting of about
two thousand four hundred men, with three hundred teams, were
crossing the marsh on to the Neck, which, together with a fresh
breeze at S. W., concealed us from the enemy until they could see
our works by daylight. The division to which I was assigned,
commanded by Col. Whitcomb, was ordered on to the northerly
hill, where in one hour's time we had a fort enclosed with fascines
placed in chandeliers, and we immediately employed as many men
intrenching as could be advantageously used for that purpose. A
larger party was assigned the high hill, where they erected a larger
fort, built much in the same manner as ours. There were also four
other smaller forts and batteries erected this night on other emi-
nences on the Neck.
" 5. Our party, under the immediate command of Gen. Thomas,
were relieved by a detachment of three thousand men from Roxbury
lines without the notice of the enemy. Our division marching off in
the rear of the whole, crossed the marsh a little before sunrise, but
yet we escaped the shot of the enemy and came to our quarters, sun
about an hour high, weary and hungry. The excessive cannonade
and bombardment of last night did no other damage than mortally
282 THE FIRST CHURCH.
wounding Lieut. Mayo, of Learned's regiment. He lately belonged
to Roxbury ; his father, and friends now living in this town, were
with him when he died.
" 6. A little before noon we were alarmed by a signal at the
meeting-house that the enemy were landing at Dorchester. The
regiment turned out, and was kept in readiness throughout the day,
but the alarm happened somehow through mistake.
" 1 6. Nook's Hill fortified.
"17. Sunday. Alarmed while at breakfast by the drum's beat-
ing to arms, and the regiment immediately turned out. I went up
to the north of Ruggles's fort, where I observed some very peculiar
movements of the shipping. They continued falling down the har-
bor, many of them surrounded with great numbers of boats, till
about noon, when I hear the selectmen of Boston came out to Rox-
bury and informed the general that the British troops had all em-
barked and left the town.
" 25. Went up to our upper fort, from which I saw a part of the
British fleet under sail.
" 1777, Aug. 14. This day a sixth part of the militia in Rox-
bury were drafted to serve in the army until the last of November.
"2775, Dec. 31. This day a duel was fought in a pasture near
Roxbury meeting-house between Mr. Robert Gates, son of Major-
Gen. Gates, and Mr. John Carter. Mr. Gates discharged his pistol
at Mr. Carter, but not hitting him. Mr. Carter told him he could
take his life, but would not do it, and did not fire."
No more interesting spot can be found in Roxbury than
Meeting-House Hill, upon which, in the summer of 1632, the
first meeting-house was built. As it was one of the first
cares of our pious ancestors to provide a place of worship in
which to settle "an able orthodox minister," to have been
destitute of one for the first two years of their settlement was,
we may well imagine, no small privation. During this period
they were assessed for the support of the Charlestown church,
and joined themselves to that of Dorchester. Here the life of
the old town centred, and for many years the church was the
town, and the town the church. At first, in anticipation of
Indian attacks, all persons were ordered to live within half a
mile of the meeting-house, and the men, or a portion of them,
THE FIRST CHURCH.
283
were required to attend public worship completely armed.
Town meetings were held here ; here for near a century all
marriages, funerals, and baptisms were solemnized ; and here
the apostle Eliot preached for nearly sixty years. It is this
ministry, inseparably connecting her with the beneficent mis-
sionary labors of the grand old apostle to the Indians, the
fame of which extended throughout Christendom, this it is
that constitutes the crowning glory of the Roxbury church.
The present house, though by no means a beautiful structure,
is conspicuous from its elevated site and venerable for its
associations. The spacious, grassy slopes around it have
Eliot Square upon the west, Roxbury Street upon the north,
Dudley Street upon the south, and Putnam Street upon the
east.
This is the fifth church edifice erected here, the second
having been built in 1674, the third in 1741, the fourth in
1746, and the last in 1804, this having stood longer than
either of its predecessors. The first was a rude and
" unbeautified " structure with a thatched roof, destitute of
shingles or plaster ; without gallery, pew, or spire, and prob-
ably similar to that of
Dedham in its dimensions,
the latter being thirty-six
feet long, twenty feet wide,
and twelve feet high " in
the stud." A meeting-
house of the second archi-
tectural period, such as
may yet be seen at Hing-
ham, had a roof of pyra-
midal form covered with a
belfry ; accordingly the bell-rope hung down to the centre of
the floor, and the sexton stood half-way between the princi-
pal door and the pulpit while summoning the worshippers
together. The people sat on plain benches, the men and
284 THE FIRST CHURCH.
women on opposite sides of the house. In 1646 the first
house was put in " safe repaire," and in 1656 the ends were
clapboarded. It is lamentable to think how many must have
owed their death to exposure during our rigorous New Eng-
land winters in these unplastered, un warmed, and comfortless
structures. The record says :
"Jan. 12, 1658. It was agreed that the meeting-bowse be re-
payred for the warmth and comfort of the people ; namely, that the
bowse is to be shingled and also two galleries built, with three seats
in a gallery, one at the one end of the bowse and the other at the
other end. Also the bowse to be plastered within side with plaster
and haire ; also for the seting out of the bowse, that some pinakle
or other ornament be set upon each end of the bowse ; also the bell
to be removed in some convenient place for the benefit of the town,
and the charge to be borne by the several inhabitance by way of a
rate. For which worke Lieut. John Remington is to have twenty-
two pounds; more, if the worke deserveth more; lesse, if the worke
deserveth lesse."
Nothing could have been more abhorrent to our early Puri-
tans than a step in the direction of popery, yet we find on
record the following: "Jan. 28, 1666. It was voated for
making more ' Rome ' in the meeting-house, that there should
be another seate added to the men's gallery." The original
house being constantly in need of repairs, on Dec. 10, 1672,
it was, " after much debate with love and condescending one
to another, concluded by voate to build a nue meeting-house
as near the other as conveniently ma}' be" ; and on April 14,
1674, " the selectmen and the committee met at Sergt. Rug-
gles's, and there toke account of the number of hands that
were hired to help 'rare' the nue meeting-house." To its
construction the people of Brookline contributed 104 5s.,
and worshipped there until the erection of their own church
in 1715, one fifth part of the church being allotted to them,
they contributing in that proportion towards the parish ex-
penses. The first meeting in the new house was on Nov. 15,
THE FIRST CHURCH. 285
1674, only four days before the death of Rev. Mr. Danforth,
Eliot's colleague. In 1693 permission was given to build
pews around the meeting-house, "except where the boys
do sit, upon the charge of those who desire the same,
and this only to be granted to meet persons." In 1721 it
was voted that the bell belonging to the meeting-house may
be rung for the town every night, "provided any person
appear to pay for the same and the selectmen approve of the
ringer."
The third edifice, built in 1741, was destroyed by fire in
March, 1744, and the use of foot-stoves, to which the confla-
gration was attributed, was, on that account, thereafter pro-
hibited. " So as not to intrude on the pews in the west gal-
leries," a corner in them was allotted to the negroes to sit in.
Towards the building of the fourth house, completed in 1746,
upon the same plan as its predecessor, aid was received
from the neighboring churches, and meetings were meanwhile
held in the brick schooihouse. Judge Paul Dudley pro-
vided a handsome porch, and Col. Joseph Heath gave a
clock. In 1763 the three seats to the right of the clock in
the centre of the gallery were appropriated for " those
who may be inclined to sit together for the purpose of sing-
ing."
The main entrance of this house, in front of which was a
large, flat, circular stone, faced the south, and was in the cen-
tre of the building. The tower and belfry were as at present,
the gallery entrance being also there. The pulpit was then
on the northerly side. The pews were square, and the
seats so made as to fold up when the people stood up at
prayer, at the close of which they would come down with a
clatter, fun for the boys, who thus responded to the
amen. Its high pews make one share the feelings of the
little girl who, when taken to church for the first time, com-
plained that she had been shut up in a closet, and made to
sit upon a shelf. In front, the place of honor, were two body
286
THE FIRST CHURCH.
pews, so called, assigned to strangers and the poor of the
parish.
Joseph Heath's plan of the interior of the proposed meet-
ing-house, and the names of the occupants of pews in 1736
are here given :
STIR
lie!
3 i i
s i
6
i
~Y r \
ALLEY
a | 10
11 i
12
so I Si i ES : PULPIT'- i j a j 3
PLAN OP PEWS.
1. The minister.
2. Paul Dudley.
3. Col. Lamb.
4. Ralph Holbrook.
5. Jona. Seaver.
6. Jos. Warren.
7. J. Williams, Sen.
8. Ebenez. Cheney.
9. Edw. Sumner.
10. Lieut. Sam'l Williams.
11. Capt. Sam'l Stevens.
12. Ens. John Holbrook.
13. Mr. Joseph Williams.
14. Eben Davis.
15. J. Ruggles.
16. Capt. John Richardson.
17. Jo. Ruggles.
18. Eben. Craft.
19. Mrs. Dorothy Williams.
20. Lt. Samuel Heath.
21. Eleazer Williams.
22. Col. Joseph Heath.
23. Noah Perrin.
24. N. Williams.
25. John Bowles.
26. Stephen Williams.
27. John Goddard.
28. Lt. Isaac Curtis.
29. John Williams.
30. Jonathan Williams.
31. Shed.
32. Ens. Ebenezer May.
33. Ebr. Pierpont.
34. Dea. Ed. Ruggles.
35. Caleb Stedman.
36. Ebenezer Dorr.
37. Ebenezer Warren.
38. Ebenezer Seaver.
39. James Mears.
40. Samuel Griggs.
THE FIRST CHURCH. 287
GALLERY.
B. Mrs. Win. Bosson. 9. Edward Dorr.
6. Thomas Baker. 10. Mrs. Eaton.
7. Jno. "Woods. 11. Samuel Gore.
8. Dea. Samuel Gridley.
No meetings could be held here while the siege lasted,
and the building was used as a signal station for the army,
the parsonage close by being the headquarters of Gen.
Thomas.
From the church belfty were shown the signals that trans-
mitted to the country the jo3*ful intelligence that the British
troops were evacuating Boston, and that the long siege had
been brought to a successful termination. The pews and the
bell had been taken out by the parish committee, and the
communion plate carried by Rev. Mr. Adams to Medfield.
It is greatly to be regretted that this old communion plate
could not have been kept as a sacred memento of the apostle
Eliot and of the founders of the church. Having become
much worn, it was sold in 1789, and a new piece purchased
with the proceeds. A constant and conspicuous target for
the British cannon, the church was pierced through in many
places, one ball passing through the belfry. At the close of
the siege, when the meetings were resumed, 200 were ex-
pended in necessary repairs.
The engraving of the old edifice and its surroundings
(facing the title-page) is copied from an oil painting, by Pen-
niman, the Roxburj' artist, now the property of Mr. Horace
Hunt, of Boston. It is taken from the residence of Deacon
Moses Davis, on Washington Street, which constitutes the
foreground, and exhibits the church and the hill with the
houses at that time (1790) upon it. Of those now standing,
the Mears house on the left, the Lambert house next the
church, and the parsonage are the most prominent. The
old grocery store on Eliot Square is also seen, and a good
288 THE FIRST CHURCH.
idea can be formed of this part of the town at the beginning
of this century.
In 1802 the parish decided to erect a new building of wood
upon the plan of the Newburyport meeting-house. During
its construction, in the following year, services were held in a
new unfinished brick building on Eoxbury Street, owned by
Capt. Stoddard, since known as Ionic Hall. The plan of
rebuilding encountered opposition. Heath's manuscript jour-
nal, under date of April 18, 1803, says: "This day the meet-
ing-house in the First Parish of this town was begun to be
pulled down. It was not half worn out, and might have
been repaired with a saving of $10,000 to the parish. It has
been sold for $600. Whether every generation grows wiser
or not, it is evident they grow more fashionable and extrava-
gant." Our own generation has so far advanced in these
directions that it can not only build more fashionably and
extravagantly than its predecessors, but does so almost wholly
upon borrowed capital. The present house was dedicated on
June 7, and services were first held here on June 10, 1804.
Underneath the west corner-stone of the building there was
deposited with appropriate ceremonies a circular silver plate
with the inscription :
THIS
BUILDING DESIG-
NED FOR THE PUBLICK
WORSHIP OF GOD, WAS FOUN-
DED WITH HAPvMONY AND
LOVE BT THE FIRST PARISH
IN
ROXBURY, MAY 2D 1803.
LAUS DEO.
Ten years later, and soon after a discourse by Rev. Dr.
Porter, from Acts xviii, 17, this identical plate, which had
been surreptitiously removed from its place, was handed by
Mr. Ebenezer Brewer to Capt Jonathan Dorr, one of the
parish committee. Upon the back of the plate when returned
THE FIRST CHURCH.
289
there was found written, " This Tallent which the slothful
servant hid in the earth, mite have been sold for six shillings
and seven pence, and given to the poor, ' but Gallic cared
for none of these things.'"
By vote of the parish in 1805, town meetings in the church
were interdicted, and as a result a town house was built soon
afterwards. In April, 1806, the new clock was set up in
the tower by Mr. Simon Willard, its inventor and maker.
THE FIRST CmiKCII.
The sale of pews in the new house left, after paying for the
building, a surplus of $7,706.02. This sum, on the proposi-
tion of Gen. Heath in town meeting, was divided among the
tax-payers of the parish, pro rata. In 1857 four of these
pew-holders were yet living, and also twenty-five of the
descendants of the original founders of 1632. In that year
the edifice was repaired, its interior greatly improved, and
the horse-sheds, so long an eyesore to the neighborhood,
removed. A handsome chapel has recently been erected on
the Putnam Street side.
This is one of the oldest as well as one of the largest and
most influential religious societies in New England, being
10
290 THE FIRST CHUECH.
fifth in the order of time, those of Salem (1629), Dorchester
(1630), Boston, and Watertown (1632) having alone pre-
ceded it. It was gathered in July, 1632, George Alcock,
"William Parke, William Pjnchon, John Johnson, Thomas
Lamb, William Denison, Thomas Rawlings, Robert Cole.
Samuel Wakeman, and William Chase being its principal
founders. " Until such time as God should give them oppor-
tunity to be a church among themselves, the people of Rocks-
borough joyned to the church at Dorchester, and chose Alcock
for their Deakon."
When the opportunity came, through the large accessions
made to their number in the summer of 1632, Mr. Thomas
Welde was ordained teacher, and John Eliot, pastor of the
church and society. Welde's engagement is thus quaintly
described : " After many imparlances and days of humiliation
by those of Roxbury to seek the Lord for Mr. Welde his dis-
posing, and the advice of those of Ptymouth being taken, he
resolved to sit down with them of Roxbury, the diligent peo-
ple thereof early preventing their brethren of other churches
by calling him to be their pastor."
Of the manner of Eliot's settlement here, in pursuance of
his agreement with his Nazing friends, he tells us in his
church record :
" Mr. John Eliot came to N. E. in the 9 month 1631. He left his
intended wife in England to come the next year. He adjoyned to
the church at Boston, and there exercised in the absence of Mr.
Wilson the Pastor who was gone back to England for his wife and
family. The next summer Mr. Wilson returned and by y* time the
church at Boston was intended to call him to office, his friends were
come over and settled at Roxborough to whom he was foreingaged
yt if he were not called to office before they came he was to joyne
with them, whereupon the church at Roxborough called him to be
teacher in the end of the summer, & soon after he was ordained
to y* office in the church. Also his wife came along with the rest of
his friends the same time, & soon after their coming they were mar-
ried."
ANTINOMIAN CONTROVERSY. 291
From that day to this, uninterrupted harmony has prevailed,
if we except the period of the so-called antinomian contro-
versy in 1637. This struggle for intellectual freedom against
the authority of the clergy was ably sustained by Mrs. Anne
Hutchinson, backed by her brother, John Wheelwright, the
young governor, Harry Vane, and by some among the schol-
ars, magistrates, and members of the General Court. So
great was the excitement occasioned by it that the pious
John Wilson climbed into a tree to harangue the people, and
it even interfered with the levy of troops for the Pequod war.
The clerical party triumphed, Hutchinson and Wheelwright
were exiled from the territory of Massachusetts as " unfit
for the societ} 7 " " of its citizens, and their adherents were dis-
armed, for having signed a petition stigmatized as "a
seditious libel," wherein they had affirmed Mrs. Wheel-
wright's innocence, and that the court had " condemned the
truth of Christ."
Mrs. Hutchinson, who is described by her bigoted oppo-
nents as "a woman of a haughty and fierce carriage, of a
nimble wit and active spirit, and a very voluble tongue," had
submitted with impatience to the regulation debarring women
from the privilege of joining in the debates at the private
religious meetings of the brethren. She therefore set up a
meeting of the sisters also, that was soon largely attended,
and she was sustained and approved by the excellent John
Cotton and Henry Vane. The jealousy of the clergy was
soon excited against her, and at the first synod held in
America, assembled in 1637 at Newtown, no less than eighty-
two errors were enumerated and condemned, and she was,
in the following November, sentenced by the court to banish-
ment. To realize fully the magnitude of a schism that so
nearly toppled over the framework of the Puritan church, it is
only necessary to know that the " dangerous errors " taught
by her and especially named were, first, " that the person of
the Holy Ghost dwells in a justified person," and second,
292 ANTINOMIAN CONTROVERSY.
"that no sanctification can help to evidence to us our justifi-
cation." While in the custody of Capt. Joseph Weld, at
his house in Roxbury, as we learn from Winthrop, "divers
of the elders and others resorted to her, and finding her to
persist in maintaining those gross errors before mentioned
and many others, to the number of thirty or thereabouts,"
she was called before the church at Boston, where, " though
her errors were clearly confuted, yet she held her own so
as the church agreed she should be admonished," and her
excommunication was speedily pronounced.
"The church at Roxbury," says Winthrop, "dealt with divers
of their members there who had their names to the petition, and
spent many days in public meetings to have brought them to see
the sin in that as also in the corrupt opinions which they held, but
could not prevail with them. So they pronounced to two or three,
admonitions, and when all was in vain they cast them out of the
church."
The Roxbury men disarmed were William and Edward
Denison, Richard Morris, Richard Bulgar, and Philip Sher-
man. The reason of this extraordinary proceeding is thus
set forth in the colonial records :
"Whereas the opinions and revelations of Mr. Wheelwright and
Mrs. Hutchinson have seduced and led into dangerous errors many
of the people here in New England, insomuch as there is just cause
of suspition that they, as others in Germany in former times, may
upon some revelations make suddaine irruption upon those that dif-
fer from them in judgment, for prevention whereof it is ordered,"
etc.
No wonder that in those days the saying was current in
Connecticut that if a man was too bad to live with here in
Massachusetts they sent him to Rhode Island, and when they
found one a little too good they sent him to Connecticut,
while the remainder, who were tolerable and of average
orthodoxy and respectability, were allowed to remain. Of
three citizens of Roxbury driven hence at this time, two,
REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD. 293
John Coggeshall and Henry Bull, were afterwards governors
of Rhode Island ; while a third, Philip Sherman, became a
distinguished citizen and founder of that colony.
An interesting event was that which took place at the old
church in Roxbury on the thirteenth of the fourth month,
16o4. All the neighboring elders and fathers of the church
had assembled, together with Eliot's Indian converts, who
were to be examined with a view to the formation of an
Indian church. The number examined was eight, " so many
as might be first called forth to enter into church covenant,
if the Lord gave opportunity." It was thought best, how-
ever, to make haste slowly, and that Indian teachers should
be trained up and instructed for the work, so that the first
Indian church, that at Natick, was not formed until 1660.
Great was the excitement when the celebrated Whitefield
preached here. He was well received by the clergy of Bos-
ton, with the single exception of Dr. Cutler, rector of Christ's
Church, who met him one day on the street, and said to him,
" I am sorry to see you here," and to whom Whitefield quietly
remarked, " So is the devil." In his diary, under date of
Friday, Sept. 26, 1740. he mentions preaching at Roxbury in
the morning to " many thousands of people who flocked in
from all parts of the country," and whom he must have ad-
dressed frpm the open space in front of the church, after-
wards dining with Judge Paul Dudley.
Public services in the church were frequently suspended
during the Revolution, the people having been very much
scattered at the time of the siege. This, as well as the
impoverishment occasioned by the war, prevented for some
time a resettlement, and the pastoral office remained vacant
until peace was declared. The pulpit was, however, usually
supplied, Christian ordinances were administered, and various
candidates for the ministry were heard on probation.
Most of the primitive churches being destitute of bells, the
people were summoned by beat of drum. Once a 3'ear a
294 EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS.
committee was chosen " to seat the meeting-house." Indi*
viduals were not pew or seat owners, the house belonging to
the town, and the committee in the discharge of their duty de-
cided in what seats or pews certain persons should sit when at-
tending public worship. They were seated according to their
age and estate ; families were divided, men and women sitting
apart on their respective sides of the house, while boys had a
place separate from both, with a tithing-man to keep them in
order. This was always some staid and vigilant person who
made frequent rounds ; the badge of his office was a pole, with
a knob at one end and a tuft of feathers at the other ; with
the one he rapped the heads of the men, and with the other
he brushed the women's faces when he caught them napping.
As late as 1774, persons were fined for non-attendance at
public worship. Excommunication was a common punish-
ment for drunkenness and crime.
A church fully furnished had a pastor and a teacher, the
distinctive function of the former being private and public
exhortation, and of the latter, doctrinal and scriptural expla-
nation. This practice went gradually into disuse. Each
church had also one or more " ruling elders" and deacons,
who had the charge of prudential concerns and of providing
for the poor. They, as well as the teaching elders, were
consecrated to their trusts with religious solemnities. Several
entries on the church records tell us how the ministers " dews
shall be raj'sed." One would rather like to understand the
distinction implied in this : " the deacons to have liberty for
a quarter of a yeare to git in every man's sume, either in a
church way (?) or a Christian way, as he seeth cause."
Sermons were usually of an hour's length, measured by an
hour-glass that stood upon the pulpit. Preaching with notes
or reading sermons was very little practised in the first cen-
tury. The reading of the Bible in the public worship, with-
out exposition, was generally disapproved and stigmatized by
the term " dumb reading." The singing was without instru-
SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 295
mental accompaniment. As a most efficient means of pro-
moting the religious education of their children and in the
building up of the church, the Sunday school, commonly sup-
posed to be a modern institution, was by no means overlooked
by the pious founders of New England. ' ' This daj-," say
the church records (Dec. 6, 1679), " we restored our primitive
practice for the training up our youth. First, our male
youth, in fitting season after the evening services in the pub-
lic meeting-house, where the elders will examine their remem-
brance that day, and any fit point of catechism ; second, that
our female youth should meet in one place, where the elders
may examine their remembrance of yesterday, and about
catechize or what else may be convenient."
Early in this century the Congregational churches were in
a quasi-conservative state, few besides aged persons appear-
ing at the communion-table, conversions among the 3*oung
being rare and very noticeable when they occurred. Says an
eminent authority, "Moderate Calvinism was professed by
many of the clergy, and very moderate it certainly was."
Our own Revolution and that of France, with the general
shaking up and overturn of old ideas and established usages,
contributed largely to this result. The change of the First
Church from the Calvinistic to the Unitarian faith took place
about the commencement of this century. " The interest in
religion had so far declined," wrote an observer in 1820,
' ' that although there are in the First Parish in Roxbury com-
pleted and building three churches within the compass of a
few rods, those who prefer to spend their Sabbath in regular
worship to lounging about taverns and pilfering in the fields,
but half fill a single one." It was at this very time that two
young men, to close a drunken nocturnal frolic, broke into
Rev. Dr. Porter's church, tore the cushions in pieces, de-
stroyed the Bible, removed the hearse from the graveyard, and
performed other acts equally disgraceful. A radical change
in our religious system was effected in 1833, when an amend-
296 BAY PSALM BOOK.
inent to the Bill of Rights provided that the support of religion
should no longer be a matter of obligation, but should be
entirely voluntary. A member of any religious society or
parish can now withdraw at will, and cease to be liable for
society or parish expenses.
The first book printed in the English colonies, the New-
England version of the Psalms, generally known as " The
Bay Psalm Book," was the joint production of Eliot and
"Welde, of this church, and Richard Mather, minister of Dor-
chester. It was printed in 1 639, taking the place of Ains-
worth's version and that of Sternhold and Hopkins, contin-
uing in use down to the period of the Revolution. When on
Sunday, July 9, 1758, this version gave place to that of Tate
and Brady, "some people," says the church record, "were
much offended at the same."
" Welde, Eliot, and Mather mounted the restive steed
Pegasus," says Rev. Elias Nason, " Hebrew psalter in hand,
and trotted in hot haste over the rough road of Shemitic roots
and metrical psalmody. Other divines rode behind, and after
cutting and slashing, mending and patching, twisting and
turning, finally produced what must ever remain the most
unique specimen of poetical tinkering in our literature." Its
type was unusally poor, and its punctuation such as to remind
one of Lord Timothy Dexter's pepper-box. An edition was
printed with a few tunes, the first music engraved in this
country, in 1696. The music was in two parts, treble and
bass, and a few directions were given for setting these tunes
within the compass of the voice, so that the people could sing
them " without squeaking above or grumbling below."
This book is of such rarity that an original copy brought a
thousand dollars at a recent auction sale. Many editions of
it were printed in Edinburgh, and it enjoys the distinction of
being, in booksellers' parlance, the first book " pirated " from
America. Rev. Thomas Shepard, of Cambridge, who thus
criticises the poetical efforts of his brethren, does not exhibit
CHURCH MUSIC. 297
a very marked superiority over them in his verses upon the
occasion :
"Ye Roxbury poets, keep clear of the crime
Of missing to give us very good rhyme;
And you of Dorchester, your verses lengthen,
But with the text's own words you will them strengthen."
The early settlers of New England alwaj's sung congrega-
tionally. The whole number of tunes known to them did not
exceed ten, and few congregations could go beyond five.
Rising in their seats, they stood facing the pastor, and sang
in unison each line as it was " lined out," or " deaconed off."
The rule was to sing a note of " Old Hundred" to a beat of
the pulse, which was at least one third quicker than we now
render it. Rev. Thomas Walter, the pastor of this church,
in his " Grounds and Rules of Musick Explained," complains
that " for a want of a standard to appeal to in all our sing-
ing, our tunes are left to the mercy of every unskilful throat
to chop and alter, twist and change, according to their suffi-
ciently diverse and no less odd humors and fancies." As for
the singing of the congregation, " it sounded like five hundred
different tunes roared out at the same time," and so little
attention was paid to time that they were often one or two
words apart, producing noises "so hideous and disorder!}-,
as is bad beyond expression." The manner of singing, also,
had become so tedious and drawling that he himself had
paused to take breath twice in one note.
Ebenezer Fox, a Roxbury lad, has furnished this reminis-
cence of the music of this old church in 1775: "Deacon
Crafts, grandfather of Mr. Eben Crafts, used to read aloud
one verse at a time of the psalm or hymn, which the choir
would sing, and then wait till he had read another. Hymn-
books were not in general use ; they were, some time after, in
the pews of the wealthy. At a subsequent period fuguing
tunes were introduced, and they produced a literally fuguing
effect upon the elder people, the greater part of whom went
298 ELIOT'S CHURCH RECORD.
out of church as soon as the first verse was sung." Our pious
forefathers would not tolerate musical instruments in the
sanctuary, not even a pitch-pipe being permitted in the early
times. It was almost as hard sometimes to set the psalm as
to raise the meeting-house. The tuner was assisted in his
official duties by a comical instrument constructed something
like a mouse-trap, called a pitch-pipe. It was introduced into
the churches stealthily, kept out of sight, and passed along
from lip to lip as slyly as a bottle of brandy in a stage-coach.
The bass-viol, or the " Lord's fiddle," as they called it,
came in later and incurred far more serious opposition. Dr.
Emmons left his church and refused to preach because the
singers persisted in its use. " I very well remember," says
Fox, " the first Sabbath that the bass-viol was used as an
accompaniment to the singing. The old, pious people were
horror-struck at what they considered a sacrilegious innova-
tion, and went out of meeting in high dudgeon. One old
church-member, I recollect, stood at the church door and
showed his contempt for the music by making a sort of
caterwauling noise, which he called ' mocking the banjo.' "
The first volume of the records of the First Church, chiefly
in Eliot's handwriting, contains "a recorde of such as ad-
joyned themselves unto the fellowship of this church of Christ
at Roxborough ; as also of such children as they had when
they joj'ned, & of such as were borne vnto them vnder the
holy covenant of this church who are most properly the seede
of this church." In it are many curious and interesting partic-
ulars respecting the early inhabitants of the town. A few
only of the more quaint or characteristic of these notices can
be here given. The first name in it is that of the principal
founder of the church and town :
"Mr. William Pinchon came in the first company in 1630. He
was one of the first foundation of the church at Roxborough ; was
chosen an assistant yearly so long as he lived among us. His wife
dyed soon after he landed in New England. He brought four chil-
ELIOT'S CHURCH RECORD. 299
dren to New England, Ann, Mary, John, Margaret. After some
years he married Mris. Frances Sanford, a grave matron of the
church at Dorchester. When so many removed from these parts
to plant Connecticut River, he also with other company went
thither and planted at a place called Agawam, and was recom-
mended to the church at Windsor in Connecticut until such time as
it should please God to provide y* they might enter into church
estate among themselves. . . . Afterwards he wrote a dialogue
concerning justification, which was printed anno 1650, stiled ' The
Meritorious Price,' a book full of errors and weakness and some
heresies, which the General Court of y e Massachusetts condemned
to be burnt, and appointed Mr. John Norton, the teacher at Ipswich,
to refute y e errors contained therein.
" Mrs. Mary Dummer, the wife of Mr. Richard Dummer. She was
a godly woman, but by the seduction of some of her acquaintances
she was led away into the new opinions in Mrs. Hutchinson's time,
and her husband removing to Newbury, she there openly declared
herself & did also (together with others indeavor) seduce her hus-
band & persuaded him to return to Boston, where she being going
with child and ill, Mr Clark (one of the same opinions) unskilfully
gave her a vomit, which did in such manner torture and torment
her, yt she dyed in a most uncomfortable manner. But we believe
God tooke her away from worse evil which she was falling unto,
and we doubt not but she is gone to heaven."
"Richard Lyman, came to N. E. in the 9th month 1631. He
brought children Phillis, Richard, Sarah, John. He was an ancient
Christian but weake, yet after some time of tryal & quickening
he joyned to the church. When the great removall was made to
Connecticut he also went and underwent much affliction, for, going
toward winter, his catle were lost in driving & some never found
again, and the winter being could & ill provided, he was sick & mel-
ancholy yet after, he had some revivings through God's mercy &
dyed in the year 1640.
"John Moody came to the land in the yeare 1633. He had two
men servants y* were ungodly, especially one of them who in his
passion would wish himself in hell & many desperate words, yet had
a good measure of knowledge. These two servants would goe to
the oister bank in a boat & did against the counsel of their governor,
where they lay all night & in the morning early when the tide was
out, they gathering oisters did unskilfully leave their boat afloat in
the verge of the channel, & quickly the tide carried it away so far
300 ELIOT'S CHURCH RECORD.
into the channel y* they would not come neare it which maide them
cry out and hollow, but being very early and remote were not heard
till the water had risen very high upon them to the armpits as its
thought, and then a man from Rocksborough meeting house heard
them cry and call & he cryed and ran with all speed, & seeing their
boat swam to it & helped to them, but they were both so drowned
before anybody could possibly come, a dreadful example of God's
displeasure against obstinate servants.
"Phillip Sherman came into the land in 1633, a single man and
after married Sarah Odding, the daughter of the wife of John Por-
ter by a former husband. This man was of a melancholy temper.
He lived honestly and comfortably among us several years. Upon
a just calling went for England & returned again with a blessing.
But after his father in law John Porter was so carryd away with
the opinions of familism & seism, he followed them & removed
with them to the (Rhode) Island. He behaved himself sinfully in
these matters (as may appear in the story), & was cast out of the
church.
"Elizabeth Stow the wife of John Stow. She was a very godly
matron attending not only to her family but to all the church, & when
she had led a Christian conversation a few years among us, she dyed
and left a good savor behind her.
" Henry Bull, a man servant came to the land in 1635. He lived
honestly for a good season, but on a sudaine (being weake & affec-
tionate), he was taken and transported with the opinions of Fami-
lism, & running in that scisme he fell into many and grosse sins of
lying (as may be seen in the story) , for which he was excomunicated,
after which he removed to Rhode Island." (Afterward governor
of Rhode Island.)
" William Frankling, in whom we had good satisfaction in his
godlynesse, yet it pleased God to leave him to some acts of rigor
and cruelty to a boy his servant who dyed under his hand. But
sundry sins he was guilty of and the scandal so great y* he was ex-
comunicated yt day month, the 21st of the 2d mo. 1644 & shortly
after executed." (Wlnthrop's Journal tells us that "the church in
compassion to his soul after his condemnation, procured license for
him to come to Roxbury, intending to receive him in again before
he died, if they might find him truly penitent. But though presently
after his condemnation he judged himself and justified God and the
Court, yet then he quarrelled with the witnesses and justified him-
self, and so continued even to his execution, professing assurance
ELIOT'S CHURCH RECORD. 301
of salvation and that God would never lay the boy's death to his
charge, but the guilt of his blood would be upon the 6ountry.")
" Mris. Barker, a gentlewoman that came from Barbadoes hither
for the gospel's sake. We found her not so well acquainted with
her own heart & the ways and workings of God's spirit in con-
verting a sinner unto God, yet full of sweet affection, and we feared
a little too confident. We received her not without feare and
jealousy.
" Sister Cleaves (alias Stebbins), was publicly admonished for
unseasonably entertaining & corrupting other folks' servants &
children, & hath corrupted Mr. Lamb's negro, who in a discontent
set her master's house on fire in the dead of night, and also Mr.
Swan's. One girl was burned and all the rest had much ado to
escape with their lives." (This occurred on the night of July 12,
1681, and on Sept. 22d the incendiary, a woman, was burnt to death
publicly in Boston, the first to suffer such a death in New
England.)
" Webb, the wife of William Webb. She followed baking,
& through her covetouse mind she made light weight. After
many admonitions & after sundry rebukes of a court & officers in
the market, & after her speciall promise to the contrary, yet was
again scandalously discovered in the open market as also for a habit
of lying & shifting, after much admonition & also for a gross ly in
public flatly denying yt after she had weighed her dough she never
nimed off bitts from each loaf, which yet was by four witnesses tes-
tified, and after appeared to be a common if not a constant practice,
for all wh. gross sins she was excommunicated Oct. 23, 1642, her
ways having long been a grief of heart to her godly neighbors. But
afterward she was reunited to y" church & lived chrystianly & dyed
comfortably.
" Stebbins, the wife of Martin Stebbins. She was so vyo-
lent in her passion that she offered vyolence to her husband, which
being divulged was of such infamy y* she was cast out of church,
but soone after she humbled herself & was received in again."
It is noteworthy that the term of service of four of the
pastors, Eliot, Nehemiah Walter, Porter, and Putnam, extends
over a space of two hundred and nineteen years, covering the
entire period of its history from the foundation to the present
time, with the exception of twenty-seven years. It is little
302 SUCCESSION OF PASTORS.
less remarkable in these days of change that, -with the excep-
tion of Welde, who went back to England, and the present
pastor, all have begun and ended here their ministerial career,
spending their lives in the service of this church. The suc-
cession of its pastors follows :
THOMAS WELDE, July, 1632, d. England, Mar. 23, 1661
JOHN ELIOT, Nov. 5, 1632, " Boxbury, May 20, 1690
SAMUEL DANFORTH, Sept. 24, 1650, " " Nov. 10, 1674
NEHEMIAH WALTER, Oct. 17, 1688, " " Sept. 17, 1750
THOMAS WALTER, Oct. 19, 1718, " " Jan. 10, 1725
OLIVER PEABODY, Nov. 7, 1750, " " May 29, 1752
AMOS ADAMS, Sept. 12, 1753, " " Oct. 5, 1775
ELIPHALET PORTER, Oct. 2, 1782, " " Dec. 7, 1833
GEORGE PUTNAM, July 7, 1830, " " Apr. 11, 1878
JOHN GRAHAM BROOKS, Qct. 10, 1875.
SMELT BROOK. 303
CHAPTER VIII.
SMELT BROOK TO THE PUNCH-BOWL.
Smelt Brook. Roxbury Street. Revolutionary Incident. Gilbert Stu-
art. Cabot Street. Deacon Gridley. Dr. Prentiss. Laban S.
Beecher. Thomas Lamb. Ionic Hall. Parsonage. Rev. Amos
Adams. Rev. Dr. Porter. Old Grocery Store. Lexington Alarm.
Burrill's Tavern. Waitt's Mill. Gore Homestead. Grosvenor.
Tide Mill. Pierpont. Brinley Place. "Ward's Headquarters. Gen.
Dearborn. Craft's Homestead. Mill Dam. Dr. Downer. Punch-
Bowl Tavern.
JOHN DANE, afterwards-of Ipswich, came here in 1638.
Among other matters related by him in the " Remarka-
ble Providences " in his life is this : ' ' My first cuining was to
Roxburey. There I toke a pese of ground to plant of a frind,
and I went to plant and having cept (kept) long in the shep
(ship), the weather being hot I spent myself, and was veary
wearey and thurstey. I cam by a spring in Roxbury Street,
and went to it and drunk and drunk againe and againe manie
times, and I never drank wine in my life that more refresht
me, nor was more pleasant to me, as I then absolutely
thout."
This delicious spring was undoubtedly Smelt Brook, which
crossed the street in front of the Universalist Church, and
which has long since disappeared. The old Cambridge Road
here bends sharply to the west, and at this point the brook
was formerly crossed by a bridge. Near the junction of
Dudley and Washington Streets, in the rear of Institute Hall,
there was also, in the early days, a spring of excellent water.
Another noted spring was located not far from the northwest
corner of Williams Street and Shawmut Avenue. This avenue,
304 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.
from Boston to the Universalist Church, was constructed dur
ing Mayor Ritchie's administration. Roxbury Street, from
this point, laid out in 1652, was in 16G3 described as "the
highway from the upper end of the lane towards the meeting-
house, and so down by the old mill, and so forward to
Muddy River." It was also called the highway to Dedham,
as far as the road now known as Centre Street, then as the
Cambridge Road, afterwards as the Worcester Turnpike, and
later as "Washington and Tremont Streets.
Many persons will recollect the old house that stood oppo-
site the Highland Railway station on Shawmut Avenue, and
which was taken down in 1875, and a car-house erected on its
site. It formerly stood where the brick block now is, oppo-
site the green in front of the church, and was removed in
1851. Built in 1751 by an Englishman named Bell, a con-
tractor for supplies to the king's troops in North America, it
passed through various hands, Gardiner Greene, of Boston,
having once owned it, and was in 1825 purchased by Edward
Sumner, who, however, never lived there. The land, origi-
nally Elder Isaac Heath's, afterwards the property of his son-
in-law, John Bowles, came into the possession of Edward
Bromfield, whose heirs sold it to Bell. A Revolutionary inci-
dent connected with this house is related by Mr. Edward
Sumner, of Dedham :
" The road to Boston, until 1808, passed close to the eastern side
of the house which was its front. Opposite the door there stood,
in 1776, a large pear-tree. A shot from the South Battery in Boston
took off a limb of the tree, and, glancing, killed Lieut. John Mayo,
who was getting his men in readiness to march to Dorchester
Heights, on the ground .where the church stands, then occupied by
the Americans, and covered with breastworks. This was the only
casualty attending that important movement. In the autumn of
1840 an old, gray-haired man was seen examining this tree. He told
a& occupant of the house that he was a soldier in Mayo's company,
and that he had never until now had an opportunity of revisiting
a scene which had so deeply impressed him."
GILBERT STUART. 305
Just beyond Shawmut Avenue is a large, square house,
built about the beginning of the century by Dr. John Bart-
lett, and subsequently owned and occupied by Dr. P. G.
Bobbins, father of Rev. Chandler Bobbins. Gilbert Stuart,
the greatest of American portrait-painters, the latter part of
whose life was passed in Boston and Roxbury, resided here
during the war of 1812, and while here painted full lengths
of Commodores Hull and Bainbridge, now in the City Hall,
New York. Portraits by him are found in many of the man
sions of this vicinity, his skill being in constant requisition.
Among them are those of Gen. Henry Dearborn, and his son,
Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, Gov. Eustis, Mr. and Mrs. Sted-
man Williams, Capt. Aaron Davis, Dr. John Bartlett and
wife, Benjamin Bussey, and Elisha Whitney.
In person, Stuart was rather large, and his movements in
the latter part of his life were slow and heavy, but not un-
graceful. His features were bold and leonine, and a stranger
would, on passing, mentally exclaim, " That is no ordinary
man." His manner was of the old school and exceedingly
well-bred, and his conversational powers remarkable. He
possessed great conviviality and wit, and " every kind of
sense but common-sense." He was a pupil of Benjamin
West, whose portrait, painted by Stuart, is in the National
Gallery at London. West introduced him to the celebrated
Dr. Johnson as a young American from whom he might derive
some information. After some conversation, the doctor ob-
served to West that the young man spoke very good English,
and turning to Stuart rudely asked him where he had learned
it. Stuart promptly replied, " Sir, I can better tell you where
I did not learn it, it was not from your dictionary." John-
son seemed aware of his own abruptness, and was not offended.
During Stuart's London life he was dissipated, and was more
than once taken from a sponging-house by his friend Water-
house, who paid the debts for which he was confined.
Stuart generally produced a likeness before painting in the
19
306 BICKNELL. GIBBS. ALLEN.
eyes. On one occasion, when a pert coxcomb had been sit-
ting to him, the painter gave notice that the sitting was
ended, and the dandy exclaimed on looking at the canvas,
"Why, it has no eyes!" Stuart replied, "It is not nine
days old yet." Said a sitter to Sir Joshua Rej'nolds, " Whom,
Sir Joshua, excepting yourself, do you regard as the best
portrait-painter in England?" He replied, "There is a
3'oung American artist here, named Gilbert Stuart, who is the
best head painter in the world, not excepting Sir Joshua
Reynolds."
Beyond tie Bartlett mansion are several houses dating
back to the commencement of the century, the first, now
greatly dilapidated, having been occupied successively by
Dr. Lemuel LeBaron and Humphrey Bicknell, a mason by
trade and captain of the artillery company. Next comes the
house of Joseph Seaver, afterwards occupied by Major Alex-
ander H. Gibbs, founder and first captain of the Norfolk
Guards and commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artil-
lery Company in 1823, a man of remarkably fine appearance
and soldierly bearing. Jacob Allen's house is at the corner
of Allen Place. The estate opposite, upon which the brick
building known as the Washington Schoolhouse stands, was
bought by the town in 1840. The house was finished in
December of that year, and was the first grammar-school
building erected for the purpose in Roxbury, always except-
ing the old Free School.
Cabot and Ruggles Streets formed the old town wa} r that
led to Gravelly Point. This way was laid out in 1663 between
the lands of Rev. Samuel Danforth, formerly Capt. Joseph
Weld's, and the heirs of Samuel Hagborn, over what was
sometimes called " Hagborn' s Neck." The Point ran out
into the bay towards Cambridge, from where the old stone
mill stood on Parker Street, at the mouth of Stony River.
Where Sumner Place enters Cabot Street a battery was
erected in the early days of the siege, upon rising ground
DEACON SAMUEL GRIDLEY. 307
overlooking the marshes. It was connected by an abatis con-
structed of young apple-trees from Edward Sumner's orchard
close by, with the American lines of defence, whose right
extended across the Neck to Lamb's Dam. The Roxbury
shore, wherever a boat-landing was practicable, was similarly
protected, at the expense of the orchards and shade trees of
the neighborhood. Edward Sumner owned the twelve acres
of upland between Roxbury and Ruggles Streets, extending
from Washington to Cabot. " Ned's Hill," the site of the
" House of the Angel Guardian," was a part of his land, and
fifty years ago was used as a training-field.
The house on the west corner of Linden Park and Cabot
Streets has been the home of two well-known residents of the
town, Deacon Samuel Gridley and Dr. N. S. Prentiss. It
has been greatly altered in our day, but its frame is nearl}- a
century and a half old. The estate of three acres was bought
in 1727 of Timothy Parker, by Samuel Gridley, " cord-
wainer," of Pomfret, Conn., who was of the same family as
Gen. Richard Gridley, the engineer, so conspicuous at Louis-
burg, Quebec, and Bunker's Hill. The name of Deacon
Samuel Gridley, many years town clerk and selectman, is
frequently met with in the records of the town, and is
appended to many of the patriotic acts and resolves of Rox-
bury of the ante-revolutionary period. He filled this post
until the year before his death, when " on account of old age
and decay of nature," he requested the town by letter to find
some one to take his place. The soul of this honest man
and sterling patriot took its flight amid the roar of the cannon
that covered the successful occupation of Dorchester Heights.
When the siege was over, the old house, which had been occu-
pied by the troops, had to be cleared, and the fences and
walls rebuilt, so that the widow could live in it. His son,
William Gridley, afterwards improved it for a tavern.
Dr. Nathaniel Shepherd Prentiss, who taught the old
grammar school in 1801-7, was a selectman five years, a
308 DR. NATHANIEL S. PRENTISS.
representative three years, and town clerk thirty years,
being re-elected yearly by an almost unanimous vote, and
died Nov. 5, 1853, aged eight} r -seven. His first residence
was on Warren Street, where Munroe, the painter, lives.
While teaching the grammar school he usually had about one
hundred scholars, who stood very much in awe of him. One
of his pupils was the Rev. Samuel Newell, a pioneer mission-
ary to India. He taught a private school at his last resi-
dence, and in October, 1825 opened a school for education
in the higher branches, on Dudley Street. For more than
forty years, as teacher and officer, he labored with zeal and
energy in the local affairs of Roxbmy, where he was uni-
versally respected for his wisdom, integrity, prudence, and
patriotism. In later life his tall, robust, and noble presence,
locks white as snow, and open, pleasing countenance, always
attracted the attention of strangers. His name stands first
on the list of founders of the Eliot Church.
A story is told that illustrates the tact and good judgment
of the Doctor. It was long the custom to elect newly mar-
ried men to the useful but onerous office of hog-reeve. As
a practical joke on the master, who had recently committed
matrimony, and who in accordance with the time-honored
custom had been elected to that dignity, some of the boys
placed the carcass of a hog against the schoolroom door,
where it was found when school opened. After the school
exercises were over, the Doctor inquired who were the perpe-
trators of the deed. No one spoke, and he then declared
that he would punish all unless the guilty ones came forward,
at the same time appealing to their sense of justice by asking
if they would allow those who were innocent to be punished.
This had the desired effect. The culprits came forward. A
procession was formed. Each delinquent was required to
take hold of a leg or other part of the deceased porker and
assist in carrying the remains to a distant field, where, under
the supervision of a committee of the boys, they were finally
buried.
THOMAS LAMB. IONIC HALL. 309
Laban S. Beecher, who resided on Linden Park, was the
artist who carved the bust of Gen. Jackson as a figure-head
for " Old Ironsides," the frigate " Constitution." Anything
more obnoxious to the political opponents of the President in
Boston could hardly be imagined, and after various means
had been fruitlessly emploj'ed to stop the work and the bust
had been placed on the ship, it was sawed off one stormy
night, at the risk of his life, by Capt. Dewey, a Boston ship-
master. Beecher also carved busts of Hull, Bainbridge, and
Stewart to ornament the frigate's stern. Gilbert Stuart New-
ton, the painter, at that time the pupil of his uncle, Gilbert
Stuart, resided here in 1815. He was an excellent colorist,
possessing humor, genius, and pathos. He painted portraits
of John Adams and "Washington Irving. "The Dull Lec-
ture " is one of his best known works. Luther Richardson,
Esq., a prominent lawj'er, who in the year 1800 delivered the
Fourth of July oration before the town authorities, resided
here at the beginning of the century.
Thomas Lamb came with the first settlers to Roxbury in
1630, bringing with him his wife Elizabeth, and two chil-
dren. By a second wife, Dorothy Harbittle, he had several
children. His homestead of eighteen acres lay between Meet-
ing-House Hill and Stony River, west of the home lots of
Isaac Heath and John Johnson. His son Joshua, an enter-
prising and wealthy citizen of Roxbury, died in 1690. His
wife was Mary, daughter of Dr. John Alcock. Lamb, with
others of Roxbury, was at one time a proprietor of Lambs-
town, now Hardwick, Mass., purchased of the Indians in
December, 1686, for 20. Leicester was in 1713 granted by
the Genera] Court to Col. Joshua Lamb, grandson of Thomas.
Lamb's Dam, near the present line of Northampton Street,
and noted in the annals of the siege, was erected by Col.
Joshua Lamb as a protection to his marsh land and works at
the "Salt Pans."
Ionic Hall, one of the earliest of the brick mansions of
310
THE PARSONAGE.
Roxbury, was built about the year 1800 by a Capt. Stoddard,
of Hingham, for his daughter, Mrs. Hammond. It has since
been put to a variety of uses, having been temporarily occu-
pied by the First Religious Society while their present house
was building in 1804, and is now known as St. Luke's Home
for Consumptives. It was at one time the residence of Judge
Leland, and was formerly of two stories only, additions hav-
ing been made to it by Mr. Theodore Otis. William Lee,
Esq., long United States Consul at Bordeaux, was once its
occupant.
On the north side of Eliot Square, fronting the church and
well back from the road, with some fine old trees before it, is
the parsonage built by
Rev. Oliver Peabody, a
preacher of acknowledged
ability, the successor of
Nehemiah "Walter, and
whose brief life and min-
istry closed in 1752. It
was subsequently , for
about eighty years, ten-
anted by his successors,
Rev. Amos Adams and Rev. Dr. Porter. It is in excellent
preservation, and is now owned and occupied by Charles K.
Dillaway, Esq. The parsonage, together with much other
land north and west of it, belonged to Col. Joseph Heath.
Here, without doubt, was the headquarters of Gen. John
Thomas. " The exigency of the times," that compelled the
removal of Rev. Mr. Adams and his family at the commence-
ment of the siege, was the occupancy of the hill for the main
post of the army. The headquarters having, as we know,
been on Meeting-House Hill, this would naturally be a most
eligible situation, as from its rear windows Boston, the British
works on the Neck, and even the heights of Charlestown were
in full view. The battle of Bunker's Hill and the conflasrra-
THE PAKSO3TAGK.
EEV. AMOS ADAMS. 311
tlon of Charlestown were witnessed from its upper windows by
the general and his officers. Here, too, we find, a little later,
our old friend Enoch Brown, whose house and shop on the
Neck having been destroyed, had removed his wares and
business to Cambridge, and who, now that the siege was over,
having " 3 r et left on hand a few valuable articles," sought here
another opportunit}" for business. Benjamin Duick, victualler,
and family, from Brookline or Cambridge, moved in in 1786.
Rev. Amos Adams, the sixth minister of the First Church,
a native of Medfield, Mass., graduated at Harvard College
in 1752, and was ordained here Sept. 12, 1753. His wife was
Sarah, daughter of the eminent Dr. Charles Chauncy, of the
First Church in Boston. Mr. Adams was a very energetic
preacher, his voice was uncommonlj- sonorous and plaintive,
and though some were disgusted with his plainness of speech
and the length of his sermons, yet he was popular in the
pulpit and had great influence over his people. He was an
ardent patriot from the first, earnestly co-operating in the
efforts of the people to stop importation from the mother
country and to encourage domestic manufactures. An in-
stance of the spirit that pervaded all
classes at that time is found in the
fact that one day in September, 1768,
nearl} r sixty j'oung women of Rox-
bury met together at the minister's
house, and gave Mrs. Adams the
materials for and the spinning of
about one hundred score of linen
3 - arn. '" Such an unusual and beau-
tiful appearance," says the chronicler, SPINNING-WHEEL.
' ' drew a great number of spectators from town and country,
who expressed the highest satisfaction at such an example of
industry." Mr. Adams was scribe of the convention of min-
isters at "Water town, which, in May, 1775, recommended to
the people to take up arms. Assiduous in his labors, he not
312 REV. ELIPHALET PORTER.
only visited Ms own scattered parishioners, but also the sol-
diers stationed among them. It is said that after preaching
all day to his own people, he addressed a regiment in the open
air, and that his death, which speedily ensued at Dorchester,
on Oct. 5, 1775, was occasioned by a fever brought on by this
extra exertion and exposure. Dr. Eliot, the biographer, sa} - s
he fell a victim to the then prevalent camp dysentery, which
spread more than twenty miles in the environs of Boston. An
obituary notice of Mr. Adams in the " Boston Gazette " says :
" He spent his time and strength with pleasure in the service of
a grateful people, till, by the distress of the times, they were dis-
persed, and he himself obliged to leave his habitation and pulpit,
from which time his labors were increased, but through an affection
to the people of his charge, he went through them with cheerfulness,
attending the small remainder of his flock every Sunday, though his
family was removed to a distance among his friends At the time
he was seized with his last sickness he was engaged as chaplain to a
regiment in the Continental army, who paid the funeral honors to
his remains on the following Saturday."
Rev. Eliphalet Porter, D. D., was the son of a clerg}'man
in North Bridgewater, who prepared him for the ministry.
He was ordained Oct. 2, 1782, and died here Dec. 7, 1833,
after a pastorate of fifty-one years. In October, 1801, he
married Martha, the only child of Major Nathaniel Ruggles.
At the time he began his ministry there had been a vacancy
of seven years in consequence of the destruction and distress
occasioned by the war ; } r et under his labors the church pros-
pered, and he lived to witness the growth of what was then a
small and scattered village into a populous and thriving town.
He was a sound, instructive, and practical, rather than a
popular preacher, generally saying the right thing in the
right manner and at the right time. Judge Lowell, who wa3
long one of his constant hearers, remarked that of all the
preachers he was accustomed to hear, there was no one who
furnished more food to his intellect than his own pastor. As
REV. ELIPHALET PORTER.
313
a citizen he was influential, and was frequently called upon
to assist in town affairs and in the support and management
of charitable and other institutions, filling various offices of
trust with wisdom, prudence, and fidelity.
Perhaps the most prominent event in Dr. Porter's life was
his preaching the annual sermon at the convention of the
Congregational ministers of Massachusetts, in 1810. This
sei'mon was a surprise
both to the Orthodox
and the Unitarians, as
it contained a bold
and earnest defence of
liberal principles, the
doctor having grad-
ually abandoned the
Calvinistic ideas in
which he had been
educated. It pro-
duced great excite-
ment at the time, and
has been accounted
the ablest of his print-
ed productions. On
the 7th of October,
1832, he preached a half-century discourse, containing some
historical sketches of his parish and a review of his own min-
isterial labors.
Dr. Porter; who is remembered by many persons now liv-
ing, was of common stature, erect and well proportioned in
figure, and grave and dignified in manner. The movements
of both his mind and bod}' were marked by great deliberation.
Though usually taciturn, he was, among his intimate friends,
a cheerful and agreeable companion, and though he looked
so sedate and grave, had a good deal of dry wit or humor,
and great shrewdness and adroitness in parrying a pleasant
REV. ELIPHALET POETER.
314 DR. PORTER AND " SQUIRE " SEAVER.
thrust. Eev. Charles Lowell, who when a child attended
his ministrations, was one day talking with him about the
Medical Faculty, concerning whom the doctor's praise was
somewhat stinted. "Honor a physician," etc., was quoted.
" Oh ! " said he, " that is in the Apocrj-pha. I do not
remember just now anj'thing the Bible has said about them,
except in reference to the woman who was vexed with many
ph} 7 sicians and grew nothing better, but rather worse."
In those days party politics ran high, but once a year the
leading men of both political parties would take a fishing
excursion down the harbor, when all disturbing topics were
dropped, and all " went in for a good time," the customary
purse being made up for the first successful angler. Like
most of the clergy of that period Dr. Porter was a warm
Federalist, while Hon. Ebenezer Seaver, " the Squire," as he
was called, was the leading Democrat of the town, and repre-
sented the district in Congress. After angling unsuccessfully
for a long time, the latter hauled in the first fish. Skinning,
beheading, and disembowelling his prize, he carried it, dan-
gling at the end of a string, to where the doctor was diligent^
pursuing the apostolic avocation, and holding it up before
him exclaimed triumphantly, " There, doctor, there's a good
honest Democrat for you! What do you think of that?"
"Think?" said the doctor, with his usual deliberation and
with the most imperturbable gravit}*, ' ' whj*, I think it served
him about right." The Squire, amid the roars of laughter
from all sides that this remark elicited, disappeared into the
cabin, and was dumb for the remainder of the day.
The old store, now Faunce & Putnam's, just beyond the
parsonage, has always been a grocery store or a tavern, and
has had a variety of owners. Before the Revolution it was
kept by Blaney & Baker. Sharp practice in trade is not an ex-
clusively modern invention, and the partners soon found that
some envious competitor had been endeavoring to injure them.
The "Gazette " of May 24, 1773, has this advertisement :
LEXINGTON ALARM. 315
" Blaney & Baker offer their stock of Liverpool ware, West India
goods, etc. at their usual low rate, notwithstanding the false and
malicious report of some ill-natured person that they had been mis-
taken in the cost of their goods, and had lately discovered their
error and advanced the prices."
Here, during the siege, was the commissary store of Aaron
Blaney, an assistant commissary of issues to the army.
About the beginning of the century it was the store of Joseph
and Nathaniel, nephews of Major Nathaniel Ruggles, who
did a very large business here. Overhead was a large room,
sometimes used as a hall, and in which town meetings were
held between 1804 and 1811, the interval between the demoli-
tion of the old meeting-house and the completion of the Town
Hall. The old store was enlarged in 1853.
Descending the hill and leaving on our left the Parting
Stone, a mute witness of the stirring scenes of the Revolu-
tion, we now follow the Old Cambridge highway over which
rode Lord Percy upon his white horse on the eventful morning
of the 19th of April, 1775. With his brigade of twelve hun-
dred men he had marched out of Boston over the Neck and
through Roxbury to the assistance of Col. Smith, with whom
the "embattled farmers" were at that moment exchanging
shots at Concord Bridge, the opening of the great Revolu-
tionary drama. To his astonishment and alarm, Percy found
the houses on the road deserted, and met no one who could
give hmi tidings of Col. Smith's part}', and until his junction
with him remained in ignorance of all that had transpired.
In derision of the Americans the brigade marched through
Roxbury to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," at that time a
favorite with the soldiers of King George. "A smart boy
observing it," saj's Dr. Gordon, the historian, " made him-
self extremely merry with the circumstance, jumping and
laughing so as to attract the notice of his lordship, who, it is
said, asked him at what he was laughing so heartily, and was
answered, 4 To think how you will dance by and by to " Chevy
316
LEXINGTON ALARM.
Chace." ' It is added that the repartee stuck by his lordship
the whole day."
It is impossible for us, in these peaceful daj-s, adequately
to picture to ourselves the excitement in Roxbury and those
towns in the line of their
march, when the news
came that the dreaded
' ' regulars " had come
out, and that they had
slaughtered the peaceful
inhabitants of Lexing-
ton. Minute-men seize
their arms and, tearing
themselves away from
their distracted families,
hurry to the scene of con-
flict ; women and chil-
dren, terror-stricken for
fear that the father, hus-
band, or son in the pa-
triot ranks would fall a
victim to the merciless
soldiery, hastily flying
into the interior, taking
only what they could
readily carry with them ;
minute-men from the re-
moter towns hastening
to the scene of action ;
while Rumor, with her
MINrTK-MAN. ,
thousand tongues, mag-
nifies the wild reports of fire and slaughter, all this made
a scene of confusion and terror sadly at variance with the
usual quiet and peaceful condition of the town.
Samuel Hawes, of the Wrentham minute company, notes
BENJAMIN WAITT. BURRILL'S TAVERN. 317
in his diary that thej* got the alarm about ten o'clock on the
morning of the 19th, and marched from there, " sun about
half an hour high," towards Roxbury. He says :
"We met Col. Greaton returning from the engagement, and he
said that he would be with us immediately. Then we marched to
Jamaica Plain, and heard the regulars were a coming over the Neck.
Then we strip't off our coats and marched with good courage to
Col. (Joseph) Williams's, and there we heard to the contrary. We
stood there some time and refreshed ourselves, and then marched to
Roxbury, and there we had as much liquor as we wanted, and every
man drawed three biscuit, which were taken from the regulars the
day before (19th), which were hard enough for flints. We lay on
our arms until towards night, and then we repaired to Mr. Slack's
house, and at night six men were draughted for the main guard."
In an old stone house that once stood at the corner of what
is now Pynchon Street, lived Benjamin "Waitt, a noted wag,
the brother of Samuel. He kept a small grocery store near
his house, and had plenty of leisure to play his tricks upon
travellers. One of them will bear repeating :
" Three or four countrymen, in search of employment, stopped at
Ben's store, told their errand, and were gravely informed by him
that a man 'up Brighton way' was fitting out a whaler, and was
especially anxious to obtain a good diver. One of the applicants
remarking that he would like that chance, Ben asked him if he
thought he could stay long under water and keep alive, and received
an affirmative reply. ' Suppose I try you,' said Ben, ' you holding
your head under the water in that half hogshead standing by the
pump in the yard.' The man readily assented, and plunged his
head into the water, while Ben, watch in hand, awaited the result.
When the poor fellow, nearly dead, pulled his head out, he was
assured by his tormentor that if he could have held on one minute
more he could have had the place. ' However,' said he, ' I will give
you a recommendation ' ; and, giving a fictitious name and direction,
the men departed upon a fruitless quest, only to discover that they
had been badly victimized."
Opposite Prang's lithographic establishment there was a
tavern kept nearly a century ago by Lemuel Burrill, who
318 BURRILL'S TAVERN.
subsequent!}' kept the Punch-Bowl Tavern. His widow kept
the " Half-way House," since known as Taft's, on the Ded-
ham Turnpike, during the war of 1812. The building was a
very old one, with a long pitched roof, and had a stable and
ten-pin alley in the rear. It was well patronized in the days
when this was the only route for teams coming from Cambridge,
and the roads leading west and north, and a long string of
them could usually be seen extending along the roadside.
The building of the Mill-dam diverted most of this source of
income, and the tavern ceased to paj\ It was a much-fre-
quented place for public festivities upon patriotic and civic
occasions, upon some one of which, saj's tradition, the exhil-
aration proper to the occasion became so inextricably mixed
up with the punch, that even good Parson Porter went
home tipsy. Such a circumstance may have transpired at
the celebration of July 4, 1808, when, the procession having
formed at the house of Mrs. Burrill, at twelve o'clock, under
direction of Major Bosson, marshal of the day, marched under
the escort of Capt. Humphrey- Bicknell's company of artillery
to Rev. Dr. Porter's meeting-house, where an oration was
delivered by Nathaniel Euggles Smith, Esq.
At a later day the house was kept by a Mr. Gurney.
Upon one side of its sign was painted a man on horseback
setting out upon a journey, both man and horse in excellent
condition, with the legend, " I 'm going to Ohio," emigration
to that territory being then quite active. On the reverse side
were seen the same steed and rider, both sadly crestfallen,
and exhibiting unmistakable evidences of having seen hard
times, and underneath, this significant motto, "I've been to
Ohio." It is pleasing to reflect that emigration to the terri-
tory that now forms the great State of Ohio did not entirely
cease in consequence of this pictorial satire, which was prob-
ably the work of the Roxbury artist, Penniman.
Deacon " Billy" Davis lived in the large wooden building
nearly opposite, and kept a West India goods store in the
WAITT"S MILL. 319
lower part of it. He was peculiar in his personal appearance,
being very short in stature, but was a good citizen and much
beloved. One day, after a fit of despondency, he suddenly
disappeared, leaving a note in which he stated that, of all
deaths, he preferred that by drowning. Upon this hint his
friends drained the mill-pond near by, and explored in the
vicinity of the tide-mill, all to no purpose, when to their
great relief and that of his famil}-, in a letter from Albany, he
informed them that he was alive and well.
Near the corner of Tremont and Roxbury Streets, and mak-
ing it quite a centre of business, there was from the earliest
days a grist-mill, the water from Ston}* Brook, which was
dammed, furnishing the power. Here, in
1633, the first mill was built in Roxburj- by
Richard Dummer, the same who afterward,
in consequence of unorthodox religious views,
was obliged to quit Roxbury and settle in
Newbury. For more than a century the
Pierpont family were its proprietors, and as
quite a settlement grew up around it, the
. .., i ,, , , . , ., OJLD WIVD-MILL.
locality acquired the name by which it was
long known, of " Pierpont's Village." Early in this cen-
tury it was known as " "Waitt's Mill," the owner being
Samuel "Waitt, who also occupied an adjoining building for
the manufacture of leather breeches, a kind of apparel not
now in vogue, but considered quite the thing in those days
of horseback riding and republican simplicity. In this busi-
ness, Waitt's tact and shrewdness found constant exer-
cise. If a customer expressed doubt as to whether the
article shown was sufficiently large for him, his fears were
quieted by the positive assurance, made use of on all occa-
sions, " Lord love your soul, they will stretch and set like a
glove " ; and if, on the other hand, some spindle-shank put
aside deprecatingly a pair of decidedly baggy aspect, "Waitt
was equally read}' with his, " Lord love your soul, they will
320 TREMONT STREET.
shrink and set like a glove " ; and his ready wit stood him in
such stead that he rarely lost a customer.
Waitt passed off the stage in 1826, and was succeeded by
Aaron Gay, father of the well-known stationer, who used the
mill for woollen manufacturing, leather breeches being no
longer in st}'le. Later, it was a morocco factory, presided
over by the fat and genial Guy Carleton, whose size was such
that it was usual, when a standard of comparison was re-
quired, to say, " As big as Guy Carleton or Stephen Badlam,"
the latter being a well-known great man of Dorchester. These
old buildings, together with the dam, were removed in 1870.
The old mill-pond is dried up, the waters of Stony River now
flow through the sewer, and the Boston and Providence Rail-
road Company has so completely obliterated the noble estates
of John Lowell and "Watson Gore that the changes wrought
by these various agencies in the old mill village are of the
most radical description. Near the mill-pond, at the south-
erly corner of Roxbury and Pynchon (formerly Lowell)
Streets, is the house once the residence of Ralph Smith, who
was an active and enterprising citizen early in the present
century. Smith's Pond, where the dam was, formed a part
of his estate, Pynchon Street being then nonexistent. The
large square mansion, with horse-chestnut trees in front, near
the crossing, was the residence of Mr. Samuel Waitt, before
mentioned. He was a man of strict integrity, and died leav-
ing considerable property*, being the owner of the grist-mill
at the corner of Washington and Tremont Streets, the tide-
mill on Parker Street, and the large farm, formerly Scarbor-
oughs', near Forest Hills.
Tremont Street was opened from its Boston terminus, near
ducket-ing's piano-forte factoiy, to this point, Sept. 10, 1832,
shortening the distance over half a mile, its extent from the
Misses Byles's residence to Waitt's mill being two miles and
six rods. So much opposition was manifested to this enter-
prise b}' citizens doing business on the "Neck," which it
GOUE HOMESTEAD.
321
must be borne in mind was then the only free thoroughfare
connecting Boston with the country, toll being taken on the
Mill-dam, that the Roxbury end of the Tremont Road could
only be completed through private subscriptions. These
were procured through the energetic efforts of Watson Gore
and Guy Carleton, aided by John Parker and a few other
wealth}' men. The opening of this new road was of great
benefit, and relieved Washington Street, which up to that
period had been overcrowded with country teams. A project
to extend this road to Jamaica Plain across Heath Street,
which would have been of practical benefit to the town, was
defeated by Mr. Lowell, through whose beautiful grounds it
must necessarily have passed. A few years' respite only
was gained by his opposition, for in a very few years the
track of the Boston and Providence Railroad was laid through
its entire extent.
The old Gore homestead, described in the book of " Houses
and Lands " as containing four acres west of Stony River,
GOES HOMESTEAD.
bounded on the way leading to the Landing-Place and Tide-
Mill, was on the southwest side of Tremont Street, just
beyond the railroad crossing, and extended to Parker Street.
Mr. Watson Gore, the last of the name to occupy the home-
stead, enlarged it and added a piazza. The old tan-pits and
the hollow adjacent were filled up, and in their place were
21
322 GORE FAMILY.
laid out an elegant fish-pond and a charming garden and
grounds. A brick block now covers the site of the Gore house ,
which was taken down in 1876. The name is perpetuated by
Gore Avenue, which traverses a part of the old estate.
John Gore, the founder of this family in New England,
came over in 1635, and settled in Roxburj*, where he was for
many years clerk of the writs, and died on June 2, 1657.
Rhoda, his widow, afterwards married Lieut. John Reming-
ton, of " Remington's Paradise." John, his eldest sou, was at
Harvard College from 1651 to 1654.. He was a skilful sur-
veyor, was a selectman, and from 1688 to his death on June
26, 1705, was town clerk. About 1674 he leased the Bell
homestead for twenty-one years, agreeing either to teach the
free school, procure a substitute, or pay 12 pounds a year
in corn or cattle. Samuel, the younger son of the emigrant,
was a carpenter by trade, and was a selectman at the time
of his death in 1692. Christopher Gore, governor of Massa-
chusetts in 1809, was his great-grandson. The first two
generations of this family lived wholly in Roxbur}*, but their
descendants are now found in all parts of the Union. A fam-
ily tradition, which, unlike the generality of such, seems to
accord with the records, is as follows :
" A wealthy lady in England, named Rebekah Crook, settled in
Roxbury, and married a Mr. Gardiner. One day, as Mr. John Gore
was at Mrs. Gardiner's house, the lady advised him to get married.
Her infant daughter lay in the cradle which Mrs. Gardiner was rock-
ing. He replied, ' Perhaps I '11 wait for your daughter ' ; and it actu-
ally happened that when about fifty years of age he was married to
Sarah Gardiner, the infant he had rocked in the cradle."
From Miss "Wood's "Historical Sketches of Brookline"
we take an anecdote of a person who must be well remem-
bered by many of our citizens :
"Miss Prudence Heath, or 'Prudy,' as she was called, was a curi-
osity worth seeing, with her immense black Leghorn bonnet and a
great green silk umbrella which she usually carried. Though neither
"REMINGTON'S PARADISE." JOHN GROSVENOR. 323
witty nor facetious, her quaint speeches were sometimes very amus-
ing. "When the Providence Railroad was opened through Roxbury
at the crossing of Tremont Street, it passed through the farm of her
nephew, Mr. John Heath, and necessitated the removal of his house.
The mind of Miss Prudy was greatly exercised, for she considered
railways as modern innovations productive of unmixed evil. She
visited in Roxbury at the old Gore place by the crossing, and after
examining the track went home convinced of its dangerous ten-
dency. ' Would you,' she asked of her friends, again and again,
* would you ride in one o' them ravin' stages ? ' We may be quite
sure she never did.
Remington's Paradise was so named in 1653 from its
owner, Lieut. John Remington, who lived just beyond Parker
Street. The Comins School is on a part of this estate. Its
name, Paradise, still clings traditionally to the locality,
although there is now absolutely nothing to suggest its appro-
priateness. Tradition says that the wife of John Gore, the
emigrant, afterwards Mrs. Remington, was, on her arrival,
carried over Boston Neck, the ground being swampy, upon
the shoulders of two men. The}' stopped at a hill, and Mrs.
Gore, being much fatigued, and delighted with the prospect,
exclaimed, "This is Paradise!" and the place was after-
wards called " Paradise Hill."
North of Tremont and between it and Parker Street, on
both sides of Stony Brook, lay the Heath farm of fifty-four
acres. John Heath was the last proprietor of the homestead,
which stood until recently near where C. B. Faunce's grocery
store now stands, on Tremont Street. Forty years ago there
was no other house on the estate. Capt. Joseph Heath's res-
idence was on the northwesterly corner of Parker and Tre-
mont Streets, from which place Jonathan Champney's house
has lately been removed. Capt. Heath was in the colonial
service at the eastward, commanding Fort Richmond in York
County, Maine, in 1724-30. He was a grandson of William,
the emigrant, and died in 1744.
John Grosvenor's dwelling-house and four acres of orchard
324 THE TIDE-MILL.
and pasture were on the northeasterly corner of these streets.
In 1678 the town granted his petition for a small parcel of
land between the old meeting-house and the bridge, to make
pits for liming his leather and for accommodating him for his
trade. This grant " at the bridge and old mill was for liming
leather in fee, and not to sell but for such use, and to be for-
feit if it damage the water for cattle or man." Only two
years before, the ancestor of the present Duke of Westminster,
Sir Thomas Grosvenor, was married in the Church of St.
Clement Danes, in the Strand, London, to Miss Mary Davies,
the humble heiress of the farm now occupied by Grosvenor
Square and its surroundings, which has brought such enor-
mous wealth to his family. Our John Grosvenor's coat of
arms, which we have seen on his tombstone in the old bury-
ing-ground, shows him to have belonged to the same family.
He was one of the proprietors of Pomfret, Conn., whither in
the year 1700 his widow and children removed. His dwell-
ing-house was afterwards owned by Edward Sumner.
Parker Street, " The Way to the Landing-Place and the
Tide-Mill," was described, when laid open in 1730, as begin-
ning "before the old dwelling-house formerly Robert Pier-
pont's, now Edward Sumner's, between said Sumner's and
Capt. Joseph Heath's, and so over the bank where the old
malt-house stood." The landing-place was bought by the
town in 1663 of the heirs of John Johnson. A military work
erected here during the siege for the protection of the landing-
place, known as Read's Battery, was held by a portion of
the regiment of Col. Joseph Read, of Uxbridge, whose men
were quartered in the immediate vicinity. In 1792 there were
at this point several establishments, one of them owned by
Ralph Smith, for the packing of provisions, the manufacture
of soap and candles, etc., and vessels were laden with these
articles here. Where Arlington Street now is, the channel
of approach was then, having nine feet of water in it at low
tide, and the Back Bay was at that time an expansive anc
beautiful sheet of water.
PIERPONT. 325
The tide-mill at the landing was, in 1650, known as Bak-
er's Mill. It was sold in 1684 for 15. In 1655, liberty
was granted to John Pierpont and others to " sett down a
Brest Mill or Vndershott in or near the place where the old
mill stood, neare Hugh Clarke's barn." In 1657, Pierpont
bought the estate of fifty acres belonging to Capt. Hugh
Prichard, lying west of Stony River and east of the highway
to Muddy River ; and in 1658, he was allowed to erect a full-
ing-mill on the river. A few old foundation timbers at the
westerly end of Daj"'s cordage factory indicate the spot where
the old tide-mill formerly stood. Prichard's Island was at the
mouth of Stony River. An old deed says, " It is an island
now by reason of the Creeke that hath been digged before
the same and the land of John Johnson's." Capt. Prichard,
who was one of the founders of the free school, and who suc-
ceeded Capt. Joseph Weld in the command of the military
company of Roxbury, returned shortly afterward to Wales,
his native country.
John Pierpont probably came to Roxbury about 1648, when
he bought John Stowe's place on Meeting-House Hill. Dur-
ing Philip's war, in 1675-6, he fortified his place where were
"malting and mills for grinding and fulling, God having
blessed him with a considerable estate." He died in 1682, at
the age of sixty -four. His son James, " a student in y*
liberall arts," graduated at Harvard College in 1681, and was
minister of New Haven at the time of his death in 1714.
His brother Benjamin led a company from Roxbury in 1691
to found an independent church in South Carolina, and died
in the ministerial office in Charleston in 1698. He gave his
lands and mill interests in Roxbury to his brother James.
This is another of the principal families of Roxbury that,
after being conspicuous for more than a century, has wholly
died out here. From it have sprung the Connecticut Pier-
ponts, John Pierpont, poet and clergyman, and Edwards Pierre-
pont, minister to England. Sarah Pierpont, daughter of Rev.
326
PIERPONT.
James and grand-daughter of John, became the wife of the
eminent Jonathan Edwards. The only person of the name to
throw discredit upon it was an adopted son of Hannah, widow
of Robert Pierpont, on whose petition to the General Court
his name was changed from John Murdock to Robert Pier-
pont. The facts were these :
"Pierpont, the owner, and Storey, mas-
ter of the brig ' Hannah,' having procured
a heavy insurance on their cargo for a
voyage to the "West Indies, the vessel was
sunk in Boston Harbor, Nov. 22, 1801, and a
large part of the insurance collected. Fraud
being proved both as to the lading and loss
of the brig, the court decreed that Pierpont
and Storey be set in the pillory in State
Street two several times, one hour each
time, and imprisoned two years and pay
the costs of prosecution. The sentence was
duly executed, the pillory being placed near
Hi 'Change Avenue. This, it is believed, was
the last time this punishment was ever in-
flicted in Boston."
Of "Joe" Pierpont, a "small-sized man of Roxbury,"
nicknamed the " Duke of Kingston " (whose family name was
Pierpont), the story is told that he fought with the Hon.
Capt. William Montague, commonly called "Mad Montague,"
brother of the Earl of Sandwich, and " drubbed him within
an inch of his life." To his credit, Montague, who was notori-
ous for his drunken sprees and nightly window-breaking in
Boston, highly regarded the man for the rest of his daj's.
Upon one of these occasions he, with a party from his ship,
indulged in a regular sailor's lark on shore, and committed
some depredations on the schoolhouse in what is now Scollay
Square, for which warrants were issued against some of the
offenders.
Passing the new cathedral of the Redemptorists, we come
BRINLEY PLACE.
327
upon a fragment of what once was one of the grandest houses
in Roxbury. Built about the year 1723, by Col. Francis
Brinley, upon the estate of eighty acres formerly Palsgrave
Alcock's, it was styled by its owner "Datchet House," hav-
ing been modelled after the family seat of the Brinleys, at
Datchet, England. This name recalls Datchet Mead, near
BRIXLEY PLACE.
by, the scene of FalstaflTs memorable experience in the
buck-basket of which he, with indignant pathos, exclaims :
"There was the rankest compound of villanous smells that ever
offended nostril."
In a somewhat fanciful description of Datchet house by
Mrs. Emily Pierpont Lesdernier, it is spoken of as of
"remarkable magnificence," and as having been known a
century ago as " Pierpont Castle." This lady's great-grand-
father, Robert Pierpont, a merchant, a member of the Boston
Committee of Correspondence, and a commissary of prisoners
during the war, bought the property of Col. Brinle} r> s heirs
in 1773. I quote from a little volume from her pen, entitled
"Fannie St. John":
"It was situated in the midst of a large domain of park and
wooded hills, and presented a picture of grandeur and stateliness
328 GEN. WARD'S HEADQUARTERS.
not common in the New World. There were colonnades and a vesti-
bule whose massive mahogany doors, studded with silver, opened
into a wide hall, whose tessellated floors sparkled under the light of a
lofty dome of richly painted glass. Underneath the dome two cherubs
carved in wood extended their wings, and so formed the centre from
which an immense chandelier of cut glass depended. Upon the floor
beneath the dome there stood a marble column, and around it ran
a divan formed of cushions, covered with satin of Damascas, of gor-
geous coloring. Large mirrors with ebony frames filled the spaces
between the grand staircases at either side of the hall of entrance.
All the panelling and woodwork consisted of elaborate carving done
abroad, and made to fit every part of the mansion where such orna-
mentation was required. Exquisite combinations of painted birds
and fruit and flowers abounded everywhere, in rich contrast with the
delicate blue tint that prevailed upon the lofty walls. The state-
rooms were covered with Persian carpets, and hung with tapestries
of gold and silver arranged after some graceful artistic foreign
fashion. The old place has suffered many changes at the hands of its
various owners, who, in attempting modernizing, have destroyed
almost every vestige of former magnificence."
So true is this, that it is difficult for the visitor of to-day,
who looks upon its bare walls and curtailed proportions, to
realize that it could ever have been the seat of such splendors
as are here described. Tradition, however, tells us of an
apartment hung with blue damask, and known as the " Blue
Chamber." On coming to Roxbury, and until the parsonage
at Jamaica Plain was prepared for him, Rev. William Gordon
resided here.
To the right of the large hall in the centre of the building,
fourty-four feet in length and twenty-two in depth, and which
occupied the entire space between the two -wings, was the re-
ception-room. During the siege of Boston the' mansion was
the headquarters of Gen. Ward, who commanded the right
wing of the American arm}' ; and in this room, shown in the
lower right-hand corner of the engraving, were held the coun-
cils of officers, at which Washington presided, and where
the details of the occupation of Dorchester Heights were
GEN. WARD'S HEADQUARTERS. 329
arranged. Under date of Oct. 10, 1775, Rev. Dr. Belknap
records in his diary, that he " lodged at Mr. Robert Pier-
pont's, where Gen. Ward resides. In Conversation with Mr.
Joshua Ward, his aide-de-camp, I found," says Belknap,
" that the plan of independence was become a favorite point
with the army, and that it was offensive to pray for the king.
Ward appears to be a calm, cool, thoughtful man." This is
one of the earliest indications of a public sentiment favorable
to throwing off allegiance to the British crown, and shows
that the people were upon this important question far in ad-
vance of their leaders. On the 17th of November, Washing-
ton writes to Ward as follows :
" Sir, As the season is fast approaching when the bay between
us and Boston will in all probability be close shut up, thereby ren-
dering any movement upon the ice as easy as if no water was there,
and as it is more than probable that Gen. Howe when he gets the
expected reinforcement will endeavor to relieve himself from the
disgraceful confinement in which the ministerial troops have been
all this summer, common prudence dictates the necessity of guard-
ing our camps wherever they are most assailable. For this purpose
I wish you, Gen. Thomas, Gen. Spencer, and Col. Putnam to meet
me at your quarters to-morrow at ten o'clock, that we may examine
the ground between your work at the Mill aiid Sewall's Point, and
direct such batteries as shall appear necessary for the security of
your camp on this side, to be thrown up without loss of time."
Measures were immediately taken to strengthen this part
of the lines, and several batteries and redoubts were erected
at available points on the shore. A redoubt with three em-
brasures, on the southerly side of Muddy River, was in
good condition fifty years ago. At a council of war held at
Gen. Ward's headquarters, on March 13, 1776, it was deter-
mined that if Boston were not evacuated the next day, Nook's
Hill in South Boston should be fortified the next night. This
was accordingly done on the following Saturday night, and
on Sunday Howe hastily evacuated the town. The details of
the occupation of Dorchester Heights, on the night of March
330 WARD'S ORDERLY BOOK.
4th, were left wholly to Ward, Thomas, and Spencer, who
commanded in this quarter. They had been for some time
collecting fascines, gabions, etc., unknown to Gen. Washing-
ton, expecting they would soon be wanted for this purpose.
But for their foresight it is doubtful whether they could have
been in sufficient forwardness when the operation began.
Major-Gen. Artemas Ward, the first commander of the
American forces, on the arrival of Washington, took com-
mand of the right wing at Roxbury. He was a native of
Shrewsbury, Mass., and a veteran of the seven years' war,
having served as a lieutenant-colonel under Abercrombie. He
had likewise been a member of the legislative bodies of the
province, but was too old and infirm to discipline and control
the motley assemblage around him, being unable even to
appear in the saddle.
The first entry in Gen. Ward's order book is dated the day
after the Lexington battle, and is as follows :
" HEADQUARTERS CAMBRIDGE, April 20, 1775.
" Ordered that Col. Gardiner repair immediately to Roxbury, and
bring all the bread that can be obtained."
To provide for the wants of the multitude of hungry min-
ute-men then assembling around Boston, this order was issued
by Gen. Heath, who was aware that there was a quantity of
ship-bread belonging to the British navy then stored at
Roxbury. Some other items of interest are here presented
from the same source :
"April 21. Cols. Prescott, Warner, and Learned to march their
regiments immediately to Roxbury to join Gen. Thomas.
"June 30. That all profane swearing and cursing, all indecent
language and behavior, will not be tolerated in camp. That all possi-
ble care be taken that no lewd women come into camp, that such as
do may be brought to condign punishment, and rid the camp of all
such nuisances.
" July 4. Firing of cannons and small arms from any of the lines
or elsewhere, except for defence or by special orders, is prohibited.
BRINLEY PLACE. 331
" 12. No trumpeter or flag of truce allowed to pass the guard.
" 14. Pikes to be greased twice a week.
" Feb. 26, 1776. Playing at cards or other games of chance at
this time of public distress particularly forbidden. Men may have
enough to do in the service of their God and their country, without
abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.
" March 8. His Excellency returns his thanks to the militia of
the surrounding districts, for their spirited and alert march to Ros-
bury last Saturday and Sunday, and for the noble ardor they discov-
ered in defence of the camp of liberty and their country.
" 23. Col. Gridley is to apply to Gen. "Ward for such men as are
necessary for the demolishing the lines on Boston Neck, who are to
see the work executed as fast as possible. Such parts of these works
as may be of service for our defence are to be preserved."
Gen. Henry Dearborn became the owner of Brinley Place
in 1809, and at his decease, June 6, 1829, was buried
just in front of the new cathedral. His son, Gen. H. A. S.
Dearborn, resided here until his removal to Hawthorne Cot-
tage, on Bartlett Street. In the summer of 1821, Gen. Dear-
born received a visit from the West Point cadets, who
marched the entire distance from West Point to Boston. They
numbered two hundred and fifty, and were commanded by
Col. William J. Worth, afterwards a general, and distinguished
in Mexico. They were met on arrival at the old Punch-Bowl
Tavern by many citizens, and by the Norfolk Guards, of
Roxbury, who escorted them to their camping ground on the
hill opposite the general's residence. A day or two after they
arrived, they, with a large number of other invited guests,
partook of a sumptuous repast in the garden in the rear of
the Dearborn mansion. On the following day they were
escorted to Boston, where they remained some days in camp
on the Common.
A sub-cellar, cut in the rock and used as a wine cellar, was
accidentally discovered during the occupancy of Mr. John
Bumstead b}' a workman, whose crow-bar, penetrating the
wooden trap-door leading to it, slipped from his grasp and
332 BRINLEY PLACE.
disappeared. A search disclosed the apartment, whose ex-
istence had been unknown since Col. Brinley's day, and
revealed the remains of wine casks and the aroma of choice
spirits long since departed. Apropos of this wine cellar,
there is a story that Col. Brinlej*, fancying that his choice
wines disappeared remarkably fast, secreted himself here one
evening, when his neighbor "Whitney's colored servant, Pom-
pey, was making a visit to Sambo, the servant of the colonel.
Soon the pair entered, and Sambo, filling his goblet, pro-
ceeded to take in its contents, exclaiming, " Better times,
Pomp!" "Better times!" was the response, as Pompey,
nothing loath, imitated his friend's example. Just then a new
actor appeared on the scene, and the enraged colonel laid his
cane in no scanty measure over the heads of the culprits.
"'Better times,' you black rascals! 'better times,' do you
say, drinking wine that cost me a guinea a bottle ? I '11 give
you ' better times,' you infernal black scoundrels ! " And the
colonel, so runs the story, swore as terribly as they ever did
in Flanders.
The Ursuline Sisters, after their cruel expulsion from Mount
Benedict, on the night of Aug. 11, 1834, when the torch was
applied to the residence of a few women and children by a
cowardly mob impelled by fanaticism, these devoted women
occupied Brittle}- House for about a year, but their school had
been so rudely broken up that it was some time before it re-
covered from the shock. So great was the excitement in the
town as the news spread that the nuns had taken refuge here,
that an outbreak seemed imminent. Fortunatelj* the impend-
ing danger and disgrace to the town were averted by the vig-
orous and determined efforts of John J. Clarke, Ebenezer
Seaver, and other prominent and influential citizens. Capt.
Spooner's company guarded the premises ; and his orders,
which were, when the proper moment arrived, to fire ball-
cartridges onl}*, having been made public, the would-be rioters
were completely overawed.
COL. FRANCIS BRINLEY. 333
After passing through several hands, the estate was bought
in September, 1869, by the Reclemptorist fathers, who, on
Sunday, May 28, 1876, laid the corner-stone of their cathe-
dral a little to the east of the old house. That same night a
fire so injured the old building that the eastern portion of it
had to be taken down. Other changes have been made.
Additions have been built in the rear, and the chapel has
been moved close up to the remaining half of the house,
the upper portion of which has been taken away. The
large garden back of the house, once so lovely and filled
with rare trees and beautiful shrubbery, has gone to decay,
and lost all its old-time attractiveness. This once charming
locality has completely lost its identity, and the region from
the Parker Hill quarries to "Grab Village" is now largely
occupied by natives of the Emerald Isle and their numerous
progeny.
Col. Francis Brinley, the original proprietor of this, one
of the oldest of the historic mansions remaining in Roxbury,
was a native of London,- and was educated at Eton. He
came to Newport, R. I., in 1710, at the invitation of his
grandfather, Francis Brinley, who made him his heir. In
1718 he married Deborah Lyde, of Boston. Both lived in
Roxbury to a good old age, and were buried in King's Chapel,
of which he was one of the founders. He wag colonel of
the Roxbury regiment, and deputy surveyor-general of the
province, and was distinguished for his manly virtues and
personal worth. His death took place on Nov. 27, 1765, at
the age of seventy-five.
Notwithstanding the alacrity shown in volunteering for the
Louisburg expedition, the governor was compelled, by the
exigency, to employ force in order to man the vessels that
were to accompany it. Col. Brinley was, in the execution
of his orders, rendered unpopular, and in explanation of his
conduct wrote the following letter to the selectmen of Rox-
bury :
334 GEN. HENRY DEARBORN.
" GENTLEMEN, I have been an inhabitant of this town fifteen or
sixteen years. When Gov. Belcher came to the chair I might have
sustained the command I now do in the militia. When Shirley came
in, by much importunity I was prevailed on by Col. William Dudley
to be his lieutenant-colonel; at his death, the representations of
the officers caused me to accept what I had twice refused. On the
8th of March last, I received His Excellency's express commands at
midnight to impress twenty men out of the town of Eoxbury for the
sea service, which I looked upon as too heavy a burden on us after
the duty already done, and accordingly by five o'clock next morning
sent my son with a letter to His Excellency, praying for relief by
affording me the assistance needful out of some neighboring (towns,
whose answer was verbal by my son, saying he was sorry he could
not oblige me for it was not his doing, being stated by the General
Court in each town respectively, etc.
"May 6, 1745."
Henry Dearborn was a young medical practitioner at Not-
tingham Square, New Hampshire, when he received the
appointment of captain in Stark' s regiment. Joining it at
Medford, on May 15, 1775, with a, full company raised by
himself, he participated in its memorable service on the 17th
of June, on Bunker's Hill, at the rail fence to which a cover-
ing of new-mown hay gave the appearance of a breastwork,
though in fact it afforded no real protection to the men.
A volunteer in Arnold's expedition through the wilderness
to Quebec, he was reduced by hunger to the extremity of
dividing his favorite dog among his starving men. A violent
fever nearly carried him off, but he recovered, and in Arnold's
attack on the citadel was wounded and made a prisoner.
Exchanged in March, 1777, and appointed major of Scam-
mell's regiment, he distinguished himself in both the battles
o o
at Saratoga. Transferred to Gild's regiment, its steadiness
and gallantry at Monmouth attracted the notice of the com-
mander-in-chief, who inquired of Dearborn, " "What troops
are those?" " Full-blooded Yankees, from New Hampshire,
sir," was the reply. "Washington expressed his commenda-
GEN. HENRY DEARBORN.
335
tion of them in general orders next day. At the close of the
Yorktown campaign Dearborn was colonel of the First New
Hampshire Regiment. He was a member of Congress for sev-
eral years ; was Secretary of War under Jefferson from 1801
to 1809 ; collector of Boston from 1809 to 1812 ; general-in-
chief on the Canadian frontier in 1812-13, conducting the
expedition that captured York, now Toronto ; and finally
minister to Portugal, in 1822-24.
Dearborn was a man of imposing presence, being full six
feet in height and weighing over two hundred pounds. Active
and athletic, he was
in his j-outh a famous
wrestler, and was well
fitted for the toils and
fatigues of war. Sarah
Bowdoin, a niece of
Gov. James Bowdoin,
to whom he was mar-
ried in 1813, and who
accompanied him in
his mission to Portu-
gal, was noted for be-
nevolence, sweetness
of temper, and good-
ness of heart. Her
father, "William Bowdoin, a merchant, resided in Roxbury
until his decease in 1773, and was a member of several
important committees of the town during the agitation that
preceded the Revolutionary war. The marriage of Mrs. Bow-
doin and the general, though occurring late in life, had quite
a romantic origin in their early days. Among the mementos
preserved in the family of the general is the following order,
whereby hangs a tale :
"MEDFORD, Juiie 8, 1775.
"CAPT. HENRY DEARBORN, You are required to go with one
sergeant aiid twenty men to relieve the guards at "Winter Hill and
GEN. HEX BY DEARBORN.
336 GEN. HENRY DEARBORN.
Temple's to-morrow morning at nine o'clock, and there to take their
place and orders, but first to parade before New Hampshire Cham-
bers (Billings's Tavern).
"JOHN STARK, Col."
Upon the back of the order is this indorsement in Dear-
born's handwriting :
"First time I ever mounted guard."
Robert Temple, above named, whose brother, Sir John,
married Elizabeth, daughter of Gov. Bowdoin, was the pro-
prietor of Ten Hills Farm, at Medford, originally the prop-
ert}* of Gov. "Winthrop. He had a daughter Margaret, who
was frequently visited at Ten Hills by her cousin, Sarah Bow-
doin. Capt. Dearborn's orders required him to have an eye
upon Temple, who was suspected of a correspondence with
the enemy in Boston. After posting his guards, Dearborn,
somewhat fatigued, threw himself upon a settee, and wrap-
ping his tall, manly form in his cloak, took a nap. Soon Miss
Bowdoin, who had been walking in the garden with her friend,
entered the house, and saw him as he lay there asleep. The} 7
immediately withdrew ; but alas ! too late. In that brief
moment Miss Bowdoin had lost her heart to the "splendid
young rebel officer," as she called him, and told her friend
that she must make his acquaintance. Mr. Temple was pre-
vailed upon to open the affair to Capt. Dearborn, who told
him that, though only twenty-four years old, unfortunate!} 7
for the hopes of the young lady, he was married and had two
children. She afterwards married her cousin, James Bow-
doin, minister to Spain, who left her a widow in 1811. Two
3*ears later she was married to the object of her girlish
fancy.
The general's grandson, Henry G. R. Dearborn, has in his
possession the motto " Liberty," cut from the flag of the
Third New Hampshire Regiment, which floated at Saratoga,
Monmouth, and Yorktown. He also has the general's por-
GEN. H. A. S. DEARBORN.
337
trait, painted by Stuart in 1812, and pronounced one of the
artist's happiest efforts. Dearborn having been hastily sum-
moned to the chief command on the northern frontier, the
head was sketched in three sittings of an hour each.
The second General Dearborn, named for his father and his
father's old colonel, Alexander Scammell, filled a large space
in the public eye for nearly fort}' }-ears. Born in Exeter,
N. H., in 1783, he was educated at the College of William
and Mary, and then studied law. Among other public em-
ployments he held the office of collector of the port of Boston
in 1812-29 ; representative from Roxbury and member of the
Executive Council
in 1829 ; senator
from Norfolk in
1830 ; member of
Congress in 1 83 1-3 ;
adjutant-general of
Massachusetts from
1833 until removed
for loaning the State
arms to aid in sup-
pressing the Dorr
Rebellion in Rhode
Island in 1843 ; and
mayor of Roxbury
from 1847 to his de-
cease, July 29, 1851.
Prominent in many useful and benevolent enterprises, he
was one of the chief promoters of the rural cemetery at
Mount Auburn, the first of its kind in the country, and to
him belongs much of the credit for the architectural and rural
taste there manifested. Roxbury is under peculiar obligation
to him as the originator of Forest Hills Cemetery. Tall and
commanding in person, like his father, and with flowing curly
hair, he was remarkable for his manly beauty and lofty bearing.
22
GEN. H. A. 8. DEARBORN.
338 COL. JOSEPH DUDLEY.
He usually drove to the Custom House in a stately carriage,
drawn by a double span of horses, with postilions, and his
elegant turnout was the envy of all who saw him. In his
day, the fine old mansion was the constant scene of courtly
manners and aristocratic display. His doors were open, his
hospitality unlimited, and his associations brought numbers
of the highest and most honored of the land to his house.
Among his guests and visitors was the gallant Bainbridge,
who, while commandant of the Navy Yard, frequently came
in his barge manned by the blue jackets, lauding at the
creek which flowed up into the rear of his grounds. His
industry was remarkable, and as a public officer he estab-
lished a high reputation for patriotism, integrity, and fidelity.
" He sleeps," says Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, " in the conse-
crated ground which his genius planned and which his taste
adorned, beneath the flowers his own hand planted. Truly
he rests from his labors and his works do follow him."
On Faxon's Hill, so called, opposite Brinley Place, and in
front of the quarries, is the first stone building erected in
Roxbury. Originally of one story, it was built many years
ago by Eleb Faxon, who, from 1802 to 1820, had a black-
smith's shop here. Mr. Faxon cast cannon that were in use
during the war of 1812 at the old chocolate mill near the
Punch-Bowl Tavern. Part of an old dam and flume are still
visible at the outlet to "Willow Pond, then receiving in far
greater quantity than now the surplus from Jamaica Pond,
which here formerly ran a chocolate mill, and later, a forge
and trip hammer. Mr. Faxon, who was quite successful as a
manufacturer of axes, lived in a large wooden house, yet
standing, opposite his shop. Just beyond the shop was a
small schoolhouse, kept sixty 3 r ears ago by a Mr. Walker,
to accommodate the Punch-Bowl district.
Col. Joseph Dudley owned and occupied the estate next
beyond Brinley Place. That portion of it that included the
mansion house came into the possession of the wealthy
COL. JOSEPH DUDLEY". 339
Ebenezer Francis, and is still owned by his heirs. Col. Dud-
ley, a farmer, a man of strict honesty and integrity, inherited
the large landed estate of the Dudle3 r s, which, after remain-
ing for nearly two centuries in the family, was alienated by
him in this wise : Fancying himself rich in consequence of
some sales of land made for him by H. G. Otis and others, he
indulged in a style of living far beyond his means, and that
soon reduced him from affluence to comparative poverty.
Col. Dudley's gift to the town has already been mentioned,
and such was the open-handed generosity of the man that,
had his means permitted, there would not have been a poor
person in Roxbury. In 1820 he was persuaded to lay claim
to a Dudle} 1 " peerage then dormant, and sent an agent to Eng-
land armed with the family papers and other proofs in support
of his title, which his legal adviser assured him was perfectly
good. Nothing came of it, however, and the papers are sup-
posed to have been lost.
Until within a few years, a square redoubt, the most north-
erly of the fortifications erected in Roxbury by the Americans
during the siege, and completely commanding Muddy River,
was visible on this estate near Appleton Place, at the extreme
point of the upland, to the west of and very near Brookline
Avenue.
Beyond is the estate which has for more than two centuries
been in the possession of the Davis family. Ebenezer, its
founder, came from "Wales, and acquired by his trade of a
blacksmith a considerable estate. Isaac Davis, its last male
representative, a worthy farmer, and a man of old-fashioned
honesty and integrity, was for thirty years treasurer of the
town and for seventeen years its representative. His widow,
a daughter of Aaron White, of Mount Pleasant, at the age
of ninety-three, resides here with her son-in-law, Mr. John
L. DeWolf.
The old Crafts house, which is yet standing in excellent
preservation on Tremont Street, near the foot of Parker Hill
340
THE CRAFT HOMESTEAD.
Avenue, was built by Ebenezer, son of Lieut. Samuel and
grandson of Griffin Craft, a cordwainer by trade, and ensign
of the Roxbury military company. The land on which it
stands, originally Robert Seaver's, " passed by agreement" in
1705 from John Ruggles, the grandson of Griffin Craft,
who inherited and dwelt upon it, to his cousin, Ebenezer
Craft, who erected the house thereon in 1709, as appears by
the date on the chimney. About the year 1796 the back part
of the house, being of one story at the eaves, was taken down,
and a new part built one and a half stories high, with its
long rafters extending up to the dated chimney. Six genera-
tions of the de-
scendants of Griffin
Craft have occu-
pied this old house,
viz., Ensign Eben-
ezer, his grandson ;
Deacon Ebenezer,
son of the ensign ;
his son. Daniel ;
Major Ebenezer,
son of Daniel; Wil-
liam A. Crafts and
Susan H. Gallup,
children of the ma-
jor ; and their chil-
dren. In November, 1871, it was sold, together with a por-
tion of the farm, to Stillman B. Allen, of Boston, having
never before been conveyed by deed.
Before the bridge from Boston to Cambridge was built,
and when holidays were of rare occurrence and were appre-
ciated accordingly, all the riding between the two places
passed over this road. Here the family and their friends and
neighbors would gather on Commencement Day at Harvard
College, then a most attractive celebration, to witness the
CRAFTS HOMESTEAD.
THE CRAFT HOMESTEAD. 341
gay equipages, and the stream of animated life in holiday
attire, flowing through Roxbury to attend and participate in
the literary festival.
Griffin Craft, the founder of this family in New England,
was perhaps the first white settler in Roxbury, the birth of
his son John, on July 10, 1630, being the first entry in the
records of the town. As this event was coincident with
Pynchon's settlement in Roxbury, Craft probably came over
to New England in the company of Winthrop. His home-
stead and farm were situated near Muddy River, the present
boundary line between Roxbury and Brookline. Besides
holding many town offices and other public trusts, he was a
deputy to the General Court in 1638, also from 1663 to 1667,
a member of the artillery company in 1668, and lieutenant
of the military company of Roxbury from 1653 to 1676. In
1650 he was one of the five men to " order the town affairs."
In 1653 he was one of the committee to make " a record of
houses and lands "in Roxbury; and in 1658 he with four
others was selected to settle the boundary dispute with Ded-
ham. From this Roxbury patriarch, who died old and blind
on Oct. 4, 1689, nearly all of the name in New England are
descended. John, his son, lived near Gamblin's End (School
Street), on the west side of Stony River, and adjoining Wil-
liam Curtis.
Lieut. Samuel, second son of Griffin, whose estate he
inherited, and whom he outlived but a single year, was
equally prominent with his father in the affairs of the town.
Like him, he was lieutenant of its military company and
frequently selectman, and in 1689 was one of those chosen
to take a list of all the real and personal estate of each
of the male inhabitants of Roxbury. He was one of twelve
to whom the " Mashamoquet purchase" at Pomfret, Conn.,
was granted in 1687, and on which his grandson Joseph set-
tled in 1725. His widow, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert
Seaver, lived to the age of eighty-eight. Their daughter,
342 THE CRAFT HOMESTEAD.
Alice, was remarkable not only for her numerous marriages,
she having borne successively the names of Levering, Lyon,
Greenwood, Shedd, and "Winchester, but also for her longev-
ity, as she died in 1783, at the ripe age of one hundred and
one. Her brother Nathaniel was a tanner or miller in Rox-
bury on the banks of Stony River, perhaps on the land of his
uncle John. Nathaniel's son, Jonathan, has numerous de-
scendants in Roxbury, and would doubtless have attained to
great age, had he not in 1801, at the premature age of ninety-
three, fallen from an apple-tree. He married Susannah Gore,
and their six children all married, allying themselves with the
Williams, Davis, Hurd, and other prominent families, and all
living in Roxbury, with the exception of Capt. Abner Crafts,
of Watertown.
Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Deacon Ebenezer Craft and
Susannah White, married Caleb White, of Brookline, and died
in the old house in 1839 at the age of ninety-two. Her grand-
mother, "Madam" Ann White, an energetic woman of the old
school, habitually made her Sunday-morning toilet over a pail
of water for want of a looking-glass, and then walked to
the Roxbury meeting-house, some five miles, to attend a long
day's service. Elizabeth, or " Aunt White," as she was
affectionately called in her latter years, was a woman of supe-
rior culture. She was a great reader, had an excellent mem-
ory, and wrote well both in prose and verse.
Slaves were held for domestic service by the more wealthy
Roxbury families prior to the Revolution, and there is extant
a bill of sale in 1739 of a slave owned by Richard Champion, of
Boston, schoolmaster, for 100, "unto Ebenezer Craft, of
Roxbury, a negro girl named Dina, about eleven years old,
together with all her wearing apparell." Dina proved a good
investment, and for sixty years rendered faithful service,
dying in 1803 at the age of seventy-five. The ensign's pre-
vious transaction in wool had not turned out happily. He
had paid 105 for a negro girl named Flora to Ebenezer
Dorr, who soon afterwards wrote him as follows :
THE CRAFT HOMESTEAD. 343
" Sir, lam sorry you did not Lett me see you yesterday. I
perseve you still meet with treble with the negro which I am ex-
ceeding sorry to hear, as I told you at your house I intended you
no harm but good. I did bye you as I would be done by, & I still
intend to do by you as I would be done by if I were in your case
but, however you must think as to the sale of the negro it is by
means of selling her to you for it is all over town that youre dis-
curege and wold give ten pound to have me take her againe I
apprehend I had better given you twenty pounds, than ever you
had been consarned with her. I would not a thanked any body to
have given me 100 for her that morning before you carried her away,
but however, seeing it is as it is, we must do as well as we can. I
wold have you consult with the Justes and consider my case allso
and do by me allso as you wold be done by. If I had your money
as the Justeses bond I should be under the same consarn that I am
now. Pray Lett me see you if you please and if we can accommo-
date the matter to both our satisfaction I shall be very free in the
matter that is if I hear no Reflecsions, for I do declare I was sin-
sere in the whole matter.
"From yours to serve
" EBENEZER DORR.
"January the 6, 1735-6."
Ebenezer Craft, a prominent and well-to-do citizen, who,
like his father before him, was a ' ' cordwainer " and a deacon
of the First Church, added to the family possessions by the
purchase of twenty-seven acres of land on Parker Hill of Paul
Dudley in 1722. The smaller of the two large elms still
standing in front of the house was planted by the deacon,
who in his old age and blindness was in the habit of feeling
them to ascertain their growth. The larger was a good-sized
tree when the house was built. Here Deacon Craft died
Sept. 1, 1791, aged eighty-six.
The deacon's grandson, Major Ebenezer Crafts, inherited
all his land on both sides the Brookline Road, stretching back
northerly from the old house to Muddy River and including
the northwestern slope and the summit of Parker Hill,
extending nearly to Heath Street, and on Muddy River west-
erly. The hill had a fine large peach orchard on the summit,
344 THE CRAFT HOMESTEAD.
and orchards on its sides. The large mansion, admirably
located on the northerly slope of the hill, and nearly opposite
the old house, was built by him at the time of his marriage in
1806. It was designed by Peter Banner, an English archi-
tect, also the designer of Park Street Church, Boston, and
was greatly admired for its classic style, its fine proportions,
its rich and massive front elevation, its fluted Corinthian
columns in pairs, and reaching to the height of two stories,
and its general purity of style. The interior was also elabo-
rately finished and profusely ornamented, but was still taste-
ful and classic. Major Crafts lived here forty years, when he
sold the house and the hill east of Heath Street, and moved
back to the old house in which he was born, and where he
died in 1864, at the age of eighty-five. This mansion, in
which, after its change of owners, Mr. George Howe lived
for twenty j r ears, is at present owned by T. Quincy Browne.
The remainder of Major Crafts's estate, including the niod-
ern house built in 1846, a few rods easterly of the old home-
stead, is now in the possession of William A. Crafts, who occu-
pies it with his family. This last Ebenezer was the first of the
famil}' to change the ancient name from Craft to Crafts. His
son, William A. Crafts, has been a member of the Legislature,
and was clerk of the House in 1862-69, since when, he has
been secretary of the State Board of Railroad Commissioners.
He established the "Norfolk County Journal," now the " Home
Journal," editing it in 1849-50, and has published several
books, the best of which, " Pioneers in the Settlement of
America," appeared in 1877. To his son William F. Crafts,
who has made extensive collections for a history of this fam-
ily, the author is indebted for materials made use of in pre-
paring the present notice.
Among those of Griffin Craft's descendants who have
attained distinction are Col. Thomas Crafts, prominent in
the Revolutionary annals of Boston ; Col. Ebenezer Crafts, a
cavalry officer of the war for independence, founder of Crafts-
THE MILL-DAM. 345
bury, Vt. ; his son, Samuel C. Crafts, judge, United States
senator, and governor of that State ; and William Crafts, a cele-
brated orator, lawj-er, and man of letters, of Charleston, S. C.
Its Roxbury alliances are numerous, and include the well-
known names of Griggs, Heath, Gore, "Williams, Seaver,
Ruggles, and Weld.
The Mill-dam, or Western Avenue, the first of the arti-
ficial roads connecting the peninsula of Boston with the main-
land, and the greatest undertaking Boston had up to that
time ever engaged in, is one and a half miles in length, and
was built by the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation, char-
tered June 14, 1814. Uriah Cotting, its principal projector,
did not live to see its completion, nor did he, with all his
sagacity, foresee that it was the first step towards converting
the Back Bay into terra firma. This work, for which for the
first time Irish laborers were expressly imported into the
country, was begun in 1818, and the stone used was princi-
pally taken from the Parker Hill quarry. It was opened
July 2, 1821, with a public parade, the opening of another
avenue to Boston being considered a great event. A caval-
cade of citizens, Gen. William H. Sumner acting as chief
marshal, crossed from the Roxbury shore, and were received
by the inhabitants on the Boston side.
The whole territory flowed in consequence of the construc-
tion of this dam had formerly been valuable only for a trifling
quantity of salt grass, and could have been purchased for a
few hundred dollars. It was supposed that an immense water
power could be thus obtained of almost fabulous value, and
that all kinds of manufacturing and mechanical business
would be established and carried on there by its means, and
that thus the individual owners of the land flowed, and of the
surrounding region, would be enriched and benefited. When
brought to a practical test, it was discovered that an egregious
error had been made in calculating the amount of the water
power, and that the small result obtained was out of all pro-
346 ROXBURY PRECINCT. GEORGE GRIGGS.
portion to its cost and of little value. Meanwhile, grist-mills
and iron works had been erected, machine shops, manufac-
tories, and rope-walks had been built, and the various dams
applied to different economical purposes ; but many men of
substance were, owing to this miscalculation, made bankrupt.
All the plans devised to give value to the property failed until
in 1859 the Boston Water Power Company, by legislative
enactment, obtained leave to convert it into dry land. Within
a few years, Beacon Street has extended itself over the Mill-
dam, which is now lined with handsome dwellings, and a
beautiful boulevard has taken the place of the former dusty
and unattractive highway.
Punch- Bowl Village in Brookline and the part of Rox-
bury adjacent, including Parker Hill and Heath Street, was
once known as "Roxbury Precinct." In this area were the
homesteads of Crafts, Heath, Griggs, Wyman, Downer, and
Brewer, some of whom had lands in both Roxbury and Brook-
line. The old boundarj' line was a small brook that ran into
Muddy River, then the river itself, east to the channel. Pearl
Street now marks the ancient northeastern limit of Roxbury,
and the old stone post that once stood on its southeast corner
is now erected on the other side, a little below. About half
of Punch-Bowl Village, tying between the brook, which was
the old boundary, and Muddy River, was annexed to Brook-
line in 1844.
In the rear of the gas works, at the corner of Brookline
Avenue, stood an old house, which after many years' neglect
was blown down, probably by the great gale of September,
1816. This, with all the land adjoining on both sides of
Muddy River, was formerly the property of the Griggs fam-
ily, early settlers in Roxbury. George Griggs, of Launden,
Buckinghamshire, England, came over in the "Hopewell"
with Alyce, his wife, and five children, in 1635. Dr. George
Griggs, early in the last century, built the old house now for
many } T ears a tenement house, and known sometimes as the
DR. ELIPHALET DOWNER. 347
"Tontine," but usually called the "Long House." The
west half, with the ornamented portico over the front door,
was afterwards added by Dr. Downer. Dr. Griggs's daugh-
ter Mary, who was very beautiful and quite an heiress, mar-
ried, in opposition to her parents' wishes, Capt. William
Wyman, with whom she lived most unhappily. The house
and land now occupied by the gas company, with much other
real estate in the vicinity, was long known as the Wyman
property. It was by marriage with the daughter of Capt.
Wyman that Dr. Downer became connected with the family
and its possessions. After the former's death, the old house
was kept as a tavern for several years, with the sign of the
punch-bowl, but it had little patronage, and was soon given
up. The houses of Capt. Wyman and Dr. Downer both
originally set back farther from the street than at present, as
the widenings that have taken place from time to time have cut
off the yards. The Downer or " Long House" had a broad,
green yard shaded by tall buttonwoods and two Lombard} 7
poplars, while between the two houses stood a beautiful elm.
Dr. Downer, who was active in town affairs, as appears by
the Roxbury records, and who was the grandfather of Sam-
uel Downer, Esq., of Boston, left his house early on the
morning of the battle of Lexington, and repairing to the
front, soon came in sight of the retreating Britons, and sud-
denly encountered one of their flankers, who had stopped to
pillage a house. Both levelled their guns at the same instant,
and both missed. Closing in deadly struggle, they crossed
bayonets, but Downer soon found he was no match for his
adversary in the dexterous use of that weapon. The main
body was every moment coming nearer. Gathering himself
for a desperate effort, Downer, with incredible quickness,
reversed his firelock, and dealt his foe a terrific stroke with the
but, which brought him to the ground. The blow, which had
shattered the breech of his gun, only disabled his enemy, and
he finished him with eight inches of cold steel ; then possess-
348 PUNCH-BOWL TAVERN.
ing himself of the soldier's arms as the spoil of victory, he
hastily withdrew. When the battle was over he found his
forehead had been grazed by a musket-ball.
He was subsequently a surgeon on board the privateer
sloop "Yankee," and was taken prisoner and carried to Eng-
land, whence he escaped to France. On the passage home
he had again the ill luck to be captured, and was severely
wounded. After a long confinement in Portsea prison, where
he and his companions were cruelly treated, he escaped by
excavating under the wall and street adjacent, was aided by
friends, and after three years' absence made his way to Bos-
ton. Dr. Downer afterwards served as surgeon-general of
the Penobscot expedition, that most melancholy of failures.
He was a skilful surgeon, though a hard, rough man.
That famous old hostelry, the Punch-Bowl Tavern, built
early in the last century, stood just beyond Pearl Street,
where Lyceum Hall now is. It was a two-story, hipped-roof
house, and its enlargement from time to tune, by the purchase
and removal hither of old houses from Boston and vicinity,
resulted in aggregating a curious medley of rooms of all sorts
and sizes, and producing a new architectural order, appropri-
ately named " conglomerate."
With its outbuildings, it occupied all the space on the street
from the provision store of Brown Brothers to the brick black-
smith's shop of J. Madore. It was of a yellowish color, and
had a seat running along the front under an overhanging pro-
jection of a part of the second story, where loungers congre-
gated to discuss the news of the day. In front and near each
end were large elm-trees. Under the westerly one stood a
pump, which remained until recently. The ancient sign, sus-
pended from a high red post, had for its design a huge bowl
and ladle, overhung by a lemon-tree laden with fruit, some of
which, having fallen to the ground, lay around the bowl.
This sign, known throughout New England, gave its name to
the tarern and village.
PUNCH-BOWL TAVERN. 349
Before the days of railroads, there was a great amount of
heavy teaming in this direction, and the Punch-Bowl, with
its hospitable entertainmant, was a necessity of the times.
It was a common thing for a row of teams to occupy the side
of the street above and below the tavern, from what is now
Harrison Place to the gas works, in a continuous line, while
man and beast were fed and rested. Connected with it was a
large dancing-hall, and it was a famous place of resort for
gay parties from the surrounding towns, and even from Bos-
ton, and it was much frequented by the British officers before
the Revolution. The Mill-dam and the bridges at last diverted
so much of its business that, its occupation gone, the old
Punch-Bowl, no longer a source of income to owner or lessee,
was torn down about 1833.
350 THE DEDHAM TURNPIKE.
CHAPTER IX.
THE HIGHLANDS.
The Dedham Turnpike. Auchmuty House. Gov. Sumner. The Fel-
lowes Athenaeum Bartlett Street. Noah Perrin. Lambert. Rox-
bury Charitable Society. Norfolk House. Ruggles Homestead.
Eliot Church. Octagon Hall. Chandler. Dane. Hears. Mac-
carty Farm. Old Forts. Standpipe.
IN 1803 the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike, from Boston to
Pawtucket, known later as the Dedham Turnpike, was
incorporated. Its course in Roxbury was :
" From Dedham Court House to a high rock east of Widow Mary
Draper's, thence near and by the house of John Davis, deceased ; also
near and by Chenery's wheelwright's shop ; also near and by the barn
of Thomas Weld through laud of Capt. Joseph Williams ; south of
his dwelling-house to the end of Mears Lane, so called, near the
house of the late Gov. Sumner ; thence to the southerly side of the
pavement near to the brick schoolhouse."
Before this road was built an irregular cart-path, known as
the " way to Maccarty's farm," u the highway from Roxbury
town street to John Watson's," and also as " the highway to
the orchard of William Tay, and so to Gamblin's End," fur-
nished a means of communication between the eastern and
western portions of the town, to the east of the old Dedham
Road, now Centre Street. The course of this path from
"Eliot's Corner" was east of the present road, which it
crossed at Oakland Street, then following the line of Thorn-
ton to Ellis Street, passing to the west of the Ellis (formerly
the Maccarty) mansion, east of the line of Hawthorne Street,
across Marcella towards Amory Street, and then following
AUCHMUTT HOUSE. 351
the direction of School Street, until just beyond Capt. Joseph
Williams's, now Mrs. Adams's, it diverged to the south and
there struck what is now known as Forest Hill Street, for-
merly Back Street, and still earlier Rocky Swamp Lane.
On our left as we follow the old turnpike, we have the
estate originally Isaac Morrill's, and his son-in-law, Tobias
Davis's, owned at the beginning of the last century by the
Stevens family, a portion of which was afterwards the prop-
erty of the elder Judge Auchmuty. It included much of the
tract bounded by Dudley, Warren, St. James, and Washing-
ton Streets. A part of Morrill's estate, called "The Fox-
holes," containing twenty-six acres "upon Abraham Newell
and Edward Bugby south ; a rocky highway west ; Pine Hill,
north ; and a highway leading to Great Lotts, east," seems
identical with the territory on both sides of Circuit Street,
embracing the " Tommy's Rock " region.
The fine old mansion, a relic of colonial tunes, now stand-
ing on Washington Street at the corner of Cliff, was built
about 1761 by the younger Judge Auchmuty, who resided here
until the breaking out of the Revolution in 1775. Confiscated
as the property of a Tory by the act of April 13, 1779, it, to-
gether with seven acres of land adjoining, was purchased of
the State by Increase Sumner, afterwards governor of Mas-
sachusetts, who resided here until his death. It is now owned
and occupied by Mr. Charles F. Bradford. In appearance it
is not unlike many of the better class of residences belong-
ing to the later colonial period, and it has undergone few
alterations. It is some distance from the street, and the
broad, well-worn pavement by which it is approached pre-
pares you for the solid, substantial old house itself. The
grounds are shaded by handsome trees, and the house and its
surroundings are so suggestive of taste and comfort that the
visitor cannot help feeling some touch of pity for the loyal
owner, who was compelled, almost without warning, to abandon
BO pleasant a home. On the right as you enter is the spacious
352
AUCHMUTY HOUSE.
room formerly used as the dining-hall ; in the room opposite
were held, in the autumn of 1817, during Mr. Beza Tucker's
occupancy* of the premises, a series of religious meetings that
resulted in the formation of the First Baptist Society, now
worshipping in the church on Dudley Street.
Here, as a convenient halting-place between the Province
House and the governor's country seat at Jamaica Plain and
the lieutenant-governor's residence at Milton, met the secret
conclave of crown officers who plotted the overthrow of colo-
nial liberty. Here, Bernard, Hutchinson, Auchmuty, Hallo-
well, Hulton, Burch,
and Paxton discussed
the proposed altera-
tions in the charter and
the bringing over of
British soldiers to over-
awe the people. Hith-
er Gov. Bernard sum-
moned the council on
account of the wonder-
ful discovery of a tar-
barrel in the beacon
on Beacon Hill, which it was understood was to be fired as
soon as the ships containing the British troops should make
their appearance in the bay. "Matters now," so he wrote
Lord Hillsboro, the English Secretary of State, " exceed all
former exceedings," and he construed this occurrence as a
great insult to himself. The tar-barrel question was debated
here, " and," he continues, " it was resolved that the select-
men should be desired to take it down, but they would not
do it." It must be admitted that the selectmen of Boston
were a contumacious set, and that in the matter of tar-barrels
and tea-chests they evinced an utter disregard of the gov-
ernor's feelings.
During the siege the officers of Col. Learned's regiment
AUCHMUTY HOUSE.
JUDGE AUCHMUTY. 353
were quartered here. A corn-house belonging to the estate,
improved by some of that regiment as a shoemaker's shop,
was removed, and did duty at Lamb's Dam Fort as a maga-
zine. From the gambrel roof of the mansion, which is sur-
mounted by a railing, the various encampments of the besieg-
ing forces on Meeting-House Hill and the vicinity were in
full view, and the magnificent but exasperating spectacle of
Charlestown in flames, on the day of Bunker's Hill, must have
been distinctly visible. After the close of the siege the prop-
erty was leased by the selectmen, who had charge of the con-
fiscated estates, to Joseph Ruggles.
The younger Robert Auchmuty, a native of Boston, died
in London, an exile from his native land, in November, 1788.
His great natural parts and industry enabled him to dispense
with a college education, and he became an eloquent and suc-
cessful advocate, the associate at the bar of Otis, Thatcher,
Gridley, Prat, Trowbridge, Quincy, and Adams. In con-
junction with the two last named, he successfully defended
Capt. Preston and the British soldiers on trial for participa-
tion in the affray known as the " Boston Massacre," his plea
in this case being greatly admired. Appointed a judge iv
17G7, he continued upon the bench until 1776, when, the
authority of the crown being no longer recognized, and being
a zealous loyalist, he went to England, where he was for a
time in very distressed circumstances. Some of his letters
to persons in England were, with those of Hutchinson, sent
to America by Franklin in 1773. The misrepresentation of
their conduct and motives, which was thus laid bare, stimu-
lated the people to a high pitch of resentment. John Adams
thus disparages him in describing a meeting of the Boston
bar about 1766:
"Gridley told some stories, Auchmuty told more, and scolded
and railed about the lowness of the fees. This is A.'s commonplace
topic. He is employed in sessions and everywhere. The same dull,
Insipid way of arguing everywhere, as many repetitions as a Pres-
23
354 INCREASE SUMNER.
byterian preacher in his prayer, volubility, voluble repetition and
repeated volubility, fluent reiteration and reiterating fluency, such
nauseous eloquence always puts my patience to the torture. In
what is this man conspicuous? In reasoning, in imagination, in
painting, in the pathetic, or what? In confidence, in dogmatism,
etc. His wit is flat, his humor is affected and dull. To have this
man represented as the first at the bar is a libel upon it, a reproach
and disgrace to it." And in another place he says, "Auchmuty main-
tains the air of reserve, design, and cunning."
There is spite or envy in this tirade, for in addressing a
jury Auchmuty was, according to contemporary accounts, in-
teresting and agreeable, and generally successful.
When appealed to by Hutchinson to say whether, if neces-
sary, he would order the troops to fire upon a mob who were
committing violence and refused to disperse, Auchmuty de-
clared he would not, as the laws, not of this province but of
England, now stood, and as the people in both were disposed,
for he was sure of being brought to the bar as Justice Gillain
was, and he would have less chance with a jury here than
Gillam had in England. The latter had a short time before
ordered the soldiers to fire on a mob at Hexam, where forty
persons were killed.
Another distinguished occupant of this mansion was Increase
Sumner, a native of Roxbury, whose birthplace we have
already visited. The future governor attended the Roxbury
grammar school, then kept by William Gushing, afterwards
a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and by
his successor, Joseph Warren, the distinguished patriot, and
himself took charge of that institution after his graduation at
Harvard College, in 1767. While thus engaged he studied
law, which he subsequently practised in his native town.
Intelligent and trustworthy, his business soon became lucra-
tive, and besides filling numerous town offices he was succes-
sively chosen to the responsible posts of representative,
senator, judge, and finally, governor of the Commonwealth.
INCREASE SUMNER.
355
In all these positions he exhibited sterling qualities and gained
honorable distinction.
Judge Sumner was a member of the State Convention which
in 1789 ratified the Federal Constitution, in which body he
made several impressive speeches. The unsettled condition
of affairs, and the doubts in the minds of thoughtful and intel-
ligent men as to the probable fate of this instrument, are
GOV. STJMXEB.
exhibited in a conversation between the judge at his OWR
gate, in Roxbury, where he was dealing with a marketman, and
Fisher Ames, who, on his way from Dedham, frequently
stopped to have a chat with the judge :
"'What's the news in Boston this morning, judge?' said he.
Just then Mr. Hears, a neighbor, and attached to the Tory party, as
he walked by the cart inquired of the judge what he gave a pound
for butter, who answered, ' Ninepence.' ' Ninepeuce a pound for
butter ! Ninepence a pound for butter ! It did not use to be so in
King George's day. Niuepence for sixpence ! This is your new gov-
356 INCREASE SUMNER.
ernment, is it? Ninepeuce a pound for butter I It won't last ' ; and
repeating his words, ' Ninepence a pound,' jogged on and left the
judge and Mr. Ames together. The latter observed, ' I am some-
what of that man's mind. It won't last. What do you think of it,
judge? I say it won't last, at least I fear it won't.' The judge, who
always saw the bright side of things, answered, ' I do not fear it.
The machinery is complex, but it is new. Let us see how it works,
let us give it a fair trial, Mr. Ames.'
" Some time afterwards Mr. Ames stopped again, and the follow-
ing conversation occurred : ' Well, judge, what do you think of it
now? ' ' Why, has anything taken place? ' ' Have you not heard of
the doings of the Roxbury town meeting yesterday? It is in the
morning papers.' 'I have not seen the papers,' said the judge.
'What did they do?' 'It is your own town, and surely you don't
want a Dedham man to tell you what was done in a Roxbury town
meeting. You will be sorry to learn, judge, that your Constitution
has given way in the point of your greatest security. After a long
debate^ not unpremeditatedly, the town decided that a man has an
estate of the value of 60 if he is able to earn that sum within the
year.' ' What,' answered the judge, ' without having a freehold es-
tate, or having in possession personal property of that value? ' ' No
property at all as I understand it, judge. A carpenter who owned
his tools, but nothing else, and who was able to work for his living,
they admitted to vote for a representative to the General Court, and
Gen. Heath led the majority. You see how it works. What do you
think of it now, judge? ' ' Why,' says the judge, ' that construction
never entered into any man's mind. It amounts almost to universal
suffrage. It never will prevail, but if it does, brother Ames, I must
say that my confidence is very much diminished.' "
Elected governor in April, 1797, Sumner was qualified on
the 2d of June following. A cavalcade of between two hun-
dred and three hundred citizens of Boston, Roxbury, and adja-
cent towns, accompanied by several distinguished gentlemen,
including Generals Lincoln and Knox, in carriages, escorted
a long procession from Roxbury to the State House, from the
eastern balcony of which, in State Street, he was proclaimed
governor, as was then the custom. The new State House
was first occupied in the following year. At this time he was
INCREASE SUMNER. 357
in the vigor of life, and in this respect formed a contrast to
his immediate predecessors. Hancock was so infirm from
gout that his servants made an arm-chair and carried him
from his carriage up the stairs to the council chamber when
he met the Legislature, and Adams was stricken in years and
somewhat bent, as was apparent when he walked in the State
processions. But when his successor marched at the head of
the legislative body on its return from hearing the election
sermon at the Old South, as he passed in at the door of the
old State House, where an old apple-woman sat, she was
heard to exclaim, " Thank God we have got a governor that
can walk, at last ! " The governor was on his death-bed when,
upon his last re-election, it became necessary to administer
the official oath. This impressive scene, which has been
described by one of the actors in it, took place in the east
upper room, now used as the library. Gov. Sumner died on
the 7th of June, 1799, and was buried in the Granary Bury-
ing-Ground, in Boston, near the Athenaeum, where stands a
monument to his memory. The funeral service was first per-
formed at his house, and a "most excellent and pathetic
prayer" was offered by Rev. Dr. Porter. John Adams, then
President, attended the funeral, and was announced as he
entered the house by Sheriff Cutler, of Norfolk. On the day
of the funeral, said at the time to have been the most solemn
and imposing ever witnessed in the State, business was sus-
pended, the shops were closed, and the expression of sorrow
and mourning was everywhere visible.
In person, Sumner was attractive and commanding, his
stature elevated and well proportioned. Polite and unassum-
ing, his manners were yet dignified and manly. He was hos-
pitable, and could afford a manner of living suited to his
generous and social qualities and his elevated position. He
drove a coach and four on all public occasions, and liberally
entertained all public characters and strangers of distinction.
A substantial, practical farmer, he attended personally to the
358 THE FELLOWES ATHEN^UM.
cultivation of the soil, and set an example of good husbandry
to his neighbors.
The governor's widow passed the whole of her married life
here, until her removal to Boston in 1806. Opposite the
mansion was an estate of fourteen acres, which his father-in-
law, Mr. Hyslop, purchased for him, and in the cultivation
of which, after he had ploughed clown the breastworks thrown
up during the siege, and made it an open field, he took great
pleasure. This estate was recovered of his heirs by Joseph
Dudley, as tenant in tail, by suit in 1806. The following
reminiscence was furnished by Mr. Moses Williams to Gen.
William H. Sumner, the governor's son :
" The first school I attended was Ma'am Johnson's. Her house
was next to your father's, and as I passed his premises in going to
school I frequently saw him, with his huge cocked hat and blue cloak
trimmed with scarlet velvet, walking for exercise in his beautiful
front yard, always as neat as a good wife's parlor floor and shaded
by beautiful walnut-trees. One day, seeing your father thus walking,
and noticing that a few ripe walnuts had fallen, I walked into the
yard and asked if he would give them to me. He did not know me,
but he gave his permission with so kind a reply, that though nearly
sixty years have passed, and I was then only five or six years old,
I have never forgotten it."
A large house, and one and a half acres of land adjoining
the Auchmuty estate, were the property and residence, before
the Revolution, of Capt. Xathaniel Williams. He com
mancled a Roxbury company at the siege of Louisburg, and
was the son of John and Dorothy (Brewer) Williams and
great-grandson of Robert, the emigrant.
At the right, as you enter Bartlett Street, is the house in
which Caleb Fellowes, founder of the Fellowes Athenaeum,
now the Roxbury branch of the Boston Public Library, lived
for many years, and which, after 1836, was the home of Dr.
Henry Bartlett. Caleb, son of Cornelius Fellowes, was a
native of Gloucester, Mass., his mother being Sarah Wil-
BARTLETT STREET. 359
Hams, of Roxbury. In his youth he followed the sea, but
acquiring by trade a competency in Calcutta, he settled in
Roxbury in 1816, and at his decease, on Nov. 8, 1852, left a
large part of his accumulations for the founding of the library
which bears his name.
Mr. Fellowes's last years were passed in Philadelphia, and
it was by the advice of a friend with whom he had lived in
Roxbuiy in the most intimate relations, Supply Clapp Thwing,
whose long and beneficent earthly career has but recently
terminated, that he resolved upon this step. "My friend,"
said Mr. Thwing, "your mother was born in Roxbury, and
there, you say yourself, you passed some of the happiest
years of your life. "We want an Athenaeum, and you could
not leave your property, outside of your own family, to a
better object." The appeal was successful, but the disinter-
estedness of the advice is seen in the fact that a large part of
the sum thus appropriated was, by Mr. Fellowes's first will,
bequeathed to Mr. Thwing, and that it was at his urgent
request, when this became known to him, that his friend can-
celled the legacy and increased by so much his public bequest.
By the terms of the will, forty thousand dollars were to be
laid out for a suitable lot of ground within half a mile of Rev.
Mr. Putnam's meeting-house, and in erecting thereon an edi-
fice similar in plan to the Philadelphia Athenaeum ; the residue
to be safely invested, and the income to be devoted to the
purchase of books and periodicals. In 1866 the Fellowes
Athenaeum was incorporated, and in 1872, the fund then
amounting to fifty-four thousand dollars, the building on
Millmont Street was begun. It was formally dedicated on
July 9, and opened for public use on July 16, 1873.
Bartlett Street was in 1760 given to the town by Isaac
Winslow, Thomas Dudlej*, and Noah Perrin. It led from
the highway near the meeting-house, by Mr. Noah Perrin's,
into the town way leading to Maccarty's farm. Long known
as Perrin's Lane, it formed the southwestern boundary of
360 NOAH PERRIN.
the Dudley estate, and now connects Dudley and Washington
Streets. It formerly opened opposite the Auchmuty house,
and its lower easterly side was all a quagmire. Back of
Perrin's house, between the estates of Messrs. Osgood and
Blanchard, is an elevation known as Pigeon Hill.
Noah Perrin, who was for many j-ears treasurer of the
town, lived in a house, torn down a few years since, in which
his son-in-law, Stephen, son of Col. Joseph Williams, long
resided. It was one of the oldest houses then remaining in
the town, and may have been the house of Chandler or
Dane, early settlers in Roxbury. It bore honorable scars of
Revolutionary service in the shape of shot-holes from the
British cannon, and was made use of as a barrack. The
first Noah Perrin, who was by trade a tailor, bought in 1725,
of Benjamin Thompson's widow, the lot at the southerly
corner of the street. He died here in 1788, leaving to his
son-in-law Williams his dwelling-house, tan-yard, bark-house,
and three acres of land. This Benjamin Thompson is the
same whose tombstone in the old burying-ground indicates
the final resting-place of the ' ' learned schoolmaster and phy-
sician and y* renowned poet of New England." He taught
the old grammar school from 1700 to 1703. A two-story
house now occupies the site of the old building.
Just beyond is the residence of Dr. John Bartlett, a skilful
physician and a philanthropic man. It is of three stories,
and faces the Dudley School for Girls. This house was built
for Noah Perrin Williams by Stephen, his father, who resided
here until his decease in 1811, after which it was the home
of the Doctor. In Hawthorne Cottage, opposite, the residence
of the Dearborn famil}*, is a portrait of the first Gen. Dear-
born, an excellent specimen of Stuart's best manner, and
another of his son, Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, when quite
a young man. Many interesting mementos of both these dis-
tinguished men are here carefully preserved. The manuscript
memoirs and other writings of the latter, in forty-five quarto
LAMBERT HOUSE. 361
volumes, also among the family possessions, attest the re-
markable industry and versatility of the second Gen. Dear-
born, and are doubtless storehouses of valuable information
upon a great variety of subjects.
Beyond is the stone building, bought in 1829 by William H.
Spear of the proprietors of " The Roxbury Female School,"
and purchased of Spear, who occupied it awhile for the same
purpose, by the town of Roxbury in April, 1840, now known
as the Roxbury High School.
On the corner of Blanchard Street is the mansion built by
Major John Jones Spooner, soon after the close of the Revo-
lution, and subsequently the property of Capt. William Lam-
bert, a merchant of Boston. A street and avenue traverse
Lambert's thirteen-acre lot, and bear his name. Major
Spooner, who was the first commander of the Roxbury
Artillery, in 1784, and who graduated at Harvard College
in 1775, married the only daughter of Gen. Heath, went to
Hampton, Va., in 1789, and died there in 1799.
Lambert, who was a native of Boston, died here in 1823,
at the age of eighty. While engaged in business in Halifax
in 1775-78, he acted as agent for the American prisoners
confined there, supplying their necessary wants. Suspected
of too much friendliness to the rebel cause, he was obliged to
hastily abandon his business and property there, and escap-
ing to Boston, again established himself in that town and
became a successful merchant. In 1788 he came to Roxbury,
hiring at one hundred and twenty dollars per annum the
estate he purchased in December of that j'ear, and which he
says he found " a complete wilderness." By many years of
labor in removing all the stone walls, digging and blasting
rocks for a road leading up to the hill, uprooting barberry and
other bushes, indigo-roots, etc., he at length brought it into a
highly attractive condition. In 1794 the west dwelling-house,
on the hill, the site of Mr. Hollingsworth's residence, was fin-
ished with a composition roof, the first seen in New England,
362 ROXBDRY CHARITABLE SOCIETY.
but which Mr. Lambert had often seen in Halifax. Mrs.
Blanchard, a daughter of Mr. Lambert, resides on the estate
with her son, Mr. William Blanchard.
The Roxbury Charitable Society, the oldest institution of
the kind in the town, originated at a meeting held at Mr-
Lambert's in September, 1794, principally from members of
the Roxbury Fire Society. It soon numbered seventy-three
members, among them many of the most influential citizens
of the town, and was incorporated in 1799. Judge John
Lowell was its first president. Among its prominent pro-
moters were Gov. Sumner, Hon. John Lowell, Hon. John
Read, "William Lambert, Rev. Dr. Porter, Hon. Sherman
Leland, and Charles Davis. By the failure of the Norfolk
Bank, the funds of the society were greatly reduced and its
usefulness seriously impaired, but in 1850 it was revived, and
has ever since been an active and beneficent association.
Imposing ceremonies in times past attended its anniversaries,
such as a meeting at the Town House, a procession with mil-
itary escort, and a discourse at the First Church, at which a
collection in aid of its funds was usually taken. Among the
anniversary orators were Judge Lowell, Rev. Horace Holley,
Edward Everett, Rev. Henry Ware, Dr. John Bartlett, and
Rev. E. D. Griffin. Deacon William Davis, at that tune its
secretary, thus describes the anniversary of 1819 :
"The procession was then formed at the Town House, and pro-
ceeded down Dudley Street, passing straight on until it came to the
street which leads to the main street between the stores of Mr.
Chenery Clark and Elijah Lewis ; thence up the main street to the
Rev. Dr. Porter's meeting-house. The escort duty was performed
by the Norfolk Guards, Capt. Samuel Doggett. Select music was
performed at the meeting-house by a number of gentlemen, assisted
by the band attached to the escort. The address of the Eev. John
Pierpont was an independent production, delivered with much
energy, and in his best style of oratory."
The cottage on the left as we approach the Norfolk House,
now the residence of Dr. Benjamin E. Cotting, was a century
GEORGE ALCOCK. 363
ago the dwelling of Simeon Pratt, and is one of the half-
dozen houses of that period still remaining in the vicinity.
In it died Gen. John Greaton, only a few months after his
return home at the close of the war of the Revolution, a
victim to its hardships and exposure. Pratt had a tannery
where the stone building now stands, on Eliot Square, be-
yond the old grocery store.
On the south side of Bartlett Street, near Lambert, was
situated George Alcock's homestead of five acres, having
Thomas Dudley on the north, John Dane on the south, a
highway on the east, and the meeting-house common on the
west. This estate afterwards belonged to the heirs of
Joshua Lamb, who married Mary Alcock. The church
record says of George Alcock :
"He was with the first company in 1630; he left his only son in
England ; his wife dyed soon after he came to this land. When the
people of Rocksborough joyned to the church at Dorchester (until
such time as God should give them opportunity to be a church
among themselves) he was by the church chosen to be a Deakon
especially to regard the brethren at Rocksborough. And after he
adjoyned himself to this church at Roxborough, he was ordained a
Deakon of this church. He made two voyages to England upon
just calling thereunto, wherein he had much experience of Gods
preservation and blessing. He brought over his son John, and also
a wife, by whom he had his second son Samuel. He lived in a good
and godly sort, and dyed in the end of the 10th month 1640, and left
a good savor behind him, the poor of the church much bewailing
his loss."
His first wife was a sister of Rev. Thomas Hooker. Dea-
con Alcock was a phj'sician, and a member of the first Gen-
eral Court in 1634. His brother Thomas, of Dedham, a
surveyor, died in 1657. John Alcock, son of Deacon George,
also a physician, graduated at Harvard College in 1646, and
died March 29, 1667, leaving issue by his wife Sarah, daugh-
ter of Richard Palsgrave. He had a valuable estate at Marl-
borough, and owned the whole of Block Island. To the
364
NORFOLK HOUSE.
Church of Christ in Roxbury he left 3 by will, "to buy
them a good wine-bowl." The family name, which has been
changed to Alcott, is at present worthily represented by the
philosopher, A. Bronson Alcott, and his talented daughter,
Louisa Ma}' Alcott, who, through her mother, also claims
descent from the Roxbury families of Williams and May.
Many of the descendants of Alcock are to be found in Wol-
cott, Conn.
Where the Norfolk House stands, Iaw3 r er Joseph Ruggles
built himself a handsome residence in 1781. This gentle-
THE OLD NORFOLK HOUSE.
man, who was a nephew of Major Nathaniel Ruggles, mar-
ried in 1778 Joanna, sister of Dr. Thomas Williams. After
his decease it was the residence of Hon. David A. Simmons,
who sold it to the Norfolk House Company in 1825. It was
first opened as a public house in the following year, a large
brick addition having been built, containing a hall for public
assemblies, known at first as Highland Hall, subsequently as
Norfolk Hall. This addition was in 1853 moved to the rear,
RUGGLES. 365
giving place to the present sightly structure, with which it is
connected. The old mansion-house is now on Norfolk Street,
doing duty as a tenement house. It was greatly enlarged at
the time of its purchase by the hotel company. In the accom-
panying engraving the old Norfolk House and the Hourly
Office are seen on the right.
John Ruggles, shoemaker, with his wife and two children,
came over in the "Hopewell" in 1635. He lived on the
Brookline road near the Crafts place, and died in 1664, aged
seventy -three. Eliot's record says, " He was a lively Chris-
tian, known to many of the Church in Old England, where
they injoyed socially together"; and of his wife Barbara,
who died in 1636, he says, " The power of the grace of
Christ did much shine in her life and death."
Thomas, elder brother of John, came here in 1637. He
and John Graves died in 1644. "These two," says Eliot,
"brake the knot first of the Nazing Christians. I mean
these first dyed of all y e Christians y' came from that town
in England. Both Thomas and John were children of a
godly father, Thomas being as well known as his brother."
The homestead of Thomas and his descendants was on the
south side of the First Church, and included the hill where
the lower Roxbury fort stood. An old stone wall, the origi-
nal boundary between the Ruggles and "Williams estates, yet
remains on what is now the estate of Mr. George A. Sim-
mons. The property extended from Dudle} 7 Street beyond
Cedar on the south, and from the Norfolk House to Centre
Street on the west.
John Ruggles, the son of Thomas, came over in the "Hope-
well" with his uncle John, and in 1658 married Abigail,
daughter of Griffin Craft. Samuel, his brother, was many
years selectman, representative, and captain of the Roxbury
company, and was actively engaged in the overthrow of Gov.
Andros in 1689. He kept, not far from where the Norfolk
House stands, the " Flower de Luce" tavern, where in 1698
366
MAJOR NATHANIEL RUGGLES.
a meeting was held " to settle about the Muddy River people
worshipping at their house." His son Samuel succeeded his
father in the several offices named. Brigadier Timotlvv Rug-
gles, of Hardwick, a noted loyalist, was a grandson of this
Samuel. His son Joseph, innholder, who died here in August,
1765, was the father of Capt. Joseph and Major Nathaniel
Ruggles. This family, now nearly or quite extinct in Rox-
bury, formerly played no inconsiderable part in its history.
For a century and a half it was rarely without a representa-
tive either in the General Court or the board of selectmen,
holding some position of responsibilty or trust either in church
or State. Capt. John Ruggles commanded a company from
Roxbury in the Louisburg expedition in 1745.
At the corner of Eliot Square and Highland Street is the
old house once the residence of Major Nathaniel Ruggles, who
BTJGGLES HOMESTEAD A2TD TTTBKER HOrSE.
died in 1780. Old Dutch tiles still adorn the fireplace of the
principal room, the building itself being quite ordinary. Dur-
ing the siege it furnished quarters for some American officers.
Major Ruggles was a man of solid judgment and great benev-
olence, and filled many important public stations with con-
spicuous integrity and ability. He was especially serviceable
to the cause of liberty b}- his attention to the wants of the
soldiers of Roxbury. In September, 1772, he was connnis-
THE ELIOT CHURCH. 367
sioned major of the Suffolk regiment. His daughter Martha
became the wife of Rev. Dr. Porter.
Old residents of Roxbury -will remember "Aunt Major,"
as his widow was called, and " Sister Nann}-," who lived
here many years, and who from this eligible post of observa-
tion kept themselves well informed of whatever was going on
in the vicinity, especially among the j'oung bloods. One day
Mr. R , who was quite a wag and fond of practical jokes,
well knowing the old ladies' eagerness for news of a personal
character, rode up in haste and beckoned them out, exclaim-
ing, "Come quick! I'm in a great hurry; can't stop."
Whereupon they hastened on tiptoe with expectation to the
fence, only to be told by him that if they had no objection,
he was going with a party to the Punch-Bowl Tavern to have
a bird supper, smoke and drink, and perhaps play cards.
" So," he continued, " knowing your anxiety about me, I
thought I 'd let you know." What Aunt Major said to the
impudent fellow has not been recorded.
Kenilworth Street, a part of the Dudley estate, and so
named from the celebrated seat of the Dudleys in England,
forms the segment of a circle which, according to the original
plan, embraced a corresponding half-circle on the north side
of Dudley Street. Upon it stands the Eliot Congregational
Church, an offshoot of the old First Church, which is also the
parent of Emmanuel Church in Moreland Street and of the
Walnut Avenue Religious Society. It was organized Sept.
18, 1834, at a meeting held for that purpose in Spear's
school building on Bartlett Street. Until the present edifice
was finished and dedicated on Nov. 25, 1835, services were
held at the Town Hall, Rev. Jacob Abbott officiating. This
gentleman was a prolific writer of books for children, the
" Rollo Series" having been extremely popular with them.
His brother, Rev. John S. C. Abbott, widely known by his
excessively eulogistic biographies of the First and Second
Napoleon, was then installed first pastor. On Jan. 13, 1841,
368 OCTAGON HALL. WILLIAM CHANDLER.
Mr. Abbott was dismissed, and was succeeded, on July 27,
1842, b} r Rev. Augustus C. Thompson, present pastor of the
church. Rev. B. F. Hamilton was settled as junior pastor
Nov. 9, 1871. The name of Dr. Nathaniel S. Prentiss stands
first on the list of the founders of the Eliot Church, and four
of the apostle's descendants have been connected with it.
Where the church stands there was formerly quite an ele-
vation.
In the stone building called " Octagon Hall," built by Capt.
Nathaniel Dorr, on the corner of Kenilworth and Dudley
Streets, now the office of the gas compan}^ was established
on May 10, 1826, the Norfolk Bank, the first institution of
the kind in Roxbury. This, like many other similar enter-
prises, came to grief through mismanagement, and was short-
lived. In 1834 the bank was robbed of a large sum of money,
but the thieves, among whom was the notorious "Bristol
Bill," were all successfully tracked and punished. The money
was found secreted near Grove Hall. Two groups of statu-
ary, representing "Charity," that once ornamented the old
Boston Almshouse, were for a time transferred to the front
of this building. The lack of appropriateness of this emblem
came at length to be generally recognized, possibly in conse-
quence of the enhanced price of gas, and it was removed to
the grounds of Mr. James Guild, its present location.
Two centuries ago, John, son of William Chandler, owned
ten acres of land at what is now the southerly corner of Bart-
lett and Washington Streets, and which included the home-
stead and residence of the family. John Dane, who in 1643
married William Chandler's widow, afterwards owned and
occupied a part of this estate, now Guild's, and on which the
brick stable of the Metropolitan Railroad Company stands.
In 1649 the General Court settled the house and land that
was William Chandler's upon John Dane, "y said Dayn
having paid more debts of Chandler's than y e house and land
was worth, and also brot up y e children of Chandler which
JOHN DANE. HEARS ESTATE. 369
have been chargeable to him." Turning to Eliot's record we
find that
"William Chandler came to New England about 1637. He
brought four small children, Thomas, Hanna, John, William.
Sarah was born here. He lived a very religious and godly life
among us and fell into a consumption to which he had been long
inclined. He lay neare a yeare sick, in all which time his faith,
patience, godlynesse, and contention so shined that God was much
glorified in him. He was a man of weake parts but excellent
faith and holyness ; he was poore, but God so opened the hearts of
his naybors to him y* he never wanted y* which was (at least in his
esteem) very plentiful and comfortable to him. He dyed Jan. 26,
1641-2, and left a sweet memory and savor behind him."
John, son of the John Dane above mentioned, ancestor of
Hon. Nathan Dane, founder of the Dane professorship at
Harvard, and whose testimony as to the excellence of the
water of Smelt Brook is given on a previous page, has among
other " Remarkable Providences" left on record the way and
manner of his coming to New England. John's parents were
" serious pepell," who attended Rev. John Norton's preach-
ing. He himself was brought up to the tailor's trade at the
shop-board of his father, who as he tells us, on one occasion,
" toke a stick and basted me for attending a dancing school."
Dane says :
" My father and mother showed themselves unwilling. I sat
close by a tabell where there lay a bibell. I hastily toke up the
bybell and tould my father if where I opened the bibell thare I met
with anie thing eyther to incuredg or discouredg that should settel
me. I oping of it, not knowing no more than the child in the womb,
the first I cast my eys on was, ' Come out from among them, touch
no unclene thing, and I will be your God and you shall be my pepell.'
My father and mother never more oposed me, but furdered me in
the thing, and hasted after me as sone as they could."
Next came the homestead of John Watson, afterwards
Peter Gardner's, containing twelve acres, subsequently a part
of the Mears estate, which extended from Bartlett nearly to
370 THE MACCARTY FARM.
Cedar Street. Between Bartlett and Guild Streets, in the
rear of the new stable of the Metropolitan Railway Compairv,
is the old house in which James Mears, Jr., lived. When he
moved into it from the house of his grandfather, on Washington
Street, near Eustis, tradition sa}*s, he was considered insane
to think of going into such an " out of the way lonety wilder-
ness." Mr. Samuel Guild, the father of Mr. James Guild,
who now owns and occupies the estate formerly Mears's, car-
ried on the Mears tannerj*, and having in 1806 married
Sarah, his only daughter, inherited a portion of his father-in-
law's property which was valuable, and which included the
Guild Row estate. Here Mr. Guild resided fifty-five }"ears,
and until his death. Four generations of the Mears family
were tanners. The sightl} 7 mansion and grounds of Mr.
James Guild are on the southerly corner of Washington and
Guild Streets.
Edward Porter and Abraham Newell, who came to Rox-
bury in 1634 and in 1636 respectively, were the original pro-
prietors of the homesteads and orchards afterwards known as
the " Maccarty Farm." This tract contained sixty acres, and
lay between Hawthorne Street and Walnut Avenue, on both
sides of Washington Street, extending from Cedar on the
north to Marcella Street on the south. The homestead of
Palsgrave Alcock, grandson of George and son of Dr. John
Alcock, also included in the Maccarty farm, stood near the
corner of Ellis and Hawthorne Streets, on the site of the Ellis
mansion. The present house, while retaining some of its
original features, has been greatly altered since it was the
home of Florence Maccarty, who bought it in 1710. He was
a provision dealer and contractor in Boston, and in 1693
bought land here, subsequently adding to it other tracts for
the purposes of a stock farm.
Cedar Street extends through what was once known as
" Baker's Valley," a very forbidding district, but now filled
with handsome dwellings and attractive grounds. In 1851
HIGHLAND STREET. 371
Deacon Alvah Kittredge gave to the town the piece of land
on the north side of the street known as " Cedar Square."
Near the northeast corner of Cedar and Highland Streets,
between the lands of Alcock, Newell, and Ruggles, lay an
estate of eleven and a half acres belonging, in 1654, to John
Pierpont, which "he enjoyeth," says the record of houses
and lands, " as heir to John Stow, his father-in-law, lately
deceased." This John Stow was probably the first teacher
of the grammar school.
Highland Street was laid out in 1826 through the Ruggles
and Joseph "Williams estates. Many fine residences adorn it,
and it is or has been the home of man}' eminent citizens.
William Lloyd Garrison, Edward Everett Hale, and Samuel
C. Cobb are yet resident here, and among its former inhabit-
ants may be named Rev. George Putnam, Supply C. Thwing,
Benjamin F. Copeland, David A. Simmons, and Samuel H.
Walley. The recent decease of Rev. Dr. Putnam has bereft
the community of one of its most valued leaders of public
opinion ; a man of eminent wisdom and judgment as a coun-
sellor, and a most thoughtful, interesting, and eloquent
preacher. He was pastor of the First Church for nearly half
a century, and was for more than twenty years a Fellow of
Harvard College. He rendered efficient service also to the
schools of Roxbury, having long been a trustee of the Latin
School, and was one of the original trustees of the Fellowes
Athenaeum. He also represented Roxbury in the State Legis-
lature and in the State Constitutional Convention.
Some slight traces of the first regular work constructed by
the Americans when they nearly circumvallated Boston may
yet be seen upon the estate of Mr. Nathaniel J. Bradlee, at the
corner of Highland and Cedar Streets, in the rear of his resi-
dence, and on which stands his observatory. This estate
was long known as Dr. Porter's cow pasture, the Doctor hav-
ing inherited it through his wife, who was a daughter of
Major Nathaniel Ruggles. The work was irregular in its
'612
ROXBURY FORT.
outlines, following the natural configuration of the rock, ex-
cept on its northern side ; its eastern base now forms a ter-
race. It extended about four hundred feet from north to
south, with an average width of about two hundred and fifty
feet. The northeast and southwest sides of the rock were
PLAN OF KOXBUBT FOKT.
very steep. The walls of the fort were twelve feet thick and
five feet high, and each angle was bastioned. The main gate
or entrance was on the side opposite the almshouse. Two
heavy cannon were mounted here on the evening of June
24, and on Julyl, a twenty -four-pounder also, which, says
Heath, "was fired twice; the second shot grazed the ene-
my's parapet, then struck in the parade, and occasioned some
EOXBURY FORT. 373
confusion." By its elevation, this fort completely commanded
the avenue to Boston over the Neck.
In 1824 this "lower fort," so called to distinguish it from
the one built to the south of it, was thus described: " Its
interior occupies about two acres of ground, and as the hill
is bare of soil the places may still be seen where the earth
was taken to form the ramparts. This fortification has not
been at all injured, and the embrasures may still be noticed
where the cannon were placed which fired upon the advanced
lines of the enemy." The sketch here presented is taken
from an enlarged plan of the fort, copied for Mr. Augustus
Parker, of Roxbury, from an engraving on a powder-horn,
once the property of Josiah Benton, one of its garrison. It
is dated " Oct. 1775," and exhibits a number of spears lean-
ing against the inner sides of the parapet. Gen. "Ward's opin-
ion that the redoubt at Bunker's Hill might have been held
if a sufficient number of these weapons had been at hand,
caused the Provincial Congress to provide them, and on July
1, two hundred and fifteen were delivered to Gen. Thomas.
They were kept well greased to prevent their being effectu-
ally grasped by the enem}', but were soon discarded. Here
are the instructions respecting them : " Every colonel or com-
manding officer of a regiment shall appoint thirty men that
are active, bold, and resolute to use the spears in defence of
the lines instead of guns ; to form in the centre of the rear
of the regiment, to stand ready to push the enemy off the
breastwork if they should attempt to get over the parapet
into the lines. Let those be appointed that are the worst off
for arms and those that have none at all, provided their size,
strength, and activity are agreeable to the purpose of their
appointment. To be commanded by a subaltern and ser-
geant."
A former owner of the estate, Mr. Alvah Kittredge, found
on building the dwelling-house in 1836 that the breastwork
greatly obstructed its light on the west side, and had it re-
374 ROXBDRY FORT.
moved. He related the following incident connected with
the siege :
" Before the work was taken away, Mr. Aaron Willard, the well-
known clock-maker, then very aged, visited me, and told me that
when he was sixteen years old he came to Roxbury as flfer of a com-
pany of minute-men from Grafton, his native town, and that they
with many others were set at work immediately to throw up the
redoubt here. After a hard day's work they threw themselves upon
the ground behind it and slept soundly, wrapped in their blankets.
Just as the sun rose next morning, they were roused from their
slumbers by a twenty-four-pound shot, which ploughed through the
breastwork, and scattering the soil on him and others finally buried
itself in the earth. Without waiting for further compliments of the
same nature, they speedily withdrew, standing not upon the order
of their going, and regardless of bruises, tumbled over each other
in their hasty descent of the steep rock at its rear. He pointed out
the spot where he judged the ball must have lodged, and there it
was found when I afterwards took the work down. This interesting
relic, slightly corroded by time and rust, is preserved by Mr. Kit-
tredge's family."
The earliest reference to this fort occurs in a letter from
Henry Knox, afterward Gen. Knox, to his wife, dated " Rox-
bury (Lemuel Childs's) , July 6, 1 775. Yesterday as I was go-
ing to Cambridge, I met the generals [Washington and Lee] ,
who begged me to return to Roxbury, which I did. When
they had viewed the works the}* expressed the greatest pleas-
ure and surprise at their situation and apparent utility, to say
nothing of the plan, which did not escape their praise." The
young engineer may well be pardoned for taking pride in his
first military effort, and in receiving the praise of Washington.
Less than three weeks had elapsed since he was a fugitive
from Boston, since when he had been actively employed in
planning and executing works for the besieging forces.
Washington wrote to the President of Congress on July 10,
that Gen. Thomas had thrown up a strong work on the hill
about two hundred yards above the meeting-house, which,
with the brokenness of the ground, had made that pass very
secure.
EOXBURY FORT. 375
The semi-centennial anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence was everywhere celebrated with great eclat.
At Roxbury it was duly honored by an oration from Hon.
Timothy Walker, a dinner at the Town House Hall, and in .
the evening by a fine display of fire-works at the old fort.
COOHTTUATE STAND-PIPE.
Regarded as classic ground, this was long the chosen spot for
salutes of honor, alike over the solemn obsequies of Wash-
ington and the joyous welcome of Lafayette.
Fort Avenue, from Highland to Centre Street, takes us to
another patriot stronghold, whence the provincial soldiers
hurled defiance at the royal arm}" in Boston. Here, upon the
highest land in East Roxbury, except Parker Hill, the
376
UPPER FORT.
Cochituate Stand-pipe rears aloft its circular white tower with
its graceful outline, a conspicuous and not unpleasing object
to the eye. Here " on the strong rock}* hill (Col. Williams's)
to the southwest of the lower fort, on a higher eminence of
the same hill," Gen. Heath tells us, " part of a work was
traced out on the llth, and on the 14th of July a fortress
was begun," which he tells us was one of the strongest that
was erected. The works upon this and the neighboring hill
are everywhere spoken of as exceedingly strong and wel\
planned. They not only commanded the Neck, but also the
road to Dedham, the depot of army
supplies. Samuel Adams thus refers
to them in a letter to Elbridge Gerry. He says, "Until ]
visited headquarters at Cambridge, I had never heard of the
valor of Prescott at Bunker's Hill, [Adams was then a dele-
gate to Congress at Philadelphia,] nor the ingenuity of Knox
and "Waters in planning the celebrated works at Roxbury."
The Upper, or "High Fort," as it has sometimes been
called, regarded by Washington as the best and most eligibly
situated of all the works then in course of construction, was
quadrangular in form, about twelve rods square, with bastions
at each angle. Near the magazine, which was on the south-
west side, was a covered way and sally-port. The Stand-
pipe is about in the centre of the work, and some two feet
UPPER FORT. 377
above the original level of the ground. The view here given
was made from the southwest angle of the fort in 1850, by
Mr. Lossing, who thus describes it :
"In the foreground a portion of the ramparts is seen; on the
right is the house of Benjamin Perkins, on Highland Street ; and
extending across the picture towards the left is the side of the fort
towards Boston, exhibiting prominent traces of the embrasures for
the cannon. The eminence on which it stands is composed of huge
bowlders of pudding-stone, having upon three sides natural revet-
ments difficult for an enemy to scale. The embankments are from
eight to fifteen feet in height, and within, the terre-plein in which
the garrison was placed is quite perfect."
In 1825 the "Fort Lot" of twenty-eight acres, including
the old earthwork itself, then in excellent preservation, was
bought of the heirs of Col. Joseph Williams by S. C. Thwing,
B. F. Copeland, David A. and Thomas Simmons, and Charles
Hickling. The old fort, excluded from division, was to be
owned in common, and ornamented and kept in repair at their
joint expense. About 1830 the tract was offered to the town
for three thousand five hundred dollars for a public square,
but the proposal was frowned down both by the authorities
and by the economical portion of the people, who seemed, in
this instance, to have acted on the narrow and niggardly
policy that " we should do nothing for posterity as posterity
had never done an}*thing for us." The value of this eminence
for a reservoir was however understood by the city fathers
of JJoxbury, who ultimately bought it for that purpose.
It is greatly to be regretted that the old fort could not
have been allowed to remain ; but when the Stand-pipe was
erected, the fiat of the Board of Water Commissioners, in
whose eyes it was only so much dirt, went forth, and it dis-
appeared. Thus was the best preserved and one of the most
interesting, as well as one of the only remaining monuments
of the siege completely obliterated. Instead of the pictur-
esque old relic itself, which the imagination could have peopled
378
STAND-PIPE.
with the provincial soldiers, in their homespun garb, a simple
tablet has been erected by the city, the shaft of which, six
and one half feet high, two feet thick, and three and one half
feet broad, is of Concord granite, and the base of Quincy
granite. On its sides are two cannon in relief, similar to
those at the top of Bunker Hill Monument, and which were
used at the Roxbury lines. The
cannon, the faces of the shaft,
and the moulded work at the
base are highly polished, and
the monument is finished at the
top by four cannon-balls.
The Stand-pipe, erected in
1869 for the high service sup-
ply only, answered its purpose
admirably, sufficing for the
wants of the city until the an-
nexation of Dorchester, Brigh-
ton, and West Eoxbury ren-
dered it necessary to construct
the large Reservoir on Parker Hill. The base of the shaft is
one hundred and fifty-eight feet above tide-marsh level. The
interior pipe is a cylinder of boiler iron eighty feet long, and
around this pipe, but within the exterior wall of brick, is a
winding staircase leading to a lookout at the top. The total
cost of the structure, and the pumping- works connected with
it, was about one hundred thousand dollars.
TORT MONUMENT.
THE PARTING STONE.
379
CHAPTER X.
CENTRE STREET.
The Parting Stone. Riley's Store. Washington Lodge. Workhouse.
Col. Joseph Williams. Hog Bridge. Tanner Heath. Gen.
William Heath. Capt. John Gyles. Parker Hill. Philip Eliot.
Capt. Isaac Johnson. The Lowell Estate. Judge Lowell.
John Lowell, Jr. Gamblin's End. Thomas Bell. Curtis Home-
stead.
THE highway from Elder Heath's Lane (that part of
Roxbury Street north of the meeting-house) towards
the Great Pond leading to Dedham, was afterwards called
the Dedham Road, and since 1825 Centre Street. It is nearly
seven miles in length from Eliot Square to
the Dedham line, and was formerly the great
artery connecting the northern and southern
portions of the town, so continuing until the
Dedham Turnpike was constructed.
Among the old landmarks yet remaining
in Roxbury, one of the most interesting is
a large stone at the corner of this street,
known as the 'Parting Stone." At the
time this drawing was made, an iron shaft
was inserted in it, having a fork at the upper
end for the support of a street-lamp. On
its northerly side it directs to Cambridge
and "Watertown, and on its souther!} 7 side to
Dedham and Rhode Island. Lord Percy's soldiers read its
inscription as they passed it by on their way to Lexington,
one hot April forenoon, and it has afforded rest and informa-
380 RILEY'S STORE.
tion to the tired wayfarer for many a long year. This is a
durable and visible memorial of a good man, whose benefac-
tions to the church, to the school, and to the town were
frequent, and were gratefully acknowledged.
The strip of land between Centre and Roxbury,Streets, and
extending to Gardiner Street, was once the property of the
town. At its northerly end is the old building, now the resi-
dence of Mr. Gardiner, occupied during the siege as a commis-
sary's store, and more recently known as Riley's. Originally
it was a square, two-story house, with a very large piazza, on
its Roxbury Street side, on which were seats that were in con-
stant requisition, as this was a popular place of resort. Half
a century ago, and before temperance societies were thought
of, a bar was a component part of every grocery store, three
cents being then the price of a full drink, six and a quarter
cents the charge for a glass of punch, while the " two-cent
club," as they were called, contented themselves with a
modicum of gin. In the afternoon and evening Riley's store
would be thronged, some making purchases, some drinking,
others gossiping or talking politics, and others playing check-
ers. One of its noted habitues was " Johnny" Seaver, who,
notwithstanding his vocation was that of sexton and parish
undertaker, was a jolly fellow, always mirthful and ready for
a joke. Another of its frequenters named Saunders, nick-
named " Deacon," and a celebrated wit, resided near Hog
Bridge. The upper story of the building was a hall, frequently
used as a place of meeting for military companies.
On the left is the old Turner house (see cut on page 366),
built and originally occupied b}- one of the Ruggleses and
used as a barrack during the siege. Opposite was the resi-
dence of Thomas Clarke, a leather-dresser and tanner, also
town clerk and representative, and a man of note in his day.
He began an evening school here on Jan. 1, 1795, but
removed not long after to Boston. Beyond the Turner house
on the left is a three-story house with brick ends, once the
WASHINGTON LODGE. 381
residence of Nathaniel, son of Capt. Joseph Ruggles, a grad-
uate of Harvard College in 1781, and a member of Congress
from 1813 to 1819. A lawyer by profession, he was for
many years prominent in town and county affairs. Hon.
David A. Simmons and Hon. B. F. Copeland married daugh-
ters of Mr. Ruggles.
Lemuel Pierce's house and wheelwright's shop were near
where Engine House No. 14 stands. The engine house is
the site of the stone pound of a century ago, and also of an
oldschoolhouse. Pierce's
Hall, in the upper part
of his dwelling-house,
was the first place of
meeting of Washington
Lodge of Freemasons, in-
stituted March 14, 1796.
~. STONB POUND.
Its founders, Simeon
Pratt, John Ward, Moses Harriman, Ebenezer Seaver,
Timothy Heely, Joseph Ruggles, Stephen Davis, and James
Howe, met on the previous evening at the house of Mr.
Harriman, still standing on Tremont Street, the third
house north of Parker Street, and chose Ebenezer Seaver,
Worshipful Master, Simeon Pratt, Senior Deacon, and John
Ward, Junior Deacon. This was the thirteenth lodge char-
tered in Massachusetts. On October 16 the officers were
publicly installed by the Grand Master, Paul Revere, the
lodge was consecrated, and public services held in the First
Church, closing with a procession and a banquet at the
Masonic Hall. Three years later the lodge was removed to
the upper part of Mr. Harriman's house, which he had fitted
up for the purpose. From 1807 to 1816 its meetings were
held at Sumner Hall, on Sumner Street; and from 1816 to
1841 in the building on the corner of Washington Street and
Shawmut Avenue. Since 1865 the fine hall in the third story
of Guild's Building has been the home of the lodge, which is
382 THE WORKHOUSE.
in a highly prosperous condition. Among its Past Masters
were Ebenezer Seaver, Simeon Pratt, Nathaniel Ruggles,
Nathaniel S. Prentiss, Samuel Bany, Samuel J. Gardiner,
John Howe, Charles Wild, and George Frost.
The corner-stone of the First Baptist Church on Dudlej r
Street was laid on May 12, and that of the Universalist
Church on July 28, 1820, by Washington Lodge. Its twenty-
fifth anniversary was celebrated March 14, 1821, by the deliv-
ery of an historical address by Worshipful Master John Howe.
Masonry has alwaj's found a congenial home in Roxbun*.
St. John's Lodge of Boston, the first Masonic body organ-
ized in North America, frequently held its anniversar}' meet-
ings in the old Greyhound Tavern on Roxbury Street be-
tween the years 1752 and 1775, and her heroic son, Joseph
Warren, was, from 1769 to the day of Bunker's Hill, Grand
Master of the order in Boston. Since Washington Lodge
was founded two other Masonic bodies, the Mount Vernon
Royal Arch Chapter, and Lafayette Lodge, have been organ-
ized in Roxbury.
One of the institutions of the town, rendered necessary by
the progress of civilization, though unknown here for con-
siderably more than a century after its settlement, was the
old workhouse, that stood a few feet west of the engine
house. Upon the land adjoining stands the residence of Mr.
Prang, proprietor of the famous chromolithographic works on
Roxbury Street. In March, 1766, the town ordered a work-
house to be built of brick on Meeting-House Hill, between
John Slack's barn and the school land, which was finished
early in 1768. During the siege, the inmates having been
removed, a company of American soldiers was quartered
here. In 1830, the population having tripled since it was
built, the old house was voted " inadequate and unfit," and
ten acres were purchased from David Dudley, situated on
Highland near Marcella Street, adjoining the estates of Wil-
liams, Maccarty, and Thomas Brewer, and bounded also by
TOWN PAUPERS. 383
Stony River and the chemical works. Here, in 1831, a brick
almshouse was built, at a cost of eleven thousand dollars.
To keep out undesirable and shiftless persons and stran-
gers, and to prevent their becoming a charge upon the town, it
was very early enacted that " if any person admit or receive
such into his house and keep them over one week without
leave of the selectmen, he shall be fined twenty shillings."
The preservation of religious and social harmony was another
and not less potent reason for such a regulation, and it was
even extended to the entertainment of one's friends from
other parts, this also being restricted to a limited time.
Warnings under this rule were frequent, occurring as late as
the close of the last century. Straggling Indians and " crazy "
persons were in the early days often driven from the town.
Probably the most fruitful theme for town-meeting elo-
quence, with the possible exception of permitting the swine
to go at large, was the subject of the town paupers and the
cost of their support. It was gravely said on one occasion
that the expense per capita would board them comfortably at
the Tremont House. At one of the town meetings, a resi-
dent of the upper part of the town made this complaint.
Said he, " You furnish most of the paupers from your part
of the town (the easterly or lower portion) , and we help sup-
port them ; but you get their work, and we get nothing."
The quizzical reply, and it effectually nonplussed the speaker,
was, "Well, if we furnish all the poor, why shouldn't we
have the benefit of their labor ? "
Passing the residence of Mr. Prang we come to that of Mr.
Roessle, the site of Nathaniel Ruggles's store, and later the
residence of Lawyer Joseph Harrington, the father of George
Harrington, late assistant treasurer of the United States and
minister to Switzerland. On the corner of Centre Place, where
the block of brick dwelling-houses stands, resided Capt. Jona-
than Dorr, who was quite a prominent citizen. At the time of
President Jackson's visit, it devolved upon him, as chairman of
384 COL. JOSEPH WILLIAMS.
the board of selectmen, to welcome the chief magistrate to Rox-
bury. When in the course of his remarks he uttered the sen-
timent, "May the arm be enervated that would strike down
our glorious Constitution ! " Jackson's spontaneous and charac-
teristic response was, " ~By the Eternal, it shall be ! " Capt.
Dorr's house was removed to Ruggles Street, where it is now
standing.
In front of Mrs. David Dudley's barn and near the street
we next come to the site of Col. Joseph Williams's house.
It was very old and large, two and a half stories high, had a
double-pitched roof, and stood fronting Hog Bridge, with its
end to the street. Its upper story projected some eighteen
inches over the lower one, as
in the garrison houses, de-
signed for defence from Indian
attacks. It was taken down at
the time Mr. Dudley's house
was built, some fifty years
since, having stood more than
GAKRISON HOUSB. a cen tury and a half. The old
well remains. Col. Williams was perhaps the largest land-
owner of Roxbury in his day, his estate comprising about one
hundred and fifty acres. It included the homestead estate on
both sides of Centre Street, extending from Cedar Street to
Hog Bridge, and including the hill opposite his house, where
the old forts stood, and much of the land south of it to School,
now Amory Street. In front of the house of Col. Williams,
who was a magistrate, the whipping-post formerly stood.
Joseph, great-grandson of Robert Williams, the emigrant,
resided here until his death in 1798, at the age of ninety.
No name occurs oftener in the town records than that of Col.
Joseph Williams. He was many years a selectman ; was fre-
quently moderator of town meetings and active in town
affairs ; was often a member of the General Court ; had been
a colonel in the French war, serving at Lake George and in
COL. JOSEPH WILLIAMS.
385
the Mohawk region ; and was prominent and active in the
pre-revolutionary movements of the day. A journal kept by
him during the French war was, till lately, in possession of
the family. For nearly half a century, and until he attained
the age of eighty, he had been clerk of the First Parish. Col.
Williams had fifteen children. Those by his first wife, Martha
Howell, were remarkable for their great size and physical
power, the sons averaging nearly three hundred pounds each.
His daughter Martha, who
married William Williams, of
Pomfret, was a woman of pro-
digious strength and great
powers of mind.
On our right, nearly parallel
with the course of Stony
Brook and the track of the
Providence Railroad, which
lies to the west of it, is Pyn-
chon Street, laid out in 1834
from Carleton's, on Tremont
Street, to Heath Street, and
named in honor of the founder
of Roxbury. The once beautiful estates of Gore, Lowell, and
Heath have been ruthlessly invaded and " improved," until a
greater contrast than that of the past and present of this ter-
ritory could hardly be imagined.
Central or Hog Bridge, as it has long been popularly
called, where Stony Brook now runs under the street, is said
to derive its name from the following incident : Col. Joseph
Williams had a daughter Patt}*, remarkable, like all the fam-
ily, for great physical strength, and who afterwards removed
to Pomfret, Conn. One of her yet remembered feats was the
loading, unaided, of two barrels of cider upon a country-
man's wagon that had overset near the house, in response to
his appeal for assistance. On the occasion above referred to,
25
COL. JOSEPH WILLIAMS.
386 HOG BRIDGE. "TANNER" HEATH.
and when she was a 3*oung girl of eighteen, the narrow pas-
sage over the bridge she was about to cross was impeded by
a drove of hogs, the driver of which manifested no disposi-
tion to allow her to pass. To the request that he would make
way for her, he returned an insulting reply. Whereupon she
siezed one of the hogs and threw him into the stream, then
sent her insulter to keep him company, and finished the job
neatly by throwing another hog atop of him. A young
woman of spirit was Patty "Williams. Fancj r a girl of the
period confronted by a similar emergency !
Gen. Heath's brother Samuel, " Tanner" Heath as he was
called, pursued his vocation on Stony Brook near the bridge
until his decease in 1817. He lived in the old "Gary" home-
stead, next east of Fenner's meal store, which came into the
possession of his grandfather, William Heath, in 1713. It
is related of the tanner, whose temper was more pacific than
that of the general, his brother, that having broken his prom-
ise to his neighbors, 'Jonathan Parker, Jeremiah Williams,
and other ' ' high Whigs " to assist in throwing the tea over-
board, they went to his house one evening shortly after that
event, fully determined to break down his door. The uplifted
club, wielded by the vigorous arms of Parker, was about to
descend upon it, when it suddenly opened, and their hostile
purpose j r ielded to the pleasant invitation of Mrs. Heath to
enter and partake of some refreshments, and excusing her
husband's failure to keep his appointment on the plea of ill-
ness. Heath built and latterly occupied the Gardiner Brewer
mansion, a little bej'ond on the other side of the street, un-
roofed in the great September gale. One of the prominent
landmarks of this region, recentl}* removed, was the tall chim-
ney, with its seven times repeated echo, connected with the
chemical works, erected in 1846.
The easterly corner of Heath Street and Bickford Avenue,
at the base of Parker Hill, is the site of the old homestead,
taken down in 1843. in which lived William Heath, a major-
GEN. WILLIAM HEATH. 387
general in the Revolutionary army. The Heath estate lay
on both sides of Heath Street, adjoining that of John Parker
on the north, reaching beyond Day Street on the west, and to
Centre Street on the south, where it extended from the Lowell
estate to a point nearly opposite Wyman Street. The Peleg
Heath estate lay west of Day Street, extending beyond the
Brookline boundary.
William Heath, the emigrant, was from Nazing, and came
over in the " Lion" in 1632 with his wife Mary and five chil-
dren, and settled in Roxbury in 1636. In his "Memoirs,"
written in 1798, General Heath says of himself:
"He is of the fifth generation of the family who have inherited
the same real estate (taken up in a state of nature), not large but
fertile and pleasantly situated. He was brought up a farmer, of
which profession he is yet passionately fond. He is of middling
stature, light complexion, very corpulent, and bald-headed. From
his childhood he was remarkably fond of military exercises, which
passion grew up with him, and led him to procure and attentively
to study every military treatise in the English language which was
attainable."
Joining the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company at
the age of seventeen, he was its captain in 1770, at which
time he wrote for the " Boston Gazette " some essays signed
" A Military Countryman," urging the importance of military
discipline and skill in the use of arms ; " for," said he pro-
phetically, "it is more than probable that the salvation of this
country, under Heaven, will sooner or later depend upon a
well-regulated militia." It was partly through his efforts that
the organization of the minute-men, which placed New Eng-
land at once upon a war footing, was effected. He had pre-
viously been commissioned a captain in the Suffolk regiment
by Gov. Bernard. Hutchinson superseded him in his com-
mand, but when in 1774 the people selected their own officers,
Heath was unanimously chosen captain of the first company
of Roxbury, and the same year colonel of the Suffolk regiment.
388
GEN. WILLIAM HEATH.
He was frequently moderator of town meetings, and a
member of the General Court. Engaging with zeal in the
Revolutionary contest, he was the trusty coadjutor of Samuel
Adams and Joseph Warren ; was a delegate to the Provincial
Congresses of 1774 and 1775 ; and was an active member of
the Committees of Correspondence and of Safety, the latter
body virtually governing the province until superseded bj*
the State government in 1780. Made a provincial major-
general in June, 1775, he re-
ceived the same rank from the
Continental Congress in August
following.
Heath, who was the only
general officer on the ground on
the memorable 19th of April,
1775, organized and directed
the armed husbandmen who
that day put the far - famed
British regulars to flight. This
was the only actual conflict
in which he was engaged
throughout the war. In his
"Memoirs" he criticises the Lexington company, "whose
standing so near the road was but a too much braving of
danger, as they were sure to meet with insult or injury which
the} 5 " could not repel." Here the question naturally arises
whether, if the British troops had passed through Lexington
without bloodshed, the people would have rushed to arms and
fired at Concord bridge, " the shot heard round the world."
Certain it is that the}' believed the regulars were the aggress-
ors, and that they were greatly excited by the slaughter of
their brethren. Of the retreat he says, " I was several times
greatly exposed while the British were descending from the
high grounds in Menotomy to the plain. Soon after, the
right flank of the British was exposed to the fire of a body of
GKN. HEATH.
GEN. WILLIAM HEATH. 389
militia which had come from Roxbury, Brookline, and Dor-
chester. For a few minutes the fire was brisk on both
sides, and the British here had recourse to their field-
pieces again."
The siege of Boston began when, at the close of that day,
guards were posted at Charlestown Neck by Heath. It was
the singular fortune of this officer to perform a similar duty
eight years later at West Point, when the army was finally
disbanded, his being the last division in the service. He
commanded a division during the siege, was at the head of
the eastern department in 1777, with the care of the Saratoga
Convention prisoners, and subsequently had charge of the
posts on the Hudson. Upon the discovery of Arnold's
treason, Heath was the trusted officer to whom Washington
confided the command at West Point. Returning to his
farm at the close of the war, he was chosen a delegate to
the Convention that adopted the Federal Constitution in 1 788 ;
was a State senator in 1791-92 ; and was judge of probate for
Norfolk County from 1793 until his decease, Jan. 24, 1814,
at the age of seventy-six. In 1806 he was chosen lieutenant-
governor of Massachusetts, but declined the office.
Heath's faithful service throughout the Revolutionary strug-
gle is attested by an earnest and spontaneous private testi-
monial from his great chief, Washington, when, at its close,
the officers were returning to their several homes. He was
justly proud of this tribute, and valued it as a patent of
nobility superior to any that monarch ever issued. " This
letter," said he to Brissot de Warville, who paid him a visit
at his farm in 1788, " is a jewel which in my eyes surpasses
all the eagles and all the ribbons in the world." " With what
joy," continues Brissot, " did this respectable man show me
all parts of his farm ! What happiness he enjoys on it ! He
is a true farmer. A glass of cider which he presented to me,
with frankness and good-humor painted on his countenance,
appeared to me superior to the most exquisite wines. With
390 CAPT. JOHN GYLES.
this simplicity men are worthy of liberty, and they are sure of
enjoying it for a long time."
Late in life Heath was corpulent and unwieldy in person,
and while judge of probate was in the habit of making the
journey from his house to Declham in his chaise, which he
completely filled, accompanied b}' his son on horseback, who
was responsible for his safe transit. The republican simpli-
city of his manners may be inferred from the tradition that
he occasionally drove to church in his ox-team, perhaps
intended as a hint to his more aristocratic neighbors, whose
carriages were of a showy and stylish description. Honest,
upright, and patriotic, Heath as a general was over-cautious.
His pomposity of manner made him unpopular with his
brother officers, one of whom gave him. while at "West Point,
the title of " Duke of Roxbury." Chastellux describes his
countenance as noble and open, giving him a striking resem-
blance to Lord Granby. His remains were removed some
years ago from the family tomb opposite the old homestead,
to Forest Hills, but the pilgrim will seek in vain for a monu-
mental tablet or inscription of any kind, commemorating
this sterling patriot and upright man.
William Heath, grandfather of the general, who, on Sept.
3, 1703, was commissioned by Gov. Dudley, " captain of a
foot company consisting of sixty soldiers," on March 3,
1739-40, bequeathed 50 to the town for a poor fund. The
records leave us in ignorance as to what became of this
bequest.
A near neighbor of Heath was Capt. John Gyles, who, in
1689, when a lad, was taken by the Indians at Pemaquid,
Me., and remained a prisoner until 1698. He was for some
years employed as an Indian interpreter, was in 1706 com-
missioned a captain by Gov. Dudley, and commanded at
Fort George (Brunswick, Me.) and St. George's River
(Thomaston) . Though retaining the command at the latter
place until 1742, William Heath being his first lieutenant,
PARKER HILL. 391
and Ebenezer Seaver ensign, he retired in 1737, after thirty
years of active and arduous frontier service, to Roxbury,
where in 172L he had married his second wife, Hannah Heath,
aunt of the general, and died there in 1755, at the age of sev-
enty-seven. Gyles's " Memoirs of Odd Adventures, Strange
Deliverances, etc.," was published in Boston in 1736, at the
earnest request, as he says, of his second consort. To disarm
adverse criticism he prefaces his work with the remark of
Sir Roger L'Estrange: "Though I made this composition
principally for my family, yet if any man has a mind to take
part with me, he has free leave and is welcome, but let him
carrj- this consideration along with him, that he is a very
unmannerly guest who forces himself upon another man's
table, and then quarrels with his dinner."
There is no place in the vicinity of Boston from which a
finer prospect may be obtained than from Parker Hill, or the
"Great Hill," as it was formerly called. The view extends
from the blue waters of the bay on one side to the undulating
line of distant hills on the other. Roxbury lies beneath, and
beyond, the great city stretches away to Somerville, the State
House with its gilded dome and Bunker Hill Monument form-
ing prominent points of view. Beyond Charles River lies the
quiet-looking city of Cambridge, with its sightly University
buildings. Nearer, in the west, is the town of Brookline,
whose rural beauties are unsurpassed, and whose numerous
elegant residences are seen scattered among the woods and
hills, shaded by noble trees. On the south is the equally
attractive scenery of West Roxbury, and glistening among
the trees a glimpse may be caught of its beautiful pond ; and
in the southeast the vision is bounded by the Blue Hills of
Milton. On all sides are seen distant villages, while numer-
ous church spires rising above the groves mark the places
where villages nestle unseen. Some twenty towns are em-
braced in IJie view from this spot. A large reservoir has
lately been built here by the city. The Connecticut regi-
392 JOHN PARKER.
meuts of Spencer, Huntington, and Parsons were encamped
here during the siege.
On the summit of this hill once stood the elegant residence
of John Parker, a wealthy and successful merchant. He
began life as an apprentice to James Howe, the baker, and
kept for a while in the old grocery store on Eliot Square.
Very early in life he lost his father, Mr. Peter Parker, who
was crushed to death by the fall of a barrel of cider he was
unloading from a cart at his own door. Mr. Parker would
never take more than six per cent interest, believing that no
man could afford to paj r more. He was tall and commanding
in appearance, and " it was quite a treat," says one who
knew him well, " to see him on a pleasant Sunday afternoon
alight from his carriage at the old church, in a blue dress-coat
with brass buttons, drab tights, white stockings, shoes with
buckles, and powdered wig." Mr. Parker was a remarkably
early riser, and was a good and kind neighbor.
On the south side of Parker Hill, not far from the corner
of Parker and Heath Streets, was the mansion and estate of
six acres belonging to Ezekiel Goldthwait, register of deeds
for (the county of Suffolk, before the Revolution. Here were
quartered the field and staff of Huntington's Connecticut regi-
ment in 1775. Goldthwait, at first, inclined to the popular
side, but was an addresser of Hutchinson when that unpopu-
lar governor sailed for England in 1774, and yet adroitly
managed to escape proscription as a loj'alist and to retain his
valuable property when the ro3*al power was overthrown.
The list of casualties on the 19th of April, 1775, contains
but one Roxbury name, Elijah Seaver, famous for possessing
a stentorian voice, and who at the close of the eventful day
was among the missing. He had been taken prisoner, and
was one of those first exchanged on the 6th of June follow-
ing. Seaver lived on the northwest corner of Day and Heath
Streets, in a house which is yet standing. John Perry's home-
stead of two acres was on the corner opposite, having John
PHILIP ELIOT. CAPT. ISAAC JOHNSON. 393
Graves on the south. The apostle Eliot calls him " Cosiu
Feme."
West of Stony Brook and south of Heath Street, a district
since included in the Lowell and Heath estates, originally
contained the homesteads of Philip Eliot, James Astwood,
Isaac Johnson, Eobert Pepper, John Graves, Arthur Gary,
John Perry, and William Heath. The most northerly of
these, "his house, barn, and house-lot of three acres on
Stony River, east," was Philip Eliot, brother of the apostle,
" a right godly and dilligent person, who useth to accompany
him to the Indians," and of whom Eliot leaves this record :
" He dyed about the 22d of the 8th mo. 1657. He was a man of
power and very faithful. He was many yeares in the office of a
Deakon which he discharged faithfully. In his latter years he was
very lively, usefull and active for God and his cause. The Lord
gave him so much acceptance in the hearts of the people that he
died under many of the offices of trust that are usually put upon
men of his rank, for besides his office of Deakon he was a deputy
of the Gen. Court, a Commissioner for the gov't of the town, one
of the five men to order the prudential affairs of the town, and was
chosen to be Feoffee of the Schoole in Roxbury."
Opposite Amory Street, where Centre Street bends to the
west " butting upon the highway east and south," was the
house, barn, and two acres of Capt. Isaac Johnson. He was
the son of John Johnson, whose sounding title of " surve3'or-
generall of all y e armyes " must have inspired the savage foe
with wholesome terror. The father was undoubtedly an old
soldier, and his son certainly was a brave one. He was
made a freeman in 1635, and was a representative and cap-
tain of the artillery company. In 1653 he was chosen cap-
tain of the Roxbury company, Sergt. Craft was chosen
"lieutenant, and Sergt. Bowles ensign. Capt. Johnson was
killed in the famous Narragansett " fort fight," Dec. 19,
1675. The only entrance to the Indian stronghold was by
means of a felled tree bridging the swamp, over which but
394 THE LOWELL ESTATE.
one man could pass at a time, and this narrow pathway was
protected by a block house. The brave Roxbury captain was
shot dead on this bridge, over which he was leading his men.
West of Johnson was the homestead of Robert Pepper, who
in 1642 married his sister Elizabeth. A Robert Pepper was
captured "by Indians while on his way to Northfield, in
1675. The house, barn, and four acres of James Astwood
lay between Johnson and Eliot.
The Lowell estate, formerly Thomas Gunter's, lay between
the south side of old Heath and Centre Streets, extending
northerly to a point nearly opposite the Heath mansion, and
on Centre Street, where it had a frontage of five hundred feet,
to a point beyond Bickford Street. Bought in 1785 by Judge
John Lowell, who resided here until his decease, May 6,
1802, it was afterward the home of his son, John Lowell, Jr.,
who built upon it a stone castle from a model sketched by
himself of an old one in Europe. Early in the present cen-
tury it was the residence of another eminent lawyer, Samuel
Dexter, whose sons Franklin, also distinguished at the bar,
and Samuel W., both graduated from the old Roxbury gram-
mar school in 1808. The Lowell mansion, long since removed
from its old site, is now standing on Bickford Street, its
appearance spoiled by a modern French roof. In its day
this was an attractive New England home, furnished without
ostentation, but on a generous scale, and with tokens of cul-
ture and refinement everywhere visible.
One of Mr. Lowell's daughters still resides on the portion
of the estate on Centre Street next south of the railroad
crossing. The garden belonging to this estate had five green-
houses upon it, and was the finest in the State. Among the
many and extraordinary changes wrought by time in the old
town, none is more striking than that presented here, as the
result of laying through this elegant property the track of the
Boston and Providence Railroad.
Born at Newbury in 1743, John Lowell, at the beginning
JOHN LOWELL. 395
of the Revolution, was already an eminent lawyer in full
practice. He was a delegate to the old Congress, and chief
justice of the United States Circuit Court in 1801-2. While
a member of the committee to draught the Constitution of
Massachusetts he inserted in the Bill of Rights the clause
declaring that "all men are born free and equal," for the
avowed purpose of abolishing slavery in the State. He was
one of the confidential advisers of the measures by which that
formidable outbreak, Shays's Insurrection, was suppressed,
and was appointed by Washington one of the judges of the
United States District Court on its institution in 1789. At
the bar he was the frequent competitor and formidable rival
of Theophilus Parsons. He was active in establishing the
Academy of Arts and Sciences, before which he delivered an
oration on the death of President Bowdoin on Jan. 26, 1795.
Harrison Gray Otis, a law student in his office, thus de-
scribes him :
" He was about five feet ten inches in height, and inclined to corpu-
lence. His gait was rapid and hurried, his conversation rapid and
ardent. He was the very mirror of benevolence, which beamed in and
made attractive a countenance not remarkable for symmetry of feature
or beauty ; and his companionable talents, though never displayed at
the expense of dignity, made him the delight of the society in which
he moved, and which he always put at ease. He was one of the most
amiable, pure, and honorable of men, and his honesty and moderation
were proverbial. In a satirical and very personal farce got up by a
witty desperado, and which had a great run, he was dubbed by the
author, no friend of his, 'Lawyer Candor,' a most appropriate so-
briquet, which the world unanimously applied to him. His consulta-
tions with clients were principally at his own house in Eoxbury, and
in short interviews. He generally amused himself in his garden
until it was time to hurry into court, where he never arrived too
early, and then plunging in media res in causes with the points and
merits of which he had been superficially informed, yet on the spot,
when he came as elder counsel to sum up, he appeared entirely
familiar with the Gordian knot. He soon warmed and moved on
with impassioned eloquence and vehement gesture, taking up the
jury in his balloon and landing them where he pleased."
396 JOHN LOWELL, JR.
During the period of his Roxbury residence Judge Lowell
had withdrawn from active office business. He took a leading
part in town affairs, and as a trustee of the grammar school
contributed greatly to its financial prosperity by his policy of
leasing its lands for a long term of years. He left three sons,
all of whom became eminent, John, Francis Cabot, founder
of the city of spindles, and Rev. Charles, an esteemed clergy-
man of Boston, father of James Russell Lowell.
John Lowell, Jr. , a distinguished writer upon politics and
agriculture, was in person a great contrast to his father, being
very short and slender. Graduating at Harvard in 1786, he
was admitted to the bar in 1789, and practised law with re-
pute until 1803, when he visited Europe. After his father's
death, and until his own decease in 1840, he occupied the pa-
ternal estate in Roxbury, entering with all his heart into the
study and pursuits of agriculture, in which he delighted.
Over the signature of " A Roxbury Farmer," he exerted great
influence upon the agricultural community, and was often
quoted as authority upon the subject.
After the decease of Mr. Ames in 1808, Mr. Lowell pos-
sessed a greater ascendency than any other person in New
England over the minds of those who were opposed to the
national administration. His articles in the ' ' Centinel,"
signed " A Boston Rebel," and his pamphlet on " Madison's
"War," were most powerful attacks on the party in power, and
aroused by their piquant style and inflammatory nature a
strong opposition to it. In those exciting times a rumor was
circulated, that some of those who had been exasperated by
his political attacks had threatened to burn his house in Rox-
bury to the ground. This rumor was so far credited, that
some of his friends went out from Boston to offer themselves
as the guard of his person and property for the night. Mr.
Lowell expressed his belief that his fellow-townsmen were
incapable of such an act, and declined their offers of assist-
ance. Indeed, no aid beyond the limits of the town would
GAMBLIN'S END. 397
in any case have been required, for several of the most re-
spectable inhabitants of Roxbury itself, and of both political
parties, volunteered to stand ready to defend it to the last
extremity. It was not long after this that by his services in
town affairs, on school committees, and in private counsels,
he had won the love and respect of the people, " and there
was not an inhabitant of Roxbury of any sense or heart,"
says Dr. Greenwood, "who would not have defended that
once obnoxious house at the risk of his own life."
" The highway from Elder Heath's pasture lot by Stony
River to Gamblin's End, to the pasture lot of goodman Gam-
blin to the Rocky Bottom," afterwards called School Street,
is now Amory Street as far as its junction with Boylston.
Despite its name, there is nothing tragic about "Gamblin's
End." For aught we know it was eminently peaceful ; but
one looks here in vain for a natural boundary such as the
name suggests, the only noticeable topographical feature
being a sudden falling off of the land west of School Street,
near Mrs. Adams's, the beginning of the level plateau of
Jamaica Plain. Mrs. Adams's residence, on the west side of
School Street, was built in 1782,byCapt. Joseph, son of Col.
Joseph Williams, and was for many 3'ears the residence of
Mr. Xehemiah D. "Williams. Robert Gamblin came over in
1632 in the same ship with Edward Winslow, and with him
William Perkins and John Levins, who settled in Roxbury.
This family afterwards went to Portsmouth, N. H. Gam-
blin's homestead was north of Bell's, and between that and
Stony Brook. Of his son Robert, Jr., Eliot says :
"He brought only one child, who was the son of his wife by a
former husband. His name is John Mayo. He was but a child. Mary,
a maide servant, daughter of Eobert Gamlin the elder, came with
her father in the yeare 1632. She was a very gracious maiden. She
dyed in Mr. Pinchon's family of the small-pox in the year 1633."
On the corner of Amory Street, near the railroad bridge,
is the John Curtis house, an old, gambrel-roof dwelling of the
398
JOHN MAY. BELL HOMESTEAD.
last century. Back of it runs Ston} r Brook, lined with huge
willows. This old house was bought in 1742 by Jeremiah
"Williams, blacksmith, brother of Col. Joseph and the father
of Major Edward Payson Williams. An old mansion, once
the residence of Mr. John Amor}', now a public house, and
styled the " Amor}' Hotel," is on our left as we approach
" Gamblin's End," while on our right a new brick brewery
seems sadly out of place in this sylvan retreat. Somewhere
in this immediate vicinity was the house and fourteen rods of
ground belonging to John May, or Maj'es, as it was then
written, the ancestor of the well-known family of that name.
The book of "Houses and Lands" describes it as "a triangle
abutting on R. Gamblin east, the highway northwest, and
Thomas Bell's orchard southwest." May, who had been
master of a vessel called the " James," sailing as early as
1635 between London and New England, came to Roxbury
in 1640, and died on April 23, 1670.
The fine old mansion near the corner of Amory and Boj'l-
ston Streets, now the residence of Gen. W. Raymond Lee, was
GEN. W. RAYMOND LEE'8 RESIDENCE.
built in 1766 on the land given by Thomas Bell in 1672 to the
Roxbury Free School, of which he was the most liberal bene-
factor. Near it stood, until its demolition in 1765, Mr. Bell's
THOMAS BELL. 399
homestead, afterwards that of Capt. Ebenezer Gore, the
sound portion of the old materials being made use of in the
new structure. The homestead came about 1810 into the
possession of Thomas Amory, " London Tom," whose daugh-
ter Mr. Lee married. At the bend of the road is a large
English elm. and on the grounds in front of the house are
many fine specimens of elms, English and American, so dis-
posed as to add greatly to the picturesque effect produced by
the low, irregular outlines of the residence itself. The old por-
tion of the house is central, the wings are modern additions.
Mr. Bell bequeathed all his real estate in Roxbury in trust
for " the maintenance of a schoolmaster and free schoole for
the teaching and instructing of poore men's children in the
town." This gift, a very large one for the time, with its
accumulations, renders the school one of the most richly
endowed in the country. His lands extended from Stony
River, taking in this homestead, across School Street and the
turnpike up to Walnut Avenue. The beautiful, smooth field
of eighteen acres at the right of Washington Street, on the
brow of the hill, on the corner of School Street as you come
north, and the great orchard opposite, are embraced in this
portion of the princely bequest of Thomas Bell, a merchant,
who resided here from 1635 until his return in 1654 to
England, where he died in 1672. The apostle Eliot's influ-
ence was no doubt exerted to procure this gift for the school,
whose establishment he had done so much to promote ; and
we also find Mr. Bell further sustaining that good man's en-
deavors by becoming one of the corporators in England of
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New Eng-
land. The memory of Thomas Bell should be fondly cher-
ished by the people of Roxbury.
A short distance west of the Bell homestead stands the old
Curtis house. In 1639 William Curtis built on the margin of
Stony Brook a substantial dwelling, supposed to be the one
now standing. It is in excellent preservation, and is inhab-
400
THE CURTIS HOMESTEAD.
ited by the widow and children of the fifth Isaac Curtis who
has occupied it, and who was the seventh in descent from
William, the emigrant. The instances of the continuous
occupation of the homestead by the same family for a period
of two hundred and forty years, are very rare in New Eng-
land. The neighborhood was originally a forest, abounding
in wild animals, and a pair of antlers can now be seen in the
old house, taken from a buck that was shot from within it,
probably while drinking from the brook. In 1659 twenty
OLD CURTIS HOMESTEAD.
shillings was paid by the town to Philip Curtis, for killing a
wolf here. "William Curtis's homestead of ten acres was
bounded south on Stony Eiver, north on Robert Pepper, west
on John Ruggles and John Totman, and east on George
Brand," says the ancient Transcript of Lands.
The house a good specimen of the second period of New
England architecture stands on Lamartine Street, near the
Boylston station of the Boston and Providence Railroad,
over which a hundred trains run by it dail}- , and is probably
one of the oldest inhabited dwellings in the United States.
Near it, shaded by the magnificent elm seen in the picture,
is the spring that doubtless determined the locality of the
WILLIAM CURTIS. 401
dwelling. Tradition says this tree was transplanted a hun-
dred years ago, by one of the family, from a meadow in
"Rocky Swamp," a tract lying between Washington Street
and Forest Hills Street, then owned by the Curtises. With
care it will probably last another century. A large, healthy,
fruit-bearing currant-bush grows from a knot-hole on its
eastern side.
The timbers of the Curtis house are of unseasoned white
oak, doubtless cut from the farm. The nails were all wrought,
there being then no machines for cutting them. The building
is of two stories, with eight rooms, a garret above, and a
small square entry on the lower floor, separating two of the
main rooms. It has a pitched roof, sloping down at the rear
to within a few feet of the ground, and in the centre stands
the enormous square chimney. The windows are small.
Originally the glass was diamond- shaped, and set in leaden
sashes, but about the beginning of this century these gave
place to the small panes of glass they now have, and the lead
was converted into spoons. Square blocks of oak, about ten
inches across, serve as cellar stairs, and show unmistakable
signs of wear from the tread of the generations that have
passed over them. Much of the old furniture, handed down
for generations, yet remains. Perhaps the apostle Eliot sat
at that quaint old table, Winthrop or Thomas Dudley in that
antique chair. A company of Rhode Island soldiers were
quartered here during the siege of Boston.
William Curtis, a native of the parish of Nazing, was mar-
ried there to Sarah, daughter of Bennett Eliot and the sister
of the apostle, in 1618. They came over with other Roxbury
settlers in the " Lion," in 1632, bringing four children. An-
other passenger was Ann Mountfort, the affianced of Eliot,
to whom she was married a month after her arrival. There
can be little doubt that the influence of his brother-in-law,
Curtis, was potent in drawing Eliot from Boston, where he
was so earnestly " labored with " to induce him to remain.
26
402 WYMAN FARM. " TOTMAN'S ROCKS."
Most of the persons bearing the name of Curtis in the United
States are descended from William. They seem to be a pro-
lific and a long-lived race. Forty families of this stock from
1632 to 1850 had an average of over five children each, and
thirty-seven lived to the average term of sixty-six years.
One of his descendants, in 1721, bought a horse and negro
and set up market-gardening, and was the first man who
carried vegetables to town in a cart instead of in panniers.
Philip, son of William Curtis, was lieutenant of Capt. Hench-
man's companj'-, that left Boston on Nov. 1, 1675, to rescue
two youths whom the savages had captured at Marlborough.
The rescue was effected, but Curtis and several of his com-
panions were killed. Of William, another son, Eliot says,
' ' He was a hopeful scholler, but God took him in the end
of 1634."
Just beyond the railroad bridge, on the east side of Centre
Street, was the Wyman farm of about sixty acres, now in-
cluding Lamartine Street, and a part of which many years
ago was a training-field. The Went worth house opposite
was in those days a tavern, kept by Phineas Withington,
and upon all occasions of parade and festivity it was well pa-
tronized. After a review, the performances would close on
Huckleberry Hill, now known as Cedar Hill, with a " sham
fight," generally ending with some bloody noses. On the
left, before coming to Boylston Street, is the locality still
known as " Totman's Rocks," named from John Totman, an
early settler, whose dwelling and nine acres of land were
located between Day and Boylston Streets. Next comes the
Paul Gore estate, formerl}' the site of Thomas Baker's house
and wheelwright shop. In 1720 Timothy Parker bought of
John Ruggles the house, barn, and three acres of land
on the easterly corner of Boylston and Centre Streets. On
Parker's Hill adjoining, and where Mr. George S. Curtis
lives, the company of Capt. Trowbridge, of Farmington,
Conn., was encamped in 1775. Where Mr. Charles F.
SAMUEL CURTIS'S HOMESTEAD. 403
Curtis now resides, the old house of Ebenezer Newell for-
merly stood'.
In 1712, Samuel, the grandson of William Curtis, bought
of Joshua Bowen, twenty acres bordering on Jamaica Pond,
and built in 1722 the house in which his son and grandson
Joseph lived, and in which Miss Catharine P. Curtis, his
granddaughter, resided, until her decease in July last. To
the antiquarian taste and research of Miss Curtis, the public
is indebted for the collection and preservation of much that is
interesting in the past history of the town. He afterwards
bought the Perkins farm of fourteen acres of the heirs. The
street leading from this point to Brookline, north of the pond,
known in the early days as Connecticut Lane, was named for
William Perkins, who came to Roxbury in 1632. Nathaniel
Winchester had an estate of fifty acres on this street.
Joseph, the son of Samuel Curtis, in 1771 married Catha-
rine Parker, who kept a shop of British goods on Boylston
Street. Dflring three months of the siege of Boston he gave
up his house, reserving only his wife's shop and one chamber,
to a company from Connecticut, composed of young men of
good station. One night, upon a sudden alarm that the
British were coming out from Boston, each man brought his
watch and purse and deposited them with Mrs. Curtis.
" Why, what shall I do with them?" she asked. "If we
come back," they replied, " we will know our own, and if we
never return we would rather you should have them than the
British." After the war, Joseph Curtis presented a claim
against the State for " barracking" men from the companies
of Major Thompson, Capt. Noadiah Hooker, and Capt.
Aldrich, of Connecticut, Capt. Eaton, of Haverhill, and Capt.
Barnes, of Methuen. His son Joseph died in 1858, after a
career of great usefulness, he having served the town long
and faithfully, as school committeeman, selectman, and
representative.
404 JAMAICA PLAIN.
CHAPTER XI.
JAMAICA PLAIN.
Jamaica Pond. The Aqueduct. Social Aspects. Hallowell House.
Ward Nicholas Boylston. Linden Hall. Warren's Country Seat.
Loring House. Capt. Sears. Third Church. Parsonage. Eev.
William Gordon. Rev. Thomas Gray. Eliot School. Soldiers'
Monument. Moses Williams. John Hancock's Country Seat.
Lemuel Hayward. Nathaniel Curtis. Sir Francis Bernard. Pep-
perell. Whitney. Childs. Peacock Tavern. Samuel Adams.
JAMAICA PLAIN is one of the loveliest spots in New
England. It abounds in springs and brooks, and its
soil, light and gravelly, is easily cultivated. Environed as it
is by beautifully sloping hills, forming a complete basin, the
place is almost entirely sheltered from east winds, and on
account of its peculiar salubriousness, has been called the
" American Montpelier." For fifty years its death-rate aver-
aged but one to one hundred. Its inhabitants were in the
olden time principally well-to-do farmers, and until recently
it was a market-garden for the supply of vegetables for Bos-
ton. Many elegant country seats are delightfully situated on
the banks of the lake and elsewhere, and the Plain is dotted
with the tasteful cottages of business men, who retire every
evening from their avocations in the city to this charming
spot. For more than a century it has been an attractive
summer resort for Bostonians.
Originally called the "Pond Plain," it had as early as
1667 received its present designation, as appears by Hugh
Thomas's conveyance of his property here for the benefit of a
school, " to the people at the Jamaica end of the town of
JAMAICA POND.
405
Roxbury." It is un-
doubtedly a slander
upon the good people
of this locality to as-
sert that it derives its
name from their fond-
ness for ' ' Jamaica "
rum, and that the}*
preferred it " plain."
However this may be,
the fact that the island
of Jamaica had not
long before been taken
by Cromwell from the
Spaniards, and that
its rum, sugar, and
other products had
already found their
way to the adjacent
port of Boston, is
certainly suggestive.
The nomenclature in
question may, not-
withstanding ingen-
ious theorizing, be
safely referred to the
desire to commemo-
rate Cromwell's val-
uable acquisition.
The beautiful sheet
of water known as
"Jamaica Pond."
covers au area of
nearly seventy acres,
with a depth in some
places of sixty to
seventy feet ; and
406 JAMAICA PLAIN.
until the introduction of Cochituate water into Boston in 1848,
supplied that city by means of an aqueduct with excellent
water. It now provides that metropolis with ice of the best
quality. The right to draw water from the pond for mill
purposes, granted to certain citizens in 1698, conditionally,
was the frequent cause of litigation till 1851, when the Bos-
ton Water Board bought the right for forty-five thousand
dollars, and in 1856 the city sold it for thirty-five thousand dol-
lars to the present corporation, on condition that they should
not bring water into the city proper. The Aqueduct Com-
pany was incorporated in 1795. About forty-five miles of
pipes, made of logs, were laid ; the trenches were only three
to three and a half feet in depth, which did not prevent
freezing in severe weather, while the smallness of the pipes,
four-inch mains, limited the supply.
Speaking of the social and other aspects of the place, the
Rev. Thomas Gray, in his half-century discourse, delivered
in 1842, said :
"When I first came among you this was a quiet, retired, rural
little village, and there was not a single allurement either to physi-
cal, moral, or religious intemperance or excess to be found within
its limits. Its simplicity of manners reminded one of Goldsmith's
Sweet Auburn I loveliest village of the plain,
Where health and plenty cheered the laboring swain.'
"Fashionable manners were unknown here then. The good
dame's visits were made at an early hour in the afternoon, each
with her knitting work still going on while engaged in social con-
verse, and at dusk rolling up their work and returning home, re-
freshed from their social intercourse, to their domestic enjoyments
and duties, which they wisely and justly considered as paramount
to all others. There was more of true happiness in those humble
dwellings than all the modern refinement of art, of wealth, or fash-
ion combined can now boast or ever impart.
1 These were thy charms, sweet village. Joys like these,
With sweet succession, taught e'en toil to please;
These round thy bowers their cheerful influence shed.*
HALLO WELL HOUSE. 407
"There seemed also perfect union of purpose and action in
almost every person and every thing. Whenever a new dwelling
was contemplated the whole neighborhood volunteered its services,
prepared and stoned the cellar and well, and gave often days of
labor to aid and speed on the object. There existed also at that
time but one religious sentiment and feeling, and until a very recent
period all met and worshipped together in this place. In this whole
town there were only three churches and three ministers, all as per-
fectly known, loved, and understood by each other as though they
had been brothers. Now (1842), there are eleven churches and min-
isters, besides fifteen other clergymen, making twenty-six in all, and
of about as many varying creeds, most of them scarcely known to
each other even by name, though residing so near, much less by
neighborly or social and friendly intercourse as formerly."
In the summer of 1775 the Rhode Island troops under
Gen. Greene were stationed at the Plain, and were quartered
in different houses upon the inhabitants. Some were at Dea-
con Nathaniel "Weld's and others at Joseph Curtis's, on Cen-
tre Street. Troops from Connecticut were also stationed on
the plain. The soldiers were in general said to be very impu-
dent to the inhabitants, especially a company from the town
of Methuen.
At the corner of Centre and Boylston Streets stands a
quaint but picturesque dwelling, whose irregular proportions
strike the eye agreeably. It was built about the year 1738.
Early in April, 1775, it was hastily vacated by Capt. Benja-
min Hallowell, its loyalist owner, who sought refuge in Bos-
ton, and it was used during the siege by the patriot forces as
a hospital for the camp at Roxbury. Soldiers were buried
from it near the road, about forty rods from the house, in the
direction of the Boylston Street Station. After the siege it
was leased by the selectmen to Jonathan Mason, Esq.
The property, consisting of the dwelling-house and other
buildings and about seven acres of land, was confiscated by
the State, and was bought in 1791 by Dr. Lewis Leprilete ;
but after the death of Capt. Hallowell, his son, Ward Nicholas,
408
HALLOWELL HOUSE.
claimed the property in the right of his mother, assumed her
name of Boylston, and obtained the estate by process of law
in 1801. The remains of the doctor and those of his son
etill occupy the estate, of which while living they were dis-
HALLOWELL HOUSE.
possessed, and the spot of their interment is marked by a
stone with this Latin inscription :
"In memoria Doctoris Ludovici Leprilete, Mass. Med. Soc.
Socll, Nati Nante in Gallia, Oct. 10, Anno Domini MDCCL.
Obit Julii die 29, MDCCCIV ^Etat suaj LIV.
Celeberrimus in chirugia.
Hie etiam, ejus filius solus Ludovicus Leprilete sepultus est,
Natus Jan. 12 Anno Domini MDCCLXXXV.
Obiit Oct. 30, MDCCXCII.
^Etat suae octavo anno."
Near the house, on the corner of the lane in front, Dr.
Leprilete built an English goods shop, kept by himself for
some time, afterwards by Luke Baker, of Boston. In 1803
Mr. Boylston removed it to the hill directly opposite Boylston
CAPT. HALLOWELL. 409
Hermitage, so called, on Boj'lston Street, and converted it into
a dwelling-house, yet standing. The Hermitage was originally
a brush-maker's shop, which was built in Burroughs Street,
near Jamaica Pond, by a Mr. Knowlton. Mr. Boylston
bought and removed it to its present location in 1807, con-
verting it into a dwelling-house as it now stands. It has
since been removed to the corner of Lamartine Street. He
entered it in December, 1809. The present owner of the old
Hallowell mansion, Dr. Wing, has made additions to the
original structure, and has had it thoroughly repaired. The
engraving represents the old house as it formerly was.
Hallowell in early life was captain of a small vessel, and
during the war ending in the conquest of Canada com-
manded the province twenty -gun ship " King George," ren-
dering essential service, notabl}* at the retaking of Newfound-
land. As a commissioner of His Majesty's customs he was
extremely obnoxious, and his acceptance also of the office of
mandamus councillor made him a special object of public
detestation. How intense was the popular excitement at this
time is seen in the following occurrences :
" A few nights ago," wrote Gov. Hutchinson to a friend, in June,
1770, " Mr. Hul ton's bouse (in Brookline) was attacked. You will
easily judge the distress of Mrs. Hulton, Mrs. Burch, and daughter.
Burch, who has lately moved to Tom Oliver's house at Dorchester,
lay upon his arms the next night, and kept his scouts out, but the
women being so distrest, both Hulton and he went the day after to
the castle with their friend Porter, and several of the officers lodged
upon Jamaica Plain. Lady Bernard told me yesterday, at Cam-
bridge, that all the gentlemen upon the Plain left their houses the
night before, upon intimation that they were in danger, and that a
search for officers was intended."
On Sept. 2, 1774, while the people were assembled on
Cambridge Common to receive the resignations of Danforth,
Lee, and Oliver, as mandamus councillors, Hallowell passed
on his way to Roxbury. The sight of him so inflamed the
410 CAPT. HAIXOWELL.
people that one hundred and sixt} T horsemen were soon in
pursuit at full gallop. Some of the leaders, however, pru-
dently dissuaded them from proceeding, and they returned
and dismounted, except one man, who followed Hallowell to
Roxbury, where he overtook and stopped him in his chaise.
Hallowell snapped his pistols at him, but could not disengage
himself from him till he quitted the chaise and mounted his
servant's horse, on which he rode into Boston at full speed,
till, the horse falling within the gate, he ran on foot to the
camp, through which he spread consternation, telling them he
was pursued by some thousands, who would be in town at his
heels, and destroy all friends of the government before them.
It was this alarm that aroused the country, and started hun-
dreds of armed men on the road to Boston.
His combativeness was irrepressible, and was not confined
to rebels, for the newspapers of August, 1775, give the
details of a street fight between him and Admiral Graves.
Hallowell was one of those excepted from pardon by the
Provincial Congress, on the 16th of June, 1775, in retalia-
tion for Gage's proclamation, excepting Hancock and Samuel
Adams. With his family of six persons he accompanied the
British army to Halifax in March, 1776, and in July sailed for
England. While in Halifax he frequently but vainly offered
his services to the commander-in-chief in subduing the rebel-
lion. On visiting Boston in 1796, he was kindly received
and hospitably entertained. He died at York (Toronto),
Upper Canada, March 28, 1799, aged seventy-five. This
pen-and-ink sketch is from John Adams's Diary :
" Jan. 16, 1766. Dined at Mr. Nick Boylston's with the two
Mr. Boylstons, two Mr. Smiths, Mr. Hallowell, and their ladies.
The conversation of the two B.'s and Hallowell is a curiosity. Hot-
spurs all. H. tells stories about Otis and Sam. Adams. Otis, he says,
told him that the Parliament had a right to tax the colonies, and
he was a d d fool who denied it, and that the people never would
be quiet till we had a council from home, till our charter was taken
WARD NICHOLAS BOYLSTON. 411
away, and till we had regular troops quartered upon us. He says
he saw Adams under the tree of Liberty when the effigies hung
there, and asked him who they were and what. He said he did not
know, he could not tell he wanted to inquire."
His son Benjamin was one of seven Boston boys who sub-
sequently attained high rank in the British service, Admirals
Sir Isaac Coffin and Sir Benjamin Hallowell (Carew), and
Gens. Sir John and Sir Aston Coffin, Hugh Mackay Gordon,
Sir David Ochterlony, and Sir Roger Hale Sheafle. Enter-
ing the royal navy during the American war, he was at the
time of his death, in 1834, an admiral of the Blue. He
was a lieutenant under Rodney in his memorable fight with
DeGrasse, and in command of the " Swiftsure," '74, con-
tributed essentially to Nelson's victory of the Nile. From
a piece of the mainmast of " L'Orient," picked up by the
" Swiftsure," Hallowell had a coffin made which he sent to
Nelson. The hero, who cherished a warm friendship for
Hallowell, received it in the spirit in which it was sent,
ordered it to be placed upright in his cabin, and to be
reserved for the purpose for which its brave and worthy donor
designed it. Succeeding to the estates of the Carews of
Beddington, Hallowell assumed the name and arms of that
family.
The other son, Ward Nicholas, who took the name of
Boylston, and inherited his father's estate, had made in early
life the tour of Europe, Asia, and Africa. He returned to his
native place in the year 1800, and died at his seat in Rox-
bmy, Jan 7, 1828. Mr. Boylston, who was a gentlemen of
education, took an active interest in the Roxbury schools, and
made valuable donations to Harvard College. His liberality
is commemorated by a school, a market, and a street named
for him in his native place.
The large house on the corner of Pond Street, now Mrs.
John Williams's, was built in 1755 by John Gould, for his
son-in-law. Rev. John Troutbeck, assistant rector of King's
412 LINDEN HALL.
Chapel, where he officiated for twenty years. Troutbeck,
with other loyalists, left Boston in 1776. He was in London
in 1777, in which year Benjamin Hallowell wrote his son
Ward, "Poor Parson Troutbeck, going round to Newcastle
in a collier, is taken by one of the pirates that is cruising in
the North Sea." Possibly by Paul Jones, who was then
making captures in that latitude, and who was thus stigmatized
by the enemies of America. Of Troutbeck, who was a dis-
tiller as well as a clergyman, a Boston rhymester sings :
" John of small merit, who deals in spirit,
As next in course I sing;
Fain would I treat , as is most meet,
This chaplain of the king.
His Sunday aim is to reclaim
Those that in vice are sunk,
When Monday 's come he selleth rum
And gets them plaguy drunk."
"Linden Hall," as it was formerly called, became the
property of a Mr. Greene, who added another story to the
edifice, and fitted young men for college there. On the oppo-
site corner of Pond Street is an old mansion, once owned by
Benjamin May, blacksmith, who purchased four acres here of
Nathaniel Brewer, in 1732. This was afterwards the house
of John Parker, who married Benjamin May's daughter.
Benjamin was the great-grandson of John May, Sen.
A two-story cottage with dormer-windows, long known as
Dr. John C. Warren's country seat, now the residence of
Calvin Young, stands near the northerly corner of Green and
Centre Streets. In 1740 Eleazer May sold this estate, in-
cluding the house in which he dwelt, to Benjamin, nephew of
Peter Faneuil, of whom it was bought in 1760 by his brother-
in-law, Benjamin Pemberton. It original!}- contained seven
acres, and extended back to the river. Mr. Pemberton, in a
note to the assessors in 1783, speaks of the property as
" now greatly out of repair, and much damaged by provincial
soldiers."
DR. WARREN'S COUNTRY SEAT. 413
When Dr. "VVarren bought the estate, about the year 1800,
he found the dwelling-house constructed after the West India
fashion of one story in front, with an addition of two stories in
the rear. A large front door opened directly into a spacious
hall. This door and the one opposite were perfect!}' plain on
the inside, indicating that they were alwa3's to stand open.
Facing you as you entered was the door at the other end of
the hall, leading through a porch into a large carriage-yard.
DR. WAKKEN'S COUNTRY SKAT.
The two large windows in front were furnished with blinds
of half-inch board, leaving spaces half a foot wide between
them. On the right side of the hall were two doors, leading to
bedrooms. Opposite there were windows made to shut down
upon doors opening into a piazza, which led into a small gar-
den adjoining the house. These windows formed each of
them a good-sized door, the lower part of which seemed as
if a piece of the panelling or wainscot had been cut out and
placed on hinges. The hall floor was painted, and in its cen-
tre was the picture of a dog, admirably executed and life-
like. Three noble elms stood upon the road, one of which
still remains at the westerly corner of the house, while within
414 THE LORING HOUSE.
were lindens, and beyond these two rows of fine horse-chest-
nut trees.
Many changes have been made in the old house. One of
the original features of the mansion, the elegant panelled
wainscoting in the large room on the left as you enter, has
been retained, but the windows no longer extend to the floor,
admitting of free ingress and egress to the piazza ; and the
immense chimney that once buttressed its northerly side has
been removed. During his residence here, Dr. Warren im-
ported many trees and plants from Europe, and paid great
attention to agriculture. He was the son of Dr. John and a
nephew of Gen. Joseph "Warren, and was one of the most
distinguished surgeons this country has produced. Mr. and
Mrs. Young have resided here since 1837. The latter is a
sister of the well-known historical writers, John 8. and Wil-
liam Barry.
Burroughs Street, from Centre to Pond Street, the gift of
William Burroughs, was accepted by the town in 1787.
Thomas Street was named for Hugh Thomas, an early set-
tler. On the corner stood a house, dating from 1716, known
as the Sally Brewer house, now moved back to the end of the
street. It was formerly the Brewer mansion, Stephen Brewer
residing in it, and was on the Eliot land, leased by the gram-
mar school trustees for ninety-nine years. The Eliot and
Thomas estates, given to the school, extended from Thomas
to Orchard Streets, and from Centre to Pond. Eliot Street
was opened through to Pond in 1800. At its corner stands
one of Paul Dudley's milestones dated 1735, inscribed, "Five
miles to Boston town-house."
Opposite the intersection of Centre and South Streets, well
back from the thoroughfare, stands the Greenough mansion,
& large, square, old-fashioned, roomy edifice, in which lived
the Tory, Commodore Joshua Loring. It is said to have been
framed in England, and occupies the site of a dwelling pur-
chased of Loring by Mr. Pemberton, who gave it to the
THE LORING HOUSE.
415
parish for a parsonage, and who removed it to the spot where
Dr. Weld resided, near the .Unitarian Church. The estate,
formerly John Policy's, was bought by Loring, in 1752, of the
heirs of Joshua Cheever, of Charlestown. In May, 1775, the
house was the headquai'ters of Gen. Nathaniel Greene. In
June it was occupied for a short time by Capt. Pond's com-
pany from "Wrerithain, but was soon converted into a hospital
for the Roxbury camp. After the siege it was leased by the
selectmen to Hon. "William Phillips. Just back of the house
THE LORING HOfSE.
a number of American soldiers who died of disease were
buried. Their remains were in 1867 removed to the cemetery
in the westerly part of the town .
In accordance with the act of the General Court of April
30, 1779, to confiscate the estates of "notorious conspira-
tors," Loring's " large mansion house, convenient out-houses,
gardens planted with fruit trees, together with about sixty-
five acres of mowing land," were sold at the Bunch of Grapes
Tavern, in King Street, in June, the purchaser being the
noted Col. Isaac Sears. From Sears it passed to the "Widow
Ann Doane, who in 1784 married David Stoddard Green-
ough, son of Thomas Greenough, a member of the Revolu-
tionary Committee of Correspondence, whose sessions had at
416 COM. LORING.
one time been held in the Loring house. It is still owned
and occupied oy the Greenough family, and taken in connec-
tion with its surroundings, is, in spite of its age, hardly sur-
passed by any of its more modern neighbors. Col. David
Henle}', who had charge of Burgoyne's captive army while at
Cambridge, occupied the house about that time. The hand-
some Town Hall stands upon a portion of this estate. It was
dedicated in August, 1868, on which occasion an interest-
ing historical address was delivered by Hon. Arthur W.
Austin.
The Loring family has the distinction of having been the
only one of any prominence, among the natives of Roxbury,
that adhered to the royal cause during the Revolutionary
struggle. Joshua, who built this house in 1760, learned the
tanner's trade with James Mears on Roxbury Street, but
when of age went to sea, rose to the command of a priva-
teer, and having been taken by the French in August, 1744,
was for some months a prisoner in Louisburg. On Dec. 19,
1757, he was commissioned a captain in the British navy,
was commodore of the naval forces on Lakes Champlain and
Ontario, and participated in the capture of Quebec under
"Wolfe, and in the conquest of Canada in the succeeding cam-
paigns of Amherst. He was severely wounded in the leg
while in command on Lake Ontario, and at the close of the
war retired on half pay, at which time he settled down at
Jamaica Plain.
When the charter of Massachusetts was altered, and the
right to choose members of the governor's council was taken
from the people and vested in the crown, Gen. Gage, by a
writ of mandamus, appointed Loring to the office, and on
Aug. 17, 1774, he was sworn in as one of Gage's select coun-
cil. Gage's appointees were immediately subjected to the
strictest surveillance, and the greatest pressure brought to
bear upon them to induce them to throw up the obnoxious
office. A diarist, under date of Aug. 29, speaking of a Rox-
COM. LORING. 417
bury town meeting recently held, says : " Late in the evening
a member waited upon Commodore Loring, and in a friendly
way advised him to follow the example of his townsman,
Isaac "Winslow (who had already resigned). He desired
time to consider of it. They granted it, but acquainted him
if he did not comply he must expect to be waited on by a
larger number, actuated by a different spirit. His principal
apprehension was that he should lose his half pay." This
fear seems to have determined him, for on March 30, 1775,
the Provincial Congress denounced Joshua Loring and other
" irreconcilables " as implacable enemies to their country, and
every town was ordered to enter their names as such upon its
records.
On the morning of the Lexington battle, after passing
most of the previous night in consultation with Deacon
Joseph Brewer, his neighbor and intimate friend, upon the
step he was about to take, he mounted his horse, left his
house and everything belonging to it, and pistol in hand
rode at full speed to Boston, stopping on the way only to
answer an old friend, who asked, " Are you going, commo-
dore?" " Yes," he replied, " I have alwaj's eaten the king's
bread, and always intend to." The sacrifice must have been
especially painful to him, as he is said to have deemed the
cause of his countrymen just, but did not believe they could
succeed.
He received a pension from the crown until his decease at
Highgate, England, in October, 1781, at the age of sixty-five.
Mary, his widow, the daughter of Samuel Curtis, of Roxbury,
also died in England, at the age of eighty. Their son,
Joshua, Jr., in 1769 married, at the house of Col Hatch in
Dorchester, Miss Elizabeth Lloyd, of Boston. This is the
man who, as deputy commissary of prisoners at New York,
made himself so detested by his brutal indifference to the
comfort of his unfortunate countrymen who were prisoners.
In August, 177H, he wrote to Col. Hatch that he expected to
27
418 COL. SEARS. THE THIRD CHURCH.
spend the winter in Roxbury, and should clean up his house
there for his place of residence. To the very last, the loyal-
ists seem to have deluded themselves with the idea that the
rebellion was a failure, and that they should soon reap the
reward of all their loyal sacrifices. His son, Sir John TVent-
worth Loring, born in Roxbury, became an admiral in the
British navy, and another, Henry, died archdeacon of Cal-
cutta in 1832.
Col. Sears, who succeeded Loring, like him had com-
manded a privateer in the French war, and was afterwards a
successful merchant in New York. He was one of the most
active and zealous of the Sons of Libert3 T , so much so that
he was popularly called " King" Sears, and was at one time
a member of the Provincial Congress. Active throughout
the contest, at its close his business and his property had dis-
appeared. In 1785 he sailed with a venture for Canton, as
supercargo, but was taken ill with fever, and died there in
October, 1786, at the age of fifty-six.
The Third, or Jamaica Plain, Parish Church, opposite the
Soldiers' Monument, owes its origin to Mrs. Susanna, wife of
Benjamin Pemberton, who occupied the mansion now Mr.
Calvin Young's. Her husband engaged heartily in the proj-
ect, and had the edifice erected principally at his own
expense. It was raised, in September, 1769, upon land
bequeathed to the town by the apostle Eliot, and on the 31st
of the following December, the first sermon was preached
in the unfinished structure by the Rev. Joseph Jackson, of
Brookline. The present handsome building, which stands on
the corner of Centre and Eliot Streets, occupies the site of the
first, which contained thirty-four square pews, and three long
seats for the poor on each side the broad aisle next the pul-
pit, and a gallery. The original building was sold by the
parish to Mr. S. M. Weld, who removed it to the opposite
side of Eliot Street, the spot now occupied by Eliot Hall.
Remodelled as a stable, it was nearly ready for occupancy
THE THIRD CHURCH.
419
when, on May 24, 1853, it was destroyed by fire. The house
was first warmed in January, 1805, by the introduction of an
iron stove placed at the head of the broad aisle. In 1832 the
first organ-music was heard here, the instrument having been
made by Mr. William Goodrich, of Cambridge.
In 1820 the house was enlarged and repaired, thirty pews
being added on the lower floor, and ten in the galleries. Sir
William Pepperell presented a Bible for the use of the pul-
THE THIRD CHURCH AXC PARSOXAGE.
pit in 1772, at which time he resided in the mansion of Gov.
Bernard. In 1783, John Hancock purchased the bell which
had been recently taken down from the New Brick Church,
Boston, and gave it to this church. This, the first bell placed
in its steeple, was removed in 1821 upon the purchase of a
new and larger one. The first bore this inscription : " Thomas
Lester, of Londen, made me, 1742." Its weight was three
hundred and forty-two pounds, its cost three hundred thirty-
three dollars and thirty-three cents. Hancock proposed
at this time to send to England for a larger and better bell,
but the parish thought best to secure " the bird in the hand,"
and it was well they did.
The Third Parish or precinct, comprising thirty-five persons
with their estates, thirteen members, was organized on
420 THE THIRD CHURCH.
Dec. 11, 1760 ; was incorporated in 1772 ; and on July 6th of
that year, Rev. William Gordon, after having preached to
the society one year, was installed as " pasture," so says the
record. In May, 1773, nine persons with their estates, Mr.
Pemberton at their head, all belonging to the First of lower
Parish, were, by an Act of the General Court, separated from
that and united to the Third Parish, an act which was opposed
by that parish, as appears by a printed memorial presented
to the General Court. Before this time, it had formed part
of the Second or upper Parish, then under Rev. Nathaniel
Walter, the limits of which did not extend above eighty rods
below the spot the church now occupies. During the siege,
the First Parish meeting-house being occupied by the Amer-
ican troops, town meetings were held here. The sessions of
the General Court were also held here in the spring of 1778,
on account of the prevalence of small-pox in Boston, Dr.
Gordon officiating as chaplain. When, in the later years of
the war, the currency became so alarmingly depreciated, the
Doctor got the consent of his people to pay him his salary,
nominally 15,000, in produce at peace prices, a great
relief to him, and no disadvantage to his parishioners.
After Dr. Gordon's return to England in 1786, the pas-
torate was vacant for seven years, and until the settlement of
Rev. Thomas Gray. The war had impoverished the people,
and the parish, small as it then was, felt the burden so
severely that the pulpit was only occasionally supplied. The
great patron of the parish, Mr. Pemberton, having upon a
trivial account become offended with Dr. Gordon, had, by
will, left his entire property, including the church itself and
most of the pews in it, in trust for the benefit of the poor of
the town of Boston. He had previously promised that he
would bequeath it to the parish for the sole support of its
future ministers. It was pressed also by Dr. Gordon for
arrears of salary due him. Under the long and successful
pastorate of Dr. Gray, all existing difficulties were overcome,
and prosperity and harmony were established.
THE PARSONAGE. DR. GORDON. 421
The succession of pastors of this church has been :
WILLIAM GORDON, D. D. Ord. 6 July, 1772. Dis. 17 March, 1786.
THOMAS GRAY, D. D. 27 Mar., 1793. Died 1 June 1847.
GEORGE WHITNEY. 10 Feb., 1836. " 2 April, 1842.
JOSEPH H.ALLEN. 18 Oct., 1843. Dis. 21 Feb., 1847.
GRINDALL REYNOLDS. 1848. " 1858.
JAMES W. THOMPSON, D. D. 1859.
CHARLES F. DOLE. 1875.
The parsonage house was purchased by Mr. Pemberton in
1760 of Commodore Loring, and removed from the site since
occupied by the Greenough mansion, to the corner of Centre
and Monument Streets, the recent residence of Dr. C. M.
Weld. After Dr. Gray's family left the old house in 1851 it
was sold and moved to South Street, adorned for the sacrifice
with a coat of yellow paint, and it became the habitation of
Irish families. A few years later its gentility was lowered
still another peg, and it again took up the line of march, this
time towards the gas-house, where it still remains on the west
side of Keyes Street, but bearing no resemblance to its former
self.
Rev. William Gordon, a native of Hitchin, England, had,
prior to coming to Boston, been settled over a large indepen-
dent society in Ipswich, England, and more recently at Old
Gravel Lane, Wapping. His partiality to the cause of Amer-
ican liberty induced him to emigrate in 1770, and two years
later he settled in Jamaica Plain as its first pastor. This
connection was, after fourteen years of harmony and union,
dissolved, and Gordon left for England on March 17, 1786,
that he might publish his history of the American Revolution
on more favorable terms than in this country.
The materials for this work, which he published in London
in 1788, were gathered from the papers of Washington,
Greene, Knox, and other prominent actors in the war for
independence. He began their collection in 1776, and his
narrative is minute, and in general faithful. Its value was
impaired, so it is said, by the expurgation of such passages
422 DE. GORDON.
as it was supposed might endanger prosecution in England.
Dr. Gordon was a warm partisan of the Revolution, and took
an active part in public measures. Made chaplain to the
Provincial Congress, May 4, 1775, that body voted him a
good horse for the service, also free access to all prisoners of
war, and commissioned him to obtain Gov. Hutchinson's let-
ter books, then in the hands of Capt. McLane, of Milton.
" The alacrity with which," says Mr. J. S. Loring, " Gordon
ambled on his gentle bay horse for this purpose, in his short
breeches and buckled shoes, his reverend wig and three-cor-
nered hat, was worthy the spirit of a native-born patriot."
Gordon's manners were rude and blunt. His warmth of
temper and lack of prudence and judgment embroiled him
with Mr. Pemberton, the patron of the society, with whom
he had a silly squabble, and also with Gov. Hancock, which
led to the latter's removal from Roxbury. While chaplain
to Congress, he preached a Fast sermon strongly express-
ing his political sentiments. He attacked, in a most pungent
manner, Article V of the proposed Constitution of Massa-
chusetts, a matter that, as a foreigner, it would have been
more prudent for him to have let alone. This article,
published on April 2, 1778, was immediately followed by
his summary dismissal from his office of chaplain to both
houses of the Legislature. This dismissal gave great um-
brage to the Doctor, and the more so as many of his particu-
lar friends, and some even who were boarders with him, voted
for the measure. The closing years of his life were passed
at Ipswich, England, where he died in extreme poverty on
Oct. 19, 1807, aged seventy-seven. Though not particularly
interesting as a preacher, he was popular, and was facetious
and social in disposition.
He was the zealous champion of the negro race, and in
numerous vigorously written newspaper articles called atten-
tion to the absurdity as well as injustice of holding them in
slavery while carrying on the struggle for liberty. In one
DR. GORDON. REV. THOMAS GRAY. 423
of these, after quoting from the Virginia " Declaration of
Rights," "All men are born free and independent," he says,
" If these are our genuine sentiments, and we are not pro-
voking the Deity by acting hypocritically to serve a turn, let
us apply earnestly and heartily to the extirpation of slavery
from among ourselves." In another paper he asks this perti-
nent question : ' ' "Was Boston the first port on the continent
that begun the slave-trade, and are they not the first shut up
by an oppressive act ? "
John Adams expresses his opinion of Gordon thus : "He
is an eternal talker and somewhat vain, and not accurate nor
judicious ; very zealous in the cause, and a well-meaning
man, but incautious ; fond of being thought a man of influ-
ence at headquarters ; he is a good man, but wants a guide."
The Doctor, calling one morning on Mr. Pemberton, fastened
his horse to the front fence, which had been newly painted.
The latter requested him to remove him to a tree near by,
which the Doctor declined doing. Mr. Pemberton then called
his servant and ordered him to do it. Dr. Gordon peremp-
torily forbade him, and, on Mr. Pemberton's repeating his
order, left the house. Mr. Pemberton refused during his last
illness to converse with or to see the Doctor.
Joseph Curtis used to relate that the Doctor had a ready
hand in applying the birch to the young catechists, of whom
he was one. After punishing several of them one severe
winter's day, his feet slipped from under him as he stepped
from the icy threshold of the school, and he fell at full length,
his hat and wig rolling off his head. Thereupon, says Curtis,
" we shouted in high glee, and gave three cheers." This was
the Doctor's last appearance in that character.
Rev. Thomas Gray, second pastor, was born in Boston,
March 16, 1772, and graduated at Harvard College in 1790.
He married a daughter of Rev. Samuel Stillman, of Boston,
by whom he was prepared for the ministry, and began to
preach here on April 22, 1792. The parish, then small and
424 SOLDIERS' MONUMENT. ELIOT SCHOOL.
poor, contained only fifty-four families. For seven }-ears it
had been without a minister, and even without the regular
observance of ordinances, and the leading member of it,
from some trifling cause, had withdrawn his support. For
more than half a century he labored here, and left the society
prosperous and united.
" Fifty years since," says Dr. Gray, in his half-century discourse,
'I preached my first sermon to this society. The fulfilment of pre-
vious engagements alone prevented my remaining then, as requested.
The small-pox had broken out in the mean time, and in the general
alarm the doors of the church were closed till November 11, when I
resumed my ministry here, and accepted a call on the twenty-fourth
day of the next month to settle down in this place with a small
handful of people, a people of exhausted means but of noble hearts,
and here I have ever since continued."
Social and full of anecdote, Dr. Gray was greatly beloved
by his parishioners. As a preacher he was practical, agreea-
ble, and often effective. But it was as a pastor, in the faith-
ful and affectionate oversight of his flock, that his chief ex-
cellence lay. Two of his valuable historical discourses have
been printed : a " Half-Century Sermon," 1842 ; " Notice of
Rev. John Bradford, and ske tch of Eoxbury Churches." 1825.
Upon the triangular piece of ground in front of the Uni-
tarian Church, the gift of John Ruggles, where the Soldiers'
Monument stands, the first schoolhouse in Jamaica Plain was
erected in 1676. The present house on Eliot Street is the
fourth school building, and was dedicated on Jan. 17, 1832.
The principal benefactors of the school were Hugh Thomas,
who, in 1676, gave to the town for this purpose all his real
estate besides other property, and Rev. John Eliot, who, in
1689, gave it seventy-five acres of land. The Eliot School,
named from the latter donor, was not incorporated until 1804.
The monument erected in 1871 is of Quincy granite in the
Gothic style, and is surmounted by the figure of a soldier.
Upon a marble tablet within the arches at its base are the
IN MEMORY OF THE MI-:N OF WEST ROXBURY wno DIED IN THE SERVICE
OF THEIR COUNTRY DURING THE REBELLION OF 1861-05.
Erected by the Town of West Roxbury, A.D. 1871.
MOSES "WILLIAMS. 425
names of the men of West Roxbury who fell in the war for the
Union. At a meeting in West Roxbury in 1862, it was pro-
posed to lay out a new road ; but on motion of John C. Pratt,
it was resolved " that the only road desirable to be laid out
at the present time is the road to Richmond," and the town
gave eighty-six thousand dollars for war purposes, to which
private subscriptions added twenty-two thousand dollars.
In the rear of the church, on a part of the original parish
lot, is the cemetery, established in 1785. It was laid out in
spite of Dr. Gordon's efforts to prevent it, as injurious to the
public health, the Doctor also insisting that the parish had no
legal right to use the land for that purpose. Within its area
are twenty-four tombs. Comparatively few interments have
been made here since the consecration of Forest Hills Cem-
etery. One of the gravestones is thus inscribed : " In memory
of Capt. Lemuel May, died Nov. 19, 1805, se sixty-seven."
This patriot, who was a lieutenant of Roxbury minute-men at
the Lexington battle, resided on May Street, and was the son
of Benjamin May, who lived on the corner of Pond Street.
On the right, just above the Monument on Centre Street,
is a large square mansion having ample grounds around it,
with fine shade trees in its front, the residence of Mr. Moses
Williams. This gentleman, who enjoys the distinction of
being the oldest living male native of Roxbury, is still hale
and vigorous, and preserves his memory and other faculties
in a remarkable degree. The house, which is on a part of
the Eliot School land, was built by Stephen Grorham. About
the year 1807, Mr. John Andrews bought it and resided here
until his death in 1821. Mr. Andrews, who was a merchant
and a selectman of Boston, was quite an object of interest to
the boys and girls of the neighborhood, as on every 'lection
daj- it was his custom to bring out a huge bag of copper
cents for them to scramble for. He has a still better claim
to our regard as the author of the diary recently given to the
public, and containing a most interesting and lifelike picture
426 GOV. HANCOCK'S COUNTRY SEAT.
of Boston and its inhabitants a little more than a century
ago. " As an evidence," saj's Mr. Williams, " that real
estate does not always rise in value, Mr. Gorham bought
this lot in 1804, containing eight acres, for three thousand
three hundred and thirty-three dollars. The house and
stable, built in 1805, costing him fourteen thousand dollars,
I bought for six thousand, in 1833. So dull were estates
and hard to rent at that time, that the house was shut
up, and without a tenant for two years previous to my mov-
ing in in 18.32."
Next to Mr. Williams's was the country seat of John Han-
cock after he resigned the presidency of Congress, more
recently the estate of the late Nathaniel Curtis, and now the
home of Mr. Curtis's widow. It was bought by Hancock of
Dr. Lemuel Hayward, who received for it seven or eight
shares in Long Wharf, then valued at only fifty dollars a share,
but which at the doctor's decease were appraised at one hun-
dred thousand dollars. The present house was built in the
year 1800, by Thomas Hancock, nephew of the governor,
whose cottage of one story and a half occupied the ground
in front of it. One who saw Gov. Hancock in June, 1782,
while a resident of Jamaica Plain, relates that :
"Though only forty-five, he had the appearance of advanced
age. He had been repeatedly and severely afflicted with the gout,
probably owing in part to the custom of drinking punch, a common
practice in high circles in those days. He was nearly six feet in
height and of thin person, stooping a little, and apparently enfee-
bled by disease. His manners were very gracious, of the old style
of dignified complaisance. His face had been very handsome.
Dress was then adapted quite as much to be ornamental as useful.
Gentlemen wore wigs when abroad, and commonly caps when at
home. At this time, about noon, Hancock was dressed in a red
velvet cap, within which was one of fine linen. The latter was
turned up over the lower edge of the velvet one two or three inches.
He wore a blue damask gown lined with silk, a white stock, white
satin embroidered waistcoat, black satin small-clothes, white silk
stockings, and red morocco slippers.
GOV. HANCOCK. DR. LEMUEL HAYWARD. 427
" It was a general practice in genteel families to have a tankard
of punch made in the morning, and placed in a cooler when the sea-
son required it. At this visit, Hancock took from the cooler stand-
ing on the. hearth a full tankard, and drank first himself, and then
offered it to those present. His equipage was splendid, and such as
is not customary at this day. His apparel was handsomely embroi-
dered with gold and silver lace and other decorations fashionable
amongst men of fortune at that period, and he rode, especially upon
public occasions, with six beautiful bay horses, attended by servants
in livery. He wore a scarlet coat with ruffles on his sleeves, which
soon became the prevailing fashion ; and it is related of Dr. Nathan
Jacques, of West Newbury, the famous pedestrian, that he walked
all the way to Boston in one day to procure cloth for a coat like
that of Hancock, and returned with it under his arm and on foot."
Hancock's removal from Jamaica Plain to Boston was occa-
sioned by a quarrel with Rev. Dr. Gordon, which arose in
this wise. He had been treasurer of Harvard College from
1773 to 1777, and had neglected to adjust his account, greatly
to the detriment of the institution. At a meeting of the over-
seers, of whom Dr. Gordon was one, that gentleman spoke
his mind upon the singular neglect of the treasurer so plainly
and in so gross a manner as to mortally offend Hancock, who
ceased all intercourse with him, and at once removed to
Boston.
Dr. Lemuel Hayward, of whom Hancock bought the place,
a native of Braintree, studied medicine under Dr. Joseph
Warren, and establishing himself in practice at Jamaica
Plain, continued there until his removal to Boston in 1783.
Appointed in June, 1775. a surgeon in the General Hospital,
occupying the Loring house for this purpose, he served in
that capacity until the British troops evacuated Boston. He
then, in partnership with Dr. Jonathan Davies, of Roxbury,
began the practice of inoculation for the small-pox. He
retired from the profession, in which he acquired a high repu-
tation, in 1798, and died in Boston on March 20, 1821.
Nathaniel Curtis, an eminent merchant of Boston, a man
428 NATHANIEL CURTIS.
of strict integrity and sound judgment, resided here from
1819 until his death, April 7, 1857, aged eighty-three. He
was fifth in descent from William, of Roxbury, and in the ma-
ternal line descended from William. Mullins, one of the "May-
flower " Pilgrims. He represented the town in the Legislature
for four years, and in the State Constitutional Convention
of 1820, and was for many 3 r ears treasurer of the Third
Church and a trustee of the Eliot School. On the estate
bej'ond, is the house built in 1774, in the West Indian style,
of only one story, by Capt. Timothy Penney, of Jamaica,
who occupied it until his return to that island about the year
1789. It was raised and enlarged by subsequent owners.
Long the property of George Hallet, and afterwards of Capt.
Crowell Hatch, it is now occupied by Mrs. Walker's school.
At the corner of May Street, formerly Lowder's Lane, is
the estate of Mr. T. W. Seaverns, formerly the Bridge estate.
Edward Bridge was one of the first settlers of the town, and
a very old house is yet standing on the place. West of it,
on May Street, is the farm bought in 1771 by Capt. Lemuel
May. The old farm-house upon it had been used for bar-
racks, and was, when he bought it, greatly in need of repair.
His grandson, Benjamin Maj r , now occupies and tills the
farm which formerly included a portion of the hill south of
May Street, upon which Messrs. Dixwell, Bowditch, Parsons,
and others have built elegant residences. Capt. Charles
Brewer, whose mother was a daughter of Capt. May, resides
on a part of the estate fronting on Pond Street. The eleva-
tion to the west was known a century ago as Dana's Hill.
On the southwest side of Jamaica Pond, fronting also on
Pond Street, were situated the mansion and estate of sixty
acres belonging to Sir Francis Bernard, the royal governor
of Massachusetts from 1760 to 1769, a period of surpassing
historical interest. This was and still is a most lovely spot,
and here, but for the gathering clouds which darkened the
political horizon, the remaining years of this scholarly and
GOV. BERNARD'S ESTATE. 429
able representative of King George might have passed in the
enjoj'ment of all that seems most desirable in life, a delight-
ful home, set in a lovely landscape, and the esteem and regard
of the people he had governed. His extensive and beautiful
grounds were filled with choice fruit trees, plants, and shrubs,
including one hundred orange and lemon trees, besides fig,
cork, cinnamon, and other rare exotics. After Bernard, the
second Sir William Pepperell occupied the premises until he
too quitted the country for political reasons. This advertise-
ment shortly afterward appeared in the "Boston Gazette" of
March 10, 1775, but the times were not propitious for a sale,
and the property soon changed hands without that formality :
" To be leased, a farm in Roxbury, lately occupied by Sir William
Pepperell, on Jamaica Pond. It contains sixty acres of land, a
dwelling-house of three floors, with four rooms to each, a building
containing an elegant hall twenty-four by fifty, a green-house, stables,
coach, and other out-houses."
Then came the siege and the occupation of loyalist dwell-
ings by the patriot troops, Bernard's being the quarters of
Col. Miller, of Rhode Island, in the summer of 1775. After-
ward it was used as a hospital for the camp at Roxbury. The
soldiers who died here were buried near a small fish-pond, on
elevated ground some distance back from the buildings. This
was obliterated by the plough many years since. To make it
all the hotter for the enemy, the governor's hot-house was
taken by Major Crane and converted into a magazine for the
artillery. Confiscated by the State in 1779, the property was
bought by Martin Brimmer, a Boston merchant, who died
here in 1804. Capt. John Prince, who purchased it in 1806,
in 1809 took down and removed the old house, a part of which
had stood one hundred and forty-one years, and in which, no
doubt, many a bumper of good wine had been drunk to the
health of the seven sovereigns of Great Britain who had
reigned during that period. Capt. Prince made a road through
the property from Pond Street to Perkins Street, afterwards
430 SIR FRANCIS BERNARD.
dividing the whole into good-sized building lots, on many of
which elegant residences have since been erected. In front
of the mansion house, now owned by Mr. J. S. Robinson, are
some fine, large English elms probably planted by Gov. Ber-
nard. One of these measures twenty-five feet in circum-
ference.
A native of England and a graduate of Oxford, Francis
Bernard chose the law for a profession, and after having for
two years satisfactorily governed New Jersey was, at the age
of forty-six, appointed governor of the colon}' of Massachu-
setts Bay, and arrived in Boston on Aug. 3, 1760. The
zealous champion of British authority, his administration was
marked by the measures that initiated the Revolution. The
writs of assistance in support of stringent revenue laws ; the
Stamp Act, which, however, he opposed ; the introduction of
troops to overawe the town of Boston, these and other
like measures caused the people to hold Bernard in detesta-
tion, and greatly weakened their attachment to the mother
country. Evidences of his duplicity were not wanting. While
professing himself a friend to the province, he was endeavor-
ing to undermine its constitution, and was constantly impor-
tuning the ministry to send troops hither, while giving the
strongest assurances to the contrary. When in August, 1765,
the Stamp Act riots occurred, Bernard, deserting his post,
"hurried trembling to the castle," says the historian Ban-
croft, " but could not, even within its strong walls, get rid
of his fears, and a few days later gave wa} r to the popular
demands without dignity or courage."
The seizure of John Hancock's sloop ' ' Liberty," for
alleged infraction of the revenue laws, was the occasion of a
town meeting at the " Old South" on the 14th of June, 1768,
at which an address to the governor was agreed on, and
SIB FRANCIS BERNAED. 431
twenty-one men appointed to deliver it. Late in the after-
noon of the 15th of June, the day succeeding the meeting,
the quiet counts-seat of the governor at Jamaica Plain was
invaded, not indeed b}' a noisy mob of rioters intent upon
blood and rapine, but by a peaceful procession, consisting of
eleven chaises, "Mr. Hancock with the moderator, Royal
Tyler, Esq. , leading the van in his phaeton, making a splen-
did appearance." Among the "highly respectable" com-
mittee of twenty-one who alighted at the governor's door
were Hancock, Otis, Warren, Samuel Adams, and Josiah
Quincy.
" I received them," says Bernard, " with all possible civil-
ity, and having heard their petition I talked very freely with
them, but postponed giving a formal answer till the next day,
as it should be in writing. I then had wine handed round,
and they left me, highly pleased with their reception, espe-
cially that part of them," he significantly adds, " which had
not been used to an interview with me." In his answer, Ber-
nard promised to stop impressment ; but his very next move
was to have British regiments ordered to Boston. The arri-
val and landing of these troops when, as Dr. Byles punningly
put it, " our grievances were red dressed," is described in a
letter from Col. Dalrymple, their commanding officer, to Com-
modore Hood, dated at Boston in October, 1768. This offi-
cer's estimate of Bernard's character corresponds exactly with
that of his ' rebel" opponents.
"The governor prudentially retired to the country," says Dal-
rymple, "and left me to take the whole on myself. I encamped the
Twenty-Ninth Regiment immediately ; the Fourteenth remained with-
out cover. By tolerable management I got possession of Faneuil
Hall, the school of liberty, from the sons thereof, without force,
and thereby secured all their arms ; and I am much in fashion, vis-
ited by Otis, Hancock, Rowe, etc., who cry peccavif and offer exer-
tions for the public service, in hopes by this means to ruin the
governor by exposing his want of spirit and zeal for the public
advantage."
432 SIR FRANCIS BERNARD.
Of Bernard he says :
"It is beyond the power of my pen to paint anything so abject.
Far from being elated that the hands of government were rendered
so respectable, he deplored the arrival of letters that made his set-
ting out improper, and with earnest looks he followed a ship that
he had hired for his conveyance, and in which he declared his fixed
intention of going the moment the troops arrived. His actions
were entirely of a piece with his words, for on a requisition for
quarters he declared himself without power or authority in his
province.
"By what I have related," says Commodore Hood, in a letter to
Mr. Grenville containing the above extracts, "you will plainly see
how matters stand, and how little is to be expected from Gov. Ber-
nard. I have long and often lamented his timid conduct, and yet
would not willingly bring on him more contempt than he must of
course feel when the duplicity of his behavior is brought to light.
Mr. Bernard is without doubt a sensible man, but he has a vast deal
of low cunning which he has played off upon all degrees of people
to his own disgrace. His doubles and turnings have been so many
that he has altogether lost his road and brought himself into great
contempt. I am sorry it was not in my power to comply with his
request for a ship to convey him to England, for most certainly the
sooner he is out of America the better."
His recall to England came unexpectedly. True to his
character he remained, vainly trying to get an appropriation
for a year's salary. He left his seat in Roxbury on July 31,
1769, and embarked the next day from the castle, taking with
him his third son, Thomas, thus making a timely escape from
impending troubles. As he departed the bells were rung,
cannon were fired from the wharves, Liberty Tree was gay with
flags, and at night A great bonfire was kindled upon Fort
Hill. He remained nominal governor two years longer, but
though rewarded for his services with a baronetcy, he was
never again employed, and died in June, 1779. Lady Ber-
nard did not leave Jamaica Plain until December, 1770.
Though upright, and of courteous address, Bernard left few
friends in the place where he passed ten years of his life.
SIR FRANCIS BERNARD. 433
He had too little command of his temper, and lacked those
mollifying arts which the ferment of the times required.
Those of his own household were of the number who afforded
amusement by furnishing the most ridiculous representations
of his parsimony and domestic meanness. He seldom rode
to Boston on Sunday, but commonly attended service at
Brookline, where the preacher was, as he said, shorter in his
services than most Puritanical divines, and in particular, than
the Roxbury minister (Adams). He had fine conversational
talents, an extensive knowledge of books, and a memory so
tenacious that he boasted that he could repeat the whole of
the plays of Shakespeare. He was a friend to literature, and
gave to Harvard College a large part of his private library.
This passage from his favorite author must in his latter days
often have occurred to him :
" My way of life
Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf,
And that which should accompany old age,
As honor, love, ohedience, troops of friends,
I must not look to have, but in their stead
Curses not loud, but deep."
One evening at a period when mob law had become some-
what prevalent, the governor heard, not far from his house,
riotous noises, and against the remonstrances of his wife,
went out to use his good offices, but meeting with some rude
rebuffs he returned home, and was thus accosted by his wife :
"Husband, have they beat your brains out?" "No, my
dear, if I had had any I should have taken your advice and
stayed at home." At the king's levee, his Majesty ques-
tioned Bernard about the climate of New England. He
replied that it was much in extremes, but in general healthy.
" I suppose, Sir Francis," said the king, "you found it very
warm during your residence there ? "
The second Sir William Pepperell, grandson and heir of
the distinguished captor of Louisburg, resided here between
28
434 WHITNEY. CHILDS.
1772 and 1775. He graduated at Harvard Universit} 7 in
1766, became a member of the council, and in 1774 was
continued in that body under the mandamus of the king, and
incurred the odium visited upon those who were thus
appointed contrary to the charter, four of whom, Pepperell,
Hallowell, Winslow, and Loring, were residents of Roxbury.
He went to England in 1775, and as president of the Amer-
ican Board of Loyalists is the prominent figure in West's
picture of the reception of these gentlemen, by Great Britain,
in 1783. He is here represented in a voluminous wig, a
flowing gown, in advance of the other figures, with one hand
extended, and nearly touching the crown which lies on a vel-
vet cushion on a table, and holding in the other hand, at his
side, a scroll or manuscript, half unrolled. His vast estates
having been confiscated, he was allowed 500 per annum
by the British government until his death, which occurred
in London in 1816.
Next to Gov. Bernard's estate, on the right as you go up
Pond Street, was the Whitney estate of nine acres. A hand-
some stone mansion of the Elizabethan style, the residence
of Mrs. Abel Adams, stands on the elevated plain at the rear
of the lot. The Whitney house, which stood about a quar-
ter of a mile this side the Brookline line, disappeared nearly
a century ago, and on the removal of the family, the property
was purchased by the Childs family, whose premises it joined.
In the rear of the spot where the old house stood, the ground
slopes gradually downward for several rods to a narrow strip
of meadow, through which runs a pleasant little brook. Be-
yond the meadow the ground rises abruptly to an elevation
many feet higher than the front of the lot, and still rises
gradually, forming a slope of considerable dimensions, and
extending westerly to Brookline. West of the brook is a fine
grove of forest trees. The name of John, the grandson of
John Whitney, the first settler, appears in the list of mem-
bers of the Second Church when gathered in 1712. Eli
PEACOCK TAVERN. 435
Whitney, the famous inventor of the cotton-gin, Rev. George,
pastor of the Second and Third Churches of Roxbury, and
Prof. William Dwight Whitney, the distinguished Oriental
scholar, all belong to this branch of the Whitney family.
Benjamin Child, the common ancestor of most of the name
in Roxbury, Brookline, Boston, and Woodstock, Conn., set-
tled on the estate between Whitney's and the Brookline
boundary, owned until recently by his descendants, and died
in 1678. Besides his house and barn, he had eighty acres
" conveniently adjoining to y e s d housing."
A century ago Capt. Lemuel Child kept the Peacock Tav-
ern, a somewhat noted resort at the westerly corner of Centre
and Allandale Streets, near the famous mineral springs of
that name. When the British officers were in Boston they
frequently made up skating parties for the suppers, and
after exercising at the pond would ride over and partake
of the good cheer of the Peacock. Upon one of these occa-
sions, so eaya tradition, the pretty " maid of the inn, " after-
wards Mrs. William Williams, a niece of the innkeeper, was
followed by one of these gay young bloods into the cellar,
whither she had gone for supplies for the table. Being
familiar with the premises, she blew out the lighted candle she
held in her hand and made her escape, not forgetting to
fasten the cellar door behind her. After thumping his head
against the rafters in the vain effort to follow her, her perse-
cutor was finally obliged to alarm the house before he could
be released from his awkward predicament. Washington,
Knox, and other distinguished officers were frequent visitors
during the siege, the former stopping here on his way to New
York after the evacuation of Boston. Capt. Michael Cresap,
of the Virginia riflemen, immortalized in the celebrated speech
of Logan, the Indian chief, lay here sick in September, 1775.
Child led the minute company of the Third Parish in the Lex-
ington battle. In the wall opposite is another of Paul Dud-
ley's milestones, " 6 miles to Boston. P. Dudley, 1735."
436 SAMUEL ADAMS.
The son of Samuel Adams bequeathed to him his claims
for services as surgeon during the Revolutionary war, and in
May, 1794, the patriot expended a considerable portion of
the amount in the purchase of the Peacock Tavern estate and
forty acres of land with the buildings thereon, "late the
property of Lemuel Child." Here the aged patriot resided
during his gubernatorial term, and for the brief remainder of
his days made it a summer residence. It was commonly said
that had not the death of an only son relieved his latter-day
poverty, Samuel Adams would have been obliged to claim a
burial at the hand of charity or at the public expense.
Samuel Adams, the author of the scheme that organized
the Revolution, the committees of correspondence, was of
common size, with a muscular form, light blue eyes, light
complexion, and was erect in person. He wore a tie wig,
cocked hat, and red cloak. His manner was very serious.
At the close of his life and probably from his early days he
had a tremulous motion of the head, which probably added
to the solemnity of his eloquence, as this was in some meas-
ure associated with his voice. Duponceau, the eminent jurist,
who, while at Boston as secretary to Baron Steuben, made
the acquaintance of many distinguished persons, relates this
anecdote. " I shall never forget," he says, " the compliment
paid me by Samuel Adams on his discovering my republican
principles. ' Where,' said he ' did 3~ou learn all that? ' ' In
France,' 1 replied. ' In France ? that is impossible.' Then
recovering himself, he added, ' Well, because a man was born
in a stable it is no reason why he should be a horse.' ' I
thought to myself,' adds the polite Frenchman, 'that in
matters of compliment they ordered these things better in
France.' "
WEST EOXBURY. 437
CHAPTER XII.
WEST ROXBURY.
Localities. South Street. S. M. Weld. Weld Farm. Benjamin Bus-
sey. Taft's. Capt. Joseph Mayo. Walter Street. Rev. Nathaniel
Walter. Col. Henley. Central Burying- Ground. Col. William
Dudley's Residence. Second Church. Draper. Westerly Burying-
Ground. Theodore Parker's Residence. Aaron D. Weld Farm.
Brook Farm. Residents in 1820-5.
"VT7EST ROXBURY seems to have been originally known
T Y as "Jamaica End and Spring Street," a territory
afterwards embraced in the Second Parish and lying west of
a line extending from Walk Hill Street to Brookline, and
intersecting the southwestern extremity of Jamaica Pond.
The several localities embraced within its limits are in the
northeast, Jamaica Plain and Pond, bordering upon Brook-
line, a region abounding in lovely landscapes and charming
villas ; the Bussey Farm, a large tract lying between South
and Centre Streets, upon which the Agricultural Institution
stands ; Canterbury to the south, adjoining Dorchester, with
its beautiful cemeteries of Forest Hills and Mount Hope ;
Roslindale and Clarendon Hills, centrally situated, also pic-
turesque and attractive, and already dotted with suburban
residences ; while in the west, bordering upon Dedham, are
Muddy Pond, with its aboriginal woods, "West Roxbury
Village, and Spring Street, so named for its springy char-
acteristics ; Cow Island, a territory partly overflowed by
Charles River ; and Brook Farm, once the scene of the most
famous of American socialist experiments. Muddy Pond Hill,
the highest elevation in Roxbury, has lately been rechristened
438 WEST ROXBURY.
" Mount Bellevue." Upon its summit the city of Boston has
erected an observatory, whence may be obtained an extensive
view of the harbor and of the surrounding country.
Notwithstanding oft-repeated attempts at emancipation,
West Roxbury was long subjected to the political and ecclesi-
astical domination of the easterly parish, by which it was
largely outvoted in town meeting. In June, 1777, the Second
Parish voted unanimously to join with the Third in a petition
to the General Court that the two might be set off as a dis-
trict to be called " "Washington." No action was taken upon
this petition. A final and successful effort resulted in its
incorporation as a separate municipality in May, 1851, mainly
through the exertions of Hon. Arthur W. Austin and a few
other influential citizens, backed by the persuasive eloquence
of Rufus Choate. This event, so interesting to its people,
was, on the evening of June 3, 1851, joyfully celebrated amid
the firing of cannon, the display of fire- works, and the blaze
of bonfires.
South Street was described in 1663, as " that highway lead-
ing out of Dedham highway by John Policy's home lott, and
so along by John "Weld's farm, and so leading to Bear
Marsh," the latter being the name given to the territory em-
bracing the meadows upon the head waters of Stony Brook.
It is most irregular in form, running first due south, and then
northwest, its circuitous windings beginning at the Third
Church, and terminating opposite the Second. Its southerly
bend, at Roslindale, makes a part of "Washington Street.
Before coming to John Weld's farm, the old homesteads of
John May, Jr., William Davis, William Lion, and Henry
Bo wen lay on our right, and on Centre Street, west of Ma}',
was that of William Linkhorne. These were subsequently
the property of Nathaniel Brewer, whose descendants lived
here until 1790, when the estate was sold by Joseph Brewer
to John Godclard. John May, Jr., son of John the emi-
grant, in 1656 married Sarah, the sister of Nathaniel Brewer,
STEPHEN M. WELD. 439
and died in 1671. About the year 1832, Stephen M. Weld
bought a large square house, built by "William Levering, of
Boston, at the triangle formed by the junction of Centre and
South Streets. It was burned down some twenty years after-
ward, and Mr. "Weld built upon its site the present dwelling-
house, now owned and occupied by his surviving family. This
triangle two centuries ago was opposite the "home lott" of
John Policy, and embraced the homesteads above mentioned.
Hon. Stephen Minot "Weld, grandson of Col. Eleazer Weld,
was born in Boston in 1806, graduated at Harvard in 1826,
and for thirty years taught a boarding-school, which he estab-
lished at the Plain in 1827. In this vocation he was remark-
ably successful, his pupils coming from all parts of the United
States and from Mexico, Cuba, Yucatan, and even from
Smyrna. Mr. Weld was shrewd and sagacious in investing
his money, buying large lots of land in Jamaica Plain, which
were then of little value, realizing a handsome profit by sales
from time to time, and at the time of his death in December,
1867, owned considerable real estate and other property in
the town. Though he would never be a candidate for any
place to be filled by a popular election, he held many respon-
sible public trusts, and was remarkably energetic and con-
spicuous in all efforts to aid in the successful prosecution of
the war against secession.
The Weld estate, given by the province to Capt. Joseph
Weld for important services, was bequeathed by him to his
son John, and, after being occupied by seven generations of
that family, passed into other hands about the beginning of
this century. It lay between Centre and South Streets ; Saw-
Mill Brook crossed it, and emptied into Stony River near
Forest Hills station, about where the toll-house stood. Bus-
sey Street divides the estate into two nearly equal parts,
taking you past the locality known as " Bussey's Woods,"
the scene of the murder of the two children some years ago.
A very old farm-house stands near the corner, close to the
440 THE WELD FARM. BENJAMIN BUSSET.
railroad crossing, in which it is said Deacon Ezra Davis once
lived.
John Weld held the rank of captain, and served in the
Pequod war. Just before the 19th of April, 1775, Col. Elea-
zer Weld, a graduate of Harvard in 1756, and a judge, left
the old homestead and settled in Dedham. Early in March,
1776, Weld, with his regiment, was ordered to Roxbury to
man the lines in the absence of Thomas's detachment, engaged
in the occupation of Dorchester Heights. Weld's Hill, a very
conspicuous eminence on this estate, was selected by Wash-
ington as a rallying point for the patriot army to fall back
upon in case of disaster. " Wales Hill," as this eminence
has been erroneously called by Mr. Sparks and others, was
an exceedingly eligible position of great natural strength, and
its occupation would have effectually protected the road to
Dedham, the depot of army supplies. It has been thought
strange that the British commanders in Boston should have
made no attempt to drive the enemy from their doors. This
extract from a letter from Gen. Burgoyne to Lord Rochfort
explains the cause of their unwillingness :
" Look, my Lord, upon the country near Boston ; it is all fortifi-
cation. Driven from one hill, you will see the enemy continually
retrenched upon the next, and every step we move must be the slow
step of a siege. Could we at last penetrate ten miles perhaps
we should not obtain a single sheep or an ounce of flour by our
laborious progress, for they remove every article of provisions as
they go."
The estate was bought by Benjamin Bussey in 1806, and
in 1815 he erected here the fine mansion which he occupied
until his death in 1842, since that time the residence of Mr.
Thomas Motley. He bequeathed this valuable property, then
containing some three hundred acres, to Harvard University,
for the establishment of a seminary for ' ' instruction in prac-
tical agriculture, useful and ornamental gardening, botany,
and such other branches of natural science as ma} r tend to
TAFT'S. CAPT. JOSEPH MAYO. 441
promote a knowledge of practical agriculture and the various
arts subservient thereto and connected therewith." Courses
of lectures were also to be given. One half the net income
is to be applied to maintain the institution, the residue to be
equally divided between the Divinity and Law Schools of the
University. The Bussey Institute went into operation in
1871. It is built of Roxbury stone, with sandstone trim-
mings, and in the modern Gothic style.
Mr. Bussey's history affords another illustration of the
success almost certain to result from industry and thrift. A
native of Stoughton, he learned the trade of a tailor, but at the
age of eighteen joined the Dedham company of minute-men,
under Capt. Stone. His first service was to aid in the seizure
and carrying off of the sheep and cattle from the islands in
Boston Harbor, for the use of the patriots. After serving in
the Ticonderoga and Saratoga campaigns, he returned home
and began the business of a silversmith, in Dedham, with a
capital of ten dollars. Industry and strict honesty brought
prosperity, and removing in 1792 to Boston, he soon became
wealthy.
Having reached the terminus of the Bussey estate we come
to the old tavern known till quite recently as " Taft's," and
now called the Union Hotel, at the southernmost point of
South Street where it touches "Washington, near Roslindale.
It was built about 1805, the period of the construction of the
Dedham Turnpike, when it was kept by Sharp and Dunster,
and was long famous for good dinners. The widow of Lemuel
Burr ill kept here during the war of 1812.
On the right, beyond the tavern, was the Mayo farm of
eighty or ninety acres. The Roxbury Mayos are descended
from John, a young child brought over in" 1633 by Robert
Gamblin, Jr., and who was the son of his wife by a former
husband. He married in 1654 Hannah, daughter of John
Graves, and died in 1688. Capt. Joseph Mayo, born in 1721,
was his grandson. " Capt. Joseph Mayo, one of your Rox-
442 REV. NATHANIEL WALTER.
bury neighbors," so writes Gov. Hutchinson to Sir Francis
Bernard, who had returned to England, " was foreman of the
jury at the trial of the soldiers. I am much inclined to make
him a major." This he accordingly did, and in 1771 Mayo
was appointed to be major of the First Suffolk Regiment.
Notwithstanding this and the conservatism he afterwards
displayed in the town meeting before referred to, there is no
doubt but that he was a good and patriotic citizen. He died
early in 1776. April 10, 1775. the records say, "Constable
John Davis is ordered in His Majesty's name to warn the
Widow Elizabeth Checkley and her daughter, Nancy Check-
ley, at Major Joseph Mayo's, to depart the town of Roxbury
within fourteen da}*s, or give a bond of indemnity. The
Checkleys came from Boston last July." As Mrs. Checkley
was the widow of Rev. Samuel, a Boston divine, and the
mother-in-law of Samuel Adams, we may see that in Roxbury
the law was no respecter of persons. An extract from a
letter of John Andrews, written in July, 1774, refers -to the
Checklej'S :
"I forgot formerly to acquaint you that Euthy (Mrs. Andrews)
and I were at Betsey Checkley's wedding, at which we were enter-
tained with a very pretty collation, consisting of cold ham, cold
roast beef, cake, cheese, etc. It's about three weeks since her
mother and grandmother have retired to the upper end of Roxbury
with their families, together with that amiable maiden their cousin,
Sally Hatch, and the family with which she resided, so that (includ-
ing the Roxbury people resident with them) they compose an agree-
able, social family of about twenty-five females, with the master of
the house, a worthy deacon of the parish."
"Walter Street, named for Rev. Nathaniel Walter, formed a
part of the original county road to Dedham. On it were
located the old church, the burial-ground, and the parsonage.
The burial-place is still to be found, but the church which
adjoined it on the south, and the parsonage at the easterly
corner of Walter and South Streets, are among the things
REV. NATHANIEL WALTER. 443
that were. For many years the latter locality was known as
" Cookson's Corner." Rev. Ebeuezer Thayer, the first min-
ister of West Roxbury, resided here until his death, when
the parsonage, and two acres of land belonging to it, were
purchased by his successor.
Rev. Nathaniel Walter, minister of the Second Parish, was
the son of Rev. Nehemiah Walter, Eliot's successor, by Sara,
daughter of Rev. Increase Mather. He was born Aug. 15,
1711, and graduated at Harvard College in 1729. His wife,
Rebecca Abbott, of Brookline, to whom he was married in
1735, died in 1790, with the character of an " uncommonly
pious woman." When Dr. Bo3*lston introduced the practice of
inoculation for small-pox into Boston, Rev. Cotton Mather,
who was its powerful advocate, was violently assailed. " His
nephew, Mr. Walter," says a writer of the day, "one of
the ministers of Roxbury, having been privately inoculated
in the doctor's house, in Boston, a villain, about three o'clock
in the morning, set fire to the fuse of a grenade shell
filled with combustibles, and threw it into the chamber where
he was lying. The fuse was fortunately displaced by the
passing of the shell through the window, and the wildfire
spent itself upon the floor. It was generally supposed that
the bursting of the shell was by that means prevented." Mr.
Walter officiated as chaplain to Col. Richmond's regiment
in the Lonisburg expedition, and also acted as interpreter for
Gen. Pepperell.
His son, Rev. William Walter, a native of Roxbury, was
minister of Christ Church, Boston. It was to his house in
Charter Street, formerly the Gov. Phips mansion, then unoc-
cupied, that the wounded British Major Pitcairn was brought
from Bunker's Hill, and here he shortly afterward expired.
Mr. Walter's daughter, who was an eye-witness of this fact,
related it to her grandson, S. F. McCleary, city clerk of
Boston.
His daughter Sarah married Sir Robert Hesilrige, bart.,
444 CENTRAL BURYING-GROUND.
of Leicestershire, England, great-grandnephew of Sir Ar-
thur, the noted parliamentarian and friend of Cromwell.
This gentleman, having engaged in mercantile affairs in Bos-
ton, had taken up his residence in Roxbury. Their daughter
Sarah was married March 12, 1782, to Col. David Henley, of
the Continental army ; " An event," says the local chronicler,
" which occasioned much satisfaction to friends, and was
productive of much mutual felicity to the parties united."
This may be the more readily believed since the course of
their true love did not " run smooth" according to the story
told by Col. William Tudor, who defended Henley when tried
at the instance of Gen. Burgoyne, for alleged severities to the
Saratoga prisoners then under his charge. Tudor says :
" A day or two after the trial, the judge advocate and Col. Henley
met at Koxbury in making a visit to a family where a lady resided
to whom Henley was paying his addresses. He fancied himself
coldly received, and was in rather a melancholy humor as they rode
into town together. In coming over the Neck he abruptly said to
his companion, ' Col. Tudor, I will thank you to shoot me.' ' Why,
what is the matter now? ' ' You have ruined me.' ' I thought I had
rendered you some service in the trial.' ' You said I was a man of
a passionate, impetuous temper. This has destroyed me in the
estimation of the woman I love. You see she received me coldly.
You have destroyed my happiness. You may now do me a favor to
shoot me.' Mr. Tudor was vexed for a moment at this sort of return
for the service he had rendered ; but these feelings were transient
on both sides, and they continued friends."
The earliest date to be found in the Central or Peter's Hill
Burying-Ground on Walter Street is 1722. The principal
names are those of Child, Mayo, Weld, Baker, Davis, and
Chamberlain. Among the inscriptions are :
Benjamin Child, Jan. 24, 1723-4, aged 66.
Thomas Bishop, June 29, 1727, aged 82.
John Baker, Nov. 7, 1732, aged 88.
Capt. Jonathan Hale, of Glastonbury, Conn., March 7, 1776, in y
56th year of his age.
COL. WILLIAM DUDLEY'S HOMESTEAD.
445
Joshua Child, Jan. 18, 1729-30, ss. 73.
Sarah, wife of Jacob Chamberlain, Oct. 14, 1745, 83. 84.
Elizabeth, wife of Joshua Chield, March 6, 1752, aged 87.
Deacon. Ichabod Davis, March 16, 1754, 33. 78.
Lieut. Daniel Weld, Jan: 20, 1761, as. 64.
Bethiah, wife of Ichabod Davis, April 23, 1768, 83. 92.
Deacon Ezra Davis, .March 4, 1784, 83. 74.
Sarah, relict of Deacon Ezra Davis, Feb. 14, 1789, as. 75.
Between South and Centre Streets, west of Walter, lay the
estate formerly Col. "William Dudley's. At its southeasterly
DUDLEY HOfSE.
corner, now the estate of Mr. Henry Dudley, stands a very an-
cient house, in which Deacon Ephraim Murdock, Mr. Dudley's
grandfather, resided more than a century ago. Here, in what
was then a very retired spot, Col. Dudley settled, about the
time of his marriage in 1721, built an elegant mansion, which
after successive alterations by its subsequent owners, was
finally torn down, and cultivated his extensive farm. The
old farm-house is yet standing. In January, 1775, both his
sons having deceased, this property, described as " a mansion-
house and thirty acres of land both sides of the road to Ded-
ham, seven miles from Boston Town House," was sold. In
446
COL. WILLIAM DUDLEY.
1789 Rev. Mr. Bradford bought the house and ten and a half
acres for a parsonage. The present dwelling-house is on the
site of the old mansion represented in the picture, and is the
residence of Mrs. S. D. Bradford. .
William, the youngest son of Gov. Joseph Dudley, was
born in 1686, graduated at Cambridge in 1704, and though he
never practised the law
as a profession is said
to have been the first
educated lawyer of na-
tive birth who sat upon
the bench of the Court
of C o m m o n Pleas.
Brought early into pub-
lic life he filled a large
space in the political
aifairsof his time. Sent
to Canada when only
twenty years of age to
negotiate an exchange
of prisoners, he suc-
ceeded in redeeming
among other captives
the Rev. John Williams,
of Deerfield. In 1710 he acquired considerable reputation as
an officer in the expedition against Port Royal (Annapolis) ,
and was colonel of the Suffolk County regiment from that j'ear
until Ms death, Aug. 10, 1743. He also represented Rox-
bun' in the General Court, and was for several years Speaker
of the House of Representatives, and a member of the gov-
ernor's council. By his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Addington
Davenport, he had two sons, Thomas and Joseph. Col. Dud-
ley, like his father and grandfather before him, possessed
talents of a high order, and was exceedingly popular. With
strong intellectual powers, a brilliant fancy, and a ready
COL. WILLIAM DUDLEY.
THE SECOND CHURCH.
447
elocution, he excelled in debate, and thereby exercised a com-
manding influence in the public assemblies of which he was a
member.
On Centre Street, near South, is the meeting-house of the
Second Parish, erected in 1773 on land purchased of Lieut.
William Draper. This house, which was enlarged and re-
paired not many years ago, was the scene of Theodore Par-
THE SKCOXD CHCRCH.
ker's early ministerial labors. The first building occupied by
the societ} 7 stood on Walter Street, and adjoined the old
burial-ground on the south. Upon the formation of the Third,
or Jamaica Plain parish, from this in 1769, the new societ} 7 ,
by previous agreement, contributed to the old the sum of
666 7s. 8d. to aid it in rebuilding on its present site, a mile
or more farther from the Plain. Such of the materials of the
old building as were fit for use were employed in the new, and
the old sounding-board was painted and transferred to its
448 THE SECOND CHURCH.
present abiding-place. The second, which was a square
structure, stood broadside to the road, and had no steeple.
In 1821 it was given its present form, and was largely rebuilt.
In 1706 Joseph Weld and forty-four others " at the west
end of Roxbury towards Dedham," commonly called "Ja-
maica End" and " Spring Street," on account of their great
distance from the meeting-house, and the " great travail and
time in going and returning," prayed the General Court to be
made a separate precinct, to be freed from taxes for the old
parish, and for aid in building a house. Nothing came of
this petition, but it seems that without waiting for leave, they
set to work and built a church and formed a congregation, as
appears from their petition in the town records. In April,
1711, thej 7 sent a " humble address" praying for pardon, to
their "fathers and elder brothers" in town meeting assem-
bled, " with a sincere design to give Christian satisfaction for
any wrong, disorderly steps in our late proceedings ... for
we humbly acknowledge it to be offensive for us to presume
so precipitately and rashl}' to enterprise and prosecute such
an important affair without the consent of the General Court,
the approbation of our reverend and dear pastor, and the con-
currence of our ancient and honorable mother the church, and
the Town Assembly." They again humbty request a dismis-
sion, to be a distinct precinct, the line to be on the western
side of the river, "to run close by the schoolhouse near the
dwelling of our neighbor, John Polle}', from the southeast to
the northwest, to include all of our Christian neighbors that
desire it, and have therefore been at charges hitherto with us,
and who are dwellers amongst us." Several excellent reasons
are assigned for this request, not the least cogent of which
is this :
"As for the season and opportunity we took for our aboves'd
mismanaged enterprise whether this was the time agreeable to the
approving will of God, we dare not assert, but the event proves it
to be his permissive and determinate will, else it had not been so
THE SECOND CHURCH.
449
far effected : And blessed be God in Christ altho' we have morally
erred as to our hasty time and manner thereof: yet having obtained
his help, notwithstanding our unworthiness we have been carryed
through and continue to this day.
" We subscribe at the western end of Roxbury, Feb. 7th, 1710-1.
" Nath. Holmes.
Jonathan Curtice.
Timothy Whitney.
Isaac Bowen.
Daniel Whitney.
James Griggs.
Thomas Mory.
Samuel Holdridge.
Eliphalet Lyon.
Ebenezer Lyon.
Thomas Bugbee.
Ichabod Davis.
Joseph "Weld.
John Case.
John Weld.
John Fuller.
Thomas Mayo.
Ephraim Beacon.
John Whitney.
Thomas Lyon.
John Curtiss.
John Griggs.
Samuel Lyon.
John Parry.
Ephraim Lyon.
Peter Hanchet.
Samuel Lyon, Jr.
Joseph Lyon.
Nath. Draper.
Joseph Parry.
Thomas Parry.
William Lyon.
"In answer to the petition it was clearly voted, that their pre-
cinct line should begin at the line between Dorchester and Roxbury,
where the headline between the first and second division strikes upon
the afores'd line, so running down to the river, and then the river
to be the bounds untill it comes to the place where the road crosseth
it by Isaac Bowen's, running as the way goes to the school house
and so to the line between the school land and the land of Josiah
Holland and so cross the south end of the great pond to Brookline.
And that the petitioners together with all such as dwell on the
south side of the afores'd line who are willing to joyne with them,
and do embody so as to maintain an able learned Orthodox minister
amongst them, shall be freed from any charge to the minister of the
east end of the town, and allso from charge to the repairing and
sweeping the meeting house so long as they do maintain a minister
among them as afores'd and no longer."
This precinct line was probably coincident with a line which
should include "Walkhill, South, Eliot, and Prince Streets.
Having accomplished their purpose, the Second Church, con-
sisting of eighteen members formerly belonging to the First,
was gathered on Nov. 2, 1712, and on the 26th, Rev. Eben-
ezer Thayer, of Boston, was settled over them as their first
minister. In 1733 the town refused its assistance in main-
taining a minister or repairing the meeting-house in the upper
29
450
THE SECOND CHURCH. DRAPER.
or westerly part of the town, or even to repair two pews that
were damaged. A curious regulation was at this time made,
that those who sat by the windows should mend all the broken
glass.
The first record extant in the parish book bears date Nov.
28, 1733, when Rev. Mr. Thayer having deceased, a call
was extended to Rev. Nathaniel Walter, son of the minister
of the First Parish. Notwithstanding the rigidity of manners
of that daj 7 , various entries show that youth was quite as
irrepressible then as now. Four men were at first chosen
" to take care of disorderly boys and girls and others at
the meeting-house on the Lord's day" ; afterwards six were
appointed. Mr. Bradford's salar}*, about the year 1798, was
three hundred and thirty -three dollars and thirty-three cents.
The pastors of the Second Parish had originally a small salary,
twenty cords of fii'ewood and all "onmarked" money in
the contribution-box, and in some cases were entitled to two
annual contributions, and sometime's the pastor is to have the
" usual contributions."
Pastors of the Second Parish :
EBENEZEB THAYER.
NATHANIEL WALTER.
THOMAS ABBOT.
JOHN BRADFORD.
JOHN FLAGG.
GEORGE WHITNEY.
THEODORE PARKER.
DEXTER CLAPP.
EDMUND B. WILLSOK.
T. B. FORBUSH.
AUGUSTUS M. HASKELL.
Just beyond the church is the residence of Miss Betsey
Draper, a portion of which is said to be two hundred years
old. Miss Draper, who, at the age of eighty-six, is still
active and vigorous, is the granddaughter of Capt. William
Draper, who commanded the second company of Roxbury
rd. 26 Nov., 1712.
Died 6 March, 1733.
10 July, 1734.
" 11 March, 1776.
29 Sept., 1773.
Dis. 10 March, 1783.
30 May, 1785.
Died 27 Jan., 1825.
2 Feb., 1825.
" 14 March, 1831.
15 June, 1831.
Dis. Feb., 1836.
21 June, 1837.
" 8 Feb., 1846.
20 Dec. 1848.
" 23 Nov., 1851.
18 July, 1852.
" May, 1859.
Uuly, 1863.
" 8 May, 186a
22 May, 1870.
WESTERLY BURIAL-GROUND. 451
minute-men at Lexington, and who died in the service while
at Ticonderoga in 1776. William, her father, was drummer
in his father's company. Moses Draper was a lieutenant in
"Whiting's company at Lexington ; a captain in Gardiner's
regiment at Bunker's Hill ; captain of a Roxbury compan} 7 in
the suppression of Shays's Insurrection ; and was elected
colonel of the first Suffolk regiment in 1788. He kept a
tavern in 1786 near Dedham.
In 1683 the town voted, "That our brethren at Jamaco
have liberty to provide a convenient place for a berring place,
and y e towne in generall will bare the charge provided the
selectmen doe judge the place convenant, and the aforesaid
berring place if so provided shall be for any of the towne to
bury their dead in if they please." Pursuant to this vote, the
westerly bur} r ing-ground on Centre Street, near La Grange,
was established soon afterward. In it are found the names
of Draper, Lyon, Whiting, Healey, Newell, Eichards, Her-
ring, and others of the fathers of the town. Among the
earlier inscriptions are :
Mr. James Draper, aged about 73. Dec d July, 1691.
Mrs. Marriam Draper, wife to Mr. James Draper, aged about 77.
Deed j an<> isgi.
John Lyon, aged 55 years, died Jan. y e 15, 1702.
Abigail Lyon, wife to John Lyon, aged 48 years, died Jan. y e 15, 1702.
[The same day as her husband.]
James Herring, dec d March, 1732, 39. 76.
John Colburn, died June y e 7, 1732, ae. 57.
Nath'l Healy, died June ye 2, 1734, ss. 76.
Robert Newel, died Feb. 17, 1741, ae. 68.
Mehitabel, wife of Robert Newel, Nov. 4, 1739, aged about 70.
In the house at the corner of Cottage Street, built about
1800 by John Whiting, lived Theodore Parker during his min-
istry here. It was in 1818 purchased by " The Rain Water
Doctor," who signed himself " I, Sylvan, Enemy of Human
Diseases," and whose stay was necessarily brief in a commu-
452
THEODORE PARKER'S RESIDENCE.
nity not tolerant of quacks. It is now the residence of Mr.
James Tilden. Says Mr. Parker's biographer, Mr. John
Weiss :
" The pleasant white house about a mile from the church stood
close to the straggling village street, but the study looked out
through trees upon flowers, vines, and garden beds. Two fine tulip-
trees stood before the windows. The land adjoined the beautiful
grounds of Mr. George R.
Russell, his parishioner and
friend, with whom and
whose family he found such
refreshment and delight ;
and next, going up the hill,
came the grounds of another
good and faithful friend, Mr.
Francis G. Shaw. Mr. Par-
ker had a right of way over
the pleasantly settled hill-
side. The hedges defined
but did not divide the re-
spective places of his
friends. When jaded with
the old folios he never failed
to find some one at his gar-
den limit in whose attach-
ment his heart recovered
strength and joy. The Rus-
sells used to have famous visitors. . . . They used to hold ' Olym-
pics,' over which Theodore jovially presided. Sometimes the
celestial council met in a barn, where the fresh, fragrant hay, which
he had just helped toss and gather, served for the divan. Here
Goethe, Fourier, the 'Latest Form of Infidelity,' Emerson's last
lecture, and all cosmic questions were discussed."
To a friend Mr. Parker writes soon after his settlement :
" Well, cleverly am I settled. Our neighbors are pleasant. About
fifty or sixty families in the parish ; one hundred to one hundred and
fifty worshippers. Sunday-school teachers' meeting at the house of
the pastor once a fortnight, pastoral visits made, schools attended,
PAEKBK'S KESIDENCE.
THEODORE PARKER. 453
calls received, baptisms, funerals, such are my out-of-door mat-
ters. . . . We have a very pleasant house and garden, men servants
and maidens,' a cow, horse, and pig. I 'm as practical as Stebbins ;
buy and sell, dig, lend, and borrow. ' To this complexion must we
come at last.' ... I am very pleasantly situated. The people good,
quiet, sober, church-going, capital listeners. I preach abundant
heresies, and they all go down, for the listeners don't know how
heretical they are. I preach the worst of all things, transcenden-
talism, none calling me to account therefor, but men's faces looking
like fires new stirred thereat."
In his volume of " Experiences" Mr. Parker thus refers to
this period of his life :
" On the longest day of 1837 I was ordained minister of the Uni-
tarian Church and congregation at West Roxbury, one of the small-
est societies in New England, where I found men and women whose
friendship is still dear and instructive. For the first year or two the
congregation did not exceed seventy persons, including the children.
I soon became well acquainted with all in the little parish, where I
found some men of rare enlightenment, some truly generous and
noble souls. I knew the characters of all, and the thoughts of such
as had them. I took great pains with the composition of my ser-
mons ; they were never out of my mind, but I was a learner quite
as much as a teacher, and was feeling my way forward and upward
with one hand, while I tried to lead men with the other. . . . At-
tempts were secretly made to alienate my little congregation and
expel me from my obscure station at West Roxbury ; but the little
society came generously to my support and defence, giving me
the heartiest sympathy, and offered me all the indulgence in their
power."
Allusion is here made to the ill-judged efforts of the Uni-
tarian body to ostracize Mr. Parker, whose theological views
had gradually but widely diverged from their own, an attempt
which, as is well known, resulted in transferring him from an
obscure field of action to one that placed him prominently
before the world and largely increased his opportunities of
usefulness. While the principle of association was on trial
at Brook Farm, Mr. Parker would sometimes walk over there
454
PARKER'S OAK. A. D. WELD'S FARM.
to visit his friends Ripley, 'Charming, and others, and as Mr.
Weiss tells us, " was occasionally rather sly over some of the
details, and had a humorous eye for the little weaknesses of
the recruits." The motive called forth his unbounded respect,
but he never could be made to see the availability of any of
the plans.
For several years after his removal to Boston in May, 1846,
he spent his summer vacations in the house at West Roxbury,
to which he returned
every spring with
childlike delight. He
was fond of flowers,
and knew the names
of most of those found
in New England, and
took frequent rambles
through the woods.
One of his favorite
walks took him
through the Whiting
farm to a grove now
THEODORE PARKER'S OAK.
on the land of Mr.
C. S. Perham, where his favorite tree, known far and wide as
"Theodore Parker's Oak," still lives and flourishes, though
venerable with age and showing symptoms of decay. In his
journal he thus refers to it :
"May, 1851. At West Roxbury in the afternoon. The Polygalla
pauciflora just opening ; laid some at the foot of my favorite tree in
memory of old times, the great oak."
One of the finest farms in Roxbury is that of Mr. Aaron
D. Weld, lying on both sides of Weld Street, a part of it in
Brookline, and containing nearly thi-ee hundred acres. Some
of this land belonged originally to the family, but a portion
of it was bought by Deacon David, great-grandson of Lieut.
BROOK FARM. 455
John Weld, of the heirs of Capt. John Baker, in 1786.
Deacon David "Weld's maternal grandfather was Col. Aaron
Davis, whose name was borne by his son, and is continued
by his son, the present owner of the estate. The old farm-
house formerly stood on the west side of the street, near
Church Street, half a mile from the new mansion house, and
near where a large barn now stands.
Brook Farm, a tract of two hundred acres in the north-
west corner of the town, between Baker Street and Charles
River, formerly a part of Newton, was purchased in 1841 by
George Ripley and others, who associated themselves together
as ' ' The Brook Farm Institute of Education and Agricul-
ture," and who were afterwards incorporated under the name
of " The Brook Farm Phalanx." After occupying it for five
or six years they sold it to the city of Roxbury in 1849 for a
Poor Farm. In 1861, while the propeily of Rev. James Free-
man Clarke, who gave the use of it to the State, the Second
Massachusetts Regiment was recruited here, " the best
crop," says Mr. Clarke, " that I ever raised." It is now the
"Martin Luther Orphans' Home." In the original farm-
house, afterwards called the Hive, most of the domestic occu-
pations of the association were performed, and it was also
the eating-house and cooking-establishment. It was nearest
the entrance, and usually received the new-comers. This
building afterwards received many additions to accommodate
the increase of members. There was a small, terraced flower-
garden near it, that led to the brook that gave the name to
the place. A long ridge, crowned with a pleasant grove,
looked down upon it, and a large elm shaded it agreeably.
Eliot's Pulpit, one of the natural features of the farm, is so
named from a tradition that the apostle had preached there
to an Indian auditory. It rose some twenty or thirty feet, a
shattered granite bowlder or heap of bowlders, with an irregu-
lar outline and many fissures, out of which sprang shrubs,
bushes, and even trees. At its base the broken bowlders
456 BEOOK FAKM. MAEGAEET FULLEE.
inclined towards each other, so as to form a shallow cave.
At the summit the rock was overhung by the canopy of a
birch-tree, which served as a sounding-board to the pulpit.
Applicants for admission to the association were received on
probation, after which, a two-thirds vote entitled them to mem-
bership. Its income was principally derived from the pupils
sent them, most of whom had their rooms in the Aerie, the
first house built on the place after it became the property of
the association. Mr. and Mrs. Ripley also occupied it. Mr.
Ripley was the founder of the association, and strained every
nerve to promote its success, in which endeavor he was
ably seconded by his wife. Miss Eliza Ostinelli, afterwards
Madame Biscacianti, the famous vocalist, was for some
months an inmate of Brook Farm. Thence she went with
her father to Europe, to complete her musical education.
When singing in the open air in the evening, her voice could
be distinctly heard in Spring Street, three fourths of a mile
distant.
The Brook Farm experiment, though a failure, must be
regarded as a noble aspiration, a prophecy of the good time
coming, when by just methods labor, skill, and capital are to
meet in practical co-operation. Its history forms an inter-
esting chapter in the annals of socialism. It numbered
among its members and inmates many persons of culture,
since celebrated in literature, among them Ripley, Thoreau,
Curtis, Dana, Mrs. Diaz, W. H. Channing, W. F. Dwight,
and Hawthorne, who has written entertainingly of it in his
"Blithedale Romance," the heroine of which has been erro-
neously supposed to be Margaret Fuller.
This remarkable woman resided near Forest Hills station
from 1839 until her removal to New York in 1844. Bussey's
"Woods was her favorite retreat, where she thought and
read or talked with intimate friends, chief among whom was
Rev. George Ripley, who, with Rev. Theodore Parker and
Cranch, the artist and poet, were frequent visitors at her
BROOK FARM. 457
house. While at heart in sympathy with the Brook Farm
movement, she judged it premature. She, however, visited
her friends there often, aiding them with encouragement and
counsel. An extract or two from her journal gives her im-
pressions of Brook Farm :
" The first day or two here is desolate. You seem to belong to
nobody, to have a right to speak to nobody; but very soon you
learn to take care of yourself, and then the freedom of the place
is delightful. . . . Mrs. Eipley and I had a talk. I said, ' My posi-
tion would be uncertain here ; I could not work.' "We talked of the
principles of the community. I said, ' I had not a right to come,
because all the confidence I had in it was as an experiment worth
trying, and that it was a part of the great wave of inspired thought.'
... In the evening a husking in the barn, men, women, and chil-
dren all engaged. It was a most picturesque scene, only not quite
light enough to bring it out fully. I stayed and helped about half an
hour, then took a long walk beneath the stars. There are too many
young people in proportion to the others. . . . Here I have passed
a very pleasant week. The tone of the society is much sweeter
than when I was here a year ago. There is a pervading spirit of
mutual tolerance and gentleness with great sincerity. There is
no longer a passion for grotesque freaks of liberty, but a disposi-
tion rather to study and enjoy the liberty of law. The great devel-
opment of mind and character, observable in several instances, per-
suades me that the state of things affords a fine studio for the soul
sculptor . . . and one might have for a few months' residence here
enough of the human drama to feed thought for a long time."
In the "Blithedale Romance," Hawthorne speaks of Brook
Farm, his old and affectionately remembered home, as being
certainly the most romantic episode of his own life, essen.
tially a day-dream and yet a fact. He expresses a most
earnest wish that some one of the many cultivated minds
which took an interest in that enterprise might now give
the world its history: " Ripley, Curtis, Dana, Dwight,
Channing, Burton, Parker, among these is the ability." Some
amusing passages, describing the fraternity and how it was
regarded by its neighbors, are here given :
458 BROOK FARM. HAWTHORNE.
" They were mostly individuals who had gone through such an
experience as to disgust them with ordinary pursuits. Thought-
ful, strongly lined faces were among them. We had very young peo-
ple with us, but these had chiefly been sent hither for education'
which it was one of the objects and methods of our institution to
supply. Then we had boarders from town and elsewhere, who lived
with us in a familiar way, sympathized more or less in our theories,
and sometimes shared in our labors. On the whole, it was a society
such as has seldom met together, nor perhaps could it reasonably
be expected to hold together long. Persons of marked individuality
crooked sticks, as some of us might be called are not exactly
the easiest to bind up into a fagot. We were of all creeds and opin-
ions, generally tolerant of all, on every imaginable subject.
" Arcadians though we were, our costume bore no resemblance to
that of the pastoral people of poetry and the stage. In actual show
I humbly conceive we looked rather like a gang of beggars or ban-
ditti, than either a company of honest laboring men or a conclave of
philosophers. Whatever might be our points of difference, we all of
us seemed to have come to Blithedale with the one thrifty and laud-
able idea of wearing out our old clothes. Such garments as had an
airing whenever we strode afield ! Coats with high collars and with
no collars, broad-skirted or swallow-tailed, and with the waist at
every point between the hip and armpit, pantaloons of a dozen suc-
cessive epochs, and greatly defaced at the knees by the humiliations
of the wearer before his lady love, in short we were a living
epitome of defunct fashions. We might have been sworn comrades
in Falstaft's ragged regiment. Little skill as we boasted in other
points of husbandry, every mother's son of us would have served
admirably to stick up for a scarecrow. So we gradually flung them
all aside and took to honest homespun and linsey-woolsey.
" After a reasonable training the yeoman life throve reasonably
well with us. Our faces took the sunburn kindly, our chests gained
compass, and our shoulders in breadth and squareness. The plough,
the hoe, the scythe, and the hayfork grew familiar to our grasp.
The oxen responded to our voices. We could do a fair day's work,
sleep dreamlessly after it, and awake at daybreak with only a little
stiffness in the joints, which was usually quite gone by breakfast-
time. To be sure, our next neighbors pretended to be incredu-
lous as to our real proficiency in the business which we had taken in
hand. They told slanderous fables about our inability to yoke our
own oxen, or to drive them afield when yoked, or to release the poor
BROOK FARM. HAWTHORNE. 459
brutes from their conjugal bond at nightfall. They had the face to
say, too, that the cows laughed at our awkwardness at milking time,
and invariably kicked over the pails, partly in consequence of our
putting the stool on the wrong side, and partly because, taking
offence at the whisking of their tails, we were in the habit of hold-
ing these natural fly-flappers with one hand and milking with the
other. They further averred that we hoed up whole acres of Indian
corn and other crops, and drew the earth carefully about the weeds ;
and that we raised five hundred tufts of burdock, mistaking them
for cabbages ; and that by dint of unskilful planting few of our seeds
ever came up at all, or if they did come up it was stern foremost ;
and that we spent the better part of the month of June in reversing
a field of beans which had thrust themselves out of the ground in
this unseemly way. They quoted it as nothing more than an ordi-
nary occurrence for one or other of us to crop off two or three fin-
gers of a morning, by our clumsy use of the hay-cutter. Finally, and
as an ultimate catastrophe, these mendacious rogues circulated a
report that we communitarians were exterminated to the last man
by severing ourselves asunder with the sweep of our own scythes !
and that the world had lost nothing by this little accident."
His personal experiences are thus referred to in his note-
book :
"I have not yet been two hundred yards from our house and
barn, but I begin to perceive that this is a beautiful place. The
scenery is of a mild and placid character, with nothing bold in its
aspect ; but I think its beauties will grow upon us and make us love it
the more the longer we live here. There is a brook so near the house
that we shall be able to hear its ripple summer evenings. ... I could
not have believed that there was such seclusion at so short a dis-
tance from a great city. Many spots seem hardly to have been vis-
ited for ages, not since John Eliot preached to the Indians here.
If we were to travel one thousand miles we could not escape the
world more completely than we can here.
" Sept. 27. A ride to Brighton yesterday morning, it being the
day of the weekly cattle fair. William Allen and myself went in a
wagon, carrying a calf to be sold at the fair. The calf had not had
his breakfast, as his mother had preceded him to Brighton, and he
kept expressing his hunger and discomfort by loud, sonorous bass,
especially when we passed any cattle in the fields or in the road.
460 BROOK FARM.
... At a picnic party in the woods, Mr. Emerson and Miss Fuller,
who had just arrived, came into the little glade where we were
assembled. Here followed much talk."
Hawthorne goes on to say that they had pleased themselves
with delectable visions of the spiritualization of labor, " but the
clods of the earth, which we so constantly belabored and
turned over and over, were never etherealized into thought.
Our thoughts, on the contrary, were fast becoming cloddish.
Our labor symbolized nothing, and left us mentally sluggish
in the dusk of the evening. Is it a praiseworthy matter,"
so he writes in his diary, ' ' that I have spent five golden
months in providing food for cows and horses? It is not so."
He left the association in November, 1841, and did not
return.
" Often, however, in these years that are darkening around me, I
remember our beautiful scheme of a noble and unselfish life, and
how fair in that first summer appeared the prospect that it might
endure for generations, and be perfected, as the ages rolled away,
into the system of a people and a world 1 Were my former asso-
ciates now there, were there only three or four of those true-hearted
men still laboring in the sun, I sometimes fancy that I should direct
my world-weary footsteps thitherward, and entreat them to receive
me for old friendship's sake. More and more I feel that we had
struck upon what ought to be a truth. Posterity may dig it up and
profit by it. The experiment, so far as its original projectors were
concerned, proved long ago a failure, first lapsing into Fourierism,
and dying as it well deserved for this infidelity to its own higher
spirit. Where once we toiled with our whole hopeful hearts, the
town paupers, aged, nerveless, and disconsolate, creep sluggishly
afield. Alas, what faith is requisite to bear up against such results
of generous effort ! "
The names and locations of the principal residents of West
Roxbury from 1820 to 1825 have been kindly furnished by
Mr. John D. Colburn, whose recollection of the people and
places with which he was familiar in his boyhood seems very
distinct. The residences starred are no longer standing.
RESIDENTS IN 1820-25. 461
The right-hand names are those of the present owners or
occupants of the estates. The initial letter on the right indi-
cates the side of the street :
WASHINGTON STREET, beginning at the Dedham line.
Mott Johnson, now occupied by his daughter, W.
*William Bullard, toll-gate house, Muddy Pond Hill.
Read Taft's Tavern, now Union Hotel, "W.
Lemuel Richards, now Lindall, nearly opposite Tafts, E.
Capt. Dunster, now John Smith, W.
Michael Whittemore, now John Smith, W.
Eben Dudley, wheelwright, near Taft's, W.
CENTRE STREET, beginning at the Dedham line.
*David and Moses Draper, E.
Benjamin Draper, son of Moses, now Benj. J. G. Draper's heirs, W.
John Mayo's old tavern, now E. Stone and W. Colburn, W.
Mrs. Jones or Herring, now G. B. Mason, near Summer Street, E.
Henshaw, now I. Joyce, E.
Benjamin Davis, shoemaker, now John D. Colburn, very old
house, E.
Henry Smith, corner Spring Street, E.
* James Griggs, corner of Cottage Street, E.
Rain Water Doctor, now Tilden, E.
James Reed, now I. G. Whitney, E.
"Seth Whiting, W.
Whiting Tavern, now Dr. G. Hay, W.
Luke Baker, now Mrs. Abner Guild, E.
Lemuel Billings, hatter, now R. Hewins, W.
Benjamin Billings, " leather dresser and breeches maker," E.
S. Peck, formerly "Merchant" Davis, now Benjamin Guild, W.
Aaron ("Merchant") Davis's store, W.
Henry Smith, house and store, now Newhall, corner La Grange, W.
J. Dugan, now Chapin, next the burying-ground, W.
Amasa Davis, now Gowing, very old house, W.
Nathaniel Richards's tavern, very old, opposite the church, E.
Old schoolhouse, next the church, W.
William Draper Sol. Richards, now C. Bird, W.
Capt. Richards, now Edward Richards, N.
Talbot, blacksmith, now Hartshorn, N.
462 RESIDENTS IN 1820-25.
*Benjamin Corey, westerly corner Corey Street, N.
*Moses Griggs, later, Keith estate, easterly corner Corey Street, N.
Col. Mann, now G. W. Mann, near Highland station, S.
*Capt. Palmer, now Albert Whittemore, near Beech Street, S.
Betty Kichards, now Woodward heirs, corner Beech Street, S.
Broad's tannery, now " " S.
William Draper, now Betsey Draper, near Willow Street, N.
Egbert Draper, now Mrs. Benjamin Brown, next the church, N.
Rev. Mr. Bradford's church, N.
Tileston, now Davidson, corner South Street, S.
SOUTH STREET.
Hatch, now owned by Mrs. S. D. Bradford, N.
Rev. John Bradford, " " " " N.
* Wheeler Hazelwood (burnt), N.
Dea. Murdock, now owned by Henry Dudley, N.
*Rev. N. Walter Allen, now E. Skinner, N.
Scott Alden, now Mrs. Baste, N.
David Corey, now Joseph Williams, near Koslindale station, S.
Dandridge Taft, later, Davis Lyon, N.
Capt. Joseph Mayo, N.
*Elisha Whitney, now part of Bussey Farm, opp. stone house, N.
POPLAR STREET.
*Schoolhouse, corner Florence Street, E.
Dea. Joseph Arnold, now T. Orrall, E.
R. McDaniels, now Goldsmith, opposite Clarendon Park, E.
"Chamberlain homestead, built by Payson Chamberlain, great-
grandfather of Daniel Chamberlain, nearly opposite Dea. Noah
Davis's, W.
*Sylvanus Lindall, corner Hilburn Street, W.
*Dea. Noah Davis (son of Col. Aaron), corner Metropolitan Street.
From this elevated site, formerly known as Clapboard, or Flax
Hill, there is a magnificent view of Hyde Park and the Blue
Hills, E.
Stephen Chamberlain, now Daniel Chamberlain, W.
Michael Whittemore, Sen., now Wedger, Hyde Park Avenue, W.
BEECH STREET.
Daniels, now Mrs. Wiggin, W.
Dea. Benjamin Farrington, now Dyer, corner Annawan, W.
RESIDENTS IN 1820-25. 463
WELD STREET.
Bart. White, now Dwinell, E.
Deacon Weld house, occupied by Caleb Parker, removed, W.
Davis Weld, now Aaron D. Weld, W.
BELLEVUE, formerly Lyon Street.
Col. Jeremiah Eichards, now Willcutt, between Bellevue and Park
Streets, E.
Isaiah Richards William Whittemore, now Attwood, E.
'Lyon homestead, southwest of Attwood, E.
Benjamin Lyon, now George Richards, W.
SPRING STREET.
Henry Smith Tidd, now George Morse, N.
Capt. Amasa Gay, now Otis Gay, next house, N.
, now Cain, beyond railroad crossing, N.
Benjamin Billings, now , near railroad crossing, N.
Capt. Leonard Whiting, now Cotter, N.
Henry Whiting, now owned by Gardner, corner Gardner Street, N.
BAKER STREET.
John Baker Dervin, next railroad crossing, E.
INDEX.
Abbott, John S. C., 367; Jacob, 367;
Thomas, 450.
Adams, Samuel, 25, 436; Bey. Amos,
30, 101, 302, 310; John, 84, 357;
Joseph, residence, 208; Mrs. Sarah,
397; Rev. William, 98; Zabdiel,
150; Dr. Z. B., 150.
Alarm at Rocksbury, 9.
Albany Street, 110, 115.
Alcock, George, 50, 87, 290, 363; Dr.
John, 102, 309, 363; Palsgrave,
327, 370.
Alden, Capt. Judah, 81.
Alexander, Giles, 123.
Alger, Rev. "William R., 114.
Allen and Watts, 87; Allen's furni-
ture store, 142; Jacob, 306; Rev.
James, 122; Rev. Joseph H., 421;
Stillman B., 340.
Amory, R. G., 221; John, 398;
Thomas, 399; Gen. T. J. C., 110;
Street, 397. [50.
Anderson, Rev. T. D., 113; Gawin,
Andrews, John, 73, 256, 425, 442.
Andros, Gov., overthrown, 18, 245.
Annals, 14-16, 275-2.
Anselme, 83.
Antinomian controversy, 291.
Apprentices, 63.
Arms and armor, 105.
Arnold, Dea. Joseph, 462.
Artillery practice, 79.
Astwood, James, 50; homestead, 394.
Athenaeum, 154.
Auchmuty, Robert, 208; estate, 207,
351; Robert, Jr., 351, 353; house,
352.
Aunt White, 342.
Austin, Hon. Arthur W., 416, 438.
Bacon, Jeremiah, 32; Bacon's Block,
154.
Back Street, 225, 351.
Bailey, Joseph, 32.
Bainbridge, Com., 84, 338.
Baker, David, 32; Capt. John, 444,
454,463; Luke, 408, 461 ; Thomas,
17, 60, 287, 402; Street, 463.
Baker's Mill, 325; Baker's Valley,
370. [Street, 89.
Ball and Pin Tavern, 87 ; Ball
Ballou, Rev. Hosea, 257-9.
Baptist Church, First, 111-13.
Bardin, Edward, 85.
Barker, Mrs., 301.
Barnard, Rev. John, 248.
Barnes, Capt., 205.
Bartholomew, Rev. J. G., 259.
Bartlett, Enoch, 119; Dr. Henry,
358; Dr. John, 305, 360; Bartlett
pear, 119; Bartlett Street, 359.
Barry, Samuel, 168, 382.
Barton, Sally, 85.
Bass Point, the west point of Brook-
line Creek, where it empties into
the full basin.
Bay Psalm Book, 296.
Beacon, Ephraim, 449.
Beach Street, 462.
Bear Marsh, 438.
Bell, Thomas, 49, 398-9.
Beecher, Laban S., 309.
Bernard, Sir Francis, 352, 428-33.
Berthier, 83.
Bicknell, Capt. Humphrey, 306, 318.
Billings, Benjamin, 461-3; Lemuel,
461.
Bishop, Thomas, 444.
Biscaccianti, Madame, 456.
Bixby, Samuel, 275.
Black Neck, a woody knoll at the
mouth of Dorchester Brook, for-
merly covered with a grove of
black oaks.
Blaney, Aaron, 87, 315; William,
168, 175.
Blaney's store, 279, 315.
Blue Store, 206.
Books condemned, 14.
Book of Houses and Lands, 48.
Borrodaile, Anne, 91.
Bosson, Major William, 154, 318;
William, Jr., 32, 167.
466
INDEX.
Boston & Providence R. R., 51, 323;
Neck, 65-94; Massacre, 23; Tea
Party, 27, 79, 386; boundary, 48.
Bowdoin, Gov. James, 69; Sarah,
336; William, 21-26, 335.
Bowen, George, 16; Henry, 17, 438;
Isaac, 449; Joshua, 403; William,
100.
Bowles, John, 18, 19, 49, 160, 286.
Bowman, Brooks, 264; Mrs. Lucy,
154, 200; William, 82, 154; Sam-
uel, 32.
Boyle, Hon. Eobert, 182.
Boylston, Ward Nicholas, 407, 411 ;
Street, 398-410; hermitage, 409.
Bradlee, N. J., residence, 371.
Bradstreet, Ann, 243.
Bradford, Charles F., 351; Rev.
John, 446.
Braintree Road, 199, 210.
Brewer, Daniel, 49; Col. David, 212,
278; Ebenezer, 205, 288; Deacon
Joseph, 33, 417, 438; Nathaniel,
60,438; Sally, 414; Stephen, 414;
Capt. Thomas, 119.
Bridge, Edward, 18, 49, 428.
Brimmer, Martin, 429.
Brinley, Col. Francis, 211, 333; Brin-
ley Place, 327.
Brintnall, Jonathan, 32.
Brissot, 389.
Broad's Tannery, 462.
Broglie, Prince de, 83.
Bromfield, Edward, 304.
Brook Farm, 453, 455-60.
Brookline boundary, 48, 346.
Brooks, Gov. John, 131 ; Rev. John
G., 302.
Brown, Daniel, 29; Enoch, 78, 311;
Enoch, house and shop burnt, 78.
Bugbee, Ebenezer, 222; Edward,
49, 50, 221; Daniel, 128, 222, 226;
Thomas, 449.
Bulgar, Richard, 292.
Bull, Henry, 293, 300.
Bunker's Hill battle, 34, 93, 217,
274.
Burchly, John, 50.
Burial-grounds, Eustis Street, 95;
Central, 444- Westerly, 451; Bur-
ial-ground redoubt, 93.
Burial customs, 98.
Burrill, James, Jr., 32; Lemuel, 317.
Burr, Jehu, 12.
Burroughs, George, 149; William,
414; Burroughs Street, 414.
Bussey, Benjamin, 440; Institute,
440; Woods, 439.
Buswell, John, 49.
C.
Cabot Street, 76, 306.
Caldicott, Rev. T. F., 113.
Calef, Robert, 102, 140, 142-9.
Calves' Pasture, on the Dorchester
Road.
Canada soldiers, 108.
Canal, 103; Canal House, 104.
Cannon secreted in Roxbury, 73.
Canterbury, 47, 437; Street, 235.
Carleton, Guy, 320.
Case, John, 449.
Cazneau, Andrew, 119.
Cedar Street, 370.
Cemeteries, Forest Hills, 231; Mt.
Hope, 235; Warren, 211: Jamaica
Plain, 425.
Centre Street, 379.
Chamberlain, Payson, Sarah, Ste-
phen, 462; homestead, 462.
Champney, Jonathan, 323; J. W.,
92.
Chandler, John, 368; William, 49,
368.
Channing, William H., 456.
Chapin, Samuel, 49.
Charles Josiah, 5.
Charter abrogated, 18.
Chase, William, 290.
Checkley, Widow Elizabeth, 442.
Cheever, Joshua, 415.
Chenery's wheelwright shop, 350.
Cheney, Ebenezer, 286; Thomas, 17:
William, 49, 95, 113.
Chickatabut, 4; death of, 14.
Child, Elijah, 33; John, 23, 33;
Joshua, 445; Capt. Lemuel, 31,
435 ; Benjamin, 435, 444.
Chipman, Judge Ward, 194, 196.
Church, Baptist, 111; St. James's,
210; St. Joseph's, 225; Walnut
Avenue, 226; Universalist, 230,
257; Unitarian, 114; Methodist,
218; First, 282; Second, 447 ; Third,
418; Eliot, 367; Swedenborgian,
218; church customs, 294; music,
174, 285, 297.
City Hall, 259; City Hotel, 169.
Clapboard Hill, 462.
Clapp, Dexter, 450; Stephen, 32.
Clarke, Rev. James Freeman, 455;
John J., 41, 332; Thomas, 37, 380.
Cleaves, William, 17; Sister, 301.
Clewly's Corner, 225.
Coggeshall, John, 293.
Colburn, John, 451; John D., 460.
Cole, Robert, 162. 290.
Comins, Linus B., 41.
IXDEX.
467
Committee of Correspondence, 27.
Confiscated estates, 35, 123, 351, 407,
415, 429. [40.
Connecticut Lane, 403; emigrants,
Consumptives' Home, 222.
Copeland, B. F., 371, 381.
Corbin, John, 17.
Corey, Benjamin, 33, 462; David,
462; Ebenezer, 32.
Cookson's Corner, 443.
Cow Island, 437.
Crafts, Daniel, 340; Ebenezer, 286,
297, 340, 343; Griffin, 49, 50, 341;
John, 5, 341 ; Jonathan, 342; Mo-
ses, 18; Nathaniel, 342; Lieut.
Samuel, 341; William A., 344;
"William F., 344.
Crafts homestead, 340.
Cranch, T. P., 456.
Crane, Col. John, 78, 273, 275.
Crehore, Joseph, 168; Timothy, 33.
Cresap, Capt. Michael, 435.
Currency, 37, 62.
Curtis, George S., 402; Isaac, 18, 102,
286; John, 49, 397,449; Jonathan,
449; George William, 456; Joseph,
403; Catherine P., 403; Nathan-
iel, 427; Obadiah, 55; Philip, 401;
Samuel, 403 ; William, 49, 401 ;
homestead, 399.
Gushing, Judge William, 196.
Custine, 83.
Customs, 59-61.
Cutshamokin, 4, 5, 180.
D.
Dale Street, 226.
Dana, Charles A., 456; Dana's Hill,
428.
Dane, John, 303, 368-9.
Danforth, John, 142; Rev. Samuel,
140, 142, 159, 302; William, 17.
Datchet House, 327.
Davenport, Joseph, 168.
Davis, Col. Aaron, 23-30, 36, 82, 89;
Capt. Aaron, 89; Aaron, 89, 92,
110, 461; Aaron and Charles, 103,
110, 142; Deacon Billy, 197, 318;
Charles, 207; Deacon Ezra, 33, 440,
445; Ebenezer, 286, 339; Isaac, 168,
339; Lieut. Jacob, 31 ; Lieut. John,
31, 102, 350; Deacon Moses, 29,32,
90,287; Noah, 32,462; Nehemiah,
32; Nathaniel, 33; Stephen, 381;
Tobias, 111, 351 ; William, 89, 438;
Ichabod,445; Bethiab.,445; Sarah,
445; Amasa, 461.
Davis Street, 110.
Dawes, Col. Thomas, 122; Wil-
liam, 74.
Davies. Dr. Jonathan, 36, 82, 207,
427.
Day Street, 387.
Dearborn, Gen. Henry, 40, 131, 334;
Gen. H. A. S., 41, 234, 337.
Dedham Eoad, 379; Turnpike, 65,
350; boundary, 48.
Denison, Daniel, 91; Edward, 50, 91,
292; George, 91, 107; William, 50,
90, 102, 290, 292.
Denison's Bottom Lane, 133.
Dennis Street, 132.
Dexter, Franklin, 394; Samuel, 85,
394.
Deuxponts, Count, 83.
Diaz, Mrs., 456.
Dinsdell, John, 32; William, 32.
Dillaway, Charles K., 191, 310.
Doggett, Elizabeth S., 88; Capt.
Jesse, 87, 168; John, 92-3; Sam-
uel, 93, 207.
Domestic life, 59.
Dorchester Tooundary line, 95 ,
Brook, 122; Heights, 281, 330;
Eoad, 95, 111, 199.
Dorr, Ebenezer, 27, 29, 60, 82, 149,
286, 343; Edward, 75, 140, 149, 154,
287; Capt. Jonathan, 31, 149, 288,
383; Joseph, 149; Nathaniel, 149,
259, 368; William, 32, 167, 227.
Dove, John, 208.
Downer, Dr. Eliphalet, 347.
Dowse, John, Jr., 32.
Draper, Aaron, 33; Betsey, 450;
Jonathan, 32; Ichabod, 33; Mary,
350; Nathaniel, 32, 449; Capt.
Moses, 31, 38, 451; James, 451;
Marriam,45l; Paul, 32; Capt. Wil-
liam, 31, 447, 451; Egbert, 462.
Dress, 53.
Dresser, John, 17.
Drunkenness punished, 162.
Dubuque, M., 124.
Dudley, David, 382; Mrs. David, 90;
Gov. Joseph, 187, 244-51; Major
Joseph, 82; Col. Joseph, 84, 259,
339; Joseph W., 259; Joseph, 239;
Judge Paul, 33, 251-5, 286; Gov.
Thomas, 6-9, 50, 99, 107, 237, 241-3;
Thomas, 33, 238; William, 239;
Mrs. Lucy, 253; Col. William, 82,
108,239,445-6; Dudley tomb, 99;
Schoolhouse, 259; School for Girls,
361; homestead, 236-65; Street,
111 ; town of, 252.
Duick, Benjamin, 311.
468
INDEX.
Dumas, Count Matthieu, 83.
Dummer, Richard, 319; Mary, 299.
Dunster, Capt., 205, 46L
Dunton, John, 107, 185.
Dwellings, 57.
Dwight, W. F., 456.
E.
Earthquakes, 15, 16.
East Street, 118.
Eaton, Amherst, 87.
Eayres, John, 32.
Eliot, John, 18, 49, 100, 174-90, 265,
290; Eliot's Corner, 350; Pulpit,
455; Pasture, 226; Square, 310;
Mrs. Eliot, 189; Rev. John, 196;
Philip, 50, 393; Jacob, 67; Eliot
Hills, 233; Street, 414; School, 424;
Church, 367.
EUiot, Rev. Joseph, 113, 189.
Elm Hill, 221.
Epidemic, 15.
Episcopal Church, 210.
Epitaphs, 99-102, 444-5,451.
Estaing, Count d', 135.
Estates and persons in Roxbury, 49.
Eustis, Gov. William, 95, 124; Mrs.
Eustis, 132; house, 120-32; Street,
95-138; Burial-ground, 95.
Ewell, Perez, 120.
F.
Fairland Street, 114.
Faneuil, Benjamin, 412.
Farrington, Dea. Benjamin, 462.
Fashions, 55, 56.
Faunce's grocery store, 314.
Fay, Rev. Cyrus H., 259.
Faxon, Eleb, 338; Faxon's Hill, 338.
Fellowes, Caleb, 358; Fellowes's
Athenaeum, 358.
Felton, Nathaniel, 27, 30, 82, 154;
Ensign Joshua, 29, 30, 154, 167.
Finch, Samuel, 49.
Fire engines, 167; firemen, 167-8.
First newspaper, 87; church, 282-
302 ; horse railroad, 265 ; child
born, 5; library, 153; omnibus,
265; pews, 285; choir, 285; school,
191.
Fitzpatrick, Madame, 123.
Flag, Colonial, 105; Union, 81.
Flagg, llev. John, 450.
Flower de Luce Tavern, 365.
Food, 56.
Forbush, Rev. T. B., 450.
Forest Street, 115.
Forest Hills, 231 ; Street, 231.
Fort Avenue, 375; Monument, 378.
Fortifications, 69, 76, 93, 110, 275-81,
306, 329, 339, 371; British, 70-2,
331.
Foster, Capt. Samuel, 31, 32.
Fowler House, 235.
Fox, Ebenezer, 150-1, 297.
Foxholes, 351.
Francis, Ebenezer, 339.
Frankland, Sir Charles, 67.
Franklin, Dr. 121, 126-7, 280.
Frankling, William, 300.
Freeman, Thomas, 50.
Freemasons, 164, 205, 381-2.
French, Samuel, 32.
French troops in Roxbury, 83.
.French's Woods, 221.
Fresh meadow, 226.
Frost, George, 382.
Fugitives from Boston, 75.
Furniture, 58.
Fuller, John, 449; Margaret, 456.
Q.
Gage, Gov. Thomas, 70.
Gale, Major Isaac, 84.
Gallows, on the Neck, 68.
Gamblin's End, 397; Robert, 49,
397.
Gardiner, Samuel, 17; Samuel J.,
208, 382; Capt. Andrew, 108; Pe-
ter, 210, 369; Sarah, 322.
Gardiner's Green, 210
Gardiner's Canada, 108.
Gary, Samuel, 32; Arthur, 49, 393.
Gas introduced, 51.
Gaston, William, 42.
Gates, Gen. Horatio, 85 ; Robert,
duel with John Carter, 282.
Gay, Capt. Amasa, 463; Aaron, 320.
Gen. Arnold, privateer, 124.
George Tavern, 76, 84, 278.
Geyer, George, 32.
Gibbs, Capt. A. H., 109, 306.
Giles Payson's Corner, 133.
Giles, Thomas, 32.
Gleanings, 14-16.
Goad, Joseph, 17.
Goddard, John, 222, 286, 438.
Goggen, James, 32.
Goldthwait, Ezekiel, 392.
Gookin, Gen. Daniel, 190.
Goodrich, S. G., 231.
Gordon, Dr. William, 37, 420-3.
INDEX.
469
Gore, Joseph, 32; homestead, 321;
Samuel, 322; Christopher, 322;
Ebenezer, 60, 108, 399; Lieut.
Samuel, 108, 287; John, 19, 32, 50,
322; Paul, 402, Watson, 131, 321;
Jeremiah, 168.
Gorton, John, 164, 219.
Gould, William, 33; John, 411.
Gravelly Point, 306.
Graves, John, 11, 49, 393.
Gray, Rev. Thomas, 406, 420-4.
Gray, Dr. Thomas, 41.
Greene, Gen. Nathaniel, 270, 415.
Greenough, David S., 415.
Great Lotts, 226.
Greyhound Tavern, 140, 160-7.
Greenville Street, 114.
Greaton, Gen. John, 29, 30, 34, 156,
277, 317, 363; R. H. , 157, 168; Ann,
157; John, 162; Rev. James, 162.
Gridley, Deacon Samuel, 20, 25, 287,
307; William, 307.
Griggs, Joseph, 18; James, Jr., 32;
Moses. 32, 462; James, 202, 449,
461; George, 346; Samuel, 286;
Thomas, 49; John, 449.
Grove Hall, 222.
Grosvenor, John, 102, 323.
Guild, Samuel, 370; James, 370.
Gun-house, 109, 265.
Gunter, Thomas, 394.
Gyles, Capt. John, 390.
Hagborne, Samuel, 49, 139, 192;
Hagborne's Neck, 139, 306.
Hall, John, 49; Hall's Block, 155.
Hallet, George, 428.
Hallowell, Capt. Benjamin, 409 ;
Admiral Benjamin, 411.
Hampden Street, 118.
Hanchet, Peter, 449.
Hancock, Gov. John, 135, 426; Capt.
Belcher, 168; Thomas, 426.
Hansford, Joseph, 194.
Hannaford, William, 257.
Hardwick, 309.
Harriman, Moses, 381. ^
Harrington, Joseph, George, 383.
Harrison Avenue, 110.
Harris, Horatio, estate, 227.
Haskell, Rev. A. M., 450.
Hastings, John, 93.
Hatch, Col. Estes, 108, 134; Nathan-
iel, 134; Capt. Crowell, 428.
Hawes, Samuel, 219, 275, 316; Ben-
jamin, 219; John H., 220.
Hawley, Thomas, Sen., 17.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 456-60.
Hayward, Caleb, 29.
Hayward, Dr. Lemuel, 426-7.
Hazlitt's Tavern, 154, 160.
Heath, William, 11, 387; Capt. Jo-
seph, 30, 286, 323; Isaac, 50, 160,
193; Peleg, 50, 387; Miss Prudy,
323; John, 323; Samuel, 386;
Lieut. Samuel, 286; Gen. William,
20-30, 128, 273, 386-90; Capt. Wil-
liam, 390; Heath's Lane, 379;
Street, 387.
Healy, Nathaniel, 451.
Heely, Timothy, 381.
Hemmenway, Ralph, 49.
Henley, Col. David, 416, 444.
Henshaw, John, 32, 461.
Herring, James, 32, 451.
Hewes, Joshua, 50, 68, 97, 162.
Hesilrige, Sir Robert, 443.
Highland Street, 371.
Hill's Dam, 110.
Hog Bridge, 90, 385.
Holbrook, John, 60, 114, 220, 286;
Ralph, 286; Daniel, 114, 133, 220.
Holland, Josiah, 449.
Holmes, Nathaniel, 19, 449; George,
49.
Holdridge, Samuel, 449.
Homesteads in 1654, 48.
Honeysuckle Hill, 226.
Hopkins, Thomas, 17.
Horse railroads, 265.
Hourlies, 51, 264.
Howe, Abraham, 49; James, 92, 206,
381 ; John, 92, 197, 258, 382 ; David,
32: Howe's bakehouse, 280.
Huckleberry Hill, 402.
Huckins, Mrs. James, 129.
Hubbard, John, 17.
Hunneman, J. H., 92; William C.,
168; Street, 87.
Huntington, Col., 76.
Hutchins. Abel, 167.
Hutchinson, Anne, 91, 158, 170-1,
291.
Hutchinson, Gov., 24; Eliakim, 123.
Hunt, Joseph, 32.
Hyde, Thaddeus, 32.
Iggulden, Widow, 49.
Indians, 3; language, 177; courts,
181 ; conversion of, 176 ; Bible,
181.
Ionic Hall, 309.
470
INDEX.
J.
Jackson, Major William, 85; Ger-
shom, 32; President, 84; Gen.
Henry, 85, 138; Lieut. Ephraim,
108.
Jamaica Plain, 404; Schoolhonse,
424; Pond, 405; Aqueduct Co., 40(3.
Jarvis, James, 60, 108.
Jefferson, President, 152.
Jeffries, Deacon, 75.
Johnson, Capt. Isaac, 17, 49, 50, 393;
John, 49, 50, 88, 97, 290; house
burnt, 88.
Jones, John Cluly, 32 ; Thomas
Kilby, 222; Lewis, 32.
Joseph Warren Monument Associa-
tion, 218.
Josiah, son of Chickatabut, 4.
Jubes Lane, 230.
Kean, Edmund, 160.
Kearsarge Avenue, 211.
Keith, James, 33.
Kenilworth Street, 367.
Kennedy, Donald, 219.
Kent's Tavern, 223.
Kenney, Josiah, 32.
King, Rev. H. M., 113.
King Philip, 180.
Kingsbury estate, 227.
Kittredge, Dea. Alvah, 371, 373.
Kneeland, John, 32.
Knower, Benjamin, 32.
Knox, Gen. Henry, 77, 132, 273, 374.
Kossuth, Louis, 84, 218.
L.
Lafayette's visit, 130-2.
Lamb, Abiel, 17; Col. Joshua, 87,
97, 286, 309; Thomas, 49, 54, 290,
309; Lamb's Dam, 76, 80, 110, 279;
Lamb's Meadow, 103.
Lambstown (Hardwick), 309.
Lambert, William, 361; house, 287,
361.
Lameth, Alexander de, 83.
Land apportioned, 48.
Landing-Place, 110, 324.
Langerpn, Count de, 83.
Lauchlin, Samuel, 33.
Laukman, Leonard, 211.
Lanzun, Duke de, 83.
Laval, Montmorenci, Count de, 83.
Lear, Col. Tobias, 86.
Learned, Col. Ebenezer, 81, 93, 154,
206.
Le Barron, Dr. Lemuel, 305.
Leicester, 309.
Leland, Judge, 310.
Lee, William, 310; W. Raymond,
398.
Lemist, Edwin, 258; John, 154.
Leprilete, Dr. Lewis, 407.
Leverett, Rev. William, 113.
Levins, John, 49, 210, 212.
Lewis, Elijah, 88, 207; George, 42,
88; James,32; John, 221; Joshua,
232; Samuel, 33; Timothy, 33.
Lewis and Brewer's store, 206.
Lexington battle, 31, 157, 217, 315,
388.
Liberty Tree, 266 ; Liberty Song, 166.
Lincolne, William, 17.
Linden Hall, 412.
Linkhorne, William, 438.
Liquor laws, 163.
Little Woods, 134.
Long, Crouch, 223.
Loring, Com. Joshua, 142, 416;
house, 414.
Louisburg expedition, 108, 122, 125.
Lowder, John, 33; Lowder's Lane,
428.
Lowell, John, 394-6; John, Jr., 396;
estate, 393; mansion, 394.
Lyman, Richard, 299.
Lynch, Isidore de, 83.
Lyon, Abigail, 451 ; Daniel, 32 ;
Ebenezer, 449; Eliphalet, 449;
Ephraim, 449; John, 451; Joseph,
449; Samuel, 449; Thomas, 449;
William, 18, 438, 449; homestead,
463; Street, 463.
M.
Maccarty, Florence, 370; farm, 227,
357, 370.
Mclntosh, Jeremiah, 32; Stephen,
32.
McCurtin's Diary, 116.
Magazine Street, 119.
Magee, Capt. James, 124.
Mall Street, 110.
Manners and customs, 63.
Mann, Col., 462.
Manufactures, 68, 93.
Maps of Roxbury, 52.
Masher, Jeremiah, Jr., 32.
Mather, Cotton, 144-7, 249; Increase,
148; John, 32.
INDEX.
471
Mathew, John, 49.
Maximilian I, of Bavaria, 83.
May, Benjamin, 41 2 ; Ebenezer, 286 ;
Eleazer, 412: John, 398; John,
Jr. , 438; Lemuel, 31, 108, 425, 428 ;
Samuel, 18; May's Pond, 22(3;
May's Woods, 220; Street, 428.
Mayo, John, 102, 397, 441; Lieut.
John, 282, 304; Joseph, 22-5, 36,
441; Samuel, 32; Thomas, 31,108,
449 ; Mayo farm, 441 ; Mayo's
Tavern, 184, 461.
Mayors of Roxbury, 41.
Mead, William, 193, 218; house, 219;
orchard, 218.
Mears, James, 142, 286; James, Jr.,
370; Samuel, 85; house, 287; tan-
nery, 142; Lane, 350; estate, 369.
Meeting-House Hill, 67, 236, 265, 287.
Mellish, Lieut. Samuel, 31, 168.
Miantonomoh, 237.
Mifflin, Gen. Thomas, 85.
Military history, 17, 29, 76, 104.
Miller, Gen. James, 84; John, 49.
Mills, Stephen, 32.
Mill-Dam, 345.
Minot, George, 73.
Minute-men, 29, 31-3, 316.
Monroe, President, 84, 158.
Montague, Hon. Capt. William, 326.
Montesquieu, Marquis, 83.
Montresor, Major John, 70.
Moody, John, 299; Parson, 125.
Moore, Ashur, 259; W. C., 93.
Morgan, Gen. Daniel, 80, 270, 273.
Moreland Street, 114.
Morrice, Isaac, 17.
Morrill, Isaac, 50, 111, 105, 207, 351.
Morris, Lieut. Richard, 106, 292;
Com. Charles, 106.
Morton, Perez, 134; Mrs., 134.
Mory, Thomas, 449.
Mount Hope Cemetery, 235.
Mount Pleasant, 114.
Muddy River, 329, 341-6; Pond Hill,
437; Pond, 437.
Munroe, Jedediah, 32; Deacon Ne-
hemiah, 112, 159, 221, 227; Solo-
mon, 32; Daniel, 167; farm, 227.
Murdock, Deacon Ephraim, 445.
Karragansett Fort fight, 17, 393.
Nazing, 10, 11.
Neck, 65-94; fortified, 28, 70; paved,
67; houses on, 67; its dangers, 66.
Ned's Hill, 105, 307.
Nesutan, Job, 177.
Newell, John, 17; Ebenezer, 21,403;
Lieut. Ebenezer, 108; Abraham,
49, 351, 370; Robert, 451; Mehita-
bel, 451; Samuel, 108.
New Lane, 199.
Newton, part of, annexed, 48.
Newton, John, provision store, 154;
Gilbert Stuart, 309.
Newman, Andrew, 207; W. J., 257.
Noailles, Vicomte de, 83.
Non-importation Resolves, 21.
Norfolk Gazette, 87; Norfolk County
Journal, 344; Norfolk Guards, 109,
130, 259, 331; Norfolk and Bristol
Turnpike, 350; Norfolk House,
364; Bank, 368; Street, 159.
Northampton Street, 76, 103, 110.
O.
Octagon Hall, 368.
Oddiug, Sarah, 300.
Old Red Tavern, 158; Old Grocery
Store, 287, 314.
Orr, James, 159.
Otis, Theodore, 42, 310.
P.
Palmer, Gen. Joseph, 69; Palmer
Street, 200.
Paradise Hill, 323.
Parish boundaries, 47; tomb, 110.
Parke, William, 49, 95, 102, 105, 113,
290.
Parker, Augustus, 224; Caleb, 155;
Catharine, 403; Jacob, 32; John,
32, 392; John Wells, 158; Jona-
than, 73; Jeremiah, 29; Noah, 32;
Samuel, 196, 257; Theodore, 447,
452-4; Thomas, 33; Timothy, 307,
402; Peter, 392; Parker Hill, 391;
Parker Street, 324.
Parry, Thomas, 449; Joseph, 449.
Parsonage, First Church, 310; Third
Church, 421.
Parting Stone, 315, 379.
Patten, Nathaniel, 25-7, 92.
Patterson, Rev. A. J., 259.
Paupers, 383.
Payson, Edward, 49, 95; Giles, 49,
95, 114; Samuel, 222; Stephen. 33.
Peabody, Rev. Oliver, 101, 302, 310.
Peacocke, Richard, 49, 60, 169.
Peacock Tavern, 435.
Peck, Stephen, 102.
472
INDEX.
Pemberton, Benjamin, 412, 423 ; Mrs.
Susannah, 418.
Penniman, John Ritts, 150, 287.
Penny, Capt. Timothy, 428.
Pepper, Joseph, 17; Richard, 49;
Robert, 18, 164,394.
Pepperell, Col. William, 125; Sir
William, 429, 433.
Perkins, Benjamin, house, 377; "Wil-
liam, 49, 403; Street, 403.
Pen-in, Noah, 25, 60, 264, 286, 360;
Augustus, 220; Perrin'a Lane, 359.
Perry, John, 49, 183, 392; Nathan-
iel, 32.
Persons and estates in 1640, 49.
Peter's Hill Burial-ground, 444.
Petit, John, 49.
Philip's war, 16, 183.
Phillips, Hon. William, 415.
Pichegru, 83.
Pierce, James, 168; Martin, 158;
Lemuel, 381.
Pierpont, Benjamin, 325; Ebenezer,
286; James, 325; Joe, 326; John,
58, 102, 325, 371; Robert, 29, 30, 82,
324,326-7; Castle, 327; Mill, 325;
village, 319.
Pigeon Hill, 360.
Pigge, Thomas, 50.
Piggery, Rand and Seaver's, 118.
Pilgrims' departure from Holland, 5.
Pillory, 326.
Pine Hill, 351 ; Island, 119, 129 ;
pine-tree money, 62.
Pitcairn, Major John, 75, 443.
Plymouth Street, 39.
Polley, John, 415, 438.
Pond, Joshua, 32; Street, 411.
Poplar Street, 462.
Population, 52.
Porter, Edward, 49, 370; Eliphalet,
101, 205, 302, 312; John, 300.
Pound, 381.
Powder -House Lane, 119; maga-
zine, 129.
Pratt, Benjamin, 209; Simeon, 363,
381.
Prentiss, Dr. Nathaniel S., 219, 307.
Price, Ezekiel, 275.
Prices, 62.
Prichard, Capt. Hugh, 107, 325;
Prichard's Island, 325.
Prince, Capt. John, 429.
Province tax abated, 35.
Prudden, John, 195.
Pue, Jonathan, 211.
Punch-Bowl Tavern, 348; village,
346.
Puritans, character of, 2, 3.
Putnam, Allen, 119; Rev. George,
302, 371 ; Col. Rufus, 77, 271.
Pynchon, William, 12, 298; Street,
320, 385.
Q.
Quakers whipped, 15.
B.
Rain -Water Doctor, 451.
Rawlings, Thomas, 290.
Rawlines, Jasper, 68.
Read, Hon. John, 38, 123, 128: John,
128, 367; George, 129; Col. Joseph,
85, 324; Read's battery, 280, 324;
Read's Lane, 132.
Remington, Lieut. John, 284, 322;
Remington's Paradise, 323.
Revolution of 1689, 18.
Revolutionary incident, 304, 374.
Reynolds, Rev. Grindall, 421.
Richards, David, 32; Joseph, 32;
Samuel, 32 ; Ensign, 81 ; Capt.
Jeremiah, Jr., 108; Col. Jeremiah,
463; Isaiah, 463; Nathaniel, 461;
homestead, 461, 463.
Richardson, Moses, 32; Luther, 309;
Joseph, 167: Capt. John, 286.
Rigges, Edward, 49, 95, 113.
Riley's store, 380.
Ripley, Rev. George, 455.
Ritchie, James, 42.
Robbins, Dr. P. G., 305; Robbing
Rock Lane, Day Street.
Robinson, Col. Lemuel, 73, 268.
Roberts, John, Jr., 17, 50.
Rochambeau's army, 82.
Rock Hill, 230.
Rocking Stone, 221.
Rocky Pasture, 225; Rocky Bottom,
230; Rocky Swamp Lane, 351;
Swamp, 401.
Roebuck Inn, 154.
Rogers, Simon, 85.
Rowson, Susanna, school, 86.
Round the Square, 264.
Roxbury, settled, 5, 11 ; colonists, 9;
incorporated, 11; soldiers, 17; pe-
titions General Court, 18, 25; re-
solves, 19-28; recommends corre-
spondence between the provincial
assemblies, 22; Committee of Cor-
respondence, 25; couriers stationed
at, 31; adopts the Articles of Con-
federation, 36; supports Declara-
tion of Independence, 36; fore-
INDEX.
473
stallers denounced, 37 ; instructions
to its representatives, 37; celebrates
the ratification of the Constitu-
tion, 39; its 200th anniversary, 41 ;
of Nov. 22, 1876, 41 ; towns settled
by her citizens, 40 ; annexation, 41 ;
mayors, 41; physical characteris-
tics, 43 ; puddingstone, 22, 43;
early descriptions, 45; boundaries,
joined to Norfolk County, 48 ; lands
apportioned, 48; purchases Indian
title, 48; homesteads in 1654, 49;
persons and estates in 1G38, 49;
population, 52 ; slave-owners in
1739, 60; sufferers by the siege, 82;
minute-men, 29-31 ; soldiers, 107-8.
125.
Roxbury Artillery Association, 109.
Roxbury boundary line, 47, 48, 76,
87, 103, 346.
Roxbury camp, 268-81.
Roxbury, Canada, 108.
Roxbury Canal, 103.
Roxbury Charitable Society, 362.
Roxbury City Guard, 109.
Roxbury Common, 229, 231, 265.
Roxbury forts, 277, 372-8.
Roxbury Free School, 139, 187, 191-8.
Roxbury Gas-Light Company, 51.
Roxbury gate, 67, 87.
Roxbury Hill, 265.
Roxbury Land Company, 219, 227.
Roxbury lines, 77, 91.
Roxbury precinct, 47, 346.
Roxbury Street, paved and lighted,
51 ; laid out, 304 ; houses removed
from, 89; in the siege, 80.
Ruggles, Samuel, struck by light-
ning, 15, 18, 108, 365; Lieut. Sam-
uel, 19; Nathaniel, 381; Capt.
John, 108, 366; Major Nathaniel,
23, 25, 27, 29, 36, 366 ; John, 50, 286,
34i i, 365; Thomas, 50, 365; Ed-
ward, 60; Joseph, 286, 366; Dea-
con Edward, 286; Lawyer Joseph,
364, 381; Aunt Major, 367; Street,
306; store, 315.
Rumrill, Thomas, 92, 206.
Ryder, Rev. "William H., 259.
S.
St. Maime, Count de, 83.
St. James Church, 210; Park, 218.
Salem witchcraft, 143-9.
Salt manufacture, 69; Pans, 309.
Salter, William, 32.
Sassamon, John, 16.
Saw-mill Brook, 439.
Sargent, Epes, 114; Horace B., 41;
Lucius M., 230; Col. L. M., 110.
Scarborough. Samuel, 18; Deacon
Samuel, 102, 229; Joseph, 207.
Schools, 191-8, 201-4.
School Street, 397.
Scott, E. G., 93; John, 17; Nathan-
iel, 9; Scott's carriage factory, 207.
Sears, Col. Isaac, 418.
Seaver, Jonathan, 30, 286 ; Ebenezer,
286; Joseph, 305; Elijah, 392; Hon.
Ebenezer, 223, 314, 332, 381; Rob-
ert, 49, 223, 340: Nathaniel, 17, 61 ;
Shubael, 102; Peter, 208; Abijah,
226; Benjamin, 226; Street, 223.
Seaverns, T. W., 428; farm, 231.
Second Church, 447.
Segur, Count, 83.
Selectmen, 262.
Settlement of New England, Causes
of, 2; of Massachusetts Bay, 5-9.
Sharpe, John, 17; Capt. Robert, 108.
Shawmut Avenue, 65, 303.
Shays's Insurrection, 38.
Sheafe, , 50.
Sheffield, Edward, 50.
Sherman, Philip, 292-3, 300.
Shirley, Gov. William, 120-7; Shir-
ley Place, 120-32; Street, 125.
Siege of Boston, 33, 74, 268, 329.
Simmons, David A., 371; George
A., 365.
Slaves, 60. 342.
Sleeper, John S., 42, 114-15.
Smelt Brook, 47, 236, 303.
Smith, Joseph, 32; Michael, 32;
Ralph, 52, 103, 320, 324; Francis,
49,95,113; Richard, 211; Nathan-
iel Ruggles, 318; Amos, 167;
Smith's carriage shop, 154.
Social Library, 154; usages, 60-3.
Soldiers' monuments, 234, 424.
South Street, 433, 462.
Southern riflemen, 270.
Spencer, Gen. Joseph, 273.
Spooner, John Jones, 38, 108, 361;
William H., 109, 332.
Spring Street, 437, 463.
Springfield settled, 12.
Squirrels' Delight, on Perkins Street,
near Brookline.
Stamp Act, 20, 68, 165.
Stand-pipe, 375, 378.
Stanley, Onesiphorous, 17.
Stannard, John, 49.
Star, Samuel, 33.
Stebbins, John, 102 ; Martin, 49
Mrs. Martin, 301.
474
INDEX.
Stedman, Caleb, 286.
Stevens, Timothy, 20, 108; Dr. Sam-
uel, 149, 213; Capt. Samuel, 99,
111, 207, 276; Col. Ebenezer, 79.
Stony Brook, 47, 385, 438-
Storming of Narragansett Fort, 17.
Stow, John, 49, 50, 194, 325, 371;
Elizabeth, 300.
Streets and highways, 50, 67.
Stuart, Gilbert, 230, 305.
Sturtevant, Isaac, 33.
Sumner, Gov. Increase, 351-4; birth-
place 155; Samuel, 47, 156, 198,
227-9; Increase, 36, 82, 155; Ed-
ward, 76, 117, 155, 158, 200, 286,
324; Gen. William H., 233, 345;
Sumner Hall, 201, 204; Sumner
Place, 76; Street, 200.
Sunday regulations, 61; Sunday
schools, 295.
Swan, Col. James, 135-8 ; house,
134; Swan's Woods, 134.
Swift, John, 167: David, 167.
T.
Taber, Elnathan, 207.
Taft's Tavern, 441.
Talbot, Nathaniel, 32; Eben, 32.
Tanneries, 46, 51.
Tarring and feathering, 123.
Tay's Orchard, 350.
Tea Party, 137, 386.
Temple, Robert, 336.
Thayer, Rev. Ebenezer, 449-50.
The Free School, 191.
The Square, 264.
The Short Story, 171 . [Hugh, 414.
Thomas, Gen. John, 85, 267, 310;
Thompson, Bridget, 91 ; Major Wil-
liam, 23; Benjamin, epitaph, 101,
196, 360; Rev. A. C., 368; Rev.
James W., 421.
Thoreau, H. D., 456.
Thousand acres, next to Dedham.
Thwing, S.C.,359, 371.
Tide Mill, 324-5.
Tommy's Rocks, 225, 351.
Torrent Engine, 168.
Torrey, Philip, 18.
Tory Hill, 265.
Town Lane, 159; Town House, 259;
town records, 261; meetings, 260;
government, 262 ; watch, 263 ;
stocks, 263; officers, 264.
Townsend, J. P., 221.
Totman, John, 49, 402; Totman's
Rocks, 402.
Trainband, 105.
Training-Field, 104-8.
Trask, Capt. Samuel, 104.
Tremont Street, 320.
Troutbeck, Rev. John, 411.
Trumble, John, 49.
Trumbull, Col. John, 72, 273.
Tucker, Beza, 111; Joseph W., 264
Tupper, Col. Benjamin, 78, 80, 304.
Turell, Mrs. Mary, 75.
Turner House, 380.
Tyler, President, 84; Col. J. S., 85.
U.
Underbill, Capt. John, 105.
Union Street, 207.
Ursuline Sisters, 332.
V.
Vassal, Lewis, 211.
Vernon Street, 159.
Viome'nil, Marquis, 82.
Voters, qualifications of, 262.
W.
Waauban, 178, 180.
Waitt, Samuel, 229; Benjamin, 317 j
Waitt's Mill, 319.
Wakeman, Samuel, 290.
Waldo, Gen. Samuel, 122.
Walk Hill Street, 235.
Walker, Hon. Samuel, 42, 134.
Walley, Samuel H., 371. '
Walnut Avenue, 199, 225.
Walter, Nathaniel, 443; Nehemiah,
101. 171; Thomas, 98, 101, 173, 297;
William, 443; Walter Street, 442.
Ward, Gen. Artemas, 330; Col.
Joshua, 329; headquarters, 328;
orderly book, 330; John, 168, 381.
Warner, Capt. Jonathan, 85.
Warren, Gen. Joseph, 34, 68, 218;
Dr. John, 214; Dr. John C., 213;
country seat, 213; Samuel, 212;
Ebenezer, 212, 286; William, 32;
Joseph, 212, 286; homestead, 213;
estate, 212; cemetery, 211; Warren
Street, 199.
War of the Rebellion, 109, 425.
Warwick, 108.
Washington, George, 77, 85, 127, 205,
329; market, 86; house, 86; hotel,
87; park, 226; Lodge, 205, 381;
INDEX.
475
Street, 65; school, 305; "Washing-
ton's funeral, 205.
Waterman, Thomas, 49. 50.
Waters, Josiah, 74, 77, 376.
Water Street, now Ruggles.
Watson, John, 17. 49, 102, 169, 369.
Webb, William, 49; Mrs. William
Webb, 301.
Webster Hall, 142, 150.
Weld, Aaron D., 454; Benjamin, 32,
81; David. 25,27,36,454; Lieut.
Daniel, 445; Ebenezer, 33; Col.
Eleazer, 21, 23, 29, 36, 60, 440; Eli-
jah, 33, 167; Job, 33; John, 50,
439, 449, 455; Capt. Joseph, 33,
82, 105, 158, 292; William, 32; Dea-
con Nathaniel, 407; Stephen M.,
439; Edmund, 114; Samuel, 114;
Weld estate, 114,454; Weld's Hill,
77, 440; Weld Street, 454, 463.
Welde, Eev. Thomas, 50, 102, 114,
169-71, 290; Daniel, 169, 195.
West Point Cadets' visit, 331.
West Roxbury Town Hall, 416; lo-
calities, 437; incorporated, 438;
precinct line, 449.
Whipping-post, 384.
White, Aaron. 114, 221; David, 33;
John, 221; Moses, 114; Samuel,
133
Whit'eneld, Rev. George, 125, 173,
293
Whitcomb, Col. Asa, 123, 281.
Whitewash Hall, 111, 198.
Whiting, Ebenezer, 27, 29; Tavern,
461; Henry, 463; Leouard, 463;
Moses, 31; Rufus, 33; Seth, 461.
Whitney, Daniel, 449; Ebenezer, 32;
Elisha,462; Rev. George, 42 1,450;
Isaac, 32; Jacob, 32; John, 434,
449 ; t Stephen, 32; Timothy, 449.
Whittemore, Jacob, 32; Lawrence,
4!), 193; Michael, 461-2.
Wigs, Eliot's aversion to, 188.
Wild, Charles, 382.
Wilder, Marshall P., 223.
Wilson, Nathaniel, 17.
Willson, Rev. E. B., 450.
Willard, Aaron, 153, 167, 374; Ben-
jamin, 152: Simon, 152.
Williams, Col. Joseph, 20-30, 34, 58,
60, 108, 384-3; Capt. Eleazer, 21,
116, 286; Elizabeth, 102; Henry,
22; Theoda, 114; Rev. John, 175;
Dudley, 93; Samuel Sprague, 93,
257; Lawyer Tom, 93, 115; Dr.
Thomas, 76, 82, JOS, 116; Moses,
228, 358, 425; Samuel, 18, 37, 64,
95, 175, 286; Stephen, tanner, 29,
82, 116, 134, 227, 286, 360; Capt.
Joseph, 30, 383, 397; Lieut. Isaac,
31, 235; Henry Howell, 34; Major
Edward Payson, 31, 398; Lieut.
Robert, 31,197; Thomas, 32; Rob-
ert. 49, 95, 115, 117; John, 60, 119,
133; John, Jr., 23, 29, 167, 286;
Capt. Nathaniel, 102, 108, 286, 358;
Aaron D., 228, 235; homestead,
227; John D. W., 221; Stedman,
228, 230; Capt. John, 228; Benja-
min Payson, 235; Stephen, tin-
man, 276; Mrs. Dorothy, 286;
Jonathan, 286; Noah Pen-in, 360;
Patty, 38t>; Jeremiah, 398; Otho
Holland, 271 ; Williams Street, 92.
Winchester, Elhanan, 257; Nathan-
iel, 403.
Windship, Dr. C. M., 208, 225;
George B., 208.
Winslow, John A., 211; Isaac, 25,
26, 255-7; Samuel, 257.
Winthrop Street, 114.
Witchcraft, 143.
Withington, Phineas, 402.
Wolf Trap, 219.
Wonders of the Invisible World, 147.
Wood, Francis, 32; John, 87; Wil-
liam, 33.
Woodbridge, Joshua Lamb, 82, 87.
Woodstock settled, 40.
Woodward, W. Elliot, 115.
Woody, John, 97, 179; Richard, 164.
Worcester Turnpike, 65, 304.
Workhouse, 382.
Wynian farm, 402; Capt. William,
31, 347.
Y.
Young, Calvin, 414; Mrs. Calvin,
414; Mrs. Lot, 158.
Z.
Zeigler, George, 169, 207-8; Zeiglei
Street, 169, 207.
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