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Gc 974.402 B65dr 1164596
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01105 8788
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/oldlandmarkshist00drak 1
OLD LANDMARKS OF
BOSTON.
By the Same Author.
Uniform with this Volume : OLD LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC FIELDS OF MIDDLESEX.
Illustrated. Price, $2.00.
A BOOK OF NEW-ENGLAND LEGENDS AND FOLK-LORE
In Prose and Poetry. Illustrated. Price, $2.00.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
THE GREAT MALL. HAYMARKET AND THEATRE - See page 313
HI
OLD LANDMARKS
AND
HISTORIC PERSONAGES
OF BOSTON.
BY SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE.
illustrated.
QUI
REGIT.
LEGIT
BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS. 1889.
-
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
EIGHTH EDITION.
UNIVERSITY PRESS : JOHN WILSON & SON CAMBRIDGE.
PREFACE.
1164596
T HE author has had a twofold object in presenting this work for the acceptance of the public.
Besides the preservation of the old landmarks, now so rapidly disappearing before the era of improvement, there is a very general desire to know where the actors lived who have given Boston such prominence in the history of our country.
The plan has been adopted, in viewing old localities, to tell for what they have been famous, and to briefly charac- terize or give some conspicuous traits and public services of the personages mentioned.
In view of the limits prescribed for this volume it has been found necessary to condense from the abundant ma- terial in the author's possession, but it is believed the more important features have been given.
While the numerous local publications have been care- fully examined, the author has in all cases preferred orig- inal authorities in the work of compilation, and has en- deavored to give credit where it is due. The beaten track has been avoided as far as possible, and preference given to such topics as have either escaped mention altogether, or received but little notice from former writers.
In a work so largely statistical it would be a surprise if errors did not exist, but unwearied pains have been taken to avoid them and to render the work as free from this objection as possible.
vi
PREFACE.
The author believes that antiquarian subjects need not of necessity be either dry or uninteresting, and has aimed to make these pages agreeable to the general reader, - a class he is happy to say in which a growing interest in the early history of the founders of New England is evident.
Many persons have laid the author under obligations by the loan of documents or by communicating valuable information. He would express his deep sense of the favors and assistance rendered him by that eminent and thoroughly unselfish antiquarian, JOHN WARD DEAN, and also by MISS E. S. QUINCY and JOHN H. DEXTER. Among the many persons consulted, who have kindly contributed in various ways to the success of this work, are CAPTAIN GEORGE H. PREBLE, U. S. N., ISAAC STORY, LEMUEL SHAW, GEORGE MOUNTFORT, WILLIAM H. MONTAGUE, J. WIN- GATE THORNTON, ROWLAND ELLIS, and TIMOTHY DODD, Esqrs., the latter of whom, at the advanced age of ninety- three, retained a clear recollection of Boston as it existed three quarters of a century ago.
BOSTON, MASS., October 22, 1872.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Myles Standish. - William Blackstone. - Shawmut. - Settlement by Winthrop's Company. - Trimountain. - Boston. - Physical Features. - Area. - Settlement by Indians. - Character of first Buildings. - First Location of the Settlers. - Geographical Divisions. - Wood and Water. - Dress. - Manners and Customs. - Slavery. - Curious old Laws. - Government of the Town. - Allotment of Lands. - Intoler- ance of the Times. - The Pulpit a Means of Intelligence. - Accounts by various Writers. - Town Records. - General Growth and Progress. - Population. - Wards. - Paving the Streets. - Lighting the Streets. - Supply of Water. - Enlargement of Boston. - Communication with Mainland. - Ferries. - Bridges. - Coaches, Public and Private. - Railways ·
1
CHAPTER I.
KING'S CHAPEL AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
History of the Chapel. - Establishment of the Church of England. Chapel Burial-Ground. - Boston Athenæum. - Academy of Arts and Sciences. - Historical Society. - The Museum. - The Old Corner. - Royal Custom House. - Washington. - H. G. Otis. - Daniel Webster. -Tremont Street. - Howard Street. - Pemberton Hill. - Endicott. - Captain Southack. - Theodore Lyman, Senior. - John Cotton. - Sir Henry Vane. - Samuel Sewall. - Gardiner Greene. - Earl Percy. - Bellingham. - Faneuil. - Phillips. - Davenport. - Oxenbridge. - Beacon Street. - School Street. - Latin School. - Franklin Statue. - City Hall. - Otis. - Warren. - Mascarene. - Cromwell's Head. - The Old Corner Bookstore .- Anne Hutchinson. - The French Church. - Catholic Church. - Second Universalist. - Province Street. - Chap- man Place. - James Lovell. - The Wendells .
.
28
viii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
FROM THE ORANGE-TREE TO THE OLD BRICK.
Hanover Street. - General Warren. - The Orange-Tree. - Concert Hall. - Brattle Street. - Samuel Gore. - John Smibert. -- Nathaniel Smi- bert. - Colonel Trumbull. - The Adelphi. - Scollay's Buildings and Square. - Queen Street Writing School. - Master James Carter. - Cornhill. - Brattle Street Parsonage. - Old Prison. - Captain Kidd. - Court Houses. ---- Franklin Avenue. - Kneeland. -- Franklin. - Edes and Gill. - Green and Russell. -- First Book and Newspaper printed in Boston. - Rufus Choate. -- Governor Leverett. - John A. Andrew. - Henry Dunster. - Town Pump. - Old Brick. - General Knox. - Count Rumford. - John Winslow . 68
CHAPTER III.
FROM THE OLD STATE HOUSE TO BOSTON PIER.
Captain Keayne. - Coggan, first Shopkeeper. - Old Cornhill. - Old State House. - First Church. - Stocks and Whipping-Post. - John Wilson. - Wilson's Lane. - United States Bank. - Royal Exchange Tavern. - William Sheaffe. - Royal Custom House. - Exchange Cof- fee House. - " Columbian Centinel." - Benjamin Russell. - Louis Philippe. - Louis Napoleon. - Congress Street. - Governors Dummer and Belcher. - First United States Custom House. - Post-Office. - Bunch of Grapes. - General Lincoln. - General Dearborn. - First Circulating Library. - British Coffee House. - Merchants' Row. - First Inn. - Lord Ley. --- Miantonimoh. - Kilby Street. - Oliver's Dock. - Liberty Square. - The Stamp Office. - Broad Street. - Com- modore Downes. - Broad Street Riot. - India Street and Wharf. - Admiral Vernon. - Crown Coffee House. - Butler's Row. - The Custom House. - Retrospective View of State Street. - Long Wharf. - The Barricado. - T Wharf. - Embarkation for Bunker Hill 88
CHAPTER IV.
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
Old Cornhill. - Paul Revere. - Amos and Abbott Lawrence. - Boyls- ton's Alley. - Barracks of the 29th. - Blue Anchor. - Brattle Street Church. - General Gage. - Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne. - John Adams. - Headquarters of Stage-Coaches. - Dock Square. - The Conduit. - Town Dock described. - Quincy Market. - Origin of Mar- kets in Boston. - The Triangular Warehouse. - Roebuck Passage. - Clinton Street. - The Old Market Museum. - Old Cocked Hat. - Faneuil Hall. - D'Estaing. - Lafayette. - Jackson. - Prince de Join- ville. - Jerome Bonaparte. - Lord Ashburton. - The Portraits. -- Corn Court. - Hancock House. - Talleyrand. - State Custom House. -- The Conscription Riot
. 118
ix
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
FROM BOSTON STONE TO THE NORTH BATTERY.
The North End. - Boston Stone. - Painters' Arms. - Louis Philippe. - Union, Elm, and Portland Streets. - Benjamin Franklin's Residence. - The Blue Ball. - Lyman Beecher's Church. - Benjamin Hallowell. - Green Dragon. - Pope Day. - St. Andrew's Lodge. - Mill Pond. - Causeway. --- Mill Creek. - North Street. - Sir D. Ochterlony. - East- ern Stage House. - Cross Street. - The Old Stone House. - New Brick Church. - The Red Lyon. - Nicholas Upshall. - Edward Randolph. - North Square. - Sir H. Frankland. - Major Shaw. - Pitcairn. - Old North Church. - Cotton Samuel, and Increase Mather. - Governor Hutchinson. - General Boyd. - Fleet Street. - King's Head Tavern. - Bethel Church. - Father Taylor. - Hancock's Wharf. - Swinging Signs. - First Universalist Church. - First Methodist. - New North. - Ship Tavern. - Noah's Ark. - Salutation Tavern. - The Boston Caucus. - The North Battery. - Trucks and Truckmen . 143
CHAPTER VI.
A VISIT TO THE OLD SHIPYARDS.
Early Ship-Building. - Boston Shipyards. - Massachusetts Frigate. - New England Naval Flag. - First Seventy-Four. - Hartt's Naval Yard. - The Constitution. - Her Launch, History, and Exploits. - Anecdotes of Hull, Bainbridge, and Decatur. - Old Ironsides Rebuilt. -- Josiah Barker. - Nicholson. - Preble. - Stewart. - Other Distin- guished Officers. - Escape from the British Fleet. - Anecdote of Dr. Bentley. - Action with the Guerriere. - The Java. - Cyane and Le- vant. - Relics of Old Ironsides. - Affair of the Figure-Head. - Cap- tain Dewey. - The Frigate Boston. - Capture of Le Berceau. - The Argus .
. 178
CHAPTER VII.
COPP'S HILL AND THE VICINITY.
Copp's Hill. - British Works. - Ancient Arch. - Wm. Gray. - Old Ferry. - Reminiscences of Bunker Hill. - The Cemetery. - Curious Stones, Epitaphs, etc. - Old Funeral Customs. - Charter Street. - Sir William Phips. - John Foster Williams. - John Hull. - Colonial Mint. - Christ Church. - Revere's Night Ride. - The Chimes. - The Vaults, - Legends of. - Major Pitcairn. - Love Lane. - North Latin School. - Prince Street. - Salem Church. - North End Heroes. - Captain Manly. - Massachusetts Spy. - First Baptist Church. - Sec- ond Baptist Church. - Draft Riot, 1863
. 198
X
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE OLD SOUTH AND PROVINCE HOUSE.
Marlborough Street. - Governor Winthrop. - Old South. - Warren's Orations. - Tea-Party Meeting. - British Occupation. -- Phillis Wheatley. - Spring Lane. - Heart and Crown. - Boston Evening Post. - Province House. - Samuel Shute. - William Burnet. -- Wil- liam Shirley. - Thomas Pownall. - Francis Bernard. -- General Gage. - Lexington Expedition. - Sir William Howe. - Council of War. -- Court Dress and Manners. - Governor Strong. - Blue Bell and In- dian Queen. - Lieutenant-Governor Cushing. - Josiah Quincy, Jr. - Mayor Quincy . 225
CHAPTER IX.
FROM THE OLD SOUTH ROUND FORT HILL.
Birthplace of Franklin. - James Boutineau. - Bowdoin Block. - Hawley Street. - Devonshire and Franklin Streets. - Joseph Barrell. - The Tontine. - Boston Library. - Cathedral of the Holy Cross. - Bishop Cheverus. - Federal Street Theatre. - Some Account of Early Theatricals in Boston. - Kean, Finn, Macready, etc. - John How- ard Payne. - Federal Street Church. - The Federal Convention. - Madam Scott. - Robert Treat Paine. - Thomas Paine. - Congress Street. - Quaker Church and Burying-Ground. - Sketch of the So- ciety of Friends in Boston. - Merchants' Hall. - Governor Shirley's Funeral. - Fire of 1760. - Pearl Street. - The Ropewalks. - The Grays. - Conflicts between the Rope-Makers and the Regulars. - Pearl Street House. -- Spurzheim. - Washington Allston. - Theophi- lus Parsons. - T. H. Perkins. - Governor Oliver. - Quincy Mansion. -Governor Gore. - Liverpool Wharf. - Tea Party and Incidents of. - The Sconce. - Governor Andros Deposed. - Sun Tavern. - Fort Hill . 251
CHAPTER X.
A TOUR ROUND THE COMMON.
Long Acre. - Tremont House. - Mr. Clay. - President Jackson. - Charles Dickens. - Little House-Lot. - Tremont Theatre. - The Ca- dets. - Adino Paddock. - Paddock's Mall. - Granary Burying- Ground. - The Granary. - Almshouse. - Workhouse. - Bridewell. - Park Street Church. - Manufactory House. - Linen-Spinning In- troduced. - Elisha Brown. - Massachusetts Bank. - Incident of the Lexington Expedition. - The Common. - Its Origin. - The Great Mall. - Fences. - Winter Street. - Governor Bernard. - John Mc- Lean. - Samuel Adams. - St. Paul's. - Masonic Temple. - Margaret Fuller. - Washington Gardens. - The Haymarket. - West Street. -
X1
CONTENTS.
The Gun-House. - Colonnade Row. - Massachusetts Medical College.
- Haymarket Theatre. - Boylston Street. - John Quincy Adams.
- General Moreau. - Charles Francis Adams . 289
CHAPTER XI.
A TOUR ROUND THE COMMON CONTINUED.
Common Burying-Ground. - Joshua Bates. - Public Garden. -- Rope- walks. - Topography of the Common. - British Troops on. - Descrip- tion of their Camps. - The Light Horse. - Powder House. - Old Elm. - Witchcraft and Quaker Executions. - The Duel in 1728. -- Mill-Dam. - Mexican Volunteers. - Beacon Street. - Prescott. - Copley. - John Phillips. - Wendell Phillips. - Robert C. Winthrop. - Hancock Mansion. - Governor Hancock. - General Clinton. - State House. - Public Statues, etc. - The Beacon. - The Monument. - Lafayette's Residence. - George Ticknor. - Malbone. - Samuel Dexter. - Incidents of Lafayette's Visit in 1824. - Josiah Quincy, Jr. - Historical Résumé. - Repeal of the Stamp Act . . 323
CHAPTER XII.
VALLEY ACRE, THE BOWLING GREEN, AND WEST BOSTON.
Governor Bowdoin. - General Burgoyne. - Boston Society in 1782. - David Hinckley's Stone Houses. - James Lloyd. - Lafayette. - Dan- iel Davis. - Admiral Davis. - Historic Genealogical Society. - Valley Acre. - Uriah Cotting. - Governor Eustis. - Anecdote of Governor Brooks. - Millerite Tabernacle. - Howard Atheneum. - Bowling Green. - Old Boston Physicians. - Charles Bulfinch. - New Fields. - Peter Chardon. - Mrs. Pelham. - Peter Pelham. - Thomas Melvill. - Dr. William Jenks. - Captain Gooch. - West Church. - Leverett Street Jail. - Poor Debtors. - Almshouse. - Massachusetts General Hospital. - Medical College. - National and Eagle Theatres . . 361
CHAPTER XIII.
FROM CHURCH GREEN TO LIBERTY TREE.
Church Green. - New South Church. - Dr. Kirkland. - American Head- quarters. - General Heath. - Anecdote of General Gates. - Jerome Bonaparte. - Sir William Pepperell. - Nathaniel Bowditch. - George Bancroft. - Trinity Church. - Seven Star Inn and Lane. - Peter Faneuil. - Governor Sullivan. - Small-Pox Parties. - Duke of Kent. - Sir Edmund Andros. - Lamb Tavern. - White Horse Tavern. - Colonel Daniel Messinger. - Lion Tavern. - Handel and Haydn So- ciety. - Lion Theatre. - Curious Statement about Rats
. 380
xii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
LIBERTY TREE AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
Liberty Tree. - Its History. - Hanover Square. - Liberty Hall. - Hanging in Effigy. - Auchmuty's Lane. - The Old Suffolk Bench and Bar. - Boylston Market. - Charles Matthews. - James E. Murdoch. - Peggy Moore's. - Washington Bank. - Beach Street Museum. - Essex Street. - Rainsford's Lane. - Harrison Avenue. - Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin. - General John Coffin. - Anecdote of Admiral Coffin. - Sir Thomas Aston Coffin. - Henry Bass. - Old Distill-Houses. - Manufacture of Rum. - Gilbert Stuart, - Anecdotes of. - First Glass Works. - Disappearance of Trees. - Early planting of Trees. - Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe. - South Cove. - Hollis Street. - Colonel John Crane. - General Ebenezer Stevens. - Mather Byles, - Anecdotes of. - Hollis Street Church. - Fire of 1787 . 396
CHAPTER XV.
THE NECK AND THE FORTIFICATIONS.
The Neck described. - Measures to protect the Road. - Paving the Neck. - Henry T. Tuckerman. - Old Houses vs. Modern. - Massa- chusetts Mint. - The Gallows. - Anecdote of Warren. - Executions. - Early Fortifications. - The British Works and Armament. - Amer- ican Works. - George Tavern. - Washington's Staff. - His Personal Traits. - Washington House. - Washington Hotel. - Anecdotes of George Tavern. - Scarcity of Powder. - Continental Flags. - Entry of Washington's Army. - Entry of Rochambeau's Army. - Paul Jones . 418
INDEX . . . 439
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
America in Distress
359
Ancient House in Dock Square
133
Ancient Mill .
199
Ancient Ship
. 178
Beacon, The
. 349
Blue Ball, The
146
Boston Stone
143
Boston Theatre and Franklin Street
257
Brattle Street Church . 123
British Lines on Boston Neck, 1775
425
Cavalier 11
Christ Church
213
Colonial Currency, One Penny . 237
Colonial Currency, Two Pence 237
Colonial Currency, Three Pence 238
Colonial Stamp, Half-Penny . 239
240
Colonial Stamp, Three Pence
240
Colonial Stamp, Four Pence 240
Colony Seal . 242
Constitution's Figure-Head carried in the War of 1812
. 182
Constitution hauled up on the Ways 192
Endicott cutting out the Cross . 48
Exchange Coffee-House . 98
Faneuil Hall before its Enlargement . 134
Faneuil Hall with Quincy Market 136
Faneuil Hall Lottery Ticket . 343
Faneuil, Peter, Autograph 387
First Baptist Church in 1853
. 151
Franklin's Birthplace
252
Frankland's Mansion
. 164
Gage, General, Autograph
243
Glasgow Frigate .
. 208
Colonial Stamp, Two Pence
xiv
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Granary Burying-Ground
297
Great Mall, Haymarket and Theatre
Frontispiece
Hancock House £ 339 .
Hollis Street Church
. 415
Indian Wigwam . 8
Julien House .
. 270
King's Chapel in 1872 .
29
Lafayette's Residence . 353.
Liberty Tree .
397
Linen Spinning-Wheel
302
Massachusetts Cent of 1787 . 422:
Massachusetts General Hospital
377
Mather Tomb 204
Monument (Beacon Hill) . . 350
New Brick Church 156
New England Flag
. 179
New North Church 173
New South Church . 380
Old Brick Church . 84
Old Corner Bookstore
62.
Old Court-House 59
Old Elm, The . 330
263
Old King's Chapel
31
Old Loom
322
Old Printing-Press
79
Old South
227
Old State House in 1791
89
Old Trinity Church 386
Parliamentary Stamp Half-Penny 81
Parliamentary Stamp Shilling
81
Park Street Church . . 301
Pillory, The . 93
Pine-Tree Shilling, 1652 211
Province House
235
Repeal Obelisk
. 358
Revere's Picture of Boston in 1768
119
Saint Paul's Church . . 310
Sears Estate .
335
Shirley, Governor, Arms .
36
Shirley, Governor, Portrait .
28
Ship of the Time of the Pilgrims . 180
Old Federal Street Church
ILLUSTRATIONS.
XV
Sign of Three Doves
147
Six-Penny Piece
212
Speaker's Desk and Winslow's Chair
347
St. Botolph's Church
6
Stocks, The .
92
Tea Chest
. 282
Three-Penny Piece
212
Triangular Warehouse
131
Trimountain
3
Trinity Church in 1872
387
Trophy of Indian Weapons .
1
United States Bank . 95
Washington's Lodgings .
42
West Church .
374
Window of Brattle Street Church, with Ball
124
Winthrop fording the River
25
Woollen Spinning-Wheel
302
INTRODUCTION.
Myles Standish. - William Blackstone. - Shawmut. - Settlement by Win- throp's Company. - Trimountain. - Boston. - Physical Features. - Area. - Settlement by Indians. - Character of first Buildings. - First Location of the Settlers. - Geographical Divisions. - Wood and Water. - Dress. - Manners and Customs. - Slavery. - Curious old Laws. - Government of the Town. - Allotment of Lands. - Intolerance of the Times. - The Pulpit a Means of Intelligence. - Accounts by various Writers. - Town Records. - General Growth and Progress. - Population. - Wards. - Paving the Streets. - Lighting the Streets. - Supply of Water. - En- largement of Boston. - Communication with Mainland. - Ferries. - Bridges. - Coaches, public and private. - Railways.
A N old Boston divine says, "It would be no unprofitable thing for you to pass over the several streets and call to mind who lived here so many years ago." We learn from the poet Gay how to prepare for our rambles through the town : -
" How to walk clean by day, and safe by night ; How jostling crowds with prudence to decline, When to assert the wall and when resign."
To see or not to see is the problem presented to him who walks the streets of town or village. What to one is a heap of ruins or a blank wall may to another become the abode of the greatest of our ancestors or the key to a remote period. A mound of earth becomes a battlement ; a graveyard, a collection of scattered pages whereon we read the history of the times.
Facts are proverbially dry, and we shall trouble the reader as little as possible with musty records or tedious chronology ;
1
A
2
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
but before we set out to explore and reconstruct, a brief glance at the material progress of Boston seems desirable.
For a hundred years Boston must be considered as little more than a sea-shore village, straggling up its thicket-grown hillsides. The Indian camp-fire, the axe of Blackstone, the mattock and spade of Winthrop's band, - each have their story and their lesson. We shall pass each period in rapid review.
Whether Myles Standish, " broad in the shoulders, deep- chested, with muscles and sinews of iron," was the first white man who stood on the beach of the peninsula is a matter merely of conjecture. Certain it is that in 1621 this redoubtable Puritan soldier, with ten companions, sailed from Plymouth and landed somewhere in what is now Boston Bay. They crossed the bay, " which is very large, and hath at least fifty islands in it "; and, after exploring the shores, decided " that better har- bors for shipping there cannot be than here." They landed, hobnobbed with Obbatinewat, lord of the soil, feasted upon lobsters and boiled codfish, and departed, leaving no visible traces for us to pursue. This expedition was undertaken to secure the friendship of the "Massachusetts " Indians, - a result fully accomplished by Standish.
The Indians told the Englishmen that two large rivers flowed into the bay, of which, however, they saw but one. This cir- cumstance, indefinite as it is, justifies the opinion that Stan- dish's party landed at Shawmut, the Indian name for our penin- sula. If they had landed at Charlestown and ascended the heights there, as is supposed by some writers, they could hardly have escaped seeing both the Mystic and Charles, while at Shawmut they would probably have seen only the latter river.
In William Blackstone, Episcopalian, we have the first white settler of the peninsula. The date of his settlement has been supposed to have been about 1626, although there is nothing conclusive on this point known to the writer. Here he was, however, in 1628, when we find him taxed by the Plymouth Colony twelve shillings, on account of the expenses incurred by the colony in the capture of Thomas Morton at Mount Wollaston .*
* Belknap's American Biography.
3
INTRODUCTION.
The place where Blackstone located his dwelling has given rise to much controversy, but can be fixed with some degree of certainty. Like a sen- sible man, Blackstone chose the sunny southwest slope of Beacon Hill for his res- idence. The records show that in April, 1633, "it is agreed that William Black- stone shall have fifty acres set out for him near his house in Boston to enjoy forever." In the following year Blackstone sold the FOX JA, town all of his allotment - except six acres, on part of TRIMOUNTAIN. which his house then stood ; the sale also including all his right in and to the peninsula, - a right thus, in some form, recog- nized by Winthrop and his associates. The price paid for the whole peninsula of Boston was £ 30, assessed upon the inhabi- tants of the town, some paying six shillings, and some more, according to their circumstances and condition.
The Charlestown records locate Blackstone as " dwelling on the other side of Charles River, alone, to a place by the Indians called Shawmut,* where he only had a cottage at a place not far off the place called Blackstone's Point"; this is also con- firmed by Edward Johnson in 1630, in his "Wonder Work- ing Providence." After the purchase by the town of Black- stone's forty-four acres, they laid out the "training field, which was ever since used for that purpose and the feeding of cattle." This was the origin of Boston Common. Two landmarks ex- isted to fix the site of Blackstone's house, namely, the orchard planted by him, - the first in New England, - and his spring. The orchard is represented on the early maps ; is mentioned in 1765 as still bearing fruit ; and is named in the deeds of sub-
* Perhaps an abbreviation of " Mushauwomuk," as given in Grindal Rawson's
"' Confessions of Faith," printed in 1699. Probably meaning unclaimed land.
4
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
sequent possessors. The spring, which must have determined to some extent the location of the house, was probably near the junction of Beacon Street with Charles, although others existed in the neighborhood. The six acres which Mr. Blackstone re- served have been traced through Richard Pepys, an original pos- sessor by a sufficiently clear connection, -supplied where broken by depositions, -to the Mount Vernon proprietors. Copley, the celebrated painter, was once an owner of Blackstone's six acres, which were bounded by the Common on the south and the river on the west.
Blackstone was as singular a character as can be found in the annals of Boston. He is supposed to have come over with Robert Gorges in 1623. But what induced him to withdraw to such a distance from the settlements remains a mystery. By a coincidence, his namesake, Sir William Blackstone, the great commentator of the laws of England, wrote at a later period the following lines :-
" As by some tyrant's stern command, A wretch forsakes his native land, In foreign climes condemned to roam, An endless exile from his home."
The nature of Blackstone's claim to the peninsula is doubt- ful, though we have seen it recognized by Winthrop's com- pany. Mather grumblingly alludes to it thus in his Magnalia : " There were also some godly Episcopalians ; among whom has been reckoned Mr. Blackstone ; who, by happening to sleep first in an old hovel upon a point of land there, laid claim to all the ground whereupon there now stands the Metropolis of the whole English America, until the inhabitants gave him satisfaction." This concedes only a squatter's title to Black- stone. He seems to have had a kind heart, capable of feeling for the sufferings of his fellow-men, for, hearing of the vicissi- tudes of Winthrop's infant settlement at Charlestown by disease and death, he invites them over to Shawmut in 1630. Water, the great desideratum of a settlement, was very scarce at Charlestown, and Blackstone " came and acquainted the Gov- ernor of an excellent spring there, withal inviting him and
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