USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Boston notions; being an authentic and concise account of "that village," from 1630 to 1847 > Part 14
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the 29th. regiment was quartered in Atkinson and Water Streets : as a measure of precaution, a sentinel was placed in the alley fronting the barracks in Brattle Street and this circumstance led to a quarrel which produced the memora- ble " Boston Massacre :" three or four young men were dis- posed to pass through the alley at abont 9 o'clock in the evening and saw the sentinel brandishing his sword and striking fire with it from the brick buildings; they offered to pass him and were challenged, but they persisted in their attempt and one of them was slightly wounded on the head: the noise drew some fifteen or twenty persons to the spot and thirty or forty gathered in Dock Square, who attempted to force their way through Brattle Street to the Barracks, which Street was so narrow at that time that it was difficult for a carriage to pass through : they were disappointed in this attempt : the party gained strength in the square and were addressed for a few minutes by a tall man (probably Samuel Adams) wearing a red cloak, with a white wig, and when he ceased, they gave three cheers and hallooed for the main guard. The main guard was stationed at the front south-door of the Town-house : their commander for the day was Thomas Preston, and Basset, as Lieut. : as the citizens dispersed, some through Washington Street, some Wilson's Lane and some through Exchange Street, the last named party saw a sentinel at the door of the Custom house, the spot on which the Merchants' Bank now is, and as the sen- tinel was approached, he retreated up the steps and gave two or three loud knocks at the door to alarm the inmates : notice was sent to Lieut. Basset, that the sentinel was attack- ed ; he sent a message to his Captain, who instantly repair- ed to the guard house : Basset informed the Capt. he had just ordered a sergeant and six men to assist the sentry : well said the Capt., "I will follow and see they do no mis- chief; " he overtook them before they reached the Custom
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house and formed them on a half circle round the steps.
By this time, the bells of the town were ringing and peo- ple flocked from all quarters, supposing it was for fire : the soldiers were soon surrounded by the people, some of whom were armed with clubs and crowded pretty close upon the soldiery : those at a distance threw billets of wood at them, snowballs and pieces of ice, and daring them to fire : the soldiers heard or thought they heard an order to fire ; and in succession, from right to left, they fired on the people; two or three guns flashed in the pan, but all the rest were effec- tive : Crispus Attucks, (a mulatto) Samuel Gray and James Caldwell were killed on the spot : Samuel Maverick died the next morning and Peter Carr the following Wednesday ; several more were slightly wounded.
The populace instantly retreated, leaving the dead on the field : all this transpired in twenty minutes from Preston's joining the guard. "On the people's assembling again," said Capt. P. " to take away the dead bodies, the soldiers ' supposing them coming again to attack them, were making 'ready to fire again, which I prevented by striking up their 'firelocks with my hand; immediately after, a townsman 'came with information that 4 or 5000 people were assem- ' bled in the next street, and had sworn to take my life and 'every man's with me; I judged it unsafe to remain there ' any longer and therefore sent the party and the sentinel to ' the main guard, where the street is narrow and short, then ' telling them off into street firings, divided and planted them 'at each end of the street, to secure their rear, expecting an ' attack, as there was a constant cry of the inhabitants, " to 'arms, to arms, turn out with your guns," and the town 'drums beat to arms. I ordered my drum to beat to arms, 'and being soon after joined by several companies of the ' 29th. regiment, I formed them as the guard into street fir- 'ings : the 14th regiment also, got under arms, but remained
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'at their barracks : I immediately sent a sergeant with a par- ' ty to Col. Dalrymple, the commanding officer, to acquaint 'him with every particular : several officers going to join ' their regiment, were knocked down by the mob ; one was 'much wounded and his sword taken from him : the Lieut. ' Gov. and Col. Carr, soon after met at the head of the 29th. 'regiment and agreed that the regiment should retire to their 'barracks and the people to their houses : but I kept the ' piquet to strengthen the guard : it was with great difficulty ' that the Lient. Gov. prevailed on the people to be quiet and 'retire : at last they all went off except about an hundred : " this hundred were some of the most influential citizens, who volunteered to form a citizens guard.
A justice's court was immediately held, and Capt. Preston was committed to prison a 3 o'clock A. M., and the eight soldiers early in the forenoon: at 11 o'clock, March 6th, a town meeting was held : many persons related what they knew of the proceedings of the past night : a committee of fifteen was appointed to wait on Col. Dalrymple and " express to him the 'sentiments of the town, that it was impossible for the citi- ' zens and soleliers to live in safety together, and their fervent 'prayer for the immediate removal of the troops :"' an answer was received but it was not such as they desired, and in the afternoon seven of the previous fifteen, viz : John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Win. Mollineux, Wm. Phipps, Jos. Warren, Joshua Henshaw and Samuel Pemberton were deputed with the following message, " It is the unanimous opinion of this 'meeting, that the reply made to a vote of the inhabitants 'presented his Hon. this morning is by no means satisfac- 'tory ; and that nothing less will satisfy them than a total 'and immediate removal of the troops." Mr. Adams acted as chairman and discharged his duties with approved ability.
Col. Dalrymple was at the side of Lieut. Gov. Hutchinson, at the head of the council : he at first assumed that he had
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not power to remove the troops, but Adams in a few words plainly showed to him that he had that power by the charter : he then consulted with the Col. in whispers ; and the result was, that he would remove the 29th regiment, which had no part in the massacre : at that critical moment Adams stretch- ed forth his arm as if it was upheld by the strength of thou- sands, and with energetic promptness and manly firmness said " If the Lieut. Gov. or Col. Dalrymple, or both together, 'have authority to remove one regiment, they have authori- ' ty to remove two : and nothing short of the total evacuation ' of the town, by all the regular troops, will satisfy the pub- 'lic mind or preserve the peace of the province."
The officers, both civil and military, were abashed at the presence of this plain committee from a democratic assem- bly : they saw the imminent danger impending on refusing their request : they then lost and fortunately lost all their previons bombast and arrogance : their reliance on a stand- ing army vanished before the undaunted irresistible reso- lutions of unarmed citizens.
Hutchinson consulted with the council, who gave him un- qualified advice to remove the troops out of town : and Col. Dalrymple, pledged his word of honor that the request of the town should be complied with as soon as practicable, and in two weeks they were all sent to Fort Independence.
The funeral solemnities which took place on the 8th of March, 1770, brought together a greater number of citizens than had ever assembled on any one occasion in America : the body of Attucks and Caldwell (both strangers) were borne from Faneuil Hall : young Maverick, aged 17, from his mother's house in Union street, and Gray, from his broth- er's in Exchange street ; the four hearses formed in State street and from thence the procession moved in columns of six deep, to the middle burying ground, where they were deposited in one grave.
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The trial of Richardson and Wilmot was had in April : the first was found guilty of murder but Wilmot was cleared : The Lieut. Gov. considered the case of Richardson so evi- dently that of justifiable homicide, he refused to sign his death warrant: and after two years imprisomnent he was pardoned by the King.
The Parliament session of this spring (1770) rescinded all duties on every article of merchandise except Tea, and the English merchants suppo-ing that this measure would at o ice break up the confederation of the American traders not to import any foreign goods, they ventured to send quantities of the prescribed article which arrived the latter part of April : the Bostonians were not willing for any compromise on the principles of taxation, and on the first intimation of their de- sign, new resolutions were drawn up and the agreement signed by all the ladies, not to drink any tea (except in case of sickness) so long as any tax should be levied on it : some cargoes of tea had just arrived and nothing would satisfy the public mind short of its being all returned : Mr. John Han- cock offered one of his vessels, freight free, for that purpose: she was loaded with quick despatch and carried back to the consigners in London, the condemned and rejected weed.
On the 19th of June, an importer by the name of MeMas- ters doing business at the corner of Devonshire and State street, having sold tea and broad-cloth to the tories and arins and ammunition to the whigs, or as best suited his interest, was forcibly taken and carted thro' the heat of the day from the south end, with a bag of feathers and a tar barrel at his side to State street, where he was exposed to public view, pre- paratory to besmearing him with the one article and coating that with the other: but as he drew near to the spot, the color left his lips, his eyes sank, and he was about falling down when some gentlemen took compassion on him and were al- lowed to take him into a house : by administring some cor-
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dial he recovered : when they seated him in a chair in a cart, and drove to the Roxbury line ; there dismissed him with loud huzzas, with a charge never to be caught in Bos- ton again.
The trial of Capt. Preston was had in October : he was de- fended with great ability by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr. Esqrs., and acquitted : the soldiers were tried Dec. 8th: six of them rendered not guilty, and Matthew Killroy and Hugh Montgomery guilty of manslaughter; on which the two were slightly branded, and the whole then sent to Castle Island : those who bore upon their limbs the sears from wounds made on the 5th of March, and those who mourned the loss of friends thought that those soldiers well deserved death, but at this date we can but rejoice in the result as an honorable triumph as that of mercy over violence and re- venge.
The 5th of March was a day of celebration for the 13 fol- lowing years, viz : from 1770 to 1783 inclusively, by an ora- tion, tolling the bells, &e. &c.
The general court for 1771, was ordered to convene in Cambridge, and the Lieut. Gov. could not be persuaded to adjourn them to Boston : March 8th, a commission was re- ceived promoting Lieut. Gov. Hutchinson to the office of Governor : on the 3d. of April he met the court at Cambridge: they appointed a committee to wait on him with a verbal message, requesting him to remove the court to its ancient and legal seat in Boston : this "he declined to do, while ' the house denied the King's right to order the court to be ' held where he thought proper." A controversy was often held on this topic which served only to render the Gov. an object of public odium, and this was rendered stronger by a pro- clamation from him, for aid and relief to a recruiting party which reached Boston, April 29th, to enlist in his majesty's service ; for this movement was understood in no other liglit
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than a pretext for keeping a military guard in town for the services of the officers of the Crown : at a ball given by Mrs. Gambia, wife of the commander of the naval force on this station June 4th, (the King's birth-day) at Concert Hall, these soldiers were there stationed as guard.
The general court, this year 1771, was obliged again to as- semble in Cambridge : it had been decided in England that the salary of the Gov. should be paid by the Crown , and thus be made independent of the people : this step alarmed the people and their indignation was expressed in unequivocal terins : " We know,? said the H. of R., on one occasion, ' of no commissioners' of his majesty's customs, nor of any 'revenue, his majesty has a right to establish in North Amer- 'ica." Heretofore, the complaints of aggressions and of power were directed against the Parliament, but here it was personally against the King.
The Massachusetts Spy, had been issued about one year in Boston ; published by Mr. Isaiah Thomas, and at this time, Nov. 14th, 1771, was the boldest assertor of the rights of the colonies ; an indictment for a prosecution of Mr. T. was attempted, but was not successful : early in 1772, a tory writer made public his sentiments in this wise, " the dispute between the kingdom and colonies has ceased every where 'except in this province ; ve are now left in the lurch-eve- 'ry other colony has made its poace : " he, "exhorted the ' people to lay aside their animosities and submit like chil- 'dren to parental authority : " Gov. HI. conveyed sinilar sentiments in his messages to the general court : partizans on the opposite side were positive to the contrary : they as- serted, " the colonies will soon put in practice their meditated. ' plan of the United Provinces and form an independent com- 'monwealth."
James Otis, Esq., was this year member of the General Court, for the last time : his infirmities had increased ; and
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he withdrew soon from public life : he died at Andover, May 23d. 1783.
This year, 1772, the King decreed that the salaries of the judges should be paid by the Crown : as soon as this was known a town meeting was called, and adjourned from time to time until Nov. 2J. when a committee of twenty-one was formed for a correspondence with the other colonies, for the assertion and maintainance of their rights ; and to make known the infringements and violations that had at various times been made upon them : this committee reported to the town, on the 19th of Nov. with an elaborate declaration of their rights and with a lucid statement of the violations on them, when 600 copies were ordered to be printed and dis- tributed together with a circular to every town in the prov- inee.
These measures on the part of the whigs disconcerted the equanimity of the Gov., for in his message of Jan. 6th, 1773, he made serious notice of it, and condemned the towns who should unite in those sentiments ; which drew from the Re- presentatives, the following retort : "notwithstanding all the 'ferrours which your Ex. has depicted to us " as the effects of 'a total independence, there is more reason to dread the con- ' sequences of absolute, uncontrolled power, whether of a 'nation or a monarch, than those of a total independence."
For extending the plan of Union, the town instructed their representatives, as follows ; " we recommend to your seri- 'ous consideration, whether an application to the English ' colonies on this continent, correspondent to the plan propos- 'ed by our noble patriotic sister colony of Virginia (which 'in our opinion is a wise and salutary proposal) will not ' secure our threatened liberties, and restore that mutual har- 'mony and confidence between the British nation and the 'English colonies so important to both, especially the form- 'er which if rescinded from her connexion with this con-
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' tinent, must eventually fall a prey to her numerous and 'jealous neighbors .??
The Virginia resolves by their House of Burgesses, passed on the 12th of March, and in accordance with those views ; the Massachusetts House of Representatives May 28th, ap- pointed a committee of fifteen of their members, whose busi- ness would be " to obtain the most early and authentic in- 'telligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British 'Parliament or proceedings of administrations, as may relate 'to, or affect the British Colonies in America; and to keep up 'and maintain a correspondence and communication with 'our sister colonies respecting these important considerations 'and the result of their proceedings from time to time to ' lay before the house."
June 2d. The galleries of the HI. R., being cleared, Mr. Adams made a disclosure that Messrs. Hutchinson, Oliver, Paxton, Auchminuty and some others had written letters to England on their long maintained and favorite design for in- troducing arbitrary power into these colonies; which letters were obtained in England by Dr. Franklin, and forwarded to Mr. Bowdoin : in consequence of these developements, the Hlouse passed a vote of censure on Hutchinson and Oliver, and concluded with a petition to the King for the removal of both from their offices.
Although the resolutions of the Americans not to pay a tax on tea, or to use it if from Great Britain, continued in full force, there was considerable quantity of the article consum- ed here : much of it came from Holland at a less price than from England and which was generally smuggled : not a chest ia 500 had been seized during the then past three
The East I. Co. atcertained that the net profit on Tea which might be used here would amount to nearly 200,000
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dollars annually and obtained a license from the Crown Ang. 20th, 1773, to export a quantity of the article to the colonies, free from any custom house duties there, but with an under- standing that they would pay the 3 pence per lb. at the cus- tom houses in the colonies : as soon as this was promulgated, some American merchants then in London petitioned for the privilege of receiving the consignments, or for furnishing vessels to convey the tea : four Boston houses obtained that privilege : these facts were known in Boston early in Octo- ber, and caucus meetings were held in various parts of the town to consult and conclude on something for defeating the plans of the East I. Co. On Tuesday morning Nov. 2d. at 1 o'clock, A. M., Richard Clark and Sons, were awakened by a loud knocking at their dwelling in School street, and a let- ter was delivered to them requiring them to appear at the Liberty Tree on Wednesday at 12 o'clock to make a public resignation of their commission as consignees of the Tea : on Tuesday a notification was spread broad-east, calling on the freemen of this and other towns to attend and witness the re- signation : on Wednesday the town bells rang from 11 10 12 o'clock, and the town erier went through the streets notify- ing the people to assemble : about 500 persons collected, but the said consignees did not appear : a committee of eight persons was then and there appointed to expostulate with them on the high insult they had done to the people, and to demand their signature to a paper obligating themselves not to land or to pay any duty ou Tea sent to the colony by the E. I. Co. the assembly accompanied the committee to the Messrs. Clark's Store in State street, where the whole five consignees had assembled and delivered their message and awaited an answer, but which when received was not deemed satisfactory, when some indignities were offered to them but not of any essential injury.
The next day a town meeting was notified for the 5th,
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when the consignees were called upon by the citizens to re- sign their appointments but they still refused, alleging " that ' they knew not on what terms the tea would be sent to them 'nor what obligations of a moral or pecuniary nature they ' might be under to fulfil the trust;" the town meeting ad- journed to the 6th, when the answer was voted, to be " dar- 'ingly affrontive to the town, " and the meeting was imme- diately dissolved.
On the 17th of Nov. Mr. Jonathan Clark of the firm of R. Clark and Sons arrived from London, and at night there was an assemblage of persons around his house in School street : a pistol was fired from a window, which was answered with stones, but all without personal injury to any one.
The consignees threw themselves on the Gov. and Council for protection : but as they could not after a deliberation of ten days on the subject, extend to them the safety that they sought for, they with the Officers of the Custom-house be- took themselves to Castle Island.
Sunday, Nov. 28th, the ship Dartmouth arrived, having 112 chests of Tea on board and the next morning the following notice was widely circulated.
" Friends, Brethren, Countrymen,
' That worst of plagues, the detested Tea, shipped for this ' port by the East India Company, has now arrived in this ' harbour. The hour of destruction, or manly opposition to ' the machinations of Tyranny, stares you in the face. Every ' friend to his country, to himself and to posterity, is now 'called upon to meet at Faneuil Hall, at nine o'clock, this ' day (at which time the bells will ring) to make a united 'and successful resistance to this last, worst, and most des- ' truetive measure of administration.
' Boston, Nov. 20th, 1773."
This notice brought together a vast concourse of the people of Boston and from the neighboring towns : Jonathan Will-
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iams of Boston was chosen moderator : the first vote was, " that the Tea should be returned to the place from whence ' it came, at all events;" so many persons had then collected that an adjournment to the Old South became necessary : then and there it was resolved, "that the Tea should not 'only be sent back, but no duty should be paid thereon;" then to give time to the consignees to prepare a communica- tion to the assembled citizens, the meeting was adjourned to 3 P. M .; in the afternoon Capt. Hall of the Dartmouth and Francis Rotch, her owner, were convented and charged not to land the Tea at their peril ; a watch of 25 persons under Capt. Edward Proctor, was set to prevent it landing during the night : a vote of censure was passed upon the Gov. on account of an order he had issued to the law officers : an ex- cuse was then offered by Mr. Hancock in the name of a friend, to and in behalf of the consignees, for a little more time for their answer, and "out of great tenderness" to them, the meeting was adjourned to the next morning at 9 o'clock.
Tuesday, Nov. 30. The body again met and received a letter from the consignees stating that their orders had arriv- ed from the East I. Co. and that it was entirely out of their power to send the Tea back, but were willing to store it un- til they could send to England for further advice : before the assembly had time to express their indignation at this com- munication, Sheriff Greenleaf appeared in the meeting and " begged leave to read a letter he had received from the ' Gov.," requiring him to read a proclamation to the people here assembled, which was granted and it was read : it was an order " forthwith to disperse and surecase all further un- ' lawful proceedings, at their utmost peril :" at the close of the said reading, there was a loud and very general hissing . and on the question being put, " whether this assembly will 'disperse &c. according to the governor's requirement," it was unanimously voted in the negative.
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There was another meeting in the afternoon, when Capt. Hall and the owners and factors of the Dartmouth and the other vessels expected, were put under solemn injunction not to land a particle of the Tea : Capt. Ezekiel Cheever was appointed captain of the watch this night and provision was made for a watch " the following nights until the vessels 'leave the harbour :?? if the watch should be molested dur- ing the night, the bells were to be tolled, or if in the day- time they were to be rang, and six persons were deputed " to give notice to the country towns when they shall be re- ' quired so to do on any important occasion."
Resolutions of gentle censure were then passed on those who inadvertently imported Tea from Great Britain, while subject to a duty ; followed by another, declaring, " whoever 'should hereafter import, until the said unrighteous act shall 'be repealed, an enemy to this country :" also, it was " Voted, that it is the determination of this body to carry ' their votes and resolutions into execution, at the risk of their 'lives and property. " Provision being then made for the disposal of the expected vessels and thanks to their brethren from the neighboring towns, the meeting was dissolved.
Oa the 1st. of Dec. Capt. J. Bruce, in the ship Elinor arri- ved with another portion of the Tea : on the 3d. he was or- dered to attend the following day in Faneuil Hall, on a com- mittee of the people, where he was commanded by Samuel Adams and Jonathan Williams in conjunction with John Rowe, John Hancock and John Pitts, Esqs. and a great num. ber of others, not to land any of the said Tea, but to proceed to Gritlin's Wharf, and there discharge the rest of his cargo : Capt. Hez. Conin, in the brig Beaver, arrived near the same time and was ordered to pursue the same course.
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