USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Boston notions; being an authentic and concise account of "that village," from 1630 to 1847 > Part 16
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compelled to desist, from the intolerable fire of the enemy : between 12 and 1 o'clock, a number of British troops from Boston landed at Moreton's Point, a little eastward of the hill : they formed into a brigade, and remained there till another detachment arrived : having sent out large flank guards, they commenced a slow march towards the hill ; at this instant, smoke and flames issued from the buildings in Charlestown, fired by the remorseless enemy.
The provincials on the Hill waited impatiently for the at- tack of the British forces, and reserved their fire till they came within 10 or 12 rods; they then commenced a furious discharge of musketry ; this at once arrested their advancing steps : they returned the fire, but without approaching any nearer : they then retreated in disorder and with great pre- cipitation to the place of landing, some seeking refuge in their boats : the British officers were observed running to them, and make use of the most passionate gestures, and pushing the men forward with their swords : at length they rallied, but marched up with apparent reluctance towards the entrenchment, the Americans reserving their fire till they came within 5 or 6 rods, when they again put the King's troops to flight, running for their boats in the greatest confu- sion : again their officers were obliged to use most powerful exertions to rally them for a third attack : at last they formed once more, and having brought some cannon to bear, and raked the inside of the breast-work from one end to the other ; the provincials retreated to their little redoubt : the regulars now made extraneous efforts : the fire from their ships and batteries, and from their cannon in front of their column, was now redoubled : the officers in the rear-ranks were seen goading on their men, and at last they attacked the redoubt on three sides at one time.
The breast-work on the outside of the fort was abandoned : the ammunition of the Americans was expended, and few of
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their guns had bayonets : the word " retreat " was given by Col. Prescott, after the redoubt was half filled with the regu- lars : the provincials keeping them at bay with the butts of their muskets : The retreat of this band of brave men would have been effectually cut off, had the flanking part of the enemy, which was to have come up on the north of the redoubt, not been kept in check by a party of the provincials, who fought with bravery and perseverance, and kept that part of the enemy down on the beach : the engagement of these two forces continued with the utmost vigor : the Eng- lish evinced a courage worthy of a better cause, but all their efforts could not drive the provincials from their ground until their main body had left the hill : when this was effected, they then retreated with more regularity than could have been expected of men who had been but a short time under discipline, and the mass of whom had never before seen an engagement.
In this retreat the provincial forces had to pass over Charlestown Neck, which was most effectually raked and swept on every part by cannon balls, grape-shot and bombs from the Glasgow man-of-war and from two floating batteries : the incessant fire across the neck had prevented large rein- forcements from reaching the hill during the day, and it was feared that the retreat of the Americans would be cut off'by it, but they passed over with little or no damage.
The British took possession of the same Hill which fir- nished them so advantageous a retreat on their theht from the battle in Concord.
The loss on the American side in this day's battle accord- ing to an exact return was 1445 killed and missing, and 304 wounded: 30 of the first were taken prisoners: the loss of the British according to the official returns was 226 killed. mcaga them 19 officers and 828 wounded including 70 officers.
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Among the slain on the provincials' roll, was Major Gen. Joseph Warren, a man who was a favorite with the people for his many manly virtues, and whose memory will be cherished by Americans for the patriotic principles he avowed and lived up to : his age was 35.
We here give a good miniature likeness of Gen. Warren, copied from the Portrait in Faneuil Hall which was painted by Mr. Copely.
The heroic Col. Gardner of Cambridge, died from the ef- fects of his wounds, and the brave Lieut. Col. Parker of Chelmsford, who was wounded and taken prisoner, died in the jail in Boston.
The main body of the British troops was stationed upon Bunker's Hill, after the battle of the 17th, the other division of it deeply intrenched and strongly fortified on Boston neck leading to Roxbury : the American army was quartered on both sides of Charles river : its right on the high grounds about Roxbury extending towards Dorchester, and its left was covered by the Mystic river, a space of 12 miles : every pass effectually guarded and Boston was actually besieged : no provision of any kind was allowed to enter : the troops there and the people were reduced to great necessities : sup- plies which had been ordered from other parts were inter- cepted or lost at sea, and the small-pox had broken out among the soldiers and spread among the people.
General Washington took command of the army July 2d. 1775 : Gen. Gage resigned his command and sailed for Eng- land about the 1st of October, leaving Gen. Howe in his place : as winter approached, the scarcity of fuel began to be sensibly felt in Boston : the old north meeting house with above 100 large wooden buildings were demolished and dis- tributed for firewood for the tories, and some of the wharves at the north-end were broken up for the same purpose : a squadron of British cavalry practiced feats of horsemanship
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in the old south church : the soldiers had one day of mith and glee, on felling down " Liberty Tree;" it had been a rallying point for the liberty boys, but its chief glory had de- parted,
It's limbe umbrageons shadowed patriot aires, Shrone was by vas if's, but for traitor's fires.
The officers amused themselves occasionally, by acting Farces in Faneuil Hall : Hollis street, Brattle street, the West meeting house with the first Baptist meeting house, were all used for Hospitals or Barracks for the soldiers.
The American and English armies, were both tired of $0 long inactive service ; Gen. Washington had been sometime contemplating an attack on Boston, as soon as he could be justified in the execution of so bold a design : about the mid- dle of Feb. 1776, severe cold weather setting in and freezing the harbor firm enough to bear the troops, he was disposed to make the attempt ; but a council of war summoned on the occasion, being almost unanimous against the measure, he reluctantly abandoned it.
The effective force of the Americans amounted to upwards of fourteen thousand men with the addition of six thousand militia : Washington determined to obtain possession of Dorchester heights, where he could overawe the Castle, the troops in Boston and the ships in the harbor ; and if the British should attempt to drive him from thence, it would produce a general action with the two armies, when four thousand chosen men from Cambridge, were to attack Bos- ton : to conceal his designs from the enemy, a heavy bom- bardinent was commeneed on the town and British lines on the evening of March the 2d., and continued on the two following nights : on the night of the 4th, immediately after the firing commenced, a large detachment from Roxbury under the command of Gen. Thomas, took silent possession of the Heights : the ground was extremely hard and frozen;
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but the air was tolerably mild and by working with all dili- gence, breast works were so far raised by morning as to shield them from the shot of the enemy.
When the British at the break of dawn discovered the Americans troops in a Fort on Dorchester point, their aston- ishment was in the extreme, and it gave them the sine qua non alternation of abandoning the town, or of dislodging the provincial troops : Gen. Howe immediately decided on the latter, and five regiments with light Infantry and grenadiers, amounting in all to about two thousand men, were apportion- ed for that hazardous enterprise, and embarked for Castle Island and the harbor for the attack; but a tremendous storm set in at night rendering the execution of their plans impos- sible : they held a council of war the next morning and de- cided that the town must be evacuated for their own safety : a fortnight elapsed before that could be accomplished; in all which time the fortifications of the Americans were ex- tending and strengthening : on the morning of March 17th, the British discovered a breast-work that had been thrown up in the night on Nook's-Hill. Dorchester, which perfectly commanded Boston neck and the south part of Boston : they then realized that " delays were dangerous :" by 4 o'clock in the morning, the King's hoops with all who embraced the royal cause began to embatt .. and before 10 o'clock the whole were under sail with a melancholy and final adieu to all their greatness in these part ..
As the rear of the army left Boston, Gen. Washington marched triumphantly in, and was gratefully received as a deliverer. The number of the enemy was about 10,000: they leht their barracks standing, and a number of cannon spiked ; four large iron-sea mottais, and stores to the value of $30.000: they demolished the Castle and knocked of the cannon hunnions : a detachment of the fleet remained blockading the harbor. to execute the Port Bill : on the 11th of June; a
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strong force went down from Boston and made so effectual an attack on them, as compelled them to leave the station for Halifax : but had the wind continued from the eastward, they must inevitably have soon surrendered.
Several British transports arrived at different times during a few weeks afterwards not knowing the important change of circumstances ; and surrendered about 500 prisoners of war.
The Boston people had assembled at Watertown two or three times during the siege for the consideration of town affairs ; and Thursday lecture had been continued there by Dr. Eliot until about Dec. 23d., and was renewed again in Boston, March 26, 1777, when George Washington attended.
THE RETURN TO BOSTON OF ITS CITIZENS.
The " Bostoneers "' speedily returned to their homes, and on the 29th of March, they held a regular meeting for the choice of town officers in the old Brick church : May 23d. a meeting was held for the choice of representatives, when the following step was taken relative to a Declaration of In- dependence : The article in the warrant, was :- " To consid- 'er whether the town will, in conformity to a resolve of the 'late Honorable House of Representatives for this Colony, ' (on the tenth of May,) advise their Representatives, "That ' if the Honorable Continental Congress should, for the safety 'of the Colonies, declare them independent of the Kingdom 'of Great Britain, they, the inhabitants, will solemnly engage ' with their lives and fortunes, to support them in the meas- ' ure ; " was read and duly considered, and the question be- 'ing accordingly put, passed in the affirmative, unani- 'mously."'
The instructions to the representatives expressed the same sentiments, and contained also many very judicions remarks
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concerning the establishment of a regular government for the people of Massachusetts. The Declaration of Indepen- dence, bearing the proscribed name of Jolm Hancock, as President of the immortal Continental Congress that issued it, dated July 4th, 1776, was made public in Boston on the 18th, with all the pomp and circumstance of exultation and rejoicing.
The subject of a State Constitution was taken into consid- eration by the general court without delay : but it was not till the year 1780, that our present form was adopted : seve- ral meetings in Boston had been held on the subject and it was debated with animation. Sept. 4th, was appointed for the election of state officers : the votes for governor in Bos- ton, were 923, of which Hancock had 858, Bowdoin 64, and S. Adams 1 : the General Court met Oct. 25th, and decided that John Hancock was governor elect : there was no choice of Lieutenant Governor by the people : Mr. Bowdoin was chosen by the court, but declined ; as did James Warren, Esq., of Milton ; when Thomas Cushing of Boston, accepted the appointment. The people of Boston could not suppress their great joy for " having a governor who proceeded out of the midst of us," as in the address from the selectmen to the governor, to which he returned an answer concluding with the assurance, that in whatever station his country should please to place him, the metropolis of this common- wealth might ever depend on his particular attention to its interests.
From the time of the evacuation of Boston by Howe and his troops, and the routing of the British fleet from the lower harbor, this section of the country ceased to be the seat of war; the citizens however bore their part of its burdens in other places by sea and by land ; in the councils of the na- tion and as embassies to foreign parts: they maintained, that no terins should be made with Britain, short of an uncondi-
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tional acknowledgement of their Independence : The pro- clamation of Congress announcing a treaty of peace with England, reached Boston by express, April 23, 1783; and the sheriff of Suffolk, J. Henderson, Esq., proclaimed the same from the balcony of the State House to a large assemblage of the citizens, who gave three joyful huzzas on this grateful occasion : after which a salute of 13 guns from the Castle and an equal number from Fort-hill, re-echoed the glad shouts of the multitude : " Liberty and the Rights of man ' now and forever ! ??
The adoption of the Federal Constitution was an event of great importance ; the Massachusetts convention which as- sembled at the Bury-street and Long-lane* Church for this purpose, in Jan. 1788, consisted of 360 members, many of them having strong prejudices against the proposed consti- tution, and after a severe and elaborate discussion of several weeks, when the final question of acceptance was decided, the votes were 187 for, and 168 against it, giving a spare majority in favor, of 18 : this decision was declared " on the ' 6th of Feb., in a manner too impressive to be forgotten by 'any who were present." The citizens of Boston expressed great joy on the occasion, by a numerous and imposing pro- cession composed of all classes and trades, with their respect- ive and appropriate emblems and badges, and farmers with their ploughs and implements of husbandry from the coun- try : sailors with a full rigged miniature man-of-war ship, &c. &c., they all formed at Faneuil Hall and proceeded to the residences of those gentlemen who represented the town in the convention ; giving them a few hearty cheers and a salute from their frigate : after which they returned to a civic feast at the Hall, from which Hundreds had to go away unsatisfied, for " first come, first served ;" and the Hall was already crowded to its utmost capacity.
"Changed to federal street on account of the Convention.
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PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The earliest trace of our system of free schools on the re- cords of the town is dated April 13th, 1635, where it is stated to have been " agreed upon that our brother Philemon Pur- 'mont shall be intreated to become a schoolmaster for teach- 'ing and nurturing of children with us ; "> the record docs not make known his acceptance of that offer, or otherwise ; but on the church record of Jan. 6th, 1639, it is stated, that " Philemon Purmont was dismissed to join Mr. Wheelwright 'and others at Piscatuqua." Mr. Daniel Maude was " also chosen " to the office of " free-school master " in Aug. 1636.
The first provision for the support of schools seems to have been made by voluntary contribution : there is a subscrip- tion recorded on the last leaf of the oldest volume of town records, which, though the first line is illegible, is plainly discerned to be "towards the maintainance office schoolmaster." It is headed by " THE Gov. MR. HENRY VANE, EsQ.," who subscribed £10 as did also the Deputy Governor John Winthrop and Mr. Richard Bellingham : forty-two other persons subscribed according to their ability, some 30s. and some as low as 4s. making in all about £40 .- In 1641, the income from Deer Island was appropriated for the school's use, and in other years the rents of that and other Islands were appropriated ; under date of 1645, Governor Winthrop remarks in his journal, that " divers free-schools were 'erected, " and that at Boston they made an order to allow forever £50 per annum for the master, and a house ; and £30 to an usher, who should also teach to read, write and cipher ; the charge was to be defrayed " by yearly contri- ' bution, either by voluntary allowance or by rate of such as 'refused." In 1647, the General Court enacted that every town of fifty house-holders should have a free-school, and every town of one hundred house-holders to have a grammar school, " to the end " says, the statute "that learing may
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'not be buried in the graves of our fore-fathers ;"' the master thereof being capacitated to fit youth to enter college : The Latin school was founded at this time.
Mr. Maude the second schoolmaster, was a minister, and soon removed to Dover, N. H .; his successors in the school probably were a Mr. Woodbridge (mentioned Dec. 2d. 1644) and Mr. Woodmansey whose name is on the records April 11th, 1650 : on the 12th of March, 1666, Mr. Daniel Hench- man was employed " to assist Mr. Woodmansey in the ' grammar school and teach children to write : " after Mr. W. Mr. Benjamin Thomson " a man of great learning and wit, ' well acquainted with the Roman and Greek writers and a ' good poet,"'-He was chosen Aug. 26th, 1667, to officiate for one year, and appears to have continued in the service of the town, together with Mr. Henchman, until Jan. 3d. 1671, when he resigned, and Mr. Ezekiel Cheever took the princi- pal charge of the school : Mr. C. had been a distinguished instructor in various parts of New England, and his reputa- tion was not diminished by his career in this place : under him, the grammar school of Boston attained the rank of " the ' principal school in the British Colonies if not in all Ameri- ' ca."
Several persons had been licensed to keep private schools " to teach children to write and keep accounts ; " but there is no reason to suppose that there had been more than one public school prior to 1684 :- In April 1683 the town voted to provide two schools, and to allow £25 per annum, for the support of each, with the understanding "that such persons 'as send their children to the school that are able, should ' pay something to the master for his better encouragement ;?? -and Nov. 22d. 1684, Deacon Henry Allen and Captain Frarye made a return, that, "according to a former order ' they had agreed with John Cole to keep a free school to 'teach the children of the town to read and write for one
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'year from the first of that month for which the town was to ' pay him £10 in money and .£20 in country pay as money ' or at money price : " this was the first of the free writing. schools, and Mr. Cole seems to have been as much respected and beloved in his department as Mr. Cheever was in his :
The original Latin school-house in 1647, was located on the north side of School st., on the City Hall lot ; one writing- school was kept in Court st. and the other at the north part of the town. In the Hutchinson MSS. is an order from Gov. Andros, dated May 24th, 1687 ; appointing Joshua Natstock master of the public school at the north part of Boston ;-- it was a favorite object with Randolph to have all the teachers Episcopalians : but when Andros' power ceased, the former custom and management by free schools, was restored and so continued.
A second grammar school was opened at the north-end in 1713, agreeably to a vote of March 11th, 1712: it was located on north Bennet street, near the lot now occupied by the Eliot school and was known until 1790 as the north Lat- in school and since then as the Eliot School : Capt. Thomas Hutchinson, father of Gov. Hutchinson, built the house at his own expense : Recompense Wadsworth was the first mas- ter : a free writing school-house was built in 1718 on Love- lane by the executors of Foster Hutchinson; and Jeremiah Condy was the teacher.
In 1717, a south writing-school was located in Mason St., the first master was Amos Angier : these two grammar and three writing schools were the only public schools in Boston before the revolution ; they were under the selectmen, with some few invited gentlemen and the clergy. In 1742, when the population of the town was 16,382 there were reported as present on June 23, 1741, 535 scholars. July 1st, 1772, vis- itation day, 823 scholars were present in all the schools ; du- ing the siege of Boston, the schools were discontinued ex-
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cepting one kept by Mr. Elias Dupee, who gratuitously con- tinued to instruct the youth, which employment gave him peculiar delight :- Nov. 8th, 1776, the schools were re-open- ed under the direction of the selectmen :- in March 1785 a writing school was established on Common street, and Mr. Samuel Cheney inducted as master April 26th :- the number of children reported as present, May 23d., 1785, was only 564 : both the Latin schools having but 64 in all ; Queen street and the north W. 150 each ; Common 119 : Cheney's 81 ;- at this time the rule was adopted, that no children under 7 years of age be admitted to the writing schools.
The above were all the public schools in Boston till 1785, when another was founded on the site of the Brimmer school on Common Street, and was then known as Mr. Cheney's school and subsequently as the Franklin School.
In 1780 the schools were re-modelled : the North Latin school was discontinued as a Latin school : the Reading schools separated from the writing department, and the whole placed under the direction of a school committee chosen annually by the town : since then many new schools have been founded.
In 1789, Sept. 23d., a committee composed of one from each ward was appointed to draft a new system of education; their report was made and accepted Oct. 16th; they pro- posed to continue but one Latin grammar-school and to es- tablish three reading schools in appartments separated from the writing schools : candidates of admission to be 7 years of age " having previously received instruction usual at the women's schools " : children of both sexes to be admitted ; boys the year round, and girls from April to October ; a com- mittee of twelve to be chosen annually, who in conjunction with the selectmen, should exercise all the powers usually delegated to the selectmen and school committees : this sys- tem was immediately commenced by the appointment of
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the first school committee Oct. 20, 1789 :- In 1790 a brick building of two stories was erected on the south side of School street, for a Latin school-house and grammar-school to accommodate 200 scholars in each story :- on the spot house was taken down in 1844. .
In 1800 there were seven public schools in operation, in which 7 masters were employed on salaries of $666.66 and an allowance of $200.00; together with 7 ushers at $333.33 with an allowance of $100.00-the town tax that year was $61.489.25 and for the schools $11,100.85 .- In 1804 another school-house for reading and writing was founded at the corner of Hawkins and Chardon streets :- In 1806 the num- ber of scholars in all the schools was 1760 boys and 1030 girls.
In process of time the rule requiring applicants for admis- sion, to be able to read by spelling the words, excluded a large class of children whose parents were unable or unwil- ling to instruct them, or to send them to private schools ; and to obviate that difficulty in some measure, Sunday schools were revived in 1816, in which it was the object of the man- agers, besides conveying religious instruction, to prepare the children for the English Grammar schools; but the number needing these advantages became so great, that it was nec- essary for the town to supply these wants : a petition was presented for the establishment of free schools for children between the ages of 4 and 7 years : and a " Board of Pri- mary Schools " was established June 11, 1818 : this board at first was composed of three persons from each ward, chosen by the school committee with powers to establish a suitable number of schools, appoint teachers, &c. : that committee was enlarged by the addition of one member for each school, together with a standing committee of seven, and a treasurer :- the children are here committed to the
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