USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston : the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame : historical sketches, Colonial period, 1723-1775 > Part 14
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rat in New England "Nu Lords Spiritual or Tempo-
Lord now lettest thou
thy Servant depart in Peac
liberty & Free
Com of Conscience
Bar. Ninala
66
Shall they be obliged to maintain Bishops
that cannot maintain themselves
AN ATTEMPT TO LAND A BISHOP IN AMERICA
From a contemporary print
KILBURN-
DEAN BERKELEY'S CHAIR.
A chair, which this Reverend Divine brought from England, and which the venerated Dean Berkeley (at the sale of whose effects it was purchased by Dr. Cutler) said was modelled after the form of the Curule Ædilis, in Rome, is now in the possession of a gentleman in this city. It is more than 100 years since Dr. C. bought it.
Bowen's Boston Notions, 1833, 2nd. edition. Courtesy of Massachusetts Historical Society who now own this chair
Church some years ago when Dr. Dewart told it, so that you could almost see the blushing Elizabeth and the gallant Roger threading their way through the green lane that Salem Street used to be and down the broad aisle of the church to the waiting Dr. Timothy Cutler.
But to get back to conventions, perhaps Dr. Foote was not so far out of the way in calling the 1738 conven- tion the first, for it is the first in our knowledge of many details -the delegates, the preacher and what he said, the sumptuous feast provided by the jovial Luke Vardy with his itemized bill for it all after the spiritual food dished out to the "numerous auditory" by the eminent preacher of the day, and a newspaper notice. No other pre-Revolutionary convention provides all this illumina- tion on its proceedings. And now we have added to all this a delightful sketch, from the facile pen of Mrs. Bolton, of Christ Church as it must have looked on that September day in 1738; for it was not until two years later that one of William Price's1 " sundry draughts for ye new spire " got off his drafting board and on to the waiting steeple.
The story still lacks the subjects under discussion at the convention and a view of Dr. Cutler's house. The voices have long since been stilled and the house torn down, more's the pity.
In the Gavet manuscripts, recently acquired by the diocesan library, I came across this interesting descrip- tion of the 1766 convention, jotted down by the rector of St. Peter's Church, Salem, Massachusetts, the Rev. Mr. McGilchrist. It reads as follows :
1766 - Early part of June
We met 14 in number and made something of an ap- pearance for the County when we walked together in our
1 William Price, book and print seller at "The King's Head and Looking Glass," first church organist in New England, designer of the 1740 spire of Christ Church, map maker, founder of the Price Lectures, pew owner and at various times church officer in all three Episcopal churches in Boston. Born England 1684. Died Boston 1771.
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According to a Vote at the Last meeting the Church Wardens Report, that the Building.of the Spire according to the plan pitch't upon will cost £1000 And whereas there is in Stock appropriated for the same; by the good & kind Benefactions of the Gentlemen of Bay; and it is hoped that none of the Congregation, will be wanting in following so good & Laudable Example; butt if theire Subscription Should be Defficient, then in such case it is now
VOTED That the Church Wardens & Vestry shall take up mony at Interest for compleating the same, and that the Church Wardens & Vestry for the time being, shall be accountable for such sum of money borrowed for saide building and Compleating said Spire and whatever Summ borrowed for the Afforesaide Use be paid out the Church Stock.1
On the seventeenth anniversary of the laying of the first stone, April 15, 1740, the parish launched another subscription paper. Who could resist this quaintly worded appeal?
WHEREAS Christ's Church is Likely to Suffer by the Mor- tar Being very much washed out from Between the Bricks Insomuch that Large Numbers of Bricks are Ready to Drop out which in a Little time will be of Great damage to said Church without Speedily Being helped And furthermore the said Church By Handsome Contributions from the Gentlemen of the Bay and other well disposed Persons is allmost Hansomly Compleated Within side, but one Thing very much Wanting to adorn it withoutside is a Handsome Spire to Be Erected on ye Steeple which has hitherto been Undone for want of Stock to do it Withall However having hitherto mett with Such kind Benefac- tors hope we shall still Succeed In this undertaking we are Ac- cordingly making Preparations for both ye above Works which By the Computation of Workmen will Cost Nigh Twelve hundred Pounds The Timber is allready Bought for ye Spire and we Purpose to Begin about it forthwith so as to have it done this Summer.
NOW We the Subscribers finding these things Necessary to be done do Encourage so good an Undertaking, Oblige our Selves to Pay the Sums affixed to our Names for that use To
1 Church Stock. Surplus on hand left over from receipts.
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S
BURGIS-PRICE VIEW OF 1723 (1743 issue)
Do Ell for High Al Faxich, so The Househ Chuk Winden of .~. (brit Chuck ) To Them Druns
10,93 For work Done
For a Church
89. Gp fraHM, 9 1%. 1
20. .
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8 : 10 . - 2
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1
DEACON SHEM DROWNE'S BILL FOR THE WEATHERVANE August 15, 1740 Courtesy of The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities
Messrs Hugh McDaniel or John Hammock Present Church Wardens in order to carry on said work.
Dated at Boston ye. : 15th : Aprill 1740
H. McDaniel
50
Jno Hamock
50
Wm. Price
20
Jno Hooton
20
Henry Pigeon
30
John Jones
30
Robert Jenkins
IO
Robt Jarvis
10
Jno Pullen
5 pd
Purse strings were again unloosed, and that summer a 190 foot wooden spire was built in a near-by pasture. Topped with Shem Drowne's weathervane, on August 15, 1740, it was hoisted onto the brick steeple1 and all the workmen rested from their labors and partook of a Gargantuan "raising dinner" at the expense of the parish.
John Indicott 2 was the builder and the final bill' ren- dered to the parish amounted to thirteen hundred forty- two pounds, five shillings and fourpence. This included the "raising dinner," and Shem Drowne's bill for the weathervane as well as work on the main building.
DEACON SHEM DROWNE MAKES THE WEATHERVANE
Readers of Porter's Rambles in Old Boston will re- call the felicitous descriptions and illustrations of three ancient weathervanes: the glass-eyed grasshopper on
1 This building operation was not always successful as Bentley notes in his diary November 4, 1797, "We are told that in an attempt to raise the steeple of the New Meeting House in Billerica, the Steeple fell, & was crushed to pieces from a defect in the ropes."
2 John Indicott. Carpenter and builder, member of King's Chapel, vestryman, junior warden and senior warden, but apparently not a pew owner; contributor to the 1749 building, builder of the school house which gave its name to School Street.
' See bill in Appendix. (Book 3, pp. 113-116)
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Faneuil Hall; the cock which gave the "Cockerel Church " 1 its nickname; and the Province House Indian.2 All three, the handiwork of an 18th century copper- smith, Deacon Shem Drowne, have long been famil- iar to antiquarians. But Dr. Porter might have included another, as newly discovered original bills and papers now permit us to add Christ Church vane to the good Deacon's copper masterpieces, as may be seen in the reproduction of the original bill in the handwriting of the Deacon's son, Thomas.
The cost of the supporting iron work, its maker, the gilding and repairs, the number of times the vane has been off its high perch, its weight and length, how the ball was used for records, all may now be told.
The iron work supporting the vane was done by Edward Lack at total cost of two hundred fifteen pounds, specified as "straps, boults and hoops, the vane Spindle, with scroles and letters." It also included painting the ball "blew," thus carrying out a favorite color scheme in the interior of the church where " prussian blue, picked in with vermillion " was used on iron work. A touch of realism is the memorandum in May 1740, when James Griffin was entrusted with "four two-Pistole pieces to lay out in Leaf Gold and ship at the first opportunity - danger of the seas and Enemies excepted." Whether this did not arrive in time and thus accounts for the painting instead of the usual gilding of the ball, we do not know.
Having eschewed the elaborately grotesque shapes by which he is later known, Drowne here used the banner and hollow ball for records, topping the whole with a five-pointed star, adding a pleasing and, I venture to
1 " Cockerel Church." "New Brick " Church, an offshoot of the New North (now St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church). The vane is now on the spire of the First Church (Congregational), Cambridge, Massa- chusetts. See Croswell poem "Old North Cock."
2 Now in Massachusetts Historical Society collection.
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suggest, an original touch in a "Flower Pott and Flow- ers."1 Just what this somewhat incongruous adornment on a vane looked like, we may judge from the so-called Burgis-Price print of 1742/43 which shows the 1740 spire built by John Indicott from designs by the versatile William Price, printer and map-seller, vestryman and first organist of Christ Church. He was one of four men who, with the wardens, made the contracts and supervised the building of the spire. He ought to have known how it looked.
In its exposed position, it was not long before repairs were called for. In 17552 and again in 1765,3 attempts to raise funds were unsuccessful; but in 1755 sufficient money was raised, in view of Benjamin Franklin's ex- periments in electricity, to provide for electrical points as protection to the steeple. On April 5th, 1760, seven pounds, fifteen shillings was paid for candles, etc., “ for Illuminateing the Steeple on occasion of Quebeck's being taken."
War clouds were gathering and money scarce. While the Old South was turned into a riding school and the Meeting House in North Square was razed for firewood for British troops invalided home, Christ Church just stayed shut, an early example of a successful sit-down strike staged by a public building.
After the reopening in the post-war depression, there
1 The Flower Pot was a tradesmen's token as late as the early 19th century. It was derived from earlier representations of the lilies placed in the hand of the Angel Gabriel as he saluted the Virgin Mary, or else set as an accessory in a vase. Eventually the Angel and then the Virgin Mary were omitted, and only the vase or pot of flowers remained of something which had great religious significance. From a book of Tradesmen's Tokens, Deacon Shem Drowne undoubtedly chose it as an appropriate finial for Christ Church Steeple. We are indebted to Edward Abbott Perry, editor of Dorothy Wordsworth's Letters, for our deduction.
2 This was the year of the disastrous earthquake in Boston which destroyed fifteen hundred chimneys, closed wells and sent Shem Drowne's grasshopper weathervane on Faneuil Hall hurtling to the ground. This explains why raising money at this time was difficult.
3 The next attempt, in 1765, was the year of Dr. Cutler's death, when more financial strain was put on the parish.
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was little money for repairs until 1786, as we learn from Hunt and Brown's bill of July 1787.
To gilding the Vane, four points and leaves £8-6-8 To painting blew ball and Iron work up to the Vane 1-13-4 3-0 To 3 pound Putty on the ball
This bill lets us into the primitive method of waterproof- ing the ball and shows that part of the contents of the "Flower Pott" were still in existence.
But times grew steadily worse, and upkeep and thorough repairs impossible. This, in time, precipitated disaster. The great gale of October 9, 1804, which carried the roof of King's Chapel tower 200 feet in the air and stripped Paul Revere's foundry in Lynn Street of its wooden covering, sent the steeple of Christ Church crashing to the ground, where it fell on a house in Love Lane. Irreparably damaged, only the copper vane and some of the timbers were all that could later be utilized of the 190 foot spire.
Thereupon, in an effort to raise sufficient funds, sub- scription papers were circulated as follows:
" It is more blessed to GIVE than to receive."
The Proprietors of Christ Church in BOSTON, at a legal meeting at their Vestry Room, on Easter Monday, the 15th day of April, 1805; Taking into consideration the ruinous situ- ation of the Church, occasioned particularly by the very violent gale of October last, when the Steeple was blown down, and being very desirous to put in order a place sacred to Divine Wor- ship, and which has always been viewed as one of the oldest, and most ornamental, as well as useful public building in this town. But feeling (however anxious) that their abilities are inadequate to repair the Church, and rebuild the Steeple; Unanimously Voted - to apply to the opulent, and charitable of all denomina- tions, in Boston and its vicinity, for such contributions as may enable them to carry these purposes into effect. They therefore implore the charity of their Fellow Citizens, to assist them in the expensive work, assuring them, that their pious donations shall be faithfully applied.
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Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem Praise thy God, O Zion; for He hath made fast the bars of thy gates and hath blessed thy children within Thee. O God, wonderful art Thou in thy holy places, even the God of Israel who pourest his benefits upon us. Blessed be God, even the God who helpeth us.
The exterior of this ancient edifice having survived the century and fallen into unseemly decay in this autumn of the year of our Lord 1834, by the willing and liberal offerings of its members, friends and neighbors, the dilapidations of the walls were repaired ; the symmetry of the steeple restored, the whole painted and beautified and the House of God put in a condition quite surpassing even its first glory ; the Reverend William Croswell being Rector of the parish: Dr. John Bacon, and Frederick Clark, Wardens, and superintendents of this good work; the scaffolding being erected and the carpen- try executed by John McKay; the mason work by George Downs; and the painting and gilding, including this Ball and Vane by Rufus Cook - Blessed be the Lord God of our Fathers, who hath put such a thing into our hearts to beautify the house of the Lord which is Jerusalem. Long be our Fathers' temple ours, Woe to the hand by which it falls, A thousand spirits watch its towers, A thousand angels guard its walls. And be their shield by us possesst. Lord, rear around thy blest abode As bulwark of a holy breast The Rampart of a Present God!
There are forty-six names signed in subscriptions ranging from ten dollars to fifty-five cents, collected by "Joseph Adams, a member of Christ Church," the total amounting to $200.87. This was only one of the subscription papers sent out. It is interesting to note that one subscriber signed "A Friend to the North Church." The money account was rendered "E. E. April 2, 1806."
Contributions by generous citizens, added to what could be raised in the parish, provided in 1806 a grace- ful tapering spire which still broods over the North End. Fifteen feet lower than the first spire, it is still topped by the old vane reconditioned by Ebenezer Le- man who, himself, contributed ten dollars toward his bill of one hundred fifty-three pounds, eighty-five shillings.
Toward the end of Dr. Eaton's rectorate, the steeple began to need attention; and five years after he left Christ Church, the Reverend William Croswell, who succeeded him, noted in his diary in 1834 that repairs on the steeple had begun in "real earnest" as money was invested in scaffolding to get at the weather-cock "weighing one hundred and sixteen pounds and more than six feet long - not so light a matter as weather- cocks are supposed to be"; and he adds, "wrote some- thing to put in the ball of the steeple arranged in the shape of a cross." This time, Rufus R. Cook got fifty dollars for gilding the vane. It was not until several years later that an original draft of the "something in the shape of a cross" was found in a package of papers belonging to Christ Church. To preserve the record, this document by the Reverend William Croswell is here reproduced.
The great feat of lowering the whole wooden steeple to the ground and replacing it on its brick foundation, was successfully accomplished in the summer of 1847 by Judah Sears. This was facilitated by the fact that when
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it was rebuilt in 1806 it was constructed in sections. To Leeds and Ricker, he gave the sub-contract for painting the spire. "as it stands on the ground in the yard of said church." This included "gilding the Vane, Ball, letters and ornaments and all other parts either iron or copper that have been gilded before, with the first quality of gold leaf, three coats of black paint on iron work except parts previously gilded and painting all wood work three coats," for the incredibly small total of forty dollars !
All went well until 1853 when the steeple caught fire and, two years later, had to be reconditioned. Twice more, the vane came down for repairs and regilding; in 1884 when the late William Sanby carried out exten- sive repairs; and again in 1912, when, through a fund raised by Bishop Lawrence, the church was restored inside and out to its original lines under the supervision of R. Clipston Sturgis, the noted architect. The restor- ation of the steeple at this time was financed by de- scendants of Paul Revere.
Although, roughly speaking, once in a generation the Christ Church weathervane has received attention and been kept in repair, no one seemed to be curious about the maker. From Dr. Croswell's notes, it was thought that the ball contained some clue, so when the Lantern League, Incorporated,1 undertook, in December 1934, complete repairs on the steeple to mark the bi-centenary of the birth of Paul Revere, down came the old vane again.
The rector, the late Reverend Francis E. Webster, decided that the reopening of the ball should be a semi-official event. In it had been placed in 1806 the
1 The Lantern League of the Old North Church, Inc. The Society itself has no connection with the religious work of the church, but it co-operates with the rector, wardens and vestry in the "maintenance and protection of the Old North Church in whose steeple shone the glimmering flame which lighted the torch of liberty that heralded the coming triumph of democracy in the world and ushered in the birth of a nation."
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only known account of the blowing down of the steeple in 1804; to which had been added in 1834, the "some- thing in the shape of a cross" noted in Dr. Croswell's diary. This time it was not only weighed and measured but photographed as well. The weight and measure- ments tallied with the 1834 record, but the name "E. Leman" on the side of the banner is now explained by the fact that Ebenezer Leman reconditioned the vane in 1806.
The sealed ball, between the unwieldy banner and the graceful five-pointed star, bore on one side a three- sided scar indicating the closed aperture. There were a few tense moments while John Perotta sawed deftly into the ball, watched by parish representatives and newspapermen, followed by expectant peering into the cavity when the triangular piece of copper fell away. The writer was the privileged one to put her hand first into the ball with high hopes of withdrawing the century-old papers. Alas, only a mass of soggy, black matter came forth ! Investigation revealed that through a slight open- ing in one of the star points, water had seeped in to the destruction of the contents. Once more Dame Nature had played one of her little pranks and unwittingly de- stroyed priceless records.
When the ball was resealed this time, there were placed in it copies of the Christ Church guide books, a copy of The Church Militant with the account of the sesquicentennial of the Diocese, a sealed bottle contain- ing a paper recording the event signed by Bishop Bab- cock, the rector, the treasurer, and the writer as a member of the vestry, and final touch, a postal card signed by Albina Carillo Blount of Los Angeles, who had visited the church the day before. She is a de- scendant of Anthony Blount, the first junior warden, who bought for the building committee the land on which the church is built.
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Gold leaf to the amount of twenty dollars was spread upon the banner, ball and star; it was resoldered after the leaky place had been closed; and in a cold, bluster- ing December wind, "Steeple Tom" climbed the spire and slipped the spindle into place once more.
The complete renovation of the whole tower, as a memorial to George and Phoebe Hearst by their chil- dren, was timed to coincide with the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Paul Revere.
The 1934 repairs, the money for which was procured by the Lantern League, included the electric lighting of the spire. What a surprise it would have been to the sexton in the early years of the church, when he had to use spiked candlesticks which were stuck in the walls to light the tower! By 1944 repairs to the inside of the steeple had to be made; and now two years later, the possibility of invasion by termites and other neces- sary renovations are under consideration. As time goes on, we see that it is now oftener than once in a genera- tion that drastic repairs have become necessary.
For many years a tradition that the present spire of Christ Church was designed by the noted architect, Charles Bulfinch,1 has been current. There is, however, no record of any vote or any payment to him which would support this tradition. This is well worth look- ing into, for it would add to the group of buildings, some of which are fast disappearing, to which Bulfinch gave his name.
1 Charles A. Place in his book Charles Bulfinch, published in 1925, calls the spire a Bulfinch design but does not give the source of his information. -
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THE BELLS AND BELL RINGERS
T HE tower contains the first peal of (8) bells brought to this country. The bells were pur- chased by subscription, costing £560. The com- bined weight is 7,272 pounds, the smallest bell weighing 620 and the largest 1,545 pounds. Each bell has an in- scription around the crown, telling its own story.
No. I. " This peal of eight bells is the gift of a number of generous persons to Christ Church in Boston, New England. Anno 1744. A. R."
No. 2. "This church was founded in the year 1723, Tim- othy Cutler, Doctor in Divinity, the First Rector. A. R. 1744."
No. 3. "We are the first ring of bells cast for the British Empire in North America. A. R. 1744."
No. 4. "God preserve the Church of England. 1744."
No. 5. " William Shirley, Esq', Governour of Massachusetts Bay in N: England. Anno 1744."
No. 6. "The subscriptions for these bells was begun by John Hammock and Robert Temple, Church Wardens, 1743 & com- pleated by Robt. Jenkins and Jnº. Gould, Church Wardens. Anno 1744."
No. 7. "Since generosity has opened our mouths our tongues shall ring aloud its praise. 1744."
No. 8. " Abel Rudhall of Gloucester cast us all. Anno 1744."
An interesting letter regarding the setting up of the bells reveals the fear of 18th century travellers of an ocean voyage. When the bells were ready for delivery, a skillful man had to be selected to set them up; but Rudhall in a letter to Mr. Gunter, the agent, explained in very dramatic fashion his difficulty in arranging for the man to go to Boston :
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Sir
I am very sorry for the disappointment in not being able to prevail upon John Baker to go with ye bells (whom ever since they were first ordered depended upon) for Bakers own part he would very willingly take the voyage, but ye moment the news came to his Wife that the Bells were sent for down to Bristol she imediately swooned away to that degree that the people about her after great difficulty could scarce bring life into her, which . affected her husband very much, & with her persuasions after, has prevailed upon him not to go (though quite entirely against his own inclinations) for she says if he does go 'twill be the death of her, & so upon his not going have sent a moddal of ye frame for your Carpenters to work by, & have likewise sent a written direction for putting the Head-stocks & wheeles on ye bells.
A tablet in the church states that the bells were transported free by John Rowe the Diarist.
In 1945 the Bostonian Society furnished the follow- ing record:
.
We selected for our Dame Boston's Diary five events throughout the years of Boston's history for each day of the year. Then week by week we put up on a bulletin board the thirty-five events falling in the current week. For Nov. 8, 1745, one of the events listed was: The chime of bells of Christ Church first rung. This date was taken from Boston Events by Edward H. Savage, for many years a police officer of Boston. Many of his dates he got from police records, where he got the one on Christ Church, we do not know.
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