USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Chelsea > Documentary history of Chelsea : including the Boston precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, vol 1 > Part 32
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294
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
CHAPTER VII
GOVERNOR BELLINGHAM'S ESTATES AT WINNISIMMET
WI HEN John Endieott eame to Salem September 6, 1628, he found there as elsewhere on the coast Eng- lishmen in possession of lands which they elaimed by oecupa- tion. These were " the old planters "; and though their claim laeked legality, Endieott and his Couneil, instrueted by the Company April 17, 1629, permitted them to " enjoy not only those lands which formerly they have manured, but such a further proportion as by the advice and judgment of yourself, and the rest of the Council, shall be thought fit for them, or any of them." 1
Sinee 1625 Samuel Maveriek had been at Winnisimmet, where he built his Palisade House. In the absence of known grant we may assume that his equitable elaim was recognized by the Company, as Richard Bellingham rested his title to Winnisimmet on the following deed :
" Samuell Maverick and Amias his wife John Blackleach [ ] his wife have granted and sowld vnto Richard Beling- ham and his heires, A messuage ealled winesemet wth the Apur- tainances also his interest in the ferrye this was by deed of Sale dated 27 of ffeb! 1634." 2
November 30, 1640, Boston recognized his title as " The lands of Mª Rich. Bellingham's, lieing at Winnisimett, be- longing to the towne of Boston, are bounded with the land of William Steedsonne, of Charles towne, and with Charles towne
1 Young, Chronicles of Mass., 145. For Richard Bellingham's estates in Boston, Vide Memorial Hist. of Boston, i. 360, note 2; Shurtleff, Bos- ton, 214.
2 1635, New Style. Suff. Deeds, L. 1, f. 15. Maverick had leased the ferry to William Stitson for life. Ibid., L. 12, f. 347. [For William Stitson and the ferry see infra, chap. xxii.]
EVERETT
LOque
RIVER
RIVERA
To Maiden J
ANTON
Lynn
Marsh
ÉNU
Sancak
Sa
Marsh
REVERE
Way
Ireland
or Pratts Faran
Farm House
UNITED STATED NAVAL HOSPITAL GROUNOS un Farm of Elias Maverick
ISLAND
EVERETT AVE. PARK
Carler & HOUSE
To the Meeting House
MYSTIC
MARINE HOSPITAL
GROUND
SUMMITRC
AINE
Center /or
ter Farm
Garfield
Marsh
RIVER
.
Summit
Labiqua
Chestnut
Broadway
Gibiche
PANK
Ferry Landing
House
Street
Howard
2. Juder
Broadway
Marginal
CEMETERY
Chester
Broadway
Salem
&Tur
(iso).
Eustace or Shuttleff Farm
EASTERN
arrolla
CREEK
DIWNION
Sporzki
RAI
EastAND
Marsh HIGHLAND PARK
ROSTON
CREER
· 1 2 3 4 500 4 ) 9 1000 SCALE OF FEET
CHELSEA
CREEK
REVERE
SOURDINFE
Balinobam
Marthane
Matt
Townsend
Carey
Charged Farm
Cory
AVENUE
CHELSEA
Shurtett House
WAUCH
SE
Marsh
carey
House
POWDER HORN HILL
Avenue
Prescott
Lock
Unaaston
Fer
Farm
Addison
The Country Road -
Carter
Marsh
Bach
Carne
Wooly S
williamas ..
LAch
Lafayette
PARK
5 UNION
Marsh
Axcate
10Y30
Lombert Aval
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MILL
CITY OF CHELSEA - SHOWING LOCATION OF THE BELLINGHAM FARMS
Marsh
CITY HALL
GARDEN
295
GOVERNOR BELLINGHAM'S ESTATES
CHAP. VII]
lands, limitted by fences and marsh towards the norewest, with a winter fresh water runnell and pouder horne Creeke, parting betweene the land of M' Bellinghame and ME Nicholas Parker, of Boston, towards the north East, with the salt water on all other parts towards the east, and south and west; all the lands within the said Limitts and bounds belong to the said ME. Richard Bellingham." 3
This included all the lands within the present city of Chel- sea except the United States Hospital estate, - not conveyed by the Maverick-Blackleach deed, - and some house lots on the westerly side of Broadway southerly of Beacon Street, - formerly belonging to that estate, but sold by Aaron Dexter before the government purchase.4 At some time not now known, but probably not later than 1650, Governor Belling- ham divided this territory into four farms, early known by the names of their tenants as the Smith farm, the Rice farm, the Townsend farm, and the Senter (Center) farm; and in later days as the Williams, Shurtleff, Cary, and Carter farms. The plan [which faces the first page of this chapter]5 shows their modern and less accurately their original boundaries. Save the Rice or Shurtleff farm, they became the property of the Watts family about 1700, and with the exception of the Cary farm after 1728 so remained for nearly a half-century. Under each I give such facts as I have noticed.
The Lieutenant Smith, Ferry, or Williams Farm
The second landing place of the ferry, granted to Samuel Maverick in 1634, was on this farm, and so it was called the Ferry farm. On it Governor Bellingham's country house, and about a century later Judge Watts' mansion were built.6
3 Town Records, in loco.
4 [The triangle of land between the Everett and Revere boundaries, and the creek which flows from the car-house on Washington Avenue to Mill River, was not a part of the Bellingham farm. Supra, chap. vi.]
10
[On this plan the line between the marsh and the upland is represented
thus, .... ...; the boundary line separating the farms thus,
A list of the plans upon which this map was based will be found infra, Appendix 12.]
" Pelham's Map of Boston, 1775. Bellingham purchased Winnisimmet of Maverick, February 27, 1634/5; but not that part on which his Pali-
296
IIISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
The earliest 7 tenant I learn of was Lieutenant John Smith, who died September 21, 1706, aged eighty-five. His wife Mary, probably a daughter of James Bill of Pullen Point, died February 6, 1693/4, aged about forty-eight.8 Their gravestones were lately seen in the Revere churchyard, and may be read in the appendix. The rental of the farm about 1670 was estimated at £50; and in 1687 it was taxed as thirty aeres of arable land and meadow, and seventy of pasture.9
'From 1694 to 1711 this farm and the ferry were leased to John Brentnall; 10 but Edward Watts and his wife Rebeeea (heiress of her sister Elizabeth, second wife of Samuel Belling- ham, sole heir to the Bellingham estates), coming from England in 1710, not long after took possession of and earried on as they had been, the Ferry farm, the ferry, and the inn.11 Their epitaphis in the Revere churchyard say that Edward Watts
sade House stood. There must have been a house on the Ferry farm; for a week later, when Stitson sold his life interest in the ferry to Bellingham, he stipulated that his annuity should be paid "at the Farme house of the sd. Richard in Winnisimett." This may have been that dis- placed by Judge Watts' mansion. [The conveyance from Stitson to Bell- ingham was dated August 28, 1635, six months after Maverick's deed. Infra, chap. xxii. Not improbably the farm-house of Governor Bellingham was built by Maverick, as during the first years of the colony Winnisim- met was a flourishing settlement. Supra, chap. ii. appendix; chap. iii. Appendix 2.]
" John Pemerton of Winnisimmet, planter, mortgages lands in Malden, to Richard Bellingham, conditioned on the payment of rents and arrear- ages due on the farm at Winnisimmet, and on his leaving the two ferry boats as good as he found them, that is, worth £13, also the houses and fences on the place in equally good repair, all to be delivered to Belling- ham September 1, 1662. April 12, 1662. Suff. Deeds, L. 4, f. 12. [Novem- ber 5, 1661, " Jno Pemberton & Jno Moulton" were permitted by the selectmen of Boston to keep an inn at Winnisimmet. The General Court at the session beginning in this same month of November fined "John Moulton, ferry man at Winissemet " for neglect. Presumably he was the son of Thomas Moulton of Charlestown and Malden, and in 1661 was about thirty years of age. (Corey, Malden, 84, note, 602; Wyman.) John Pemberton was the son of James Pemberton who died February 5, 1661/2, and left to his son the lands mortgaged in April. John Pemberton was baptized April 24, 1642. For his later life see Corey, Malden, 84, note, 122, 317, 326, 377. See infra, chap. xxiv. for earlier tenants on the farm.]
8 [ See infra, p. 319.]
9 [ See infra, p. 321.]
10 John Brentnall of Chelsea, who died in 1731, had a son John, tanner and schoolmaster in 1721, [who] married Deborah Mellins, August, 1712, and who had a brother James. [Supra, p. 46.]
1 [Infra, p. 352; also chaps. xii. to xvi. xxiv.]
--
297
GOVERNOR BELLINGHAM'S ESTATES
CHAP. VII]
died June 5, 1714, aged forty-seven ; and his widow March 25, 1715, aged forty-seven.12 Their son Edward, then about twenty-one, carried on the farm, the ferry, the inn, and a store until his death, September 17, 1727, aged thirty-four.13 On the division of the estates June 25, 1728, until then held in common,14 the Ferry farm with the inn, the store, and the lease of the ferry were set off to Samuel Watts, the second son.
Samuel Watts died March 9, 1770,15 and in 1773 John Tudor, a well-to-do Boston hatter, proposed to purchase the mansion house and part of the estate. His letters 16 contain the interesting statement, that this house was built about forty years before, which would be in 1733. If so, it was not the original "Great House " on Governor Bellingham's Ferry farm, but was erected by Samuel Watts about five years after he became sole owner of the estate. Besides this house, near the ferry landing was a very old tavern, perhaps the original, or one on the site of that kept by Lieutenant John Smith in 1644.17
April 22, 1793, the heirs of Samuel Watts, son of Hon. Samuel Watts, sold a large part of the Ferry farm with the
12 [Her will is infra, p. 329.]
13 [Boston Vital Records. He was buried September 20, 1727, at Christ Church, of which he was one of the founders and a vestryman. ]
14 [In November, 1715, Edward Watts mortgaged the farm occupied by Abraham Townsend to secure an annuity of £50 to Elizabeth Bellingham. (Suff. Deeds, L. 31, ff. 13, 14; Chamberlain MSS., i. 147 et seq.) She died in 1743. In April, 1716, Edward and Samuel Watts appear in partnership, as mention is made of " Joseph Lewis, Servant to Edward and Samuel Watts of Winisimet." (Records of Court of General Sessions of the Peace, 114.) Edward Watts, March 22, 1716/7, about a year after his own marriage and the marriage of his younger brother Samuel, mort- gaged the Ferry farm, " consisting of a Dwelling house Outhouses Barns Orchard garden plowland pasture and Salt Marsh containing in the whole Two hundred and twenty seven Acres" to Paul Dudley to secure the pay- ment of £200. (Suff. Deeds, L. 31, f. 94; increased the following year, released 1722.) ]
15 [March 5 was the date according to the town records of Chelsea and contemporary newspaper notices. March 9 in the church records was presumably the day of his burial.]
16 [Infra, p. 334.]
17 [Francis Smith was tenant in 1644. Infra, chap. xxiv. The site of the tavern and of the Watts mansion are marked on the plan by S. P. Fuller, January, 1830, in Suff. Deeds, L. 351, f. 153; also supra, on the plan of Chelsea showing the location of the Bellingham farms. ]
298
IIISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
ferry rights for £1500 to HIenry Howell Williams, many years lessee of Noddle's Island.18
The Williams estate of one hundred twenty-nine aeres was bounded as follows: "Northwardly by a Creek in said Chel- sea, running up from the Sea, commonly known by the name of The Creek's, Westwardly by land of the United States, formerly of Dr. Aaron Dexter, adjoining or nearly adjoining the Northern extremity of Chelsea Bridge, over the mouth of Mystiek River, Southwardly upon the mouth of said River and Boston Harbour, or the Sea, near where said River empties itself, Eastwardly and Southeastwardly in part by other land of the United States, whereupon the Hospital now stands, and in part by a Town or County Road, and Northeastwardly by the Carter farm so ealled, containing one hundred and twenty-nine aeres or more of upland and salt marsh." With the ferry, it was sold Mareh 8, 1831, for $22,500, to Franeis B. Fay and others, trustees,19 who transferred the same to the Winnisimmet Company, October 1, 1833.20 Same to same, Wharf and flats in Boston, for $5,000, June 1, 1833.21 Chelsea to same, Ferry Landing, for $250, September 20,
18 Hon. Samuel Watts had become sole owner of the Ferry farm and the Senter, or modern Carter farmn; and on his death in 1770 these estates were divided among his heirs, so that his son Samuel took only a part of the original Ferry farm. About sixty years later, however, by various purchases they were restored to nearly their original dimensions in the ownership of the Winnisimmet Company and Joshua Carter. Williams' grantors were Samuel, Isaac, Belcher, and Richard Watts, Ezra and Rachel Brintnall, all of Chelsea, Benjamin Comey of Boston, and Ezra Upham of Malden. The premises comprised 104 acres, more or less, with three dwelling houses, two thirds of a barn, one large stable, a corn barn, the land in several parcels. (Suff. Deeds, L. 175, f. 245.) [The wives who released their dower were: Nancy ( wife of Samuel) ; Rachel Watts, Mary Watts, Elizabeth Watts, Elizabeth Brintnall, Hannah Comey [ ?], Sally Upham. See infra, pp. 338, 361. Judge Chamberlain's notes on Henry Howell Williams are placed on pp. 363, 364.] 19 Suff. Deeds, L. 351, ff. 150-153. [There was reserved to Mrs. Jeffrey Williams the life use, rent free, of the tenement in which she was then living and a half acre about it. Thomas Williams was the grantor in this and the deed following. Francis B. Fay et al. were "Trustees for the persons associated under the name of the Winnisimmet Lands and Ferry Company," to which company they transferred the title after its incorporation. The conveyances in 1834 and 1836, noted in the text, ran to the Winnisimmet Company.]
20 Ibid., L. 374, f. 37.
21 Ibid., L. 369, f. 157. [This wharf and flats adjoined the landing place of the Winnisimmet Ferry in Boston.]
299
GOVERNOR BELLINGHAM'S ESTATES
CHAP. VII]
1834.22 City of Boston to same, for $5,000, land near the ferry, November 15, 1836.23
The facts in the following letter of the late Benjamin P. Shillaber, derived from a trustworthy source, Mr. Charles Stearns, may be regarded as essentially historical.
The Old Chelsea Taverns
There are few living who are able to describe to us from their own recollection the Chelsea of sixty years ago, but Mr. Charles Stearns, whose memory is as full of old facts as a pin-cushion is of missing needles, is one of the few, and retains a very vivid remembrance of the scene, where, as a boy in the employment of Payson & Fenno (John Fenno, Senior), who kept the old tavern near the first ferry landing, he took an active part in dispensing the hospitalities of the vencrable hostelrie, the date of whose con- struction must have extended back to nearly the commencement of the settlement, as it was very old and dilapidated at the time of which we have record. It fronted towards the river, and down to 1804, when the Salem turnpike and Chelsea bridge were com-
22 Suff. Deeds, L. 384, f. 192. [In the deed cited this was the " Town Landing," a strip of beach or flats west of the Williams farm between the turnpike and the sea. November 28, 1831, the Selectmen of Chelsea, authorized thereto by a vote of the town January 18, 1831, leased this for ten years for the nominal sum of $1.00 a year to Thomas Williams, who on the same day assigned the lease to Francis B. Fay et al., Trustees. (Suff. Deeds, L. 358, ff. 255, 271.) Obviously the sole object of the lease was to secure a monopoly of the ferry rights by the assurance that no one could establish a rival ferry. The Winnisimmet Company was de- barred from landing passengers by steam or other boats thereon. The town might build wharves for its own use. The heirs of Jonathan Green contested the town's ownership. A committee of the town, appointed to consider this matter, reported, August 4, 1834, that they had negotiated with the Winnisimmet Company a sale of the disputed flats for $250, the company to pay all lawsuits and release the town of Chelsea from the above lease to Williams. The conveyance noted in the text was drawn in pur- suance of this agreement. The Company lost the lawsuits, but eventually purchased a part of the flats. Supra, pp. 58, 59.]
23 Ibid., L. 417, f. 217. Interesting facts relating to the Winnisimmet Ferry and the village, now the city, of Chelsea, collected by Hon. Frank B. Fay, may be found in the Chelsea Directory, 1854. [November 16, 1831, the town of Boston leased the ferry landing, the land and dock at the intersection of Lynn (Commercial) and Hanover streets, and the Winnisimmet Ferry rights on Boston side for thirty years for $5 a year, with the privilege of purchasing the same for $5,000 within five years. (L. 358, f. 274.) The conveyance cited in the text was drawn in pursu- ance of this agreement.]
300
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
pleted, the county road, which wriggled through Chelsea like a snake, ran before its door to the ferry just beyond. Until this time the old tavern held an almost undivided possession of the territory. There were no houses on the west until the turnpike was built [sic], when a few sprung up on its line towards the bridge, the pioneers of the present populous precinct, some of which originals are still standing.
The turnpike, running in the rear of the old tavern, seemed to thrust it aside ignominiously, and the venerable structure stood very nearly upon the site of the two houses back from Broad- way, placed there by the late George W. Gerrish, where it had the appearance of having in a fit of disgust turned its back upon the innovation of the new turnpike. It was a comfortable old wayside inn, two stories high on the front, and one story in the rear, towards the turnpike, with a long roof sloping up to the ridgepole. The front was perforated with many win- dows, which, opening upon the south, admitted of an unob- structed view of the river and upper harbor with Dorchester Heights as a background. A porch and several stone steps at the front door gave quite an imposing aspect to the entrance, while over the way, near by, was a small stable, the well of which, and which supplied the house, is now in existence in the rear of houses on Medford Street, yielding to-day the same sweet water that the old frequenters of the tavern took in their punch. Built merely for the accommodation of ferry passengers the house was large enough for its purpose; but when passengers were delayed, com- fortable rooms and beds and hospitable cheer made a night's stay at the old tavern very endurable, it may be safe to say.
Down to the time of the formation of the Chelsea Land Com- pany and their purchase of Winnisimmet the old tavern was a famous place of resort by Bostonians, who came over in the sail ferry boats and by flotillas of private conveyance to enjoy a game of ninepins and a taste of Fenno's punch, a historical beverage which won a wide reputation, or to indulge in shoot- ing, great facilities for which were offered by the swamps which abounded within the precinct, which harbored plenty of birds, or along the shore of the river and creek. Hundreds met there at a time, during the hot weather, and, a punch bowl being altogether inadequate to the demand, a washtub was made to serve the purpose of a dispensary of the delectable compound. There were seven bowling-alleys belonging to the tavern, of a very primitive character, which admitted a free circulation of air through their open sides, with barely sufficient covering to protect the players from the sun or sudden rain that might arise,
301
GOVERNOR BELLINGHAM'S ESTATES
CHAP. VII]
the set-up boys having no shield whatever in rain or shine. But the sport was hilarious, and probably all the more so because of the difficulty occasionally encountered. The "rowdy " was not then an element of society. He was not even known to the lan- guage, and, therefore, however great the crowd, there was never any disorder, no broken heads, no abusive language. These were left for a more refined civilization. The punch was formed of honest stuff, with none of the fiery qualities which make men mad ; the partakers knew when they had enough and were satisfied. There was good substantial fare at the hotel for those who desired, the table supplied from Payson and Fenno's own shambles on the hill near by, they being dealers in the Cornhill and Faneuil Hall markets, who killed their own beef. Their slaughterhouse stood on the spot in Chestnut Street, then a barren hill, now occupied by houses erected a few years since by Rev. Dr. Mason, and the workmen who digged the cellars were greatly puzzled by the num- ber of bones that they found imbedded there. The credit of many of the aquatic sports upon the Chelsea waters belongs to the history of the old tavern ; but upon the assumption of the Land Company, and the transformation of the Watts-Williams homestead into a watering place, the honors were divided, the old tavern falling into desuetude and losing its prestige in the novelty of the new place, its decay dating from this period. It had at the last the reputation of being haunted, perhaps by some of its old habitués who were attracted thither by a memory of the punch they enjoyed there. Pertinent to this I have heard a grave story of a tremen- dous crash heard at one time by its inmates, as if a load of coals were suddenly dumped upon the cellar floor, for which no cause could be assigned, everything being in quiet repose when investi- gation was made.
After the purchase of the ferry franchise by the Land Com- pany, in 1831, before consummating that of the farms compos- ing the territory, the trustees of the company gave permission to the proprietors of the small steamers "Tom Thumb " and " Byron " to land at the ferry slip in Chelsea. This was regarded as an outrage by the sturdy Fenno, who protested against it, and ordered his men to cut their cables if they presumed to make fast to the posts so long consecrate to legitimate ferry usage. But it was like resisting fate and so it was suffered. This ferry slip con- sisted of two plank projections, some two hundred feet long, which ran down into the water, to accommodate any depth of tide in landing, with space enough between to suit the width of the boats. At low tide a green and slimy surface presented itself, over which the passengers were compelled to walk in order to
302
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
reach terra firma, and it was a matter for amusement to those who are not disposed to feel very badly over others' painless mis- fortunes to see the new comers, male or female, in their white and faultless summer garb, sit down suddenly upon the slimy ooze, printing a map in green upon their snowy apparel behind. There were no bruises, however, which the punch would not relieve, and the accidents were allowed to mingle in as some of the minor features of a good time.
The Ferry and Land Company entered upon the possession of Winnisimmet in 1831-2, and the Williams house superseded the little old tavern as a public resort. It was a fine old manor house, built by the Watts family, descendants of the widow Watts, who procured from Samucl Bellingham, son of the governor, the title to two hundred and twenty acres of land in Winnisimmet as a pledge of fidelity when he was about going to England, which pledge he violated by never returning, and the widow came in pos- session [sic]. It was purchased by Henry H. Williams of Samuel Watts in 1771 [sic]; and his son, Thomas Williams, sold it to the company in 1831. It was two stories high, very spacious, with a wide balcony extending the entire length of the lower story, and sat near the summit of the gentle hill commanding a fine view of the river and creck, on either side, and in front, with Noddle's Island, Boston, and Charlestown in the near distance. Before it a green lawn descended to the smooth and hard shore, which was fringed with poplars, and no wharf or building marred the per- fection of the scene. On the east side an unbroken stretch of cultivated land extended to meet the Shurtleff farm, the hospital land, now Hawthorn Street, forming the bound betwixt the two farms in that direction. In the rear, a few steps higher than the house foundation, was a spacious garden abounding with trees and flowers, and the well which, hidden by buildings on Winnisimmet Street, still supplies water of the coolest and purest description. Transformed into a public resort, it soon lost its homelike charac- ter, the sounds of revelry were heard in its most sacred places, and the clinking of glasses made unhealthful music. The garden soon lost its attractiveness, and a circular railroad for children, the cars drawn by flying horses, the motive supplied by a crank, took the place of blooming beds and well-trimmed borders. This rail- way was about thirty feet in diameter, and was situated near the present Williams Street. It may be claimed for it that, next perhaps to the Quincy granite tramway, it was the first railway in the country. From this garden Lauriat made his first balloon ascension about 1832.
The house was continued, as a hotel, for several years by the
303
GOVERNOR BELLINGHAM'S ESTATES
CHAP. VII]
Company, the several landlords being Payson & Fenno, Bride & Niehols, Philbrie & Lord, and Taft & Bowditch. It was the father of the present Taft, of Point Shirley, named in this firm, although the distinguished purveyor was there, and ae- quired there, doubtless, mueh of the ability which has rendered him so popular sinee. Many were the attractions invited over to give the new house sueeess: Rowing matches, balloon aseensions, musieal and dramatie exhibitions, aerobatie and tight-rope per- formanees in endless variety; and one who had invented a boot in which to walk the water tried it on the river in front of the house and found himself walking with his boots on top to his great peril. Here the itinerant juggler spread his carpet, and in spangled finery, rather faded, performed feats that drew pennies from admiring speetators; here improvised danees provoked the "light fantastie "; here blaek joke and quoits exeited emulation, and here more sinful games defied the eognizanee of law; and there beneath the shaded piazza in front the quiet visitor with his eigar and moderate sangaree enjoyed the seene spread before him to the top of his bent. These were halcyon times, to be dis- turbed by the rude touch of innovation, and very soon it was felt, for speeulation makes no allowanee for sentiment. The steam- boats had now begun to run regularly, bringing over numerous passengers, but they eame more for the sail than anything else, and the house languished. The survey of Chelsea having been made prior to 1833, the easterly side of the hill was eut away to form Winnisimmet Street, leading to the proposed new location for the ferry, and the ferry was aeeordingly removed there in that year. The house made a show of existenee some little time after this change, but it was never a sueeess, and in 1850 the house, hill, and every vestige of former condition with the old tavern had dis- appeared before the levelling hand of improvement, and few who walk our erowded streets ean tell the spots which they oeeupied.
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