USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Chelsea > Documentary history of Chelsea : including the Boston precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, vol 2 > Part 38
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To the honl. Spencer Phips, Esqr., Licut. Govr., The honl. his majesties Council & house of Rep- resentatives, in Genl. Court, Assembled, Novr. 22, 1749.
The Petition of Nathl. Oliver, Jur., in behalf of his town, humbly sheweth, that your Petitioner some time ago preferd a memorial to this honl. Court, setting forth some Difficulties former Collectors, & the present assessors of his town labour under re- specting the Tax levied by his town on Some lands belonging to the Colledge, scituate in the town of Chelsea, which memorial,
4 Chelsea, Feby. ye 10th, 1778. In obedience to the within writ, I have caused the Inhabitants of sd town to be assembled, and they Voted, that they are not able to send any Jurior to the Court, within mentioned, as they sent two Juriors to the Last Superior Court, in the month of August, Last, Agreeable to a permission Granted to the town of Chelsea, by this Honble Superior Court about seven years ago, persuant to a petition pre- fered to said Conrt, whereby the town, by their agents, demonstrated that Chelsea was sent to for more than Double the number of Juriors, that the other towns, in the County were Generaly Seut to for; according to the number of tickets that were in the Superior Court Box for the town, Com- monly have but Eight Quallified Jurior tickets in sd Box, and there is twelve Juriors Called for, in three years, for sd. Court, and we was obliged to Break the Law to obey sd Court's precept, and shall be so now, unless we are exeused from Sending: now, as the Law clears Juriors three years, we must Send once in two years, we have been exensed from Sending to hali the Courts ever since sd. permission was Granted, and humbly pray your honr.s' Continuance of sd. permision.
" The Land Bank, which loaned money, that is its own bills, on mort- gages, seeured by real estate, and farm produce, proved disastrons. The people of that day were not wiser than some of the present day, who medi- tate a similar scheme.
Town Ree., i. 7.
7 Ibid., 15.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
ICHAP. XXXV
though committed, is lost, or mislaid, wherein your petition. sett forth, that, altho' the Lands under the immediate improvmt of the Colledg, Settled Ministers & Gramer School-masters by a standing Law of this Province are exempted from taxes, yet in your Petitioner's opinion those Lands belonging to the Colledg, not under their immediate improveint. but leased to others, may notwithstanding sd. Law and ought to be taxed to the town where such Land lies. Wherefore, your Petitioner prays, that a resolve of this Court directing in said affair that the tax already inade & to be made on such lands within the township of Chelsea may be confirm'd, to prevent all difficulties for the future, and your Petitioner shall ever pray, &c.
N. OLIVER, JUR.
This was referred, January 17, 1749/50, to the Committee of the House, then considering the petition of President IIoly- oke, that the College Treasurer be released from a Boston tax on College money let out on interest. (See entries of April 14 and 16.) April 18, 1750, this committee reported favorably upon the College petition, and referred that of Chelsea to the May session. The case was continued from time to time until April 16, 1751, when " The Committee to whom was Referred ye Petition of Nathl Oliver, Esq., in behalf of ye Town of Chelsea, having fully heard the Petitioners, as also the Honle Treas. & Revered President of Harvard College, are of opinion that all the Lands lying in said Town (of Chelsea) belonging to the sd. College ought to be freed from all Civill Impositions, Taxes, & Rates, But that they be subjected to pay towards ye support of Ministeriall Charges as other Real Estate in said Town are; all which is submitted." 8
May 27, 1751, The Selectmen were directed to obtain a lease of the College Marsh for the benefit of the town as soon as the present lease to Captain Newhall, &ca., is expired .?
The College Marsh, sometimes called the Cogan Marsh, of sixty acres, through which the Salem Turnpike passes, south- erly of Pine's River, was devised to Harvard College, in 1652, by John Cogan, and sold to Edward H. Robbins, February 7, 1832.10
8 Mass. Archives, Iviii, 352, 357, 359.
? Town Rec., i. 35. See Memorial of William Boardman in Chamberlain MSS., June 11, 1753.
10 Suff. Deeds, L. 357, f. 292. For Cogan see vol. i. p. 106.
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391
POINT SHIRLEY
CHAP. XXXVI]
CHAPTER XXXVI
POINT SHIRLEY
P OINT SHIRLEY has for many years past been a noted place. It was formerly called Pulling Point, a name now retained by another more commodions headland at the northwest, fronting westerly upon the harbor, and which has sometimes been called Chelsea Point. Abont the middle of the last century a unmber of Boston capitalists attempted to carry on the fishery business here, and purchased land for the erection of dwelling-houses and workshops for the fisher- men they intended to employ; but instead of doing this they put up houses for their own pleasure accommodation, and a meeting-house for a preacher on Sundays, wholly neglectful of the operatives, who were to have carried on the business for them. When ready for their enterprise, the speculators, be- lieving that all great undertakings should be auspiciously commenced, concluded to have a nice time, and consequently invited Governor Shirley, who was exceedingly popular with Bostonians, to go down the harbor with them on the eighth of September, 1753. At the time appointed the proprietors of the new establishment went down to the fishery with the Governor and a member of gentlemen of distinction, - for they had such personages then, in great abundance, as now, -- who were selected, perhaps, because they could make speeches, tell stories, or sing songs, and, at any rate, could eat dinners and drink good liquors. As they passed Castle William (now called Fort Independence) they, that is to say, the Governor and the company; were saluted with a discharge of fifteen guns; and so they were when they returned. It is said that the Governor was received at the Point with all the demon- stration of joy that so new a settlement was capable of; and that His Excellency expressed great satisfaction on finding so considerable an addition to that valuable branch of trade, the cod fishery, and hoped the gentlemen concerned would meet with such snecess as to make them ample amends for so noble
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXVI
an undertaking. The proprietors, after having leave from His Excellency, gave to the place the name of Point Shirley. The Governor was well paid for his condescension, for his name is immortalized and kept green, while the names of the undertakers are as seldom mentioned as their unsuccessful attempt. About the commencement of the nineteenth century the manufacture of salt was tried at the same place, but did not prove remunerative; and, in later times, the Revere Copper Company established works which, though they may have been profitable to the proprietors, certainly did not add to the salu- brity of the air at the Point, nor make the residence in the neighborhood particularly agreeable at all times." 1
1 Shurtleff's " Description of Boston," 437. I add the names of those resident at Point Shirley, about 1750: John Baker, Wm. Cox, Saml. Hains,
Moses Bennet,
Jo. Cox,
Amos Brown,
Lindsford Morse,
Patrick Connery,
Tho. Millet,
Saml. Morse,
Joseph Dyer,
Tho. Mitchell,
Lindsford -, Junr.,
Ebenr. Dispar,
Tho. Critchard,
Jo. Millet, Edward Dix,
Aleck Turpin,
Jno. Pomroy, Wm. Dix,
John Wormsted,
John Poarch,
Edw. Dix, Jur.,
Nat. Wormsted,
John Poarch, Junr.,
Saml. Day,
Nath. Belcher, Junr.,
Nathan Sargent,
John Fost,
Jona. Bill,
John Sale, Junr.,
Wm. Ford,
Charles Bill,
Nath. Bosworth,
Robert Forrest, John Tewksbury,
Benj. Bosworth,
Myls. Fitzhenry, Andrew Tewksbury,
Israel Trask,
Fra. Grant,
Josialı Lesen,
Thomas Travers,
Aquilla Hains,
Jacob Hallowell,
Jabez Howard,
Saml. Jenks,
Abra. Whittemore,
Chris. Webber,
Alexr. Linklatter,
Jona. Belcher,
Pratt,
John Oakes,
Nathaniel Belcher,
Jacob Bredeen,
Benj. Oakes,
John Sargent,
James Burrell,
Danl. Griffin,
John Belcher,
John Chandler, George Gerrald,
Indorsed: " This list of the Inhabitants of Point Shirley was given me by Mr. Thos. Goldthwait." The indorscment is in the hand of Jacob Wendell, a town officer of Boston, and the list refers to about 1750. The list probably includes many transient people engaged in fisheries, for which Point Shirley was then made a fishing station, in which Goldthwait was interested.
The original in the Boston Public Library, No. xx G. 342.12.
The condition of this part of Chelsea is shown in two petitions of the selectmen to the General Court, in 1780 and 1782, praying for a' reduced valuation of the town for taxation. In the latter is this passage: " When the valuation was taken about 1772, there was a part of our town called
393
POINT SHIRLEY
CHAP. XXXVI]
That precinct known as Point Shirley was once owned by Lieutenant Thomas Pratt, of Rinnney Marsh, who with Mary, his wife, September 1, 1752, for £466. 13. 4, sold a hundred and forty acres to Henry Atkins, Ezekiel Goldthwait, Nathaniel Holmes, John Rowe, Thomas Goldthwait, John Baker, and Thomas Mitchell.2
Thomas Goldthwait then or not long after a resident at Point Shirley, and undoubtedly the leading spirit in the scheme to carry on the fishery business from that place, prob- ably induced the town to vote, March 5, 1753, and again in 1754, " that the new settlers at pulling Point [in the fish- erics ]," who purchased their land of Thomas Pratt, should be exempt from their taxes, "for the year 1753." 3 The same year Henry Atkins and others, the grantees of Thomas Pratt, petitioned the Boston selectmen for a lease of Deer Island, enabling them to carry on the Fishery at Pullen Point. And they were permitted to take off ballast for the fishing schooners.4
From December 1, 1758 [and perhaps earlier ], to December 1, 1765, Thomas Goldthwait was lessee of the Island at £28 per annum. He was succeeded by Samuel and Ebenezer Pratt at £40 per annum. August 12, 1761, the selectmen reported that Thomas Goldthwait had with some exceptions fulfilled the conditions of his lease in rebuilding the house on the island.5
April 16, 1766, the Selectmen of Boston leased to Ebenezer Pratt of Boston, and Samuel Pratt of Chelsea, Deer Island,
Pleasant Point, that then had about twenty Good Dwelling houses, Some stores, warehouses, and Barns, and Some Vessels at that place for Carry- ing on the fishery Business, and there was at that part of the town abont twenty families, and as many rateable polls, able to pay public taxes: all said Stores, Warchonses, Barns, and Vessels are Lost and Gone, or of Little or no worth, and Great part of said Dwelling-houses are torn or fallen Down, and those few, that Remain, are so torn to pieces and out of Repair that there is not any fit for the poorest of people to Live in, So that there are but two families, and two Rateable polls, that are able to pay any publie taxes there."
2 Suff. Deeds, L. 81, f. 154. Hermon W. Pratt, of Chelsea, a descendant of Lientenant Thomas Pratt, possesses a silver ning with this inscription : " The Gift of the Proprietors of Point Shirley to Mrs. Mary Pratt, 1752."
8 Town Ree., i. 39, 41.
4 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xvii. 295, 296.
" Ibid., xix. 154, 157.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXVI
then in possession of said Ebenezer for seven years at the annual rent of £40, 1.m .; the lessees to keep the house, barn, and fences in good order and not to keep more than six horses : - All hay cut to be used on the island, from which no dung, gravel, or soil were to be carried, nor trees cut thereon without permission of the selectmen.
There was a Weir Creek at Pulling Point; and April 28, 1755, John Ramsdell and others were voted the "liberty to draw the same as usual provided they have leave of the pro- prietors of the marsh, where the same is drawn, and pay the Town Treasurer ten shillings lawful money for the season." "
March 13, 1786, a committee was chosen "to let out the privilege of Ware Creek this season." 7
May 14, 1787. Voted, not to abate Major David Parker any part what he, was to give for Ware Creek.8
Selectmen's Rec., i. 40, 42.
7 Town Rec., ii. 100.
8 Ibid., 107.
395
THE SMALLPOX
CHAP. XXXVII]
CHAPTER XXXVII
THE SMALL-POX
THE small-pox was brought to Pulling Point December 26, 1751, under circumstances which with the exertions of the Rummey Marsh people to check the spread of the disease are worth reading; and with the omission of some formal parts and the summarizing of others I present them in their own language.
January 6, 1752. Upon information that small-pox was broke ont at Pulling Point, and that it was brought into town by Capt. Cussins, whose ship was cast away on Pulling point beach, Voted, that the Selectmen and Nathaniel Oliver, Esq., should examine the men belonging to said ship respecting bringing in the distemper.1
January 11. In this examination it was learned that the small- pox was brought into town in the ship Bumper, late cast away on Pulling Point beach. That John Scalley was ill of the distemper, when said ship struck. That Capt. Cussens and his men in a ernel manner left said Scalley alive on board said ship alone ; made no discovery thereof, when they went on shore, and next morning, when the Mate, Boatswain, and others, would have gone on board said ship and relieved Scalley, if alive, the said Capt. Cussens would not suffer them, but left him to perish, and ordered the above men to go on board in the evening and send up said body, if dead, in a hammock, and bury the same among the rocks a little below the said ship, lest it should be discovered.
Capt. Sale to supply those sick of small-pox at Mr. Bill's with such necessaries as they may want.2
January 13, 1752. Discovery was made of the corpse of Jolin Sealley, and the same brought up to high water mark.
Whereas, the small-pox is broke out at Winisimet, and the widow Brintnal is willing that those taken ill that way should be moved into her house,3
Voted, Messrs. Richard Watts and Ebenr. Hough, take due Care
Selectmen's Rec., i. 27.
º Ibid.
3 Ibid., 27, 28.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXVII
of all persons seized with that distemper at or near to Wini- simett; that they supply them with Nurses, attendance, and other necessaries; and in such manner as to the best of their power to prevent the spreading the infection of said distemper.
The Selectmen were requested by Capt. Saml. Watts to bury or air the sails of the ship and other things that might be infected. But agrecd, as said things were hous'd, it was dangerous to move 'em at present.4
January 27. Upon remonstrance by Mr. Tewksbury, that he was in fear that small-pox might be more apt to spread by the sails and rigging, belonging to Capt. Cussen's ship, being in his barn, as his family necessarily frequented said barn; Agreed, said sails be moved on the beach near Mr. Bill's landing-place, and put on a Staddle, and covered with salt hay.
Mr. Tewksbury also requested a nurse for his family, and Mr. Stowers was desired to go to Marblehead to procure one.5
February 4, 1752. Agreed, a warrant be issued, obliging those who have recovered of the small-pox, to keep themselves confined to their own houses or the appendages thereof, till thoroughly cleansed, and have a permission to go abroad by the selectmen.6
Feb. 24, 1752. By desire of the Selectmen of Boston, in writ- ing, that the sails, and other rigging, of Capt. Cussins' ship be moved from Chelsea to Ransford's Island, Voted to permit same.7
April 6, 1752. Voted, that Mr. William Pratt be notified to kecp himself out of the Towns where small-pox is prevalent, or he and his family may expect to be sent to Boston, their usual place of abode.8
May 20, 1752. Voted, Jonathan Bill, Richard Watts, and Ebenezer Hough, a committee, to prosecute Nicholas Cussins, for bringing the small-pox into town .?
The following is the indictment of Captain Cussins, drawn by Edmund Trowbridge, then Attorney-General, and after- wards Judge of the Superior Court.
SUFFOLK SS :
At his Majesties Superiour Court of Judicature, Court of Assize and General Goal Delivery, held at Boston, in and for ye County
4 Selectmen's Rec., i. 28.
5 Ibid., 29.
6 Ibid.
" Ibid., 30.
8 Ibid., 33.
9 Town Rec., i. 37.
397
THE SMALL-POX
CHAP. XXXVII]
of Suffolk, on ye Third Tuesday of February, in ye twenty-fifth Ycar of ye Reign of George the second, by ye Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of ye Faith, &c -
The Jurors for ye said Lord King upon their Oath present that Nicholas Cussens, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, Mariner, on the Twenty-sixth Day of December Last, at Chelsea, aforesaid, was Master of the Ship, called the Bumper, and then and there had the Care and Management thereof, & of ye Goods and Chattels then on Board the said Ship, and that one John Scolley, for ye space of Ten Days immediately preceding ye said Twenty-Sixth Day of December Last had been on board ye said Ship, and During that time there visited with and Sick of the Small-Pox, A Contagious and Mortal Disease, And that by means thereof the said Ship and Goods aforesaid were So infected therewith, as that persons who had not before been Visited with ye Disease afore- said, could not Go on board ye said Ship without very Great Hazard of Taking and Recieving the Infection and Disease afore- said, and thereby Endangering their Lives, Of all which ye said Nicholas was well-Knowing, Yet he, the said Nicholas, not regard- ing the Health or Lives of the Liege Subjects of ye said Lord, the King, but being void of Humanity, Did on the said Twenty-sixth Day of December Last, at Chelsea aforesaid Inhmnanly And Wickedly cause and procure Benjamin Prat, Samuel Tuttle, junr., Thos. Patten, Bartholomew Flagg, Ebenezer Bootman, John Brint- nal, Jabez Burdet, Nathan Cheever, Edward Watts, Joseph Prat, David Sargent, Samll. Floyd, Ebenezer Prat, and Nathan Lewis (whom he, the said Nicholas, then knew had not been visited with the small-pox, but were Liable to take and recieve the same) to go on Board the said Ship and to handle and remove the said Goods, so infected as aforesaid ont of ye said Ship, and that the said Benjamin Prat, Samuel Tuttle, Junr, Thomas Patten, Bartholo- mew Flagg, Ebenezer Bootman, John Brintnal, Jabez Burdett. Nathan Cheever, Edward Watts, & Joseph Prat, by so going on board the said Ship, and removing the Goods, aforesaid, Did then and there take and receive the Infection aforesaid, and there- upon soon after fell siek of the Disease aforesaid and thereof ye said Benjamin Prat, Samuel Tuttle, junr., Thomas Patten, and Bartholomew Flagg, afterwards at Chelsea aforesaid Died. And that by means of the persons aforesaid so going on Board the said Ship, and removing the Goods, aforesaid, the said Contagious and Mortal Disease has been spread in the Town of Chelsea, aforesaid, and Communicated to many persons there, and Elsewhere in this Province. And inany of the Liege Subjects of the said Lord, the
398
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXVII
King, have thereby Lost their Lives. And the peace and Quiet of Multitudes Of other Good Subjects of the said Lord, the King, is taken away and Destroyed, and their Health and Lives are Greatly Endangered by means of the Contagious Disease aforesaid being Spread and Communicated as aforesaid Against the peace of the said Lord, the King, his Crown and Dignity.
EDM. TROWBRIDGE, Clerk. P. Dom. Reg.
This is a True Bill.
Joseph Roby, foreman.
[Original in Chamberlain MSS., Vol. V. p. 25.]
To this Indictment, the said Nicholas Cussens pleads not guilty.
Att. : SAM. WINTHROP, Cler.
The said Nicholas withdraws his aforesaid plea of not guilty, and says that he will not contend with the said Lord, the King, but puts himself on the Mercy of the Court.
Att. : SAM. WINTHROP, Cler.
1753, March 5. Voted, that the Selectmen prefer a petition to the General Court to entreat their favour respecting the extraor- dinary losses lately sustained by the small-pox.10
It may be inferred that the General Court acted favorably, for May 19, 1755, the town chose Captain Nathaniel Oliver, Lieutenant Nathan Cheever, and Mr. Samuel Floyd, a com- mittee to inquire as to " the distribution of the monies given by the General Court for the charge many were at by reason of the small-pox brought among us by Captain Cuzzen." The records contain no report, nor do I hear more of the matter.11
Inoculating Hospital at Point Shirley
Nine years later, in 1764, the small-pox raged with viru- lence in Boston, and occasioned great alarm. Private inocu- lation, from 1721, had prevailed to some extent, though there were those among the faculty even who disapproved of the practice; and when the governor and council had designated Point Shirley as a suitable place for an inoculating hospital,
.10 Town Rec., i. 39. Selectmen's Rec., i. 34, 43, 44, 48, 56.
11 Town Rec., i. 44.
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399
THE SMALL-POX
CHAP. XXXVII]
the people of Chelsea remonstrated. But Point Shirley had failed as a fishing station, and the proprietors were not unwill- ing to have the Hospital on their grounds; and there and at Castle William inoculating hospitals, the first in the State, were opened in 1764; at the former place by William Barnet from New Jersey; and at the latter by Samuel Geltson from Nantucket.12
At a meeting of the proprietors of Point Shirley, February 14, 1764:
Voted, and agreed to by the Subseribers, vizt .: Thomas Han- cock, James Pitts, John Rowe, Ezekiel Goldthwait, Ralph Inman, Thomas Goldthwait, Thomas Mitchell, Nathaniel Holmes, & Mr. Green's Executors : -
That, in order to promote so Salutary a work as the Stopping of the Small-pox in the Town of Boston, the said Proprietors do agree to let the Physicians of the said Town have their houses and other Interest at Point Shirley to make use of an Hospital for Inoculation. And, whereas there are some Inhabitants at the said Point poor, and may become a charge to the Town of Chelsea ; The said Proprietors do further agree, and do oblige themselves, to maintain such poor in case they shall stand in need of it, and that they shall not become a charge to the said Town of Chelsea, provided they, the said Town of Chelsea, consents to the said Point Shirley being Improved, as aforesaid. And the said Pro- prietors do further agree to be at the charge of nursing such poor of the said place as shall ineline to be immediately Inoculated. It is understood that one Abigail Hool is included as one of the poor of Point Shirley.
Boston, February 15th, 1764.
THOMAS HANCOCK.
JAMES PITTS, JOHN ROWE, for himself, & RALPHI INMAN. JOHN ROWE, for the Excentors EZEKIEL GOLDTHWAIT.
of Thomas Green, Esq., Deceased, THOMAS GOLDTHWAIT. A True Copy. Attest: SAMUEL Watts, Jur., Town Clerk. Dated at Chelsea, ye 29th day of February, In the Year 1764.13
February 16, 1764. Warrant. To See if the Town will consent
12 The subject is interesting in the history of medical science, and I print the documents very fully.
February 3, 1776. Dr. Samuel Gelston or Geltson to be confined as a Loyalist, at his own cost. House Jour., Nov. Sess., 1775, p. 242. See also Groton Hist. Ser., by Samuel Abbott Green, M.D., vol. iii., no. 10, p. 421; 2 Mass. Hist. Coll., i. 108.
19 Selectmen's Ree., i. 48.
.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXVII
that the Small-pox shall be brought into Shirley point so call'd by Inoculation.
After some Debate, -The Town Voted, not to have the Small- pox brought into any Branch of it by Way of Inoculation.
Also, that the Selectmen be as a Committee, to Remonstrate to his Excellency, the Governor, and his Majesty's Council, the Dan- ger and many inconveniences, and to pray that it may not be allowed.14
1764, February 20th. At a Meeting of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, legally qualified, and warned in Publiek Town-Meeting, assembled at Faneuil Hall, on Monday the 20th of February, Anno Domini 1764.
Voted, that the Gentlemen, the Selectmen, together with James Otis, John Ruddock, Samuel Wells, Harrison Gray, Foster Hutch- inson, Esqrs :, Mr. Thomas Gray, Benjamin Kent, and John Tudor, Esqrs., be and hereby are appointed a Committee to take into their serious consideration, what are the most expedient Measures for the Town to take in their present distressed Circumstances by reason of the Small-Pox, more especially the Proposals made rela- tive to inoeulating Hospitals, and to Report at the Adjournment of this Meeting.15
Feby. 24. The Committee appointed [as above] after mature deliberation are of Opinion, That it be recommended to the Selectmen still to Continue their Endeavors to prevent the spread- ing of that Distemper, and that for the Accomodation of such of the Inhabitants as are inelined to take the distemper by Inocula- tion it will be expedient for the Town to Countenance the Estab- lishment of Inoculating Hospitals, and they find upon Inquiry that the Houses at Point Shirley are very convenient for that Purpose; Your Committee further report, that a number of Phy- sieians have hir'd the Houses at said Place with a view of Im- proving them as inoculating Hospitals, & are ready to admit any of the Physicians of the Town to inoculate their Patients there, they paying a reasonable consideration for the Houses & Furniture, and that a number of other Physicians are about En- gaging Houses at some of the Islands near the Town for the same Purpose. - Your Committee have also consider'd the Petition for establishing an inoculating Hospital in this Town, and are of opinion it will not be convenient at present to have such an Hospital within the Peninsula.
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