USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, from its origin to the present period; with some account of the environs > Part 6
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Mr. Blackstone's house was situated near the banks of the river, on a knoll which he named Study Hill. It was sur- rounded. by a park, which was his favourite and daily walk for a series of years. Though he was far from agreeing in opinion with Roger Williams, he used frequently to go to Providence to preach the gospel; and to encourage his younger hearers, while he gratified his own benevolent dispo-
* Hubbard N. E. p. 113. Johnson W. W. P. ch. ix. Magnalia i. 221.
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4. Bowen del et Se.
Craved according to dot of congressby & Bowen
ALMS-HOUSE, LEVERET STREET.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
sition, he would give them of his apples, which were the first they ever saw. It is said that when he grew old and unable to travel on foot, not having any horse, he used to ride on a bull, which he had tamed and tutored to that use. He died May 26, 1675, and lies buried on classick ground, on Study Hill, where a flat stone marks his grave.
Concerning Mr. Blackstone's family we infer that it con- sisted of but three persons while he continued in Boston : hc having had a portion for three heads allotted to him at Muddy River. His wife, whose name was Sarah, died about two years before him. He left a son named John, for whom guardians were appointed in 1675, and a daughter who was married to Mr. John Stevenson.
The death of this venerable pilgrim happened at a critical period, the beginning of an Indian war. His estate was des- olated, and his house burnt by the natives. His library which contained a hundred and eighty-six volumes, from folios to pamphlets, shared the same fate. His family is now ex- tinct : but we hope and trust the musing stranger will hereaf- ter find his name on some marble tablet of historical inscrip- tions erected by the munificent hand of some Bostonian .*
CHAPTER XI.
For empire formed, and fit to rule the rest.
Dryden.
THE long desired arrival of Mr. Cotton took place on the fourth of September, 1633. He came in the Griffin, a ship of three hundred tons, which brought about two hundred other passengers. His celebrity which was great in England, had already filled the American settlements, and prepared him a most welcome reception. His talents were considered common property, and it was the immediate concern of the wise and good, where he should fix his residence and how receive an honourable support. He might have selected any situation in the country, and was indeed urged to accept seve- ral invitations other than what he received in Boston, but he was somewhat compelled by the advice of the Governour and a council of the elders in the colony, as well as the unanimous voice of the First Church here to bestow his principal labours. It was at first proposed that Mr. Cotton should be maintained from the treasury, in consideration of the political as well as ecclesiastical benefits, that were expected from his ministry ;
Mass. H. C, 2. ix. 174. x. 170.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
but the maturer judgment of a majority of the council quash- ed the proposal.
Mr. Cotton was ordained teacher of the First Church on the tenth of October ; and on the same day Mr. Thomas Leverett was chosen a ruling elder, and Mr. Giles Firmin, sen. a godly apothecary from Sudbury in England was chosen deacon .* In addition to the imposition of the hands of the elders, as in the case of Mr. Wilson, the ceremony of calling on the people to signify their election of the candidate, and on him to ac- knowledge his acceptance of their call, and also the presenta- tion of the right hand of fellowship by the neighbouring min- isters, was introduced on this occasion. Immediately upon his induction, Mr. Cotton entered upon the duties of his office ; and so great was his influence both in ecclesiastical and civil affairs, that the measures he recommended were forthwith adopted in the church, and his private political counsels were with equal readiness enforced by the government.t
Considerable trading had already been carried on at Bos- ton, but there appears not to have been any regular system introduced, until March, 1634. In Gov. Winthrop's journal for that month, it is stated that by order of court a market was erected at Boston to be kept upon Thursday the fifth day of the week, being lecture day. # Samuel Cole set up the first house of entertainment, and John Cogan, merchant, the first shop. In July of the preceding year, a proposition had been made by the Plymouth people, to have the Bostonians join with them in trading to Connecticut, but they thought fit not to meddle with it.
The General Court this year held their session in Mr. Cot- ton's meeting house. It fell to his lot to preach the Election sermon, and he improved the occasion to deliver this doctrine, that a magistrate ought not to be turned into the condition of a private man, without just cause and on publick conviction, any more than a magistrate may turn a private man out of his freehold without publick trial. His sermon, however, did not have the effect he probably intended; for the frcemen pro- ceeding forthwith to vote for a Governour and Deputy, Mr. Winthrop was left out, Mr. Dudley chosen in his place, and Mr. Roger Ludlow elected Deputy. A consequence of this change was that Newtown became the seat of government for the year ensuing.
* This Mr. Firmin's son Giles practised physick at Ipswich and afterwards returned to England.
t Emerson's Hist. First Church.
į This is the earliest notice of the Thursday lectures in the Journal, but an order of court, passed in October 1633, regulating the hours at which lectures should be held (1. P. M.) shows that they had been earlier established.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
In the course of the fall, a little affair occurred which serves to show us somewhat of the spirit of the times. Some of the people had been abused and insulted on board a vessel in the harbour, and it was thought best not to suffer the insult to pass unnoticed. The power of government and the ad- vice of the ministers was put in requisition, and the supercar- go of the ship being on shore was summarily seized, and committed to custody till he gave bail that the offender should be forthcoming. Upon examination, not much could be made of the matter, and the bail was discharged with advice to the master not to bring any such disorderly persons this way again.
It will hardly be credited, yet it is true that so early as the period of which we are treating, Mr. Cotton found it necessary to exert his influence to suppress superfluous and unnecessarily expensive fashions. The court in September of this year made a law, that tobacco should not be taken in company, or before strangers, and condemned to disuse a great variety of articles of dress. Gold or silver laces, girdles, or hat-bands, embroidered caps, immoderate great veils and immoderate great sleeves incurred special disapprobation. Such things were all subject to forfeiture, with an exception that some of the articles already in use might be worn out. - But a sermon of Mr. Cotton's at Salem had as powerful an effect as the fear of the law. In a morning service, he taught the women there, that they had no occasion to wear veils, in compliance with any scriptural direction, and they were so enlightened and convinc- ed by his discourse, that every woman in the afternoon appear- ed without her veil, and ever after considered it a shame to wear one. Mr. Cotton had before urged the same doctrine at Boston ; we may safely add, with like success .*
We have now reached the date of the oldest volume of the town records, that remains extant. The first page commences with the doings of the first day of the seventh month, + 1634. This entry, and those made for a short time after, appear in the handwriting of Gov. Winthrop ; a circumstance which makes us regret the more, that the records of the four first years should have been lost. We are thus left without direct information of the course pursued in regard to the divisions of land among the settlers, and of other steps they must have taken to bring their affairs into so sood order as we find them in, at this period.
It is apparent from this first record that the management of the affairs of the town had been committed to a select body of men. The number at this period was ten, as appears from the following extract :
* Winthrop, March 4, 1634. I ulbard, N. E. 205.
i Equivalent to September ; March being considered the first month.
. Mouth Sth, day 6th. Ata general mecti g upou publics notice given the fifth day of the last week it was ordered and agreed as follows :
. Imprimis. Richard Bellingham, Esquire, and J. Cogan, merchant, were chosen in the place of Giles Firmin, deceased, and Robert Harding, now in Virginia, to make up the 10, to manage the affairs of the town.'
The persons thus chosen are not distinguished by the appel- lation of SELECTMEN, till the year sixteen hundred and forty two : they were sometimes called Townsmen. Dorchester chose such a body in 1633, for the first time : it is probable that the measure had been previously adopted in Boston : Charlestown did not choose them till 1634. The courts of the colony had made no provisions for any such form of town gov- ernment. It is not till May 3d, 1636, that we find an order to the following effect :- The freemen of every town are em- powered to dispose of lands, grant lots and make such orders as may concern the well ordering of their town, not repugnant to laws of court or kingdom ; also to lay fines not exceeding twenty shillings, appoint officers, constables and surveyors. It is clear that the town of Boston exercised all this authority long before the passing of this order. The course had proba- bly been adopted by common consent, and some event may have occurred, which rendered it necessary to give the sanc- tion of the court to the procedure.
The names of the first board of Selectmen on record are John Winthrop Giles Firmin [sen.]
William Coddington
John Coggeshall
Capt. [John] Underhill
William Pierce
Thomas Oliver
Robert Harding
Thomas Leverett William Brenton.
It was customary for the inhabitants to meet to transact business relative to the police of the town immediately after. the Thursday lecture. On the 11th of Dcc. 1634, they met to choose seven men who should divide the town lands among them. They chose by ballot and elected all ' of the inferior sort' except one of the elders and a deacon. This was done through fear that the richer gentlemen would not give the poorer class so large a proportion of the land as they thought should be allotted to them, but would rather leave a greater part at liberty for new comers and for Common, which Gov. Winthrop had often persuaded them was best for the town. Mr. Cotton and others were offended at this proceeding. Mr. Winthrop expressed his regret that Boston should be the first to shake off her magistrates ; whereupon, on motion of Mr. Cotton, who showed them that it was scriptural to have all such business committed to the elders, they all agreed to have a new election, which was deferred to the next lecture day.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
The town records are silent as to the names of the first ' inferior sort :' those who were chosen at the second meet- ing, December 18th, 1634, were,
Mr. Winthrop, Mr. Colburn,
Mr. Coddington,
Mr. Oliver,
Mr. Cotton, and
Mr. Bellingham, William Balston.
The jealousy, manifested by the people on this occasion, was natural, and the exhibition of their power may have been politick and prudent : their submission to the arguments of Mr. Cotton and Mr. Winthrop was reasonable, and evinces a character, of which their posterity may without vanity be proud.
CHAPTER XII.
These drew not for their fields the sword Like tenants of a feudal lord.
Scott.
Tms committee was empowered 'to divide and dispose of all such lands, belonging to the town, as are not yet in the lawful possession of any particular person, according to the orders of the court, leaving such portions in common, for the use of new comers, and the further benefit of the town, as in their best discretion they shall think fit-the islands hired by the town to be also included in this order.' On the ninth of February following, ' it is agreed by general consent, that all the inhabitants shall plant only upon such ground as is al- ready broken up, or inclosed, in the neck,* or else upon the ground at Noddle's Island from Mr. Maverick's grant, and that every able man, fit to plant, shall have allowed to him two acres to plant on, and every able youth one acre, to be allotted out by Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Cogan, Mr. Sampford, and Wil- liam Cheeseborough, and Mr. Brenton, or any three of them.' Neither of these, it will be perceived, were on the former committee : their duties were different, the one regarding chiefly the lands within the peninsula, the other having refer-
* Those who have occasion to search the early records of the town, should know, that sometimes the whole peninsula was called the Neck ; sometimes that part only, which con- nects Boston with Roxbury ; and sometimes they will meet with the expression, within the Neck, (and the two Necks, and the inward Neck.) These distinctions are to be particularly observed in tracing the original titles of the allotments .- Shaw,
8
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
ence to the lands at Muddy river, Pullin point, and other pla- ces assigned to Boston people for their improvement.
What special care they took to preserve themselves a pe- culiar people, will appear from the record of the 30th No- vember, 1635. ' It is agreed, that no further allotments shall be granted unto any new comers, but such as may be likely to be received members of the congregation .- Item, that none shall sell their houses or allotments to any new comers, but with the consent and allowance of those that are appointed allotters .- Item, that all such as have allotments for habitation allotted unto them shall build thereon, before the first of the first month next, called March, or else it shall be in the power of the allotters to dispose of them.' Several instances occur- red in which these orders were faithfully executed : fines were inflicted on some who ventured to bargain for lands without permission, and sales were declared void. Those who failed to build were compelled to offer satisfactory excuse .*
Four days after the passing of the above order, it was further agreed ' that in regard of the unequal disposing of the planting ground heretofore, none shall be accounted to have any estate of inheritance in any planting ground upon the neck save only in their house plots, gardens, and yards, until the town shall take order for a more equal disposing thereof by distribution. And on the 14th of December, ten days after the last, it is agreed by general consent, that the poorer sort of inhabitants, such as are members, or likely so to be, and have no cattle, shall have their proportion of allotments for planting ground and other assigned unto them by the al- lotters, and laid out at Muddy river by the aforenamed five persons, [viz. Messrs. Colburn, Aspinwall, Sampford, Balston, and Richard Wright] or four of them-those that fall between the foot of the hill and the water, to have but four acres upon a head, and those that are farther off to have five acres for every head, the plot to begin next Muddy river side.'
Conformably to the preceding orders a distribution was declared on the 3th of January 1638. The names of the heads of families are recorded and the quantity of land allot- ted to each, with the boundaries of the same. The number of families of ' the poorer sort' provided for, was eighty-six,
* Town Records, June 6, 1636. 'We find that Richard Fairbank hath sold unto two strangers the two houses in Sudbury end, that were Wm. Balston's, contrary to a former or- der, and therefore the sale to be wrong, and the said R. F. to forfeit for his breaking thereof five pounds.
March 30, 1641. Notice shall be given by the constables unto such as have not built upon their house lots, which have been set out to them above a year, that they come to the next meeting to show cause why their lots should not be granted to others, according to the orig- inal grant ; and if they come not, that then the town will dispose of them.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
and the number of heads 337. Besides these, allotments were assigned to thirty other families, such as Gov. Win- throp's, Mr. Wilson's, Mr. Cotton's, Mr. Robert Keayne's and other principal persons, some of whom had upwards of 300 acres apiece.
On the tenth of January 1642, it was found necessary to adopt the following vote. 'Notwithstanding the order made concerning the disposing of land in this neck, on the fourth of the tenth, sixteen hundred thirty-five, yet for peace sake and for avoiding of confusion in the town, many lands having been bought and sold at dear rates, the rights of all lands disposed of, shall belong to the present owners as they should have done, if the former order had never been, and the said former order is hereby repealed. Provided, that this order shall not concern such marsh ground as hath been let from year to year.'
Under date of March 4th ensuing we find another record on this subject, when it is ordered that the residue of the town's lands, not yet disposed of (excepting those that are laid out for commons at Boston, Braintree, and Muddy River) shall be divided amongst the present inhabitants, together with such as shall be admitted within two months now next following, and that in this manner, viz. a greater proportion to them that have had less than their due, and the less to them that have had more, and proportionally to them that have had none, and this is to be done by the Selectmen,
chosen for the town's business. Finally on the 7th Sept. 1645, we have this important entry ; 'whereas the several grants of house lots and other lands, recorded in this town book, are entered only as granted to the proprietors them- selves, without mention of their heirs, it has been thought fit to be hereby declared and ordered, that all such grants were and shall be intended to be ESTATES IN FEE SIMPLE, with all due and usual privileges and appurtenances, and are to be so construed and taken, to all intents, except in such ca- ses wherein any particular estate for term of years is spe- cially expressed.'
The foregoing citations present all our direct information of the course pursued, in regard to the division of land among the settlers at Boston. All the lands in the colony had be- come the property of the company by their charter, and Hubbard informs us, that at a court in May 1629, it was agreed, that every adventurer who had advanced fifty pounds should have 200 acres of land allowed him; and that 50 acres apiece should be allowed those, that went over at their own charge. This may account for some of the great lots we have mentioned. In the settlement of Salem, at first, the smallest families were entitled to ten-acre lots. with a reserve
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
of such common lands for pasture, as might accommodate them, near their own houses .* Johnson, in his account of Woburn, gives us a more particular account of ' the manner how this people have populated their towns,' than we have discovered elsewhere. ' This town, as all others,' saith he, ' had its bounds fixed by the General Court, to the contents of four miles square : the grant is to seven men of good and honest report, upon condition, that, within two years, they erect houses thereon, and so go on to make a town thereof upon the Act of Court. These seven men have power to give and grant out lands unto any persons, who are willing to take up their dwellings within the said precinct, and to be ad- mitted to all common privileges of the said town, giving them such an ample portion, both of meadow and upland, as their present and future stock of cattle and hands were like to im- prove, with eye had to others, that might after come to popu- late the said town. This they did without any respect of persons ; yet such as were exorbitant, and of a turbulent spirit, unfit for a civil society, they would reject : till they come to mend their manners, such came not to enjoy any freehold. These seven men ordered and disposed of the streets of the town, as might be best for the improvement of the land, and that civil and religious society maintained. To which end, those that had land nearest the place for Sabbath assembly, had a lesser quantity at home and more farther off, to improve for corn of all kinds. They refused not men for their poverty, but according to their ability were helpful to the poorest sort, in building their houses, and distributed to them land accordingly : the poorest had six or seven acres of meadow and twenty-five of upland or thereabouts. Thus was this town populated, and after this manner are the towns of New England peopled.'
That the inhabitants of Boston were equally careful as to the character of those they received among them, as were the people of Woburn, we have already seen, and they continued to be so for a series of years. At a Selectmen's meeting, January, 1637, ' it was agreed that Widow Bushnell, George Harwood, and John Low, the wheelwright, shall have house lots and gardens upon the usual condition of inoffensive carriage. In 1652, Feb. Richard Woody is admitted an inhabitant on condition he shall not be offensive by his trade. August, 1657, John Pierce is admitted an inhabitant upon the testimony of James Everill and Isaac Collamore. Care was also taken, to secure the town from charge on account of new comers, and bonds were required to that effect, before leave to reside
* Hubbard, N. E. 123 .- Mass. H. C. 1. vi. 232 .- W. W. P. ch. xxii. See also Hutch. coll. of papers, p. 88. 91.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
here could be obtained. This practice commenced as early as 1652, and the bonds are recorded in this stile, sc. 'Marga- ret Norris, an Irishwoman is admitted into the town, and David Faulkoner is bound to secure the town from any charge as respecting her, in a bond of seven pounds. Witness his hand Mark David D. F. Faulkoner. of.
26th, of 5th. 1658.'
One of the privileges of being admitted an inhabitant was the right to improve the common lands, which so far as we can learn appear to have been reserved in every town. Prior to 1640 mention is frequently made of TOWN FIELDS, in the Boston records, and they seem to have been inclosed by gen- eral fence. Thus, in Feb. 1635 we read, ' all the fences are to be made sufficient by the seventh of the second month, and they to be looked unto by our brother Grubb and Hudson for the new field ; brother Penniman and brother Colburn for the field by him, and by brother Penn and brother Belcher for the fort-field ; brother Matson and brother Everill at the mill-field.'
Again, March 1, 1636. All the fences belonging to the town fields are to be overseen and looked unto thus, 'the field towards Roxbury by Jacob Eliot and Jonathan Neegoose ; the fort field by James Penn and Richard Gridley ; the mill field by John Button and Edward Bendall, and the new field by John Audley and Thomas Fairweather.' In June, 'a suf- ficient footway is ordered to be made from W. Colburn's field and unto Samuel Wilbour's field next Roxbury, by the sur- veyors of high ways.'
Of the abovenamed fields that next to Roxbury * comprised what we at present call the neck; the fort field that portion of the town lying round about Fort hill : the mill field was at the north part of the town, and was so called from the wind- mill, which stood on what is at present called Copp's hill : the new field was that purchased of Mr. Blackstone, and included the ground in the vicinity of the General Hospital ; * out of all these, lots were from time to time granted to individuals. The field by Mr. Colburn contained the greater partt of the present Common, and probably extended at that time as far as Beacon street.
* See town records Dec. 26, 1642, and Oct. 28, 1639.
t On the 6th October 1737 Wm. Foster conveyed to the town of Boston "a certain tract of land containing two acres and one eighth of an acre situated lying and being near the Com- mon and bounded E. on the highway, 324 ft. North on the Common 295 ft. 5 in. W. on the new burial ground, 302 ft. 3 in. S. on Pleasant st. 281 fr. 9 inches," which makes the Southeast corner of the present Common.
HISTORY OF BOSTON.
Respecting this the following vote was passed on the 30th of March 1640, ' Henceforth there shall be no land granted either for house plot or garden to any person, out of the open ground or common field, which is left between the Sentry hill and Mr. Colburn's end, except three or four lots to make up the street from brother Robert Walker's to the round marsh.' This vote was followed in May, 1646, by these, 1 .- It is grant- ed that all the inhabitants shall have equal right of com- monage in the town : those who are admitted by the town are to be inhabitants. 2 .- It is ordered that all who shall after the date hereof, come to be an inhabitant in the town of Bos- ton shall not have right of commonage, unless he hire it of them that are commoners. 3 .- There shall be kept out of the Common by the inhabitants of the town but seventy milch kine. 4 .- No dry cattle, young cattle, or horse, shall be free to go on the common this year, but one horse of Elder Oliver. 5 .- No inhabitant shall sell his right of commonage, but may only let it out to hire from year to year. 6 .- No common marsh or pasture ground shall hereafter, by gift or sale, exchange or otherwise, be counted unto propriety, with- out consent of the major part of the inhabitants of the town.'
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