History of East Boston; with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix, Part 16

Author: Sumner, William H. (William Hyslop), 1780-1861. cn
Publication date: 1858
Publisher: Boston, J. E. Tilton
Number of Pages: 883


USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston; with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix > Part 16
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston : with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix. > Part 16


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1 Now living in New York, 279 Broome street.


ª Lib. 50, p. 149.


8 In the New York Records, lib. 147 of Conveyances, p. 69, we find that Andrew Maverick, 21st of August, 1820, conveyed to John B. Jansen all his


175


1787-1831.] PETER R. MAVERICK'S FAMILY.


The children of Peter Rushton Maverick, so far as can be ascertained, were these: Sarah, who married Benjamin Mon- tague, both now dead, without issue; Rebecca and Maria, the first and second wives of James Woodhouse (now deceased), the first dying without issue, the second leaving children, now scattered; Ann, who married Patrick Munn, both of whom died without issue ; Peter, born in New York in 1782; Andrew, and Samuel. .


Mr. Bryant, Peter R.'s legal adviser, says that all of his sons married and left children.


Peter, son of Peter R., was twice married. How many chil- dren he had by his first wife is not known; one of them, Peter, was a dissipated man and went to ruin. His second wife was Miss Matilda Brown, whom he married in 1828; on his decease, June, 1831, in New York, she came into possession of his portrait, painted by Jarvis. Peter had a son by this mar- riage, namely, Augustus Maverick, born 23d August, 1830, now one of the assistant editors of the New York Daily Times. As already said, Peter excelled his father in his profession. Among his engravings were some for Collins's Quarto Bible. He was for a time in most prosperous circumstances, his prop- erty principally accruing from his legitimate business. Some misfortunes connected with a partnership business reduced his means; and late in life, with a large family to support, he was obliged to commence anew. A. B. Durand, a distinguished portrait and landscape painter and engraver, was his pupil; and after serving an apprenticeship of five years (from 1812 to 1817), he entered into partnership with his teacher. As is often the case, the pupil, in course of years, surpassed his master ; and the preference which Trumbull gave to Durand by employing him to the exclusion of Maverick, broke up the business connec- tion.


The tradition that Peter Rushton Maverick came from Eng- land would seem to indicate that this family was not connected with that to which this history particularly relates. Still, it is


right, title, and interest in his father's estate; and on the 23d of February, 1829 (lib. 254, p. 218), Samuel releases his interest in the estate to his mother Rebecca.


176


HISTORY.


[1665.


by no means improbable that all of the name were of common descent. An extract from a letter from Judge Mountfort to the writer will corroborate such a supposition. He says :-


" One Mary Lugg, or Rugg, in England, left a large property to the heirs of Peter Maverick in America, more than sixty years ago. It was said to have been converted into money and deposited in the Bank of England. Samuel Parkman called to see my mother about this matter a half century or more ago. A Peter Maverick, believed to have been a brother of my great- grandfather, John Maverick, went to England a century ago, or thereabouts, and subsequently left England to return to Amer- ica ; but the vessel in which he took passage was never heard from, and is supposed to have foundered. We believe that this was the Peter Maverick to whose heirs the said bequest was made."


The descendants of Samuel, son of Peter R. Maverick, were notified to meet to adopt means to establish their title to the large sum of money left by Peter Maverick, of England. A lawyer was employed, but the descent could not be traced, as the family records were burned at Charlestown. Mr. Mount- fort's mother said that they were descended from this Peter, but could give no legal proof. It is easy to see from these items, that the family supposed a connection to exist between the Mavericks of Boston and those of New York, and that there is a possibility, if not a probability, that the Peter whose property was left for heirs in America was connected with the John who lived in Boston prior to the Revolution.


It is hoped that the information relative to the Mavericks, thus gleaned from every accessible source by a patient investi- gation, is not without value. But whatever of interest may attach to others of the name, the life and character of Samuel Maverick, the first grantee of Noddle's Island, stand out in bold relief. Winthrop found him here in 1630; but when or whence he came will probably forever remain a mystery. Opposed in political and religious opinions and belief to the colonial authorities, he suffered, in consequence, hardships and persecutions; but, rising superior to all attempts to infringe upon his rights as a citizen or his faith as a churchman, he


1665.]


SAMUEL MAVERICK'S CHARACTER.


177


overcame all obstacles; outlived the calumnies of enemies ; so overcame the prejudices of the Puritan rulers as to become prominent in public affairs, and to engage in important business matters with the governor; with an enlarged and liberal view of public policy and individual rights, he identified himself with the efforts to secure equal civil and religious privileges to all ; secured in a remarkable degree the confidence of his sovereign, and held high and honorable office under him; and in his whole course through life, he showed himself a man of strong and generous impulses, of decision and energy, independence of mind and purpose, executive ability and perseverance in action, - all of which qualities fitted him to fill successfully places of responsibility and honor, which he from time to time occupied. If he had faults, they were overshadowed by those nobler traits of character by which he was so distinguished, and which led him on, step by step, over all opposition, to positions of trust and high honor under his sovereign.


-


CHAPTER VIII.


THE OWNERSHIP TRACED FROM SAMUEL MAVERICK TO SAMUEL SHRIMPTON.


HAVING completed the biographical sketch of Samuel Mave- rick, the first grantee of Noddle's Island, and given accounts of the family, the direct narrative of the Island history is now resumed.


Immediately following the Episcopalian controversy related in Chapter IV., Maverick sold Noddle's Island, and took up his residence elsewhere. It will be remembered that Mary Hooke, the daughter of Samuel Maverick, states in her petition (given on page 107), that her father, feeling the fine imposed upon him to be unjust, resolved not to pay it; but fearing that the Island would be seized by the government in payment therefor, and desiring to secure himself, he made a deed in form of the Island to his eldest son, Nathaniel, but not intending to deliver the instrument to him. The son, however, more crafty than his father, obtained possession of the writings, and thus became nominally the owner of the Island.


The next change of title which took place was in 1650, when Maverick and his wife, conjointly with their son Nathaniel, sold it to Captain George Briggs, of Barbadoes, as appears by the record in the Suffolk Registry of Deeds.1


Whether the long series of indignities which Maverick received from the colonial government created in him a desire to leave his Island home, does not appear; but certainly such an inference could very naturally be drawn from the cir- cumstances of the case. He had now (1650) resided upon the


1 Lib. 1, fol. 122.


179


CHANGES IN OWNERSHIP.


1649-'53.]


Island about twenty-five years, and without doubt his home was surrounded with the conveniences and comforts which so long a residence, with even ordinary improvements, would secure ; and considering his character, position, and great hos- pitality, it is probable that his home was, for those times, com- modious and perhaps elegant. It is therefore probable, that only the weariness induced by his long continued difficulties with the colonial authorities determined him to remove from its jurisdiction. This deed of sale was signed 14th January, 1649, and acknowledged 26th July, 1650.


Upon the 28th of the October following the date of the deed above given, Captain Briggs conveyed the Island to Nathaniel Maverick and his heirs forever, who upon the same day con- veyed it to Colonel John Burch, of Barbadoes, and his heirs for- ever. But differences arose, and suits at law were had in sev- eral courts, in which it appears that Samuel Maverick claimed possession on the ground that the conditions on which the Island had been sold to Briggs were broken.


Colonel Burch, as assignee of Captain Briggs, through his attorney, Lieutenant John Sayers, brought an action against Samuel Maverick, for Noddle's Island, " at a special court held at Boston, 28th December, 1652. The court not receiving the verdict of the jury, the case, by course of law, fell to the gen- eral court to be determined."


The issue between Samuel Maverick and Colonel Burch coming before the general court, a resolution was introduced, giving the possession of the Island to Colonel Burch, on the per- formance of certain conditions.


The record states,1 under date of 18th May, 1653 :-


" In the case betweene Colonell Birch and Mr. Mauericke, it is resolued on, & by this Court declared, that Noddle's Iland, & appurtenances, in the same condition as is expressed in the deede of sale to Capt. Brigg, doth belong to Colonel John Birch, & possession is to be delivered vnto him, his heires, or assignes, vppon the payment or legall tender of seuen hundred pound starlinge at the store howse next the waters side at the


1 Mass. Records, Vol. III. p. 309.


180


HISTORY.


[1653.


bridge in Barbadoes, in good marchantable suger, at prise cur- rent, as for bills of exchange payable in London imediatly after the expiration of thirty dayes sight of the judgement of this Court in this case, & that no charg be allowed to Colonel Birch."


Following this, and of the same date, is " A declaration of Colonell Birch, ordred to be recorded :" _1


" I doe declare and publish to all men whom these may con- cerne, that I will justifie, that by the knowne lawes of England, I haue a right & tytle to Noddles Iland, in New England, & so cleare a right therevnto as any man hath to any thinge he there possesseth, the which I shall desire euery man whom it may concerne to take speciall notice off, that they be not deceived in purchasing the same, or any part thereof, or paying any rent for any they doe hold, or may hereafter hold, from Mr. Mauer- icke, his heires, or assignes ; & I shall desire that this declarat may be entred in the publicke records of New England, that all men may take care they be not deceived. J. B."


There is another entry in the next volume of the records, by which it appears that the witnesses produced by both parties were heard before the general court, and the question decided " by resolution of a question," in very nearly the same words as just given in the resolution of the 18th of May, and to the effect, that, in case the said Birch did pay or legally tender £700 sterling at the storehouse next the water-side in Barba- does, in Muscovado sugar, at price current as for bills of exchange payable in London immediately after the expiration of thirty days' sight of the judgment of the court, then the possession of the Island should be delivered to Col. Burch.2


Judgment was rendered on the 7th of June, 1653. The decision by the general court having been final, and Burch having fulfilled the conditions, Samuel Maverick and his son Nathaniel made a new conveyance of the Island on the 31st of July, 1656, which is thus recorded : -


1 Mass. Records, Vol. III. p. 310.


2 Ibid. Vol. IV. Part 1, p. 132.


1656.]


THE ISLAND CONVEYED TO BURCH.


181


" Indenture made the last day (31) of July 1656, betwixt Sam1 Mauericke, Gent. & Nath1 Mauericke, sonne & heire Apparent of sª Sam1 Mavericke of the one pt & Col. John Burch of the Island of Barbadoes Esqr of the other pt.


" Witnesseth that sd Mauericke & Amias his wife & sd Nath1 Mauericke did by theire deed bearing date, 14 Jan. 1649, con- vey vnto Capt Geo. Briggs, an Island Called Noddles Island. And whereas sª George Briggs did by his deede bearing date 28 Oct. 1650, Convey sª Island vnto Nath1 Mauerick and his heires for euer. And whereas sd Nath1 Mauericke did the same day Convey sª Island vnto John Burch & his heires for euer And whereas since that time differences & suites of lawe haue binn had in suerall Courts and at last in the Generall Court at Boston betweene sd John Burch and sd Sam1 Mauericke for sd Island wherein it was exhibited that the aboue named George Briggs had not perfectly performed the Consideration by him undertaken.


" And whereas in sd Court It was at Last Ordered the 7th of June 1653 in case sª Burch did pay or legally tender £700 ster- ling at the store howse next the sea side in Barbadoes in mus- cavadoes Sugar at price Currant as for bills of exchange that then the possession of the sd Island to be delivered to sd Burch.


" Sd Samuell hath Received full satisfaction of the sª £700, stirling menconed in the aboue order made at the Generall Court aforesayd.


" Sd Samuell Mauericke doth convey vnto sd Burch sª Nodles Island &c.


SAMI MAUERICKE


" Acknowledged last day (31) of July 1656, before me Thos. Gibbes."


This instrument is witnessed by six persons, and is followed by an appointment of an attorney by Mr. Burch, dated at Bar- badoes, 5th November, 1656, and which reads thus :-


" Barbadoes, - I Col. John Burch of the Island abouesajd Appointe my well beloued friend Mr. Thomas Bratle of Charles Towne merchant, my Attourney to recouer of Mr. Samuell Mauericke an Island Comonly Called Nodles Island and like- 16


182


HISTORY.


[1656-7.


wise all other rights thereunto belonging, wch doth to me Appertayne. 5 Nov. 1656. JOHN BURCH.


" In the presence of John Sayes, John Newmaker.


" At Request of Mr. Thos. Bratle. Recorded 7 Jan. 1656."1


Possession of the Island was given by Maverick on the first of January, 1656-7, in the following words : -


"1 Jan. 1656 (7). Attest, - Nicholas Shopleigh, Randall Niccolls, John Jeffres, Willjam Rosewell, that wee sawe full and peaceable possession given of sª Island, houses, &c. by sª Maue- rick & Amy his wife, to Thomas Bratle of Charles Towne Attorney to Col. John Burch of Barbadoes &c.


"(Before) JNº ENDICOTT, Gov"."


Thus Noddle's Island passed from the possession of the Maverick family.


Colonel Burch did not long hold the ownership of the Island, for in the same year (1656-7) in which he came into possession of it, Thomas Broughton gave orders to Mr. Richard Leader, then at Barbadoes, to purchase it of Colonel Burch, in his name and for his own use.2


In pursuance of this instruction, Richard Leader purchased the Island in his own name and in the name of Richard New-


1 Bk. II. fol. 323, 328.


2 Little is known of Broughton. His name appears several times upon the town records, but there is nothing by which to judge of his character or posi- tion. He owned land near the town dock in Boston, and about three acres on Mill Hill near Charles river, called Center Haven. Among other entries in the records are the following : "Nov. 29, 1653. Mr. Thomas Broughton may wharf before his ground at the ferry toward Charlestown if he do it within a year and a day." And again (March 27, 1654). The grant to Mr. Brough- ton to wharf or make a " Carrocadd before his land at Center Haven is con- tynued.". His name appears in a movement among the merchants of Boston, in 1655, to effect a reduction of the duty on malt. One of the petitions pre- sented to the general court appears to have been drawn up by him, at least Ethomy Broughton it is in his handwriting. Drake's Hist. Boston, pp. 332, 336, 341 ; Dear- born's Boston Notions.


183


THE ISLAND DELIVERED TO COOKE.


1663.]


bold, who joined with Leader to secure the payment of £1,378 sterling, according to the contract with Broughton dated on the 9th of February, 1656-7.


Broughton, by bills of exchange, paid according to contract one half of the purchase-money, and gave orders for the pay- ment of the other half, and was possessed of the Island. But owing to embarrassments, on the 19th of April, 1659, he made a deed of trust, conveying the Island, being a thousand acres of upland and meadow, together with one half of the house and lands at Center Haven, in Boston, then in possession of Broughton and William Osborne, to Henry Shrimpton and Richard Cooke of Boston, and Walter Price of Salem, mer- chants, his creditors, to the amount of £4,000 sterling due them ; trusting that the trustees, after satisfying themselves for the above sum, would pay £4,000 more to Anthony Stoddard, John Checkly, and the other creditors of Broughton.1 Henry Shrimpton declined this trust (23d June, 1659),2 as Thomas Broughton and William Osborne had previously given to Walter Price full possession of Center Haven and Noddle's Island. On the 28th October, 1662, Richard Cooke and Walter Price, as assignees of Broughton, commenced a suit against Richard Newbold for withholding about £850 sterling, and interest for the same for several years. A verdict was given for the plaintiffs for £1,048 12s. 6d. sterling, and costs. The suit was commenced on the 13th of September, 1662, and the execution, which was issued on the 31st of March, 1663, was served and extended on Noddle's Island as the possession of Newbold. The property was appraised by Mr. John Wiswall and Capt. William Hudson, and. the whole Island, according to the appraisement under the execution, at £1,300, was delivered to Richard Cooke for the value of £1,057 6s. 10d., reserving out of the Island one hundred and seventy acres as belonging to Newbold, beginning at the furthest end easterly by Hogg island, and taking up the whole marsh there, and then so much upland next adjoining from sea to sea, north and south, as remained after the court's judgment had been satis- fied.


1 Suffolk Deeds, lib. 3, fol. 228.


' Lib. 3, fol. 248.


184


HISTORY.


[1664, 1667.


Richard Cooke, on the 4th of August, 1664, in consideration of full payment made and secured, sold to Sir Thomas Temple, then a resident of Boston, all his right and claim to the Island, by virtue of the court's judgment and execution, the 170 acres reserved to Newbold being excepted.1 Immediate possession was given to Temple, who, wishing to own the whole Island, purchased, on the 5th of October, 1667, of Tobias Payne, of Boston, merchant, attorney of Richard Newbold, all of New- bold's interest,2 paying therefor £700 sterling, as the witnessed receipt showed. The payment was also acknowledged by Newbold's letter of procuration, dated at Barbadoes on the 5th of October, 1667, before John Leverett, assistant. Thus the whole Island came into the possession of Sir Thomas Temple.


The various changes in the ownership of the Island, from its purchase by Burch to the time of its sale to Temple, have been given as fully as the records authorize. The terms of some of these transfers would perhaps be better understood if we had the original contract for Broughton's purchase, which is referred to in the purchase by Leader and Newbold.


Making it a principle to investigate as far as possible the history of all those who have at any time been connected with the Island, the writer has found some interesting facts relative to the Temple family, different members of which were con- nected with Noddle's Island both by ownership and tenancy.


Sir Thomas Temple, who, we have just seen, bought the Island, first came to New England in 1657, having, with others, obtained from Oliver Cromwell a grant of lands in Acadie, or Nova Scotia, of which he was made governor. He was recom- mended by Nathaniel Fiennes, son of Lord Say. Fiennes calls him his near kinsman.3 He was a man of position in society, and of generous public spirit. In 1672, he gave £100 towards rebuilding Harvard College, which was one eighth of the whole sum contributed by the inhabitants of Boston. Dr. Increase Mather said of him, he was " as true a gentleman as ever sat foot on American soil." An excellent anecdote is told of him, which, while it shows his station in society, well illustrates one


1 Suffolk Deeds, lib. 4, fol. 210.


8 Hutchinson, Vol. I. p. 206, note.


2 Ib. lib. 5, fol. 389.


185


SIR THOMAS TEMPLE'S FAMILY.


1674.]


phase in his character. While on a visit to London, he was presented to Charles II., and was permitted to kiss his majesty's hand. The king discoursed with him on the state of affairs in Massachusetts, and, among other things, he said the colonies had invaded his right by coining money. Sir Thomas Temple replied, that they thought it no crime to make money for their own use, and, taking some of our coin from his pocket, pre- sented it to the king. This coin had the pine tree on it. Per- ceiving the tree on one of the pieces, King Charles inquired what kind of a tree it was. "The royal oak," said Temple, " which protected your majesty's life." 1 This shrewd answer brought the king into good-humor, and induced him to listen favorably to what the governor had to say relative to the colo- nies.2


The family of Sir Thomas Temple derives its surname from the manor of Temple, Leicester county, and its descent from Leofric, Earl of Chester, who lived in the reign of Edward the Confessor. From this Earl of Chester descended Peter Temple, Esq., father of Sir John Temple, whose eldest son was Sir Thomas Temple, the first baronet, who had a son Sir John, who was father to Sir Thomas Temple, knight, governor of Nova Scotia, and the owner of Noddle's Island. He died, with- out issue, March 27, 1674. His elder brother, Sir Purbeck Temple, was the father of Thomas Temple, whose eldest son was Robert Temple, owner of Ten Hills, Charlestown, Mass., and also a tenant of Noddle's Island. His second son, Sir John Temple, was born in 1731, and, on the 20th of January, 1767, married Elizabeth, daughter of the Hon. James Bowdoin, subsequently governor of Massachusetts. They had a daugh- ter, Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple, who married, in 1786, Thomas Lindall Winthrop, Esq., afterward lieutenant-governor of Mas- sachusetts.


'This ingenious and complimentary reply referred to the well-known inci- dent in the life of Charles, when, totally defeated at Worcester by the superior valor of Cromwell, he escaped capture by concealing himself in the branches of an oak in Boscobel wood. From the tree he saw his enemies in full pursuit of him, and, after the danger had passed, he descended and made his escape.


2 Felt's Mass. Currency, p. 38.


16 *


186


HISTORY.


[1670.


Sir John Temple, according to the tradition of the family, was born on Noddle's Island at the time his father was its ten- ant.1 He was the first consul-general from England to the United States after the peace of 1783, - having been appointed in the spring of 1785, - and Great Britain, for some years, having no minister to this country, he was the medium of com- munication from that government to our own. He died in New York, and a tablet to his memory, in the chancel of St. Paul's church in that city, has the following inscription : -


" Sacred to the Memory of Sir John Temple, Baronet, Consul- General to the United States of America from his Britannic Majesty, - the first appointment to this country after its Inde- pendence.


" Died in the city of New York, November 17th, 1798, aged 67 ."


His father, who was a loyalist, died in England, whither he had removed with his family.2


The Island did not long remain in Sir Thomas Temple's pos- session ; in 1670 it passed into the hands of Col. Samuel Shrimpton. On the 30th of November of that year, Col. Shrimpton, then of Boston, with whose history and family the reader will become familiar, bought of Sir Thomas Temple all that " continent of land," as it was called in the deed, named Noddle's Island, paying therefor £6,000. From this date the title of the Island is traced down through an uninterrupted line of family ownership, to its purchase by the East Boston Com- pany, more than 160 years after.


1 " Sir John's birth was within the period of his father's being a tenant of Noddle's Island, and it was always a family tradition that he was born there." - Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, in a letter to the author.


2 Burke's Peerage, Sabine's Loyalists, Genealogies.


J.I.Bufford's With.


Samuel Shrimphon


From an original Portran


CHAPTER IX.


SAMUEL SHRIMPTON; HIS PERSONAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY.


WITH the purchase of Noddle's Island by Samuel Shrimpton, 1670, its interests became linked with those of the Shrimpton family ; a family possessed of much more than ordinary vigor of mind and character, and comprising in its different connec- tions men of enterprise, patriotic feeling, public spirit, and high official position. In order to make the account more complete, and consequently more satisfactory, we will go back a few years, and state some of the antecedents of a name with which we shall become familiar.


Henry Shrimpton, the father of the first owner in fee-simple of Noddle's Island, was admitted an inhabitant of Boston in 1639, and became a member of the first church there, on the 15th of September of the same year. He received a grant of land at Mount Wollaston (Quincy) for three heads, on the 27th of January, 1640. From this, it is presumed that his family then consisted of three persons.




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