USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston; with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix > Part 17
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston : with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix. > Part 17
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A few years later, he bought property in Boston, as appears from the Book of Possessions in the city clerk's office, p. 118.
" 28ª. 7mo. (Sept.) 1646. Anth. Stoddard and Jno. Leverit sold H. Shrimpton, brazier, dwell-h. and garden, the Water-st. S., the New-st. E., Mr. Jno. Wilson (pastor of the church), W., Jno. Parker N., by deed 9ª. 5mo. (July) 1646. Ackn. 26ª. 7mo. (Sept.) 1646, bef. Jno. Winthrop, Gov."
He was a man honorable in his dealings, and every way worthy of confidence. This is well illustrated in an instance of reliance placed in him by the Narraganset Indians.
It seems that in June, 1646, the Narragansets owed the English, in the Indian currency, thirteen hundred fathoms of
188
HISTORY.
[1646.
wampum. Of this debt, which at 5s. 7gd. a fathom amounted to £366 3s. 4d., the Indians had paid only fifteen fathoms, valued at £4 4s. 6d., and when the time of payment expired, they had nothing with which to pay the balance then due (£361 18s. 10d.), except two hundred and eighty-five pounds of old brass kettles. They offered this to their creditors, but it was indignantly refused, and the Narragansets were sharply rebuked for breaking their agreement, both in their payments and in other matters. " Whereupon they went to Mr. Henry Shrimpton, and sold him their old kettles for what he would give; and, to show the English that their honesty was as real as their poverty, left the amount in his hands for them, until they were able to bring an additional sum, that might be worthy of the notice of their creditors."1 This incident shows the confidence they placed in his integrity, as well as their own sense of honorable dealing. Well may we, who pride ourselves on our Christian virtues, learn here a wholesome lesson from untutored Indians, and give them credit for traits of character which are too rare among their "pale-faced " conquerors.
Little is known of Mr. Shrimpton's early history. A few dates and a voluminous will comprise nearly every thing which has come down to us. It appears that he was twice married. By his first wife, Elinor -- , he had eleven children.2 His
1 Hazard's Records of the United Colonies ; Drake's Book of the Indians, p. 135 ; Drake's Hist. of Boston, p. 299.
2 The following is a list of the children of Henry Shrimpton : -
1. Elizabeth, baptized Oct. 3d, 1641, about ten days old; died Aug. 12th, 1659.
2. Samuel, with whom our history has more particular connection, baptized June 25th, 1643, twenty-six days old.
3. Mary, baptized Aug. 10th, 1645, thirteen days old.
4. John, baptized May 28th, 1648, six weeks old.
5. Sarah, born 1649, and married Eliakim Hutchinson.
6. Henry, born April 26th, 1653, and died young.
7. Mehitable, died 29th of July, 1657.
8. Jonathan, born Nov. 18th, 1656, died July 22d, 1657.
9. Abigail, born Jan. 3d, 1658.
10. Bethiah, born Jan. 30th, 1659, died July 2d, 1713.
11. Elizabeth, born April 10th, 1660.
1
189
HENRY SHRIMPTON'S WILL.
1666.]
second wife was Mary, who had been successively the widow of Capt. Thomas Hawkins and Capt. Robert Fenn.1
Henry Shrimpton died in July, 1666. By his will, made on the 17th of that month and proved on the 11th of the following August, it appears that he left living a wife, Mary, and five of his children, namely, Samuel, Sarah, Abigail, Bethiah, and Elizabeth.2
The following are extracts from the will of Henry Shrimpton, in which, after leaving legacies to the children of his brother Edward, he says :-
" I give to my son, Samuel Shrimpton, £500, and my new dwelling house, & all the outhouses and woodyards belonging thereto, with all my tools for pewter and brass, with my ware- house situated in the lane,3 below the house of Capt. James Oliver. Also, I give him, my pasture in the North end of the town, situated between Goodman Bennett & Goodman Ber-
1 She married Capt. Robert Fenn, 27th February, 1662.
" It is probable that one of these daughters was the " aged gentlewoman " whom the Rev. John Barnard of Marblehead mentions as having met in Eng- land in 1709, in a church near Eltham, in Kent, where he was then preach- ing. - Mass. Hist. Coll. 3d Series, Vol. V.
Says the reverend gentleman : " When I preached one morning by candle- light at Dr. Calamy's, after the service was over, I was conducted into the vestry with three or four gentlemen to eat a piece of bread and butter and drink a glass of sack. While I was there, came in to us an aged gentlewoman (hearing I was of New England) to inquire after her brother, Col. Shrimpton, whom I knew well; and she brought a young lady (properly so called) with her, who was very pleasant with me. She asked me if all the people of my country were white, as she saw I was; for being styled in the general West Indians, she thought we were all black, as she supposed the Indians to be. She asked me how long I had been in the kingdom. When I told her a few months, she said she was surprised to think how I could learn their language in so little a time. 'Methinks,' said she, 'you speak as plain English as I do.' I told her all my country people being English spake the same language I did. With many such like questions she diverted me." Col. Shrimpton had been dead about twelve years when this inquiry was made, but she had not heard of it.
" Shrimpton's lane was changed to Royal Exchange lane in 1803, and to Exchange street in 1816, which latter name it still retains. This is " the paved lane by Mr. Shrimpton's" which was " ordered to be laid open, and no more to be shut up," on March 9th, 1657.
190
HISTORY.
[1666.
nard's, to him & his heirs, forever; but, in case he shall dye without heirs, then the said dwelling house, warehouse & pas- ture are to be sold & equally divided between my 4 daughters, Sarah, Abigail, Bethiah & Elizabeth; also to him, £1000, & to the 4 daughters, £1000 apiece. I do also give to my dau. Sarah, the house, formerly called States-armes, with all the outhouses, yards, stables & all the priviledges belonging thereto ; to her and her heirs, forever: but if she shall die without heirs, then it shall be sold & divided equally between the brother & sisters, or their heirs that shall survive.
" I give to my dau. Abigail my garden and garden house, & all the appurtenances belonging thereto, & 300£ to build an house, to her and her heirs forever.
" To dau. Bethiah, £400, to buy her a piece of ground and to build her a house.
" To dau. Elizabeth, £400, for the same purpose."
Besides other legacies, Mr. Shrimpton gave £50 to the church of Boston, of which he was a member; and the same amount to the town of Boston, "provided they will give leave that I may be buried in the tombe wherein my former wife, Ellenor Shrimpton, was buried; otherwise I give nothing."
This request was acceded to, and the money was received by the town; for we find in the Town Records, Vol. II. p. 27, under date of Oct. 29, 1666, it was ordered, "that Mr. Henry Shrimpton's legacie of fifty pounds is to be layed out in the purchase of some land or house as may bring in some Annuall Rent. In the mean while, the fifty pound to be lett out to some able persone as may allow consideration for it." He also gave to his brother and sister Fletcher £20 apiece; to Mr. John Wilson, pastor, £10; Mr. Powell, ruling elder of the church, £10; and various smaller legacies to servants and friends.
Another legacy in Mr. Shrimpton's will furnishes evidence of the important fact in the history of Noddle's Island, as has been shown in Chapter V., that it was there that the first Bap- tist church held their meetings after they had been driven from the Puritan church in Charlestown, with which they had been associated.
191
THE STATE ARMS.
1666.]
The legacy is as follows : -
" To the Society of Christians that doth now Meet at Nod- dles Island, of wch is Gold & Osborn & the rest, £10, as a token of my love."
This creditable act shows that Mr. Shrimpton was liberal and catholic in his views, and was independent of the party or sectarian spirit so characteristic of those times.
He appointed his brother, Edward Fletcher, Hezekiah Usher, Thomas Lake, and Peter Oliver as overseers of his will.1
From the preceding, it is apparent that Mr. Shrimpton was a man of very large property for those times. His estate was appraised by Anthony Stoddard and others in July, 1666, at £11,979; and the inventory which was presented by his son Samuel, Feb. 6, 1666, occupied twelve folio pages on the pro- bate records (lib. 5, fol. 15). The dwelling-house, yard, wood- house, and outhouses were valued at £500; the warehouse at. £150; the pasture at the north end of the town at £80; and the house called the State Arms, with the outhouses .and lands, at £400, etc.
The State Arms, previous to its purchase by Mr. Shrimpton, had been a noted tavern, and was situated in King (now State) street, at the corner of Shrimpton's lane. It was " the Ordinary, where the Magistrates used to diet." The marks of the timbers of the old building on the adjoining wall were recently exposed to view by the pulling down of the Columbian Bank, which stood on the spot. The land covered by this building was lately sold to the proprietors of the Merchants Bank for its extension to Exchange street, at about eighty dollars per square foot, being the highest price which has ever been paid for land in the city of Boston. From the fact that Mr. Shrimp- ton, in his will, dated in 1666, only thirty-six years after the settlement of Boston, speaks of this house as "formerly called the States Armes," we infer it was one of the first buildings erected in the city.
SAMUEL SHRIMPTON, son of Henry Shrimpton, was born in
1 Jonathan Shrimpton, of Boston, member of the An. & Hon. Artillery Co., 1665, was probably a brother of Henry Shrimpton. - HIist. An. & Hon. Artil- lery Co., p. 176.
192
HISTORY.
[1670.
Boston in 1643,1 and was the principal legatee of his father's property. A lithographic likeness of him, from an original por- trait, faces the opening of this chapter. Following in the beaten track of his father, in early life he pursued the occupation of a brazier, and in his first conveyance of real estate, in 1667, he is so denominated. In after deeds, however, he is styled " a mer- chant," having risen, like many other Boston mechanics, by the strength of his own mind and character, to be a business man of eminence and property, and one of the largest landholders of his time. He acted an important part in the political history of the times in which he lived, and was one of the few men who, although one of the councillors, and having pecuniary induce- ments to favor the authorities, from the first dared to resist the usurpations of Sir Edmund Andros.
Entering now with more particularity into the history of the title of the Island, we find that on the 30th of November, 1670, Sir Thomas Temple, then a resident of Boston, and owner of Noddle's Island, for the consideration of £6,000, one half of which was to be paid in New England money by Samuel Shrimpton of Boston, merchant, and the other £3,000 secured by deed of same date, conveyed to said Samuel Shrimpton and his heirs for ever, all the above-mentioned Island, or "continent of land," as it was called in the deed, with all rights, members, etc., containing, by estimation or common account, one thou- sand acres more or less, with all the woods, underwoods, water ponds, watercourses, etc., thereto belonging.2
-
It has already been mentioned, that Mr. Shrimpton was a large landholder and a man of property ; this is verified by a letter to the writer from that excellent authority, N. I. Bowditch, in which he says, " I have no doubt that Col. Shrimpton was one of the first and wealthiest of our citizens in his day." His real estate, besides Noddle's Island, the subject-matter of our history, consisted in part of the State Arms in King street; the land whereon the State house stands, and the land north of it, upon a part of which the water reservoir is built, comprising .
1 He was born on the 31st of May, 1643; at least, the record states that he was baptized on the 25th of June, 1643, when he was twenty-six days old.
Suffolk Deeds, lib. 12, fol. 163.
193
COL. SHRIMPTON'S PROPERTY
1685.]
nearly all Beacon hill, excepting six rods square upon the apex of the hill, where the beacon was erected, and the highway leading to it; land bounding on Frog lane and Common street, at the South End, so called at that time, upon a part of which the Winthrop House is erected; Newdigate's farm of four hun- dred acres, near Chelsea meeting-house ; a strip of land of eight acres in Dorchester, since called the Yeamans lot; several es- tates in Boston; he was a reputed projector and proprietor in part of a line of salt wharves extending from Lewis's wharf to the South Battery, and under the title to these, T and India wharves are held; he was the reputed owner of Hancock wharf; one of the six proprietors of Muddy brook, now Brookline, and then called Boston hog pasture. He also stocked Deer island as lessee ; and it was in reference to this property that the cele- brated controversy between him and Sir Edmund Andros arose, in which he successfully resisted, under the old charter, the efforts of the crown to obtain absolute possession of that island.1
Mr. Shrimpton sometimes speculated in Indian titles, and was proprietor of a twentieth part of a grant from Wanalanset in 1685. This lay upon the Merrimack river, and was sixty miles long and twelve miles wide upon each side. A retrospec- tive view of the territory covered by this grant would compre- hend the flourishing manufacturing towns of Lawrence, Lowell, Nashua, Manchester, etc .; but, like many other Indian grants, this never amounted to any thing. Yet he thought so much of it, that in his will he made a special devise of it to his wife, for the use of his son's wife, whose daughter married John Yea- mans, a successor of Samuel Shrimpton in the ownership of Noddle's Island.
The history of the land on Beacon hill is derived from arti- cles furnished for the Transcript in 1855 by " Gleaner," N. I. Bowditch, Esq., the erudite counsellor, whose name is author- ity in all such matters. His account of this land, which will
1 His public spirit, and his extended possessions and improvements, remind us of the late Amos Cotting, Esq., to whom the city of Boston is so much in- debted for numerous works of public benefit and utility.
17
194
HISTORY.
[1697-8.
be implicitly relied upon by all who know the accuracy with which he prosecutes his researches, is as follows : -
" We have disposed of 52 acres of Robert Turner's land. There remain 12 acres more-being Beacon hill itself with the monument. This lot now measures south, on Mount Ver- non street, about 284 feet ; west, by a line 19 feet east of Han- cock street, 287 feet ; northerly, in rear, on narrow strips of land separating the premises from Derne street, 244 feet; and east, on land of D. D. Rogers.
"John Turner was one of the devisees of his father, Robert, and had acquired portions by deeds from the executrix, etc. He, in 1673, sells to Samuel Shrimpton (8 f. 329) a small slip of land, in breadth, 23 feet front, bounded on the Common, south, and in length, 180 feet, bounded on said Samuel, west, and on the way leading up from the Training field to Centry hill, on the east side, and running from the east corner in front, on a north line, 182 feet. This is a gore of the State House estate, bounded east on the highway to the monument, i. e., Mount Vernon street. John Turner died, 1681, and his executors, as we have seen, sold two acres east of said Mount Vernon street, or the monument highway, to George Monk, in 1681. On the same day, they sold to said Shrimpton (12 f. 353) 'all that land upon and by the side of Beacon hill, bounded on said Shrimpton, and on Elizabeth Cooke, widow, or Humphrey Davie and others, on several points and quarters, reserving unto the town of Boston their privilege and interest on the top of said hill, and passage from the Common thereto.'
" Col. Samuel Shrimpton thus acquired all Beacon hill and a gore of the State House lot, the deed of said gore bounding on the residue of said State House lot, and already his. Besides these estates and Noddle's Island, he owned the Union Bank building,1 and, from that circumstance, Exchange street was, for many years, known as Shrimpton's Lane. He was decid- edly one of the greatest men of his day. He died, and by will, proved February 17, 1697-8, devised to his wife Elizabeth, for
1 This is a mistake ; he owned on the other side of the lane, the site of the Merchants Bank.
195
LAND ON BEACON HILL.
1713-53.]
life, the residue of his estate, with power to dispose thereof among her relations by deed or will. She married Simeon Stoddard, and died 1713, devising to her grand-daughter, Eliza- beth Shrimpton, various other estates for life, remainder to her heirs in tail, etc. Her inventory appraises ' the pasture joining to Beacon hill, £150.' (Decidedly cheap for the State house lot and about two acres north of it!) Elizabeth Shrimpton married John Yeamans, and died, leaving an only child, Shute Shrimpton Yeamans, who, in 1742, becoming of age, barred the entail (L. 66, f. 274-272), and vested the fee in his father. The deeds, besides mentioning the particular estates, devised in tail, included ' all the lands, etc., in Boston, Rumney marsh, or elsewhere, of which Mrs. Yeamans was tenant in tail by force of said will.'
"John Yeamans dying, the estates became again his son's, who, in 1752, conveyed to Thomas Hancock (81, f. 168) 'a piece of land near Beacon hill, containing two acres, late the estate of my great-grandfather, Samuel Shrimpton, bounded south, on the Common, west, on said Thomas Hancock, in part, and in part on Common land ; then turns, and is bounded north, on Common land; then west, on Common land; then north, on Common land; then east, on the street or highway leading from the Common to Beacon hill.' Now there were about 75,000 feet of land, or nearly two acres, in the State House lot, and the above description evidently proceeds upon the errone- ous idea, that the Common lands of the town included nearly all Beacon hill. But we have seen the old deed of 1670 to John Turner, by which the town right is limited to six rods square, and the highway leading to it. And from the select- men's minutes of January 17, 1753, we find that on petition of Thomas Hancock an investigation was had of the town's rights, which were then, also, in like manner, limited to the six rods square, and the thirty feet highway.
" The result is that Thomas Hancock thus obtained all Bea- con hill one hundred years ago, without paying one cent for it, and he and those coming after him retained possession by pas- turing cows there. These ruminating animals, while quietly chewing the cud in that splendid cattle field (where, by the way, they must have been the observed of all the observers),
196
HISTORY.
[1713-53.
also, silently eat out the inheritance of poor Shute Shrimpton Yeamans and his heirs. One of these very heirs, an high officer of the Commonwealth (Gen. Wm. H. Sumner), as he looked at them, year after year, from the State House windows, was probably wholly unconscious that they were feeding at his ex- pense. The language of the deed of Hancock seeming to recognize the ownership of the hill by the town, it became the subject of protracted litigation, in which the inhabitants were at last defeated; and while the Hancock heirs and the town were quarrelling for what belonged to neither of them, the true owners were placidly looking on in a blissful state of igno- rance." 1
Not so fast, Mr. Gleaner. Although remarkably accurate in the records of estates, their divisions and subdivisions, their owners and whole history, and one to whose patient research and rare exactness the present and future generations are so much indebted, yet, for the sake of giving effect to an amusing story, in the words of the poet, your
" times are sadly out of joint."
General Sumner did not occupy rooms at the State house until long after the action between Hancock and the town; and, instead of being idle or ignorant in the matter, he commenced an action against Mr. Hancock for this very land. When a junior member of Suffolk bar, being in court while the suit be- tween Hancock and the town was in process, the family names of Shrimpton and Yeamans caught his ear. Finding that the title to the land was claimed by length of possession, and hear- ing Mr. Howe, the rope-maker, testify, in order to prove the length of possession, that Gov. Hancock pastured his horses on Beacon hill, the writer examined the records, and ascertained, so far as to induce him to investigate the subject, that the prop- erty belonged to his own ancestors, who, by the testimony of the witnesses of both the litigants in the case in controversy who claimed against the rightful owners, had never conveyed it. This was a short time after the passage of the statute limiting writs of right to forty years, instead of sixty, and which forty
1 Boston Transcript, Sept. 13, 1855.
197
THE BEACON HILL PROPERTY.
1713-53.]
years of an adverse possession in this case were about expiring. The writer immediately went out to Roxbury to see Mr. Greenough, who was the largest proprietor of the estate, and who was consulted in all dispositions made of it, and told him his impressions; that an examination of the records had sat- isfied him that the property was theirs under the will of Shute Shrimpton Yeamans; and that the right to claim would soon be lost under the new statute. They conferred together at dif- ferent times, until the writer saw that if a writ of right was not immediately brought, the land would pass. The writ was brought, and the writer asked Mr. Greenough, " Do you approve of this course ?" He replied, " I do not want to be plagued with it." To this it was answered, " It seems to me there is little doubt that we can substantiate the claim, and to prevent the operation of the statute from coming into effect, I have commenced an action." Mr. Greenough declined doing any thing in the matter, and advanced many objections. He said that the descent all the way down would have to be proved; that Shute Shrimpton Yeamans married Miss Gunthorp in the West Indies ; that she was a Swede, and it would be difficult to prove his marriage, the number, birth, and death of his sons, and it would perhaps be necessary to go to Sweden; that great difficulty had already been experienced in proving that part of the estate in the West Indies ; and that the whole matter would be attended with so much vexation, he did not wish to have any thing to do with it.
The writer's mother owning but one third of the estate, he did not wish to take the responsibility of the suit alone, and consequently discontinued the action upon the payment of costs.
Small things are an excellent index to a man's character, and often show the general disposition with more truth than matters of greater importance. It will be remembered, to the credit of Mr. Shrimpton, that, in 1675, he allowed the general court to quarter one hundred Indians upon the Island free of charge. The same year also five Christian Indian prisoners were ordered to be delivered to Mr. Shrimpton, to be employed on
17 *
198
HISTORY.
[1673.
Noddle's Island; " he returning them to the order of the coun- cil."
Judge Washburn, in his Judicial History of Massachusetts (p. 124), reports Col. Shrimpton and some others as once hav- ing what would now be termed a " high time," and that they rode into Boston from Roxbury at the unseasonable hour of " nine o'clock or past, singing as they came," etc. It is possible that such may have been the case, but family papers and kin- dred documents in the possession of the writer furnish no evi-
dence to sustain such a charge against him. On the contrary, every thing we know of him in his public or private capacity is to his credit, as an honored magistrate, gentleman, and Chris- tian. He was a member of the first church in Boston, having united with it on the seventh of May, 1673. The Rev. Samuel Sewall (of Burlington, Mass.), the present possessor of " Sew- all's Diary," in a letter to the writer noticing this entry in the " Diary," says : -
" As Judge Sewall does not here profess to have been an eye- witness of the above revelry, but probably had his account of it by report from others, and as he nowhere gives the result of the judicial inquiry into it before some justice, whom he does not name, on the Wednesday morning following, it is very possible that upon examination it was proved that Col. Shrimpton was, if at all, far less criminally concerned in it than others who were with him."
In the grant of Noddle's Island to Samuel Maverick, there were certain conditions to be complied with ; to wit, the pay- ing " yearly to the Governor for the time being, either a fat wether, a fat hog, or forty shillings in money, and giving a right to the inhabitants of Boston and Charlestown to fetch wood from the southerly part of the Island as their need required."
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