History of East Boston; with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix, Part 28

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 28
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston : with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix. > Part 28


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310


HISTORY.


ride over to Cambridge frequently to see her, and thus became intimately acquainted with the sagacious individual who had her in charge. The shrewd doctor proposed to Mr. Hyslop to make a new will, and procured his friend, Judge Prescott of Groton, to write it in technical form and language ; and, in order to get the fees from so large an estate, Dr. Chaplin caused him- self to be appointed trustee and joint guardian, with Mrs. Hyslop, of the children. By this arrangement he had uncon- trolled power over the estate under the will. The doctor did not propose, or if he did the proposal was rejected, to be execu- tor, as well as trustee, of the estate. As his nephew, William H. Sumner was appointed executor, Mr. Hyslop probably sup- posed the estate would be under his control, instead of under the control of the trustee, to whom he had unwittingly confided it. It ought to have been mentioned, that a first will was made in favor of his nephew, which was destroyed upon Mr. Hyslop's second marriage and the birth of his children.


At the time the second will was made, when Mr. Hyslop told his nephew that he intended to make another will, he asked whom he should employ to write it. His nephew said, " I will write your will now, as I did before." " But I have children now," said he, as if he supposed that the person who drew the will would do as he had done before, make it in favor of him- self. The reply relieved him from this strange thought; said the nephew, " I can write your will in favor of your children as well as any one else ; you will take care of them first, of course, and if you choose to create any reversionary estate in favor of your sister's children you can do so, and this is only what I or they will expect." Having read the will after the draft was finished, and pondered it well, he said, " Now I have given all my estate to my wife and children; and what shall I give to you ?" " The laughing boy," was the answer. This was a valuable picture by Brower, which had come down in the family of his ancestors, and which no one can look at without laughing, as the subject of the picture does upon all observers. His nephew, at this time and until his death, possessed his entire confidence and friendship, which is shown by the fact, that, when Dr. Chaplin and his attorney and friend, Judge Pres- cott, were inditing his last will, in which the doctor secured to


311


DAVID HYSLOP.


himself the fat fees of trustee, he appointed his nephew and his next door neighbor at Brookline, Benjamin Goddard, Esq., his executors, and remembered the request for the "laughing boy," adding to it a legacy of $1,000.


Mr. Hyslop was the owner of one sixth of Noddle's Island, the one third which his mother owned having descended to him and his sister Elizabeth, wife of Governor Sumner. Mrs. Hys- lop and her second husband, John Hayden, sold this share in 1832 to William H. Sumner, Stephen White, and Francis J. Oliver, by whom it was afterward conveyed to the East Boston Company.


A very singular coincidence arises between the will of Shute Shrimpton Yeamans, one of the old proprietors of Noddle's Island, and that of David Hyslop, one of the last, which gave rise to legal questions as to the construction of an important clause of a similar character in each will.


It will be recollected, that Mr. Yeamans, by his will, made in the year 1768, gave to his son, Shute Yeamans, a legacy of £4,000, to be paid to him when he arrived at twenty-one years of age. He died very shortly before he arrived at that age, and the question was, whether that was a vested legacy, giving him the absolute right to it, merely postponing the time of payment to his arriving at age, in which case it would pass to his own legatees, or whether it reverted to the estate of his father, so as to pass under his father's will. It has already been stated that an elaborate case in the English style was drawn up for the opinion of counsel, and John Adams, who was then consulted on all great questions, gave his opinion that the legacy was vested in young Shute by his father's will, the period of enjoy- ment only being postponed until he arrived at twenty-one years of age, and that it consequently passed under his will, although he never arrived at age.


David Hyslop's will, made in the year 1820, among other clauses, contained the following : " It is my will and intention in regard to the residue of my real estate, that it shall come to and be enjoyed by my children, when of full age, as an absolute estate of inheritance in fee-simple." He left two children, both of whom died before attaining the age of twenty-one. The question was then submitted to counsel (Judge Jackson and


312


HISTORY.


William C. Aylwin, Esq.), who gave it as their opinion that the estate vested in interest in the children, and went to their right heirs, although neither of them arrived at the age of twenty-one, -precisely the opinion which John Adams and Mr. Bicknell, an English barrister, gave a half century before in the will of Shute Shrimpton Yeamans.


DAVID S. GREENOUGH, Esq., son of Deacon Thomas Green- ough, and one of the proprietors of Noddle's Island, was born on the 31st of July, 1752. His large ownership in the Island estate resulted from the fact that he inherited one sixth from his mother, and subsequently purchased the fee of two sixths owned by his brother William (as stated in Chapter X.), of whom a brief sketch has been given.


The record of his life furnishes no remarkable incidents for the pen of the biographer, and any notice of him must of neces- sity be brief. On the 11th of May, 1784, he married the widow Ann Doane, who died on the 9th of July, 1802.


Enjoying the use of a sufficient property, he never entered into professional life, but resided as a man of leisure at Jamaica Plain, then a part of Roxbury.


The house in which Mr. Greenough lived was a confiscated one. It was built by Commodore Loring, of the British navy, and stood opposite to the meeting-house of the Rev. Dr. Gray. This gentleman was Mr. Greenough's daily visitor and intimate friend. The house stood upon the site of a dwelling which was removed to the spot where Dr. Weld now lives, near the Unitarian church, and which was used as a parsonage. The new house, built by the commodore, who was an absentee, was used as a hospital during the Revolutionary war; the dead were buried in the rear part of Mr. Greenough's farm, and the gravestones are to be seen at the present time.


The author wishes that he had been furnished with a portrait of his highly respected family friend and connection for publica- tion, but such was not the case. The original portrait by Stuart can be seen in the house of his grandson, who resides upon the family estate.


Possessing all those social advantages which a good family, wealth, and natural endowments could bestow, strictly upright


313


DAVID S. GREENOUGH.


and honorable in all his dealings with others, of undoubted integrity, and of familiar and easy address, Mr. Greenough secured the respect and esteem of all, and his friendship was highly prized. Declining all public offices, he preferred the attractions of his own home, where he received his friends with pleasure, and treated them with cordiality.


Mr. Greenough's property all descended to his son, and with it, of course, his share (one half) of Noddle's Island.


DAVID S. GREENOUGH, only child of D. S. Greenough, Esq., was born on the 27th of March, 1787, graduated at Harvard College in 1805, and on the 14th of June, 1813, married Maria Foster, daughter of Elisha Doane, Esq., of Cohasset. He was a lawyer by profession, and was the first colonel of that name of the Independent Company of Cadets. He inherited all his father's estate, and the half of Noddle's Island, which thus came to him, was purchased of his widow and heirs by General Sumner. He possessed all his mother's wit and humor. The following anecdote illustrates these qualities. When he commanded the Cadets, Colonel Thomas Aspinwall, while major under his command, received an appointment in the U. S. army. Col. Aspinwall, who had distinguished him- self at the battles of Sackett's Harbor and Chrysler's field, lost his left arm at the sortie of Fort Erie. When he visited Bos- ton, after his recovery, the Cadets welcomed him by a public dinner, at which, as the chief guest, he sat at the right hand of the colonel. Col. Greenough, after some remarks describing his bravery in those battles, in compliment to the guest, gave, as the first toast, -"Our enemies : the next time we meet, we will beat them single handed."


Col. Greenough died of apoplexy on the 6th of August, 1830. A few years after his death, the estimable qualities of his widow recommended her to the notice of General Sumner, who married her as his second wife on the 13th of December, 1836, some years after he had purchased the interest of herself and her minor children in the Noddle's Island estate.


27


CHAPTER XII.


LEASES OF THE ISLAND; THE WILLIAMS FAMILY.


HAVING traced the possession of Noddle's Island down to three aunts of Shute Shrimpton Yeamans and to their immediate descendants, the record of its subsequent ownership comes into its more modern history ; and the various matters pertaining to it are so intimately connected that they should not be separated. Consequently, subjects and incidents ante- cedent in point of time will be introduced, leaving for advance chapters an unbroken narrative. In this manner a more sys- tematic arrangment will be preserved, and the leading points in the Island history more easily kept before the mind of the reader.


It has already been stated, that on the 10th of April, 1700, the widow of Col. Shrimpton leased to her brother, Nicholas Roberts, and to Benjamin Jackson, merchants of Boston, her dwelling-house, three water-mills, negroes, etc., for seven years, at &200 per annum.


In 1711, Christopher Caprill, a farmer, was a tenant of the Island ; in October of that year he petitioned the general court for redress, the troops then encamped on the Island having done him much damage. This subject is more fully treated in the military history of the Island.


There are no records to show, positively, how long Mr. Ca- prill continued as a tenant, or who immediately succeeded him. It is presumed, however, that Robert Temple was an occupant as early, it may be, as 1720, as in a letter directed by him to Shute Shrimpton Yeamans at Antigua, dated at Boston the 5th of December, 1749, he states that he has been the tenant of John Yeamans for near thirty years past, and one of his ac-


315


LEASES TO ROBERT TEMPLE.


1749-55.]


quaintance from his first coming into New England, and that Mr. Yeamans (John) had resided with him on the Island nine months. From the accounts of Robert Temple it appears that this nine months' residence was in 1743, and £75 rent was remitted on account of it. Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard, in a letter to her grandson, Shute Shrimpton Yeamans, dated at Boston, 12th of December, 1749, and 6th of January, 1749-50, speaking of John Yeamans, says : " He took great delight in being on Noddle's Island."


In a list of papers left by John Yeamans with his attorney, Thomas Steele, in January, 1726-7, there is mention made of a " Counterpart of Mr. Temple's Lease, 1723," also an "Acct made up with Mr Temple, 1723." It is probable that these papers refer to Noddle's Island, and, taken in connection with the extract from the letter above given, seem to justify the con- clusion that Robert Temple was a tenant of the Island at least as early as 1723, and very likely as early as 1720.


In 1748 he took a lease of it for seven years, at £118 per annum, and afterward a lease of two years, at £130 per annum.


In the lease to Mr. Temple bearing date of the 25th of March, 1748, is a curious provision, which shows Mr. Yeamans to have been a watchful landholder. The clause is this : -


" Sd Temple is to pay £5 farther rent for every Acre above plowed and broke up in any one year, & £5, for every Acre laid down from tillage to grass uneven, not sown with proper seeds, or with manifest ill husbandry, &c, & to deliver up the premises without any waste or destruction thereof, Fire & other Extraordinary Accidents Excepted."


By another clause Mr. Yeamans reserved to himself the right to build mills on the Island ; the lease stating that "John Yea- mans and his heirs may at any time during this lease build a set of Mills on the premises for his own use, giving sª Temple the refusal of any contract to be proposed to any others for building the Mills at their own charge."


It is inferred that the mills were not built prior to 1755, as on the 5th of March, in that year, Dr. William Clarke and Thomas Greenough, both of Boston, attorneys of Shute Shrimpton Yea- mans, the son of the late John, and appointed by Mr. Yeamans


316


HISTORY.


[1757.


that year, in his behalf, leased the Island to Robert Temple for seven, eleven, or fifteen years ; and in this lease was the same reservation of the right to build mills as in the lease of 1748. It would seem, then, most probable that the mills had not yet been built. This lease also contains the same curious provision in reference to the lands which has been already mentioned. It is impossible to fix the exact date of the building of many of the mills in the vicinity of Boston. Soon after the town was settled, mills were found necessary to grind the native corn of the country, and some were built on the islands and at . Dor- chester.1


From Mr. Temple's accounts, we learn that for the six years prior to the 25th of March, 1748, the annual rent was £100. In the accounts under date of 1746, Mr. Temple speaks of "the new house he built ye farr end of the Farm," and the cost of the house is stated at &7,858 5s. 2d., a sum which shows that the house must have been of no small pretensions. It was a fine large mansion with brick walls, and handsomely terraced, a fit residence for the man of wealth. It was situated on the easterly end of Eagle hill, and had a southerly front. The ground where the house stood is now in the writer's possession, where also is the original well, now in constant use, on lot 316, third section.


The mansion-house on the Island about this time was used as an "inoculating hospital," during the prevalence of the small- pox. Mention is made of it in Drake's History of Boston (p. 685). The history says : " In 1764, when the smallpox raged in Boston, the physicians removed their inoculating hospital from Castle William to Noddle's Island, at the mansion-house where Robert Temple, Esq. had lately resided, 'which contained elegant rooms, suitable for the reception of persons of the first condition.' One of the physicians, Dr. Gelston, to remain con- stantly on the Island, and the others were to attend when desired."


Among other items of expense, and of money laid out on the Island prior to 1757, is £32 10s. paid in 1748, for four hun-


1 Mass. Hist. Coll. Vol. III. p. 247.


317


LEASE TO COCHRAN AND BELL.


1760.]


dred and fifty apple trees, and £20 for a hundred " Locust trees, and planting them out." 1


Robert Temple was also the lessee of Newdigate's farm at Chelsea. There is no record to show at what time he first be- came its tenant, but from his accounts it appears that on the 25th of March, 1748, rent was due for six years of the Chelsea farm at £30 per annum. On this same date he leased the farm of Dr. William Clarke, attorney of John Yeamans, for seven years, at £30 per annum. This lease also contains this singular provision, --


" To break up but 5 Acres of sd farm in any one year, & have but 15 Acres of it broken up at any one time during this Lease, And never sow any one parcel above three times, & then lay it down level & in a husbandlike manner. To spread upon the premises all the fodder made there. To bring and spread there two loads of dung for every load of fresh or salt hay, they may spare & carry off to market."


Upon the expiration of this lease, in 1755, he renewed it for seven years more at the rent of £30 per annum, Dr. William Clarke acting as the attorney of John Yeamans.


On the 4th of November, 1760, Shute Shrimpton Yeamans, son of and heir of the above John Yeamans of Richmond, Surry county, England, leased the Island to Samuel Cochran and Thomas Bell of Boston, for the space of seven, eleven, or fifteen years, at a rent of £130 per annum, with the same pro- visions as to tillage, etc., as in the previous leases of the Island. This lease was to go into effect from the 25th of March, 1761.


Thomas Bell was one of the family of the same name which came to this country from Ireland, and settled in Derry, N. H.2 He afterward lived in Roxbury, Mass., until he leased Noddle's


1 The tax of Noddle's Island for 1756 was £44 13s. 6d.


1757 31 00 9


1758


32 11 3


1759 35 2 0


2 Derry was originally settled by Scotch emigrants, who had removed to the north of Ireland at the time of the persecutions which they endured in their native country from James II. of England.


27 *


318


HISTORY.


[1763.


Island. Some business transactions between Bell and Cochran, and sundry arrangements concerning Island matters, are shown in Bell's mortgage of his part of the stock, etc., of the Island to Nathaniel Wheelwright.1 This paper will best explain itself, and will add some new items to this broken period of the Island history.


" Know all men by these presents that I, Thomas Bell of Roxbury in the county of Suffolk and Province of the Massa- chusetts Bay in New England, victualler, being indebted to Nathaniel Wheelwright of Boston in the County aforesaid Esqr, the sum of Eight Hundred Pounds Lawfull money for which he hath my Bond this 14th Febry 1763, and whereas I the said Thomas Bell Entered into an Agreement with Samuel Cochran of Boston aforesaid for Stocking Noddle's Island, so called, a Copy of which Agreement here follows, viz .: -


" Articles of Agreement Indented, Made, and fully Concluded upon by and between Thomas Bell of Boston in the County of Suffolk and Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England, Victualler, of the one Part, and Samuel Cockran of Boston, in the County aforesaid, yeoman, of the other part, Witnesseth, that whereas the said Thomas Bell and Samuel Cockran, have on the Fourth Day of November last, Leased of Shute Shrimpton Yeamans Esq. all that Island commonly call'd Noddle's Island, for the space of Seven, Eleven or Fifteen years, at the Rate of One Hundred and Thirty Pounds Sterling money of Great Britain p annum, Reference to said Lease being had will more fully appear. Now the said Thomas Bell and Samuel Cockran have mutually agreed, that they will at their own Cost & Charge sufficiently Stock said Island during said Lease with such Cattle, Horses, Sheep & Hoggs, as shall from time to time be thought by them to be most for their Interest, one half of the Cost to be paid by the said Thomas Bell, & the other half by the said Samuel Cockran, and the Proffits or Loss ariseing from Sales of them to be equally divided between them. The said


1 For this original paper, and for other original and valuable matter, the writer is indebted to John Avery, Esq., of Lowell, a great-grandson of Thomas Bell.


319


COCHRAN AND BELL, LESSEES.


1763.]


Samuel Cockran is to live on said Island in the Mansion House, & properly take care of all the Husbandry thereunto belonging, as well as of what stock shall be put thereon as aforesaid, together with what may be sold therefrom from time to time, whether Provender, Cattle, Horses, Sheep, Hoggs, Butter, Cheese, or any other Article or Articles ariseing from the Produce of said Island, all of which he is to keep fair Accompts of. The said Samuel Cockran is to have Privilege of keeping Six Cows on said Island each year free of all charge, and the said Thomas Bell is to furnish him with Ten pounds of Beef & one peck of Meal each Week, Four Cords of Wood each year, three shillings old tenor, each day, and Five Pounds six shillings and eight pence Lawfull money each year, but on the settlement of their Accompts which is to be once Annualy, the said Samuel is to Accompt with the said Thomas Bell for his one half of said Allowances last mentioned. Finally, all Income, Rents, Proffits, or Charges ariseing by Virtue of said Lease, as well not mentioned as mentioned, to be equally born and divided by and between the said Partys. To the performance of which the Parties bind themselves their Heirs, Executors & Adm's : each to the other in the penal sum of One Thousand Pounds. In witness whereof they have hereunto interchangeably sett their hands & seals Eighteenth Day of March Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred & Sixty Two.


" SAMUEL COCKRAN. [Seal.]


" Signed, Sealed & Deliv'd in presence of Alex" Campbell, John Ball."


" It is to be understood, that said Cockran is to enjoy and occupy the same Acre of Land which he enjoyed and occupied under Robert Temple Esqr :1 and if the said Parties see cause to Lett our part of the Mansion House, as the same is more


1 It appears from this clause, that he had occupied the Island previous to this this time under the lease to Temple.


320


HISTORY.


[1763.


than said Cockran can improve, the same may & shall be Lett for the most it will fetch.


" SAML: COCKRAN.


" Witness Alex" Campbell, John Ball."


"Now in Order that the said Nathaniel Wheelwright Esqr : may have a further security as Collateral for the payment of said sum and for the further Consideration of Two shillings to me in hand paid, the Receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, I the said Thomas Bell do hereby make over and deliver to him the said Nathaniel Wheelwright Esq". all my Right, Title and Interest to and in one half of the Stock on said Island, whether it be Horses, Mares, Oxen, Sheep or Hay, and also to all Uten- sils for Husbandry, in fine to and in one half of all Interest I have to and in anything on said Island by virtue of the fore- going agreement, together with all the Proffits which may arise thereon, and the Produce of said Island as by lease from Shute Shrimpton Yeamans, Esq". Provided nevertheless, and it is to be understood, that if said Thomas Bell his Heirs, Executors or Admrs shall well and truly pay or cause to be paid unto the said Nathaniel Wheelwright Esq" his Heirs, Executors or Admrs the aforesaid sum of Eight Hundred Pounds with the Interest which shall arise thereon on or before fourteenth day of February which will be in the year of our Lord One Thou- sand Seven Hundred and Sixty Four, then this Obligation to be void, & the said Nath1 Wheelwright Esqr shall return all said Stock & Utensils, otherwise to be in full force & Virtue. In Witness whereof I have hereunto sett my Hand and Seal this Fourteenth day of Febry, Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Three.


" THOMAS BELL. [Seal.]


Signed Sealed and Delivered in presence of William Phillips, Silvanus Stone."


This mortgage is discharged upon the back as follows : -


321


PURCHASE OF STOCK.


1768.]


" Know All men by these presents, that I Nath1 Wheelwright within named, for and in consideration of the Sum of Two Hundred thirty two pounds three shillings & 3d to me in hand paid by Henry Howell Williams of Noddles Island within named Gentleman, the Receipt whereof I do hereby Acknowl- edge, have Released and assigned over, and by these presents do release and assign over to the said Henry Howell Williams all my right, title, Interest, Property, and demand of in and to the one half part of the Stock & Utencils on Sd Noddles Island as the same is appraised by Henry Lloyd & Robert Temple Esqr a schedule of which is hereunto annexed. To have and to hold the Said released and assigned premises as aforesaid to him the Sd Henry Howell Williams and his assigns forever. In witness whereof I hereunto sett my hand and seal this 7th day of May, 1765.


" NAT WHEELWRIGHT. [Seal.]


" Signed Sealed & delivered in Presents of us John Ball, J. W. Flagg."


By the document just quoted, it appears that Henry Howell Williams purchased the one half of the stock mortgaged to Wheelwright by Thomas Bell. He also bought the other half directly of Bell, as appears from the following deed of sale, copied from the original instrument :-


" Know all men By these Presents that I Thomas Bell of Roxbury. in the County of Suffolk & Province of the Massa- chusetts Bay in New England Victualler. For and in Consid- eration of the Sum One thousand pounds Lawfull money of New England ; To me in hand paid ; By Henry Howell Wil- liams of said Roxbury GentIm. The Receipt whereof I Do hereby acknowledge and myself therewith sattisfied and Paid ; And By these, Do Sell, allien, Set over, Deliver, Convey & Confirm ; unto him the sd Henry Howell Williams his Heirs & Assignes forever One full moiety or half part, of all that my Stock of Cretures, Such as horses, oxen, Cows, Bulls, Heffers, Sheep, & Lambs ; Utensils, Husbandry Tools, Boats &c on or


322


HISTORY.


[1727.


about the Island commonly called Noddels Island, within sd County ; or that shall or may hereafter Be brought On to said Island, by me or my means or procurement or by any other Person or Persons acting from by or under me Dureing the full Term and Space of fourteen years next Ensueing ; Together with one half the neet proceeds or proffits ariseing thereon During the Term of fourteen years as aforesd - As also, one full moiety or half part of all the Neet Proffits that shall or may arise from the said Island, Dureing the said Term (or the Term of my Improvement there) over and above the yearly Rents rates and Taxes assessed on the same and other necessary Con- tingent Changes arising there. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal this first Day of June A. D. 1763, and Third year of King George's Reign.




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