USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston; with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix > Part 42
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston : with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix. > Part 42
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Thus the liberality of the company was not limited to the living man, as if presupposing some benefit to be received, but was continued in the same generous manner to the estate of the tenant who for so many years had held the Island. On report of the committee, the company withdrew its claims on the representatives of Mr. Williams, in consideration of his ser- vices, and the rents then due were given to the estate.
In September, 1834, a committee appointed for the purpose fixed the salary of the superintendent at $4,000 a year, and that of the treasurer at $1,500. Before the passage of this vote, the salary of these officers had been at the same rate as that fixed by the committee above named.
The increasing population of East Boston, and the best interests of the Island, rendered it necessary that dwelling- houses should be built at East Boston, and thus secure a per- manent population. In order to accomplish this end, the com- pany voted (30th Oct., 1834) to allow a deduction of fifteen per cent. to the proprietors of lots on Belmont who should build good and substantial dwelling-houses on their lots before the first day of the following September, on condition that the members of the company who had already built houses on Bel- mont should consent to the vote.
The liberal policy of the company, as manifested from the commencement, had a corresponding result. Manufacturing establishments were commenced on a large scale ; numerous
471
BUILDINGS ERECTED IN 1834.
1834.]
private dwellings were built ; and the active appearance which the Island presented afforded ample evidence of the energetic spirit which dictated and urged forward all the Island opera- tions. Upon recurring to the results of the labors in 1834, we are astonished at the amount which was accomplished.
It is believed that the following is a correct list of all the buildings which were erected at East Boston in 1834, and of the families which moved to the place during that year. Such tables as this, and others that may follow, although not of particular interest to the general reader, or necessary to the narrative, yet, as giving facts and dates, will be more and more valuable as each year passes by : -
May 23. John Pierce's house and stable; corner of Sumner and Bremen streets : lots Nos. 9 and 10.
" " Gardner Greenleaf's house, on the south-east side of Hotel square - a public-house.
June 14. Hosea Sargent's house on Webster street : lot No. 90. Cunard House. In the yard of this house was the well which supplied water for the troops in 1814, as is fully described in the articles on water, and the war of 1812. When the Island was used as a farm, this well was in the sheepfold, which was constructed from part of the old barracks.
" 28. John H. Tomlinson erected the house on Sumner street, on lot No. 80.
July 5. Daniel Crowley ; houses on Maverick street: lots Nos. 119 and 120. 66 12. East Boston Sugar Refinery began to build a block of brick houses on Sumner street, connected with their sugar house.
66 23. Seth E. Benson finished his stone house on Webster street: lot No. 44. Aug. 9. Benjamin Lamson; house on Webster street : lot No. 47.
15. Jonas Bessom's house and two shops, on Bessom court : lot No. 87.
22. Timothy MeIntire's house on Webster street : lot No. 89.
22 and 23. Gen. W. H. Sumner's house, on the " heater lot," corner of Webster and Sumner streets, on lot No. 31.
Sept. 5. Brown & Bates' ship-carpenters' workshop, on Central square.
8. Allen, Pigeon, and Poole erected on their wharf, on the south-west side of Sumner street, a mast and spar shop.
" 17. Truman Flowers and Stephen Pearson, cach a house in a block on Webster street: lot No. 91.
Oct. 4. Bradford Chandler's house on Webster street.
66 16. Asa Lewis' house, corner of Webster and Cottage streets : lot No. 32.
66 James Barber, a smith's shop, corner of Maverick and Border streets : lot No. 111.
472
HISTORY. [1834.
Dec. 9. William Walters raised a house on Princeton street, in section No. 3 - since burned down.
27. Malleable Iron Foundry ; finished ; commenced Nov. 10; on Merid- ian street, 3d section.
Families which moved into East Boston, -
1833, Sept. 3. Guy C. Haynes, corner of Webster and Cottage streets.
1834, June 11. Dr. John Jeffries * moved over for the summer.
" 16. Benson Clock. * t
Aug. 18. John Pierce t moved into his house.
66
25. George D. Hager * t opened public-house.
Sept. 23. John H. Tomlinson moved into his house.
66 Oct. 15. Jonas Besson.
Timothy McIntire.
66 Dec. 13. Thomas C. Allen .*
. E. Richardson .*
66
" 18. Seth E. Benson .*
66
66 Daniel Crowley.
"
66 66 Patrick McManus.
The Island had scarcely begun to have resident inhabitants before death commenced its inroads, following close in the foot- steps of the settlers. The first death was that of Mr. Worcester, who fell from the Sugar-house on the 29th November, 1834, and died on the 30th. Several Irish children also died in 1833 and 1834.
The first child born at East Boston of American parents after the formation of the company was Stephen, son of John H. Tomlinson, on the 27th of November, 1834. The first child, now living, who was born on the Island, was Thomas J. Lavery (a corruption of Labbaree), son of Matthew and Jane Lavery. He was born on the 17th of November, 1833, in a house, or shanty, which stood on Saratoga street.
The building, which was in three divisions, was then occu- pied by three families : Mr. Lavery, Mary Trotten, the mother of the first child known with certainty to have been born at East Boston, and Mr. McNulty.
A little anecdote may be told relative to this first child. Gen. Sumner was riding across the Island one fine morning in Au-
* Removed from East Boston.
t Since deceased.
473
PRICES REGULATED.
1835.]
gust, 1833, and passing by the little shanty of Campbell (the father of the child), saw him outside his door, apparently idle. Gen. Sumner accosted him with, " What is the matter, Camp- bell ? why are you not at work this fine day?" " I've had a child born to-day, sir," said he. Recognizing this as the first child born at East Boston, the general replied, " Let me name it, Campbell, and I will give you a dollar." "O yes, your honor ; name it what you please; I will call it what- ever you say," said the happy father, making extravagant manifestations of joy. " Call it Maverick, then, after the first grantee of the Island, whose name I wish to perpetuate." " Yes, your honor, his name shall be Maverick." The man took the promised dollar, and the general rode on. Thus the first child born at East Boston received the name of the first pro- prietor of that Island, after a lapse of two hundred years. The next week, as the writer was passing the house again, he saw Campbell standing at the door as before. " What is the matter to-day, Campbell ? you look sober. Why are you not at work ?" " I've lost the little child your honor named ; Maverick is dead, sir." Thus did this effort to perpetuate the name of Maverick fail of its purpose.
It will be interesting to some persons to know the prices of certain lots in 1835, and thus be able to compare them with the prices for the same lots at the present time (1858).
In May, 1835, on motion of the president, Gen. Sumner, the following votes were passed : -
" That all future sales of land and wharf lots shall be regu- lated as follows, to wit : -
" The lots on Belmont, on the south-west side of Sumner street, shall be sold at twelve and a half cents per foot, except corner lots, the price of which shall be fifteen cents per foot.
" The lots on both sides of Sumner street, lying between Lisbon and Cottage streets, at fifteen cents per foot ; corner lots at eighteen cents per foot.
" The lots lying south-westerly of Maverick street, in section No. 2, at thirty-five cents per foot : corner lots at forty cents per foot.
" The lots in section No. 3, at twelve and a half cents per 40 *
474
HISTORY.
[1835.
foot ; corners, and those fronting on the public square, at fifteen cents per foot.
" The lots on Chelsea street (when laid out), at ten cents per foot; corners at twelve and a half cents per foot.
" The wharf lots, lying between the Marine railway, as pro- jected, and the wharf built by Locke and Ripley, at forty dol- lars a front foot, and are only to be sold to business men, under the advice of the executive committee.
" The wharf lots between the Marine railway and Brown and Bates's lot (including the Marine railway lot), and the block of lots between Orleans and Lisbon streets, are not to be sold without the further action of the board of directors.
" No wharf, building, lot, or other property, the prices of which are not fixed as above, shall be bargained for or sold without the approval of the executive committee. The super- intendent, however, is authorized to give deeds under contracts heretofore made."
In the space of two years, the taxable property of East Bos- ton increased almost incredibly. For instance, in 1833, the tax valuation was $60,000, and in 1835, it was $806,000, an in- crease of $746,000.
The East Boston Company was taxed for
. $600,000
The Sugar Refinery
55,000
The Maverick House
25,000
East Boston Wharf Company
66
20,000
Malleable Iron Company
8,000
Individuals
66
98,000
Total
. $806,000
In 1833, the city received from taxes on East Boston property, $420; in 1835, $5,600; and in 1856, over $61,000, from a tax- able property rated at $8,000,000.
The striking contrast between the old and the new can hardly be realized, and such facts as these figures give, show in a striking light the great change in the condition of the Island ; and it may truly be said, that " Such a deal of wonder is broken out within this hour, that the ballad-makers cannot be able to express it."
475
THE MAVERICK HOUSE.
1835.]
The 27th of May, 1835, formed an important epoch in the history of the Island: it was the day when the ferry-boats " East Boston " and " Maverick " commenced their regular trips between the Island and the city, and thus established a means of intercourse between the two places, which has not been in- terrupted from that day to the present. Upon this same day also the Maverick House was opened; and in honor of these events, a public celebration was held under the auspices of the company. As many interesting events connected with the Island history cluster around this celebration and this hotel, it is proper that a full account of both should be given. We therefore present at some length a description of the house and the events of the festival, making free use of the reports printed in the newspapers at the time.
Very soon after the formation of the East Boston Company, an association of mechanics, who had been brought into the company by Mr. Lewis, the energetic superintendent, foreseeing the rapid growth of the Island from its great advantages for commercial and manufacturing purposes, its proximity to Bos- ton, and the beauty and salubrity of the locality as a place of residence, and reposing confidence in the efficiency and skill of the officers of the company, formed the idea of building a hotel for the accommodation of such families as they thought would be glad to obtain a healthful summer retreat in the vicinity of Boston. They conjectured, and correctly, as the event proved, that many business men with their families, who were in the habit of passing the summer season at Nahant and other places of resort, would, if suitable accommodations were provided, make the Island their retreat; and thus, while enjoying all the benefits to be derived from a " watering-place," have easy ac- cess to the city at all hours of the day and night.
Accordingly, in April, 1833, Messrs. Stephen Locke, Guy C. Haynes, Jos. Ripley, Gardner Greenleaf, and Asa Lewis, who had previously entered into an agreement with the East Boston Company for the purchase of 43,000 feet of land on Hotel street and Hotel, now Maverick, square; also obtained leave to use the old Williams house, barns, etc. without rent, on condition that it should be fitted up and kept as a board- ing-house while the hotel was in process of construction.
476
HISTORY.
[1834.
Alterations fitting it for this purpose were commenced on the 7th of April, under the direction of Mr. Haynes ; an office and dining-rooms were attached to the house ; and on the 10th of June it was opened for boarders, under the superintendence of Charles M. Taft, assisted by Widow Kingman as housekeeper. After having served its intended purpose, the old house was taken down on the 4th of October, 1834, in order that Hotel square might be laid out.
The directors of the company were so well satisfied that the hotel would yield a remunerative rent, that they voted to sub- scribe for fifteen shares in its stock, in order to identify their interests with those of the mechanics, and for their encourage- ment.
The laborers commenced work on the 14th of June, and, so rapidly was the undertaking prosecuted, that, on the 13th of September, they finished putting on the roof; and in celebration of this event, the company, in the afternoon, gave the mechanics and laborers a collation, at which the success of the Maverick House was drank with three times three.
At the commencement of 1834, Mr. Brodhead, one of the directors of the company, and president of the Hancock Bank, having represented that the proprietors of the hotel had found it necessary to procure a loan to finish their building and obtain furniture for it, and that it would be difficult for them to effect the loan at that time, suggested that it might be for the interest of the East Boston Company to furnish the funds to them on adequate security, and on the repayment of any expense which the company might incur in raising the money. In accordance with this suggestion, it was voted that the treasurer be author- ized to raise a sum not exceeding $10,000, and to loan the same to the proprietors of the hotel, taking, as security, an out- right conveyance of their house and other property, the com- pany to have the right to finish the hotel according to the plan, and to put in sufficient furniture for its occupation, at the expense of its proprietors. A committee, consisting of F. J. Oliver and S. S. Lewis, was appointed, on the 28th of April, 1834, to ex- amine the affairs of the Maverick House Company, with power and authority to advance such sums of money, on security of their property, as would enable them to complete their establish-
5
477
THE MAVERICK HOUSE.
1834.]
ment. This committee reported, in the following August, that they had made the proposed investigations, and had satisfied themselves that it would be for the interests of the East Boston Company to make advances, in order to enable the projectors to complete the house. They therefore had directed the treasurer to make the necessary payments for that purpose. These were much greater than was anticipated; and the com- pany, finding it burdensome to raise so much money, effected an arrangement by which the original proprietors of shares in the hotel relinquished them to the company, receiving in ex- change land in the 3d section, at ten cents a foot, to the amount of their par value.
When the mechanics and others, owners of the hotel, made this exchange, it became necessary, or at least expedient, to connect these lots with Hotel square, in order to make easy access to the ferry, and increase their value. Consequently, Meridian street was laid out in a north and south line at great expense, over the marsh and low lands, and looking forward to its further extension by a bridge to Chelsea. This anticipation has since been realized; and the straight and wide street, valu- able as a meridian line for a basis of angles and directions, forming an important avenue to connect different parts of the Island, and, by its extension, joining the Island to the main land by a public thoroughfare, compensates a thousand-fold for all the seeming extravagance in its location and construction.
The house having thus become the property of the company, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Brodhead were appointed to engage a suitable person to furnish and keep it, and to make preparations for its opening in the following May ; and on the 3d of Decem- ber they were authorized to make the best arrangement they could with Major Jabez W. Barton. Previous to taking charge "of the Maverick House, Mr. Barton had charge of the Lynn Mineral Spring Hotel, since the private residence of Richard S. Fay, Esq.
Mr. Barton's first acquaintance with the East Boston Com- pany was in November, 1834, when the president and some of the directors visited his hotel to dine; after dinner he was sent for, and the proposition made to him to become the tenant of the Maverick House. The necessary arrangements were
·
f
I
·
478
HISTORY.
[1835.
effected in a few days, and in the following month he com- menced making preparations for opening the house in the spring.
The Maverick House, as finished in 1835, had a south-west front on Hotel street of eighty-five feet eight inches, and a south-east front on Hotel, now Maverick, square, of ninety-four feet; it was six stories high, including the basement and attic, and contained more than eighty rooms. Its halls, parlors, din- ing-rooms, and chambers were furnished in an elegant manner, equalling any hotel in the United States. Connected with the house was a beautiful garden, extensive stables, and carriage- houses. There were also attached to it a large bathing- house, bowling-alleys, and all the other usual appendages to a first class hotel. It had cost the company about one hundred thousand dollars exclusive of about an acre of land, and was an ornament to the Island and a credit to the builders.1
It has already been mentioned, that, on the day the ferry- boats "East Boston" and "Maverick" began their regular trips between the Island and the city, and the Maverick House was opened, a public celebration of these events took place under the auspices of the company. This was on the 27th of May, the anniversary of the battle of Noddle's Island, the second battle of the Revolution, and was under the particu- lar direction of Messrs. Binney, Sumner, and Oliver. Tickets of invitation were sent by the directors of the company to all persons who it was thought would be interested in the projected festival, and on the appointed day, the invited guests, including the stockholders of the East Boston Company, all the public functionaries, distinguished men, officers of railroads, directors in public enterprises, and men of note in all departments of in- dustry, sat down to a sumptuous entertainment prepared by Major Barton. About seven hundred plates were laid for thisª occasion, and, the Maverick House not being large enough to accommodate so many, tables were set in the spacious build- ings built for, but not yet occupied as, stables. At 3 o'clock
1 The precise cost of the house, stables, bowling-alleys, bathing-houses, and furniture, was $103,871.53.
479
PUBLIC CELEBRATION.
1835.]
the guests took their seats at the tables, which were elegantly spread, and loaded with the delicacies of the season ; the apart- ments of the hotel and the dining-room were tastefully orna- mented with flags, and the air was filled with the fragrance of flowers. The conviviality of the occasion was much increased by the news which had that day been received of the reconcilia- tion between France and the United States, effected by the characteristic firmness of General Jackson, who had successfully insisted upon indemnity from the French government for spoliations upon our commerce. This was the great political event of the occasion, and Jackson's name was sounded in praise even by those who were politically opposed to him, and inscribed in large letters on canvass and conspicuously displayed were the words "FRANCE AND AMERICA UNITED. THE INDEMNITY BILL PASSED April 18, 1835." The Boston Light Infantry, under Captain Weston, attended by the Brigade Band, were present by invitation, and performed escort duty on the occasion, adding much to the interest and brilliancy of the scene.
After the cloth was removed, General Sumner, who presided at the tables, addressed the company in some interesting his- torical remarks at the announcement by the toast-master, Zebedee Cook, Esq., of a sentiment from the president of the East Boston Company. On motion of F. J. Oliver, Esq., General Sumner's address, by an unanimous vote, was ordered to be printed; it was copied into the Columbian Centinel (and also into the Bunker Hill Aurora), from which we extract it, not so much for the sake of the address, as for the facts it contains, and as descriptive of the spirit of the occa- sion.
It is well to remark in this connection, that this address was "delivered before the author had made the history of the Island a subject of the minute investigation, the results of which are set forth in these pages, and any trivial mistakes which it may contain are corrected in the main narrative. It was as fol- lows : -
" Gentlemen, - I have been requested within a day or two by my brethren, the directors of the East Boston Company, to
480
HISTORY.
[1835.
give some account of the Island which is the scene of the present celebration. It was supposed by them that a short history of the place might be interesting to those who attach to its future destiny some degree of importance, and of the per- sons who formerly occupied it, to their numerous successors. It would be quite unsuitable to the spirit of this occasion were I to detain you long with a dull recital of historical events. My notice of them will therefore be short, and merely intro- ductory to the sentiment I propose to offer at its close. . The antiquarian, I trust, however, will find something in them to allay his thirst of inquiry, and the epicurean whose taste may hereafter be indulged in the luxuries of the Maverick House, a reason for the name which has been given to it.
" It was an ancient custom for those who undertook the erec- tion of a temple, or engaged in commencing any work whose structure or plan was designed to last for ages, in laying its foundation, to deposit coins, medals, and inscriptions under it, or in some other way to make known to future ages the period of its commencement and the plan of the projectors. This custom has been continued to the present period in Europe, and is not wholly unobserved on this side the Atlantic. Whether the substitute of a dinner, speeches, and toasts commemorative of such events, transmitted to posterity through the press, is not an improvement, I must leave to the decision of those who have often felt the soul-stirring influence of that eloquence which has so often charmed our festive boards. This mode of celebration frequently converts the moments of our highest hilarity into periods of the greatest mental improvement, and makes that which might otherwise have been a mere epicurean or bacchanalian festival, a means of softening the rigors of big- otry and the asperities of party. When these celebrations take place in times of prosperity, they increase the common interest for the advancement of the project; and, when the sources of that prosperity are in peril, their influence is to produce in all who engage in them united, patriotic, and hearty efforts for the common weal.
" It is only two years since a steam ferry-boat was permitted to cross the channel to the place from which I address you. The proprietors of this Island, on the 4th of July of that year,
1835.]
GENERAL SUMNER'S ADDRESS. 481
saluted those who assembled here for its celebration from a tent erected on the then commanding heights, which are now fast fading from the view, as the only place of sufficient accom- modation. On that day they convened to celebrate the greatest political event that history has recorded, or the imagination of poets indulged; I mean the subjection of man to the moral government of his own will as a substitute for the physical restraints of others' rule. It was on the 4th of July that this country was declared to be politically free - free from the shackles of the British parliament and the monarchy ; relig- iously free - free from the power of popes and synods; mor- ally free - free to think, to act, and to suffer; physically free - above the power of England to subdue, or a world in arms to conquer. To the cause they then met to celebrate, the proprie- tors of this Island early made a great sacrifice. It is now within the recollection of a venerable gentleman,1 who, I hope, is present, but whose letter I have before me, of having seen, on the 10th of June, 1775, a week before Bunker Hill battle, the elegant establishment of Mr. Yeamans, and four other houses, with all their barns, out-houses, and buildings in flames ; the torch having been applied under order of Colonel Stark, the commander of the American troops, to prevent the enemy from taking possession of them.
" The venerable mansion which was placed upon the old cellar, recently the only dwelling upon the Island, composed a part of the barracks of Washington's army, at Cambridge, in 1775, and after the flight of the British from our harbor, when his encampment was broken up, was given to Mr. H. H. Wil- liams, the lessee, in remembrance of his patriotic services. These the immortal donor always knew how to recognize, more especially such as he had it not in his power to requite. From the long occupancy of it by himself and his true-hearted son, the Island was often familiarly called by their name, Williams' island. Washington's barracks, with which are associated so many interesting reminiscences, stood on this commanding position for half a century, witnessing the wonderful progress of improvement which your city has exhibited, and at last, in
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