USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston; with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix > Part 45
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston : with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix. > Part 45
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" Every spring there were one or more ships of war moored directly in front of the house, and so near that the bands on board could be distinctly heard. There was also at anchor
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MAJOR BARTON'S LETTER.
1835.]
there the revenue cutter Hamilton, commanded by the gallant Josiah Sturgis, who was always happy of an opportunity to do what he could to contribute to the pleasure of the guests of the Maverick, to which he was always courteously received, and who often sent his band ashore on summer evenings to play for their amusement. On the arrival of the steamer Unicorn, the pioneer of the royal mail line of British steamers, Capt. Sturgis, in his great anxiety to do honor to the occasion, fired his salute so near the Unicorn that most of the beautiful stained glass was broken from her cabin windows. Capt. Douglas, who commanded the Unicorn, might have said with propriety, 'save me from my friends.' In consequence of the immediate proximity of the navy-yard, the ' Maverick' was the favorite resort and residence for the elite of the navy officers and their families, - as Commodores Porter (then the United States Minister to Constantinople), Hull, Storer, Downes, Shubrick, Percival, etc .; Commanders Pinckney, Smoot, Alex. Slidell Mackenzie ; Surgeons Wiley, Dodd, Salter, Adee; and also many distinguished officers of the army, among whom were General Zach. Taylor (late President of the United States), wife and daughter, who passed several weeks at the Maverick ; Col. Thayer, of the United States Engineer Corps, while con- structing the fortifications in the harbor; Captains McGruder (now commanding at Newport), Mansfield, and Donaldson, who have distinguished themselves in the Mexican war.1
" The Maverick House was a remarkably healthy residence, for notwithstanding the very large number of persons living there, cases of sickness were very rare, and but two deaths occurred
1 Besides these may be mentioned among the many who frequented the Maverick House numerous British officers; Judge Oakly and wife and her sister, Thomas E. Davis and family, George Peabody of Salem, George and Mrs. Belden, Gen. J. L. Graham, Chief Justice Jones, Gen. Sumner and wife, Chancellor Kent, Stephen White, the Messrs. Greenough and sister, F. J. Oliver, Miss Joy of Boston, and Mr. and Miss Joy of Newport. It was the chief boast of this last-mentioned lady, that she danced with Gen. Washington at the ball given to the officers of the French navy. In addition to these were Chester Harding, the artist, and the many families whose members took parts in the tableaux which he rendered beautiful by his taste and judgment.
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HISTORY.
[1835.
during the six years of my occupancy. Captain Dixy Wilds, while amusing himself with a game of billiards after dinner, and in the act of drawing back his arm to make a stroke with the cue, received a shock of paralysis, from which he did not recover.
The winter evenings at the Maverick were ever gay and joy- ous; and with music, dancing, tableaux vivants, and games in endless variety, ' all went merry as a marriage bell.' The tab- leaux vivants will ever be remembered with peculiar delight by those who witnessed or participated in them. They were pro- duced with great care and taste, and with artistic effect seldom equalled ; the ladies who aided principally in these were Mrs. Jos. Adams, Mrs. Chas. F. Jones, Miss Marian and Miss Charlotte Marshall, the Misses Caroline, Ophelia, and Margaret Harding, Miss Jane Wildes, and many others ; they were much indebted to the skill and taste of Chester Harding, Esq., the celebrated artist, for the finished manner in which these beautiful life- pictures were produced. Every spring a portion of the Penob- scot Indians pitched their tents, or rather wigwams, on the Island, and passed their time in shooting with their bows and arrows, in fishing, basket making, etc. They were objects of great curiosity to thousands who crossed the ferry from the city to see them. On several occasions they were invited to the Maverick House in the evening, to amuse the guests with their songs, dances, and warwhoops. The bachelors of the house took quite an interest in their welfare, and formed themselves into a society for their amelioration. One of the young squaws was very handsome, and attracted the notice of all; her full length portrait was painted at the time by a young artist of the name of Lang, who has since passed several years in Italy, and has become celebrated, and is now established in New York. He painted some very excellent and lifelike portraits of ladies, gentlemen, and children at the Maverick House. A good sized sturgeon was caught near the shore at East Boston, the first, and I believe only, one known to have been caught in these waters. It was cooked and served at the Maverick a l'Italienne, and was partaken of with great gusto at the table.
" When preparations were being made to build the first wharf
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MAJOR BARTON'S LETTER.
1835.]
at East Boston, the oystermen, who had for many years enjoyed the privilege of bedding their oysters on the flats, remonstrated against being disturbed in their ancient rights. For a time this seemed to be quite an obstacle to further progress, but on searching the records more closely it was found that there were certain conditions to the privilege; one of which was, that any inhabitant of the Island should be at liberty at all times to make free use of the oysters embedded there. Availing himself of this clause, the president of the East Boston Company announced to all the inhabitants of the Island, and to some two or three hundred laborers employed by the company, that they could make use of as many oysters as they pleased ; this they were not slow to do, which put a stop to all further talk about claim for damages, and the remaining oysters were forthwith removed by their owners. The hotel garden was adorned with trees, flowering plants, and shrubs, many of which were very choice and rare, furnished principally from the celebrated gar- dens of Doctor Hosack, Hyde Park, New York. These plants were procured through the kindness and agency of J. E. Tesch- maker, Esq., now deceased, who with his family passed several seasons at the Maverick. He was possessed of rare accomplish- ments, excelling especially in botanical knowledge, and was a great favorite. He took great pleasure in getting up and intro- ducing all sorts of games and plays ; among others, I remember the 'Snap Dragon,' as it was called. It consisted in filling a basin (with raisins at the bottom) with alcohol or other spirits, and setting the liquor on fire, after darkening the room by turn- ing down all other lights, and while the party are standing around the basin striving to pick out the raisins, a small hand- ful of salt is quietly thrown in, when the faces of all present assume a ghastly hue, like Macbeth's witches around the boil- ing cauldron. This, I believe, was an old game, introduced in the English Christmas frolics, and it always created much amusement.
" Among the festive occasions enjoyed at the Maverick may be mentioned the brilliant supper given by J. W. Fenno, Esq., to a large party on the 13th of November, 1837, in honor of a great whig victory at the State elections in Massachusetts and
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HISTORY.
[1838.
New York. The hotel was illuminated, and the occasion passed off with great success.
" The late Mr. Charles Joy and wife passed two or three seasons at the Maverick. He remembered, when a boy of about fifteen years of age, seeing Colonel Brown's regiment of British troops drawn up in a line in front of the granary burying-ground in Tremont street, the night they commenced their march to Lexington and Concord ; that he and Major Benjamin Russell crossed the water in boats with them to Cambridge, and that when they arrived at the colleges they were discovered and sent back, and the troops continued their march, the results of which are well known."
Convenient facilities were furnished for passengers between the ferry landing and the hotel, and also to the city. An omni- bus and four horses, with harnesses and other property, were purchased by the company, and maintained at their expense to convey people to the city, while coaches and other vehicles car- ried them to and from the ferry landing, Chelsea Beach, and various parts of the Island.
During the years 1835 and 1836, the Maverick House was so well filled that it was found to be deficient in parlors and chambers ; and consequently, in the summer of 1837, it was greatly enlarged, by extending its south-west front to Paris street, a distance of seventy-four feet, thus making its whole front on Hotel street about one hundred and sixty feet. By' this addition the accommodations were nearly doubled, with- out, as it was then supposed, greatly increasing the expenses.
The building was constructed entirely of wood, with the exception of a brick end on Paris street, and was erected and enlarged chiefly by mechanics of East Boston, to whom the company always gave the preference in all works of improve- ments on the Island. A portion of the expense incurred in the construction of the addition was paid for in land.
The contract with Major Barton was continued to April 15, 1839, during which time the house was conducted at the ex- pense of the company. In 1838, the charge of ten per cent. (to the expense account) on the cost of the addition to the
509
THE MAVERICK HOUSE.
1841.]
house was relinquished as an encouragement to Major Barton, with the provision, that, if there should be any profits, they should belong to him to the extent of $3,000, and any thing beyond that should be equally divided between him and the company.
In October, 1839, the house was relinquished to Major Bar- ton, who conducted it for his own account, under a lease from the company, until April, 1841. In the July preceding this lease of the hotel, the superintendent of the East Boston Company requested Major Barton not to increase his stock of wines, and not to incur any unnecessary expenses, as the house was to be advertised to be let from the first of October. No change in the tenancy, however, took place ; for Major Barton, who was better acquainted with the probable success of a public-house on the Island than any one else, leased the " Maverick " in Sep- tember, and thus continued the tenant of the company. The furniture was valued at $14,000, and the stock of wines laid in by the company when the house was kept at their expense, at $3,385; the horses and carriages were sold to Major Barton and Daniel Crowley, familiarly known as " King Crowley," and who now, by his well-directed energy, acquisition of property, and acknowledged supremacy over so many residents of the Island, better deserves the title than when it was first conferred upon him.
It was agreed between the company and the lessee, that the latter should have a lease of the house and stables, and the use of the furniture, by paying the difference between the cost and the present valuation, rent free for three years, on the condi- tion that he kept the house open and carried it on, at his own expense, in the same style as before, without any charge or lia- bility on the part of the company. These liberal terms were made by the company, as it was very important for the interests of the Island, especially since the. Cunard steamers would land and take their passengers at East Boston, that a large and well- kept public-house should be sustained there, and the superior ability of Major Barton to make the Maverick House subserve the highest interests of the Island, as sufficiently manifested during the previous year of his tenancy, led the company to adopt measures of the most liberal character to induce him to
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HISTORY.
[1839.
remain. Neither the bath-house or school-house was included in this lease. Either party was at liberty to cancel the bargain, after the first year, by giving six months' notice. Such a notice was given by the company 1st October, 1840, and the lease ter- minated 1st April, 1841.
Major Barton was therefore connected with the house from its opening, in 1835, until 1841; and, during this term of six years, the relations between him and the officers of the com- pany were of the most friendly and agreeable nature. He possessed their entire confidence, and was so well satisfied with his position, that he declined without hesitation more advanta- geous proposals for taking charge of other establishments. It may be said without fear of contradiction, that there never was a hotel better kept than the Maverick, or one where the inmates passed their time more pleasantly. than with Major Barton during the halcyon years 1835-1841.
In his interesting communication to the author, from which such copious extracts have been made, Major Barton concludes as follows : - " My intercourse with the East Boston Company through its officers and directors was ever of the most pleasant and agreeable nature, having the good fortune at all times to enjoy their full confidence. The remembrance of the flatter- ing manner in which the president of the company always took occasion to make mention of my humble efforts in his reports at the stockholders' meetings, and the many kindnesses received at his hands, will ever be by me most gratefully cher- ished."
To those who ever visited the Maverick House while it was under the control of Major Barton, it is needless to speak in his praise; for the recollection of the admirable manner in which he conducted the affairs of the hotel will not soon be effaced. By nature possessed of those peculiar qualities so essential to the management of such an establishment, kind and courteous to his friends and visitors, attentive to all their wants, and anticipating their desires, personally superintending all the de- partments of the house, and infusing into all his subordinates his own care and pride, he established for himself and the Maverick a well-earned reputation of a house unsurpassed in elegance and comfort, and a keeper unequalled in efficient and
511
SALE OF THE MAVERICK HOUSE.
1841.]
satisfactory management, and whose manners would grace any situation. It is not affirming too much to say, that, in all the requisites of a good hotel, the Maverick would not suffer in comparison with any in the country ; and indeed it ought to have been, as it really was, well kept, for the company spared no care or expense in all the details of a first class public-house.
Charles M. Taft succeeded Major Barton as tenant. The furniture and other articles belonging to the house, stables, and other buildings, were appraised by Messrs. Cunningham and Hatch at about $13,800, or $200 less than the valuation of September, 1839. Mr. Taft hired it for five years, at a rent of seven per cent. on the gross receipts, which, it was estimated, would be at least $3,000 per annum.
In 1836, while the Maverick House was the property of the East Boston Company, the president was authorized to convey it in mortgage, including all its appurtenances, to the four children of Mrs. Maria F. Greenough, as collateral security for the payment of four promissory notes of $5,200 each, payable by the company to these four children respectively, with interest at five per cent.
This mortgage was effected through the influence of General Sumner; and by it the claim of the Greenough heirs was trans- ferred from the Island to the "hotel lot," etc., and buildings (most ample security), - a very advantageous change for the interests of the Island, because it freed all the rest from a cum- brous and embarrassing mortgage. The management of this business was one of peculiar delicacy on the part of General Sumner, interested as he was equally for the company and for Mrs. Greenough (to whom he was about to be married) and her children. For this important negotiation, for which no charge was made, the company, after two or three years, voted him a compensation of $500.
In 1838, at a period of great financial depression, and when funds were imperiously demanded by the company, the hotel property was mortgaged, together with other property, to John W. Fenno, Esq., as treasurer of the company, as security for their bond or promissory note for money advanced and for endorsing their notes, subject to the Greenough mortgage of $20,800 upon the estate, which was to be discharged as soon
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HISTORY.
[1845.
as possible. One half of the first mortgage had been released at the time of sale of the house in 1841.
As early as May, 1839, it had been contemplated to sell the Maverick House for the liquidation of the debts of the company. Successful as it had been in its character and extensive reputa- tion, and although it had received a remarkable share of public patronage, yet, the immense expense of supporting such an establishment, particularly at a time of such financial difficulty, and when the company was in need of all its available resour- ces to carry on its legitimate operations, seemed to render a sale of the property necessary. The whole cost of the house to the company, as taken from the treasurer's books, was $177,697.42; it is not now possible to ascertain how this sum was divided between the house, land, and furniture. In the land dividend made in 1841, the Maverick House and its appurtenances were included. The lots were put up, and the house and furniture fell into the hands of Mr. Fenno for $62,000 (14th June, 1841). This great sacrifice of property was made near the expiration of the heavy pressure in the money market, which was relieved by the tariff of 1842. The house and appurtenances were sold at the following prices : -
House and buildings, and 40,000 feet of land . $40,000
Furniture (17th and 18th Nov.) 12,000
Bath-house and 3,000 feet of land 2,000
Stable buildings, with two bowling-alleys and about 12,000 feet of land 6,500 Bowling-alley buildings, with five alleys and 3,000 feet of land 2,000
$62,500
This was paid in land dividend No. I., and divided among the proprietors, with one eighth per cent. premium for the choice of land.
After the house was sold by the East Boston Company, it was conducted by Mr. Taft for a few years, and succeeding him, various persons occupied it until the summer of 1845, when the whole structure was taken down, and a fine block of brick buildings erected on its site by Noah Sturtevant, Esq. Different parts of these buildings were used respectively as a hotel, dwelling-houses, stores, and offices, until the whole block
513
THE STURTEVANT HOUSE.
1857.]
was consumed by fire on Sabbath morning, the 25th of Janu- ary, 1857.
Upon the remaining part of the lot of 43,000 feet originally occupied by the Maverick House and its appurtenances, are now thirteen three and a half story brick dwelling-houses, and a large stone building two and a half stories high, called Win- throp Block (the lower story occupied as a market, post-office, and stores; the upper part for offices, savings bank, printing- office, etc.) ; while the Maverick House has been replaced by a large and elegant hotel.
This beautiful building, recently erected upon the site of the old hotel by Noah Sturtevant, Esq., is not only a great public convenience, but also creditable to its projector. The mate- rial of its exterior is iron in the first story, and above, brick, cov- ered with mastic. It has a front on Maverick square of 130 feet, on Henry street of 115 feet, on Winthrop street of one hundred feet, and covers an area of more than fourteen thousand square feet. It is six stories in height, measuring seventy-six feet four inches from the curb-stone, and contains 180 rooms, besides a spacious dining hall forty feet by eighty feet, a ladies' ordinary twenty-five feet by forty feet, a billiard-room twenty-five by forty feet, and, in the attic, a bowling-alley forty by ninety feet.
In addition to the foregoing is a splendid hall in the third story, measuring forty feet wide by eighty feet in length and twenty feet in height. This relieves the need which the citi- zens of East Boston have felt of a suitable hall in which to hold public meetings and have lectures, concerts, etc., and for the want of which convenience they have long been deprived of many of the advantages for social and intellectual enjoyment which residents in other sections of the city have enjoyed. The hall is decorated in a most chaste and elegant manner with painting in fresco, and provided with every convenience for use as a concert or lecture-room, and attached are two drawing- rooms for occasions when assemblies may be held. It will seat comfortably six hundred persons or upwards, and for conven- ience and beauty will compare favorably with any hall of its size in the vicinity of Boston. The exterior of this building is plain, devoid of ornament, and its general effect imposing.
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HISTORY.
[1857.
The imitation of freestone is so perfect that it will require a practised eye to point out wherein it differs from the original.
This structure is at once an ornament to East Boston, and a rare exhibition of energy and enterprise on the part of its pub- lic-spirited projector ; having been built, at a cost of $100,000, in the midst of the commercial crisis through which the country has just passed, without having been for a moment delayed for that or any other cause since its commencement.
By the general consent and desire of the citizens of East Boston, it will be known as the " Sturtevant House." The hall was opened to the public for the first time on Tuesday evening, the 23d of February, 1857, when Hon. George S. Hillard deliv- ered his excellent lecture on " The Use of Books," before the Democratic Union Association. The hall was crowded, with an attentive and intelligent audience, who were delighted with the lecture, and enthusiastic in the expression of their admira- tion of the beautiful hall. The only regret felt was occasioned by the absence of the proprietor of the building, who was called away from the city by a severe domestic affliction. Mr. Hil- lard, before commencing his lecture, very appropriately alluded to the opening of the new hall in a few well chosen words. He said in substance -
" I congratulate you, ladies and gentlemen, upon the posses- sion of this tasty and convenient apartment, for which you are in a great measure indebted to the enterprise and public. spirit of a gentleman well known to the citizens of Boston, and the residents of East Boston, for his enterprise and his readiness to give his aid to all measures of public improvement, and whose name the hall appropriately bears. I am sure I express the sen- timents of you all when I say how much I regret that domestic affliction which prevents his being with us here to-night. I trust that this hall may be the means of securing to you many agreeable social meetings, and that what you hear here from time to time may tend to your intellectual good."
" This house," says a public journal, " we doubt not, will be a favorite resort with those who cannot leave the city during the hot days and nights of midsummer, and who will be glad to avail themselves of the cool breezes which render East Boston
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BUILDINGS ERECTED IN 1835.
1835.]
a most desirable place of residence in hot weather. The repu- tation of its lessees is such as to warrant the belief that the Sturtevant House will be one of the most popular and best con- ducted houses in New England."
A picture of the Sturtevant House is upon the opposite page.
Going back from this episode of the account of the Maverick House and the celebration, we find that the following buildings were erected in East Boston in 1835 :-
Jan. 20. Mr. Pollard's house and stable on the south-east side of Hotel square : lot No. 15.
29. Stephen White's storehouse, on his wharf near the Timber Com- pany's dock-yard, at the north-west end of Maverick street.
Feb. 11. Mr. Norris's house, on the corner of Sumner and Paris streets.
23. A plank side-walk was made from the ferry to the Maverick House.
April 20. Edwards and Lefavor, of Salem, erected their house on Prineeton street.
21. Alexander Boyden erected a house on the corner of Lexington and Marion streets : lot No. 155.
30. E. W. Perry and W. two houses on Saratoga street: lots Nos. 49 and 131.
May 9. B. F. Butler's smith-shop on Maverick street : lot No. 116.
12. A large stable for the Maverick House, by Edwards and Lefavor.
21. Moses Miller's workshops on his wharf.
26. Benson Clock's house, on lot No. 88 Prineeton street.
June. Brown and Bates ereeted two houses on Meridian street, in the 3d section : on lot E.
66 E. H. Snelling and Ebenezer Scott built a bloek of two houses in the 3d section, on the corner of Meridian and Princeton streets : lot No. 112.
July. Captain Cook raised his house on Sumner, corner of Cottage street : lot No. 81.
Aug. 4. F. A. Gerry's house, corner of Meridian and Lexington streets, in the 3d section : lot No. 132.
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