USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston; with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix > Part 47
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston : with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix. > Part 47
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The stringency of the money market brought this New York plan to a sudden and disastrous conclusion. Many of the par- ties concerned in it failed, the projected improvements were not carried out, and the unpaid-for lands returned to the company. There can be no doubt but that for the peculiar condition of the money market throughout the country, this plan would have resulted in great success to those engaged in it; but as it was, its history and results are among the things that were, and form but a temporary item in the transactions of the company. The records of the East Boston Company, easily accessible to all, will furnish all necessary information to those who desire a more particular account of this whole matter.
By referring to the list of officers of the East Boston Com-
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528
HISTORY.
[1839.
pany inserted in the Appendix, it will be noticed, that, in the election for the year 1839, General Sumner's name was not con- tinued on the list of directors. This was the culminating period in the affairs of the company, which was deeply involved in its financial operations, and whose members were suffering under individual responsibilities for the company. These, on the part of a single individual, at various times, exceeded $100,000 in amount ; and many of the influential members of the East Bos- ton Company who were reputed to have property were brought into an embarrassed situation. This was General Sumner's condition, as well as that of others. All of his property was under attachment to satisfy the numerous and large debts for which the East Boston Timber Company, the Hancock and New England Banks, the City Bank of Buffalo, and the Morris Canal Company, attempted to hold him liable. At this time all his stock in the East Boston Company was absorbed in the payment of purchases for land; and thus, not being a stockholder, through necessity his name was omitted from the board of direction. But at last, having coming off victorious in all the lawsuits brought against him, and a satisfactory and liberal arrangement having been made by the East Boston Company for all pecun- iary liabilities under his extensive purchases of real estate, his property became free from legal embarrassment. Immediately upon this (in 1845), he was reelected to his former position as director, and made president of the company. This office he held until ill health induced him to resign in the winter of 1850-51. The various lawsuits being discontinued, his lots at East Boston and his other property were left free from attach- ment, and so they have remained ever since.
It is unnecessary to trace the company further on, indepen- dently of other matters pertaining to the Island. The operations of the first few years have been given so far as they illustrate the setting in motion of the long train of events which have changed the condition and history of the Island; but to trace the consecutive plans, purposes, and acts of the company, would only involve a transcript of records which are open to all, and the minutiæ of which would be tedious to the reader.
During the time included in this chapter, the company, from the necessities of the case, was obliged to identify itself with
529
RESULTS AND ANTICIPATIONS.
1843.]
the different enterprises, and for a while, in fact, to start and prosecute plans which subsequently were carried through by individuals. The few first years required an outlay of money which private persons could not furnish, nor would they incur the hazard of so doing. But when the whole scheme was put into successful operation, and the company had shown a noble liberality in all its dealings, and had laid its plans with admi- rable adaptation to the results desired, individuals felt confi- dence to make plans and carry forward large undertakings on their own responsibility.
From its organization to the present time, the company has labored to promote the prosperity of the Island in every way within its legitimate powers, and it is believed that its general policy has been productive of successful results. Mistakes may have been made ; but the prominent idea and guiding principle have been the good of the Island, and whatever could be done in plans, gifts, influence, and expenditures, has been done ; the result bears its own testimony to the wisdom of the proprietors.
Extracts from a letter written by Gen. Sumner in 1843 to Larkin Thorndike, Esq., who contemplated moving to East Boston, may be appropriately introduced in this place, as they show the development of the original plan, and give anticipa- tions of future prosperity which have been more than realized, and " the end is not yet." This letter was written but eight years after the formation of the company, and it is interesting from the fact, that, after such a lapse of time, all false ideas of the success of the undertaking, and all illusory anticipations, would have passed away, and the success hitherto serve as a basis for future calculations : -
" East Boston is becoming a second Brooklyn; I remember when Brooklyn, a mile across the East river, with a very rapid current, had but one principal building, a large tavern, and two or three other small dwellings, and numerous Dutch red barns or stables for travellers and marketers. Now it has a popula- tion half that of Boston, and real estate in it has nearly the value of that in New York. Yet New York has the whole Manhattan island, eight miles long with navigable waters on each side, to settle up the North and East rivers, while the pen- insula of Boston is almost circumscribed by the water and
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HISTORY.
[1843.
flats around it, and the whole land is occupied. The increasing population must find room suited to their commercial pursuits, and where shall they look for it ? Not at Charlestown, for the navy-yard occupies almost the whole land fronting on the har- bor; not at Chelsea yet (for there is good water there), but it is too far back to be sought for at present ; and not at South Boston, where the flats extending off into the harbor a mile or two, even opposite to the end of India wharf, will ever prevent its affording any facilities whatever for foreign commerce: East Boston is the only place where the increasing foreign naviga- tion can have accommodation. The distance from Boston to East Boston is only 1,800 feet, the time of crossing, five min- utes, the interruption in the ferry less than the draws of bridges make, and the expense of transportation across, less by one half or two thirds of what is the cost of passage over the mill-dam or a toll-bridge. And even when the bridges are free, the ope- rative, sweated with work, labors it on foot to dinner in the hot summer sun, while the other is transported under the awning of a rapid boat across the beautiful channel, invigorated by its refreshing breeze.
" The aspect for ships is better at East Boston than in Boston proper. In a north-east gale they lie safe, while at Boston they are thumping against the wharves and one another. The chan- nel is nearer the East Boston shore than the Boston. The drinking water there, and the pure air, brought across and cooled by the waters of the harbor, are much superior to those on the Boston side. The temptations are many for removal or settle- ment at East Boston, as the capital enlarges; but if these did not exist, necessity would control its destiny. Every wharf in Boston is occupied. There is room for no more, or but a few more, ships. The whole commercial front of the city proper is but two miles from Charlestown bridge to the South bridge, and thus it must be for ever limited; for the land on navigable waters above the bridges is only suitable for wood, stone, lum- ber, and coal wharves, and is all in demand for these, its more appropriate use. Where, then, shall the great commercial capi- tal of New England, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, receiving daily more and more of the produce of the great North and West,-where shall it extend its accommodations for this great
531
LETTER OF GEN. SUMNER.
1843.]
and increasing trade and navigation, and the population which is its natural consequence ? East Boston is the only place. You see it already in the establishment of the foreign steam- ships at her wharves, which could get equal accommodations nowhere else; in the numerous heavy ships which already lie in her docks ; in the rapid settlement of the place by the influx of manufacturers and mechanics of all classes, the numerous houses, the increasing price of land, and the general prosperity and thrift of every new-comer. If in eight years since the ferry was opened, such an exhibit is made as strikes the eye of every boat passenger as he crosses the ferry, from a single house and farm yard of cattle to a busy commercial place with its thou- sand houses and many thousand inhabitants, its wharves and steam docks, its manufactories and shipping, -what eight years more will do, would baffle the wildest conjecture. We have heard of the villages in the West, which have sprung up in a night as it were, and in a few years have become post-towns ; but in the whole country, I think, no such exhibit of expendi- ture and improvement can be made as East Boston presents. The crowded ferry, now one of the most important of the city avenues, and the petitions for the establishment of another, show conclusively the increase of business and population ; and the demand for dwellings, and the handsome interest which the rents pay on the capital expended, are the best evidences in favor of the location, and of the prosperity of its inhabitants. Where, then, let me ask, can you settle with better business prospects than in the midst of them? Where can you find a more healthy and beautiful situation for a residence than the heights of East Boston afford ? But do not build your house in the crowd of dwellings near the ferry. Seek rather, for your resi- dence, some more distant heights, where the prospect and water are equally good, and the land cheaper, - where, for a few thousand dollars, you can establish yourself with extensive gardens and conveniences. I well remember when an ancient dwelling with two acres of land in Boston, with beautiful ter- races covered with fruit and shrubbery, was sold for $36,000. In the full enjoyment of these the purchaser lived, and before his decease was offered $200,000 for the estate, which he declined, and left it as a still richer inheritance to his children.
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HISTORY.
[1854.
Before you locate, let me recommend you to stroll over Eagle hill, where the prospect is incomparably beautiful, the water pure, soil excellent, and land cheap, say ten cents a foot; and take enough of it, for it will not be long before others will be building around you, and the land then cannot be had for a consideration greatly enhanced."
These extracts from a letter written fifteen years ago con- tain speculations and anticipations which have been more than realized, and in their fulfilment astonish the observer. This appears still more wonderful when it is remembered that these same ideas and plans were held and gave rise to the East Bos- ton Company, and, forming the basis of all the operations of the company, resulted in the predicted success.
In no way can the remarkable prosperity of the Island be better shown than in a few brief extracts from the reports of the East Boston Company. Passing over a number of years in the history of the company, a sufficient length of time to test the success or failure of the enterprise, we glean the follow- ing facts from the report presented in May, 1854.
The company was then entirely free from debt, with assets on hand and in notes receivable amounting to $21,331.50, and ferry stock and amounts due on lands sold, etc., $21,842.98, making a total of $43,174.48 on hand. During the year a divi- dend of $100,000 was paid to the shareholders on ferry stock, and also a dividend, payable in land, of $200,000. The popula- tion was then fifteen thousand, being an increase of one thou- sand over that of the previous year. Thirty-six vessels were built during the year, of an aggregate tonnage of 51,950 tons, and repairs were made upon ships to the amount of nearly $4,000,000. Among the improvements of the year were the erection of eighty-seven new dwellings, the Atlantic manufactory of steam-engines and machinery, a salt factory, two large iron factories, a saleratus factory, two large freight-houses on the premises of the Grand Junction Railroad covering an area of thirty thousand square feet, and numerous other establishments.
At the time this report was presented, there were in East Boston twenty-two primary schools, with an average attend- ance of 1,278 children, and two grammar-schools, having four male and nineteen female teachers and an average attendance
1857.]
533
THE REPORTS IN 1855-1857.
of 1,174 scholars. Beside the paving and grading of several streets, 6,327 lineal feet of common sewer were laid during the year. The total number of dwelling-houses on the Island was 1,504, and of buildings of every description, 1,855.
From the report for the year ending May, 1855, it appears that during that year 147 dwelling-houses had been erected ; nine stores, of which six were brick, five stories high and of fine architectural appearance; twelve mechanic and machine shops, ten stables, two steam saw-mills, one stone warehouse, one brick oil factory, one freight-house on the Grand Junction wharf sixty feet by two hundred, and one brick church. During the same time, twenty-eight ships (exclusive of those on the stocks when the report was made) were built, with an aggregate ton- nage of 37,987 tons.
From the report presented in May, 1856, it appears that the whole property of the East Boston Company was then - tak- ing the valuation of land as fixed in May, 1851-$967,296.43; the sales of land by the company during the year amounted to $16,000 ; one lot of 102,160 feet was sold to an ice company, who had, at the time the report was made, filled in forty thou- sand feet, and were then erecting buildings. This land was valued, in 1851, at $4,873, and the company realized for it $7,897 over and above that sum. During the year 168 dwell- ing-houses were erected ; ten on the first section, thirty-nine on the second, eighty-nine on the third, and thirty on the fourth and fifth, making the then number of dwelling-houses at East Boston, 1,819; and, in addition to these, numerous shops and buildings of various kinds were built on each section. There were built and launched in that year twenty-eight ships, of the aggregate tonnage of 30,380 tons; and at the time the report was made there were twelve ships and one iron steamship on the stocks, or contracted for.
An abstract of the report presented on the 4th of May, 1857, will bring the history of the company up to the present time, and will show in a striking light the great prosperity which has attended the corporation ever since its organization.
This report stated, that, in accordance with a vote passed at the last annual meeting of the stockholders, a new valuation of the entire property of the company had been made during the
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534
HISTORY.
[1857.
last financial year. The valuation had been made by five of the directors, each one of whom marked what he supposed each lot, block, or wharf, to be worth, as it then was, and the mean or average of those marks was the price adopted in the valuation. From this valuation it appeared that the aggre- gate amount of the company's property at that time was $1,275,023.76, equal to sixty-three dollars and seventy-five cents per share on the stock.
The amount of unselected dividend lands at that time was $61,100. No land of the company had been disposed of during the preceding year. A contract had been made to have built forthwith that portion of Porter street (adjoining and back of the sea-wall) which lies between Lamson and Front streets, and also that part of Front street between Porter street and the gap in the sea-wall. When this improvement should be com- pleted, it would give to the company (ready for disposal or oc- cupancy) two more of the most valuable wharf lots on the south-east side of the Island.
A recent canvass had shown the resident population of East Boston to be 16,618. This number did not include the hun- dreds who found employment there, but whose homes were elsewhere. An examination as to the number of buildings in East Boston found 1,879 dwelling-houses (of which 330 were brick and 1,549 wood), eleven churches, ten school-houses, twenty-four manufactories and mills, seventy-six warehouses and stores, 109 mechanics' shops, five fire-engine houses, twelve counting-rooms, and seventy-seven stables, - of which, 152 dwelling-houses and ten stables had been erected the preceding year.
The report then alluded to East Boston as the great work- shop for ship-building in this State. Notwithstanding the great depression in this interest during the year, there had been built in East Boston 28,403 tons of shipping, exclusive of the iron war steamer built for the Egyptian government. The amount of this interest -including repairs of ships- (even in this the dullest season known for many years) was estimated at $2,504,180. Other branches of business in East Boston had felt the depression also. The report expressed the opinion, that, with the advantages which East Boston possesses over all
1857.]
COMPARISON BETWEEN 1847 AND 1857. 535
other places in this vicinity for every description of manufac- turing and mechanical purposes, and also for commercial pur- poses, with her great extent of wharf accommodations and depth of water, her warehouses, sectional and dry docks, marine rail- ways, machine shops, etc., it would be no stretch of the imagi- nation to say, that, when business should revive, East Boston would be one of the first places, if not the first, to feel its bene- ficial effects.
The report then spoke of the social, moral, and intellectual advantages possessed by the residents in East Boston. There were eleven churches, capable of seating 7,690 persons, with eight settled clergymen ; connected with these churches were 2,471 sabbath-school scholars and 266 teachers, and the schools were steadily increasing. Connected with the day schools there were sixty-three teachers and 3,860 children. The schools were lib- erally supported by the city, and in point of excellence were second to few others in the State. In connection with the notice of the liberal appropriations made by the city for schools in East Boston, credit was also given the city government for liberal appropriations for streets, etc.
The report closed with the following comparison between the East Boston of 1847 and the East Boston of 1857 : -
" In 1847, East Boston had a population of about 6,500. The total number of buildings of all kinds was 850, and those, with few exceptions, were of a cheap class. Not a foot of her streets had at that time been accepted, or a foot of a common sewer laid ; consequently many of her streets were, in wet weather, impassable, or nearly so; and in many localities it was very difficult to obtain a supply of good water for the few houses built on the low lands ; the ferry-boats were old and small, and their accommodations very inferior. Such was East Boston in 1847.
" In 1857, East Boston has a population of 16,600. The total number of buildings is 2,203, of which 1,879 are dwelling- houses, many of them beautiful residences, costing from $10,000 to $16,000 each. The old ferry-boats have long since disap- peared, and large new boats, whose accommodations are equal to any in the country, have taken their places ; about seventeen miles of her streets have been accepted by the city, of which
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HISTORY.
[1857.
three and one half miles have been paved. There have also been built through our streets about eight and three eighths miles of common sewers, and the city has also given us that greatest of all blessings, the Cochituate water, which is now pouring into every building whose occupants want it; and at our wharves (a large portion of which have been built since 1847) may be seen from fifteen to twenty-five ships of the largest class, besides numerous barques, brigs, schooners, and steamers. Surely this is a great change in the short space of ten years, and one that must be most gratifying to the stock- holders of the company, and also to every person who feels an interest in the welfare of East Boston."
Mr. Geo. F. Wadsworth, the treasurer of the company, then submitted his annual report, from which it appeared that the company is free from debt, and has on hand in mortgages, $11,213.28; in notes receivable, $3,609.83; and in cash on hand, $1,145.64. This is exclusive of the real estate, -the val- uation of which has already been stated.
Both reports were accepted, and, by a vote of the stockholders, ordered to be printed.
The meeting then proceeded to the choice of directors, and the following gentlemen were unanimously chosen, namely, Wm. C. Barstow, Benj. Lamson, C. C. Gilbert, A. A. Welling- ton, Lewis Rice, J. P. Thorndike, Silas Pierce, and Caleb Stet- son.
To the past, present, or future owners of land at East Bos- ton, accurate knowledge of the successive plans and maps of the Island is of the first importance in determining boundaries and in making sales. The author, therefore, takes much pleas- ure in presenting the following memoranda, prepared by Mr. Noble, the accomplished engineer of the East Boston Company, who is probably better acquainted with the subject than any other person. By reference to this paper, the successive changes in the streets, lots, and wharves, and all the boundaries and divisions of land, can be easily traced, and much confusion thus prevented. So far as is known to the author, no other such paper has ever before been prepared, and its value will be duly appreciated by all real estate owners on the Island.
537
MAPS AND PLANS.
1833-57.]
Memoranda of Details of the various Plans and Maps of East Bos- ton, showing the various arrangements for laying out the streets and lots, from 1833 to January, 1857,-also showing the history of the grades of Streets and of the Harbor lines, etc.
" Section 1. - The first plan of East Boston lands, as divided into streets and lots for sale by the East Boston Company, was made by S. P. Fuller, and entitled plan of section one, East Boston, dated October 1, 1833, and showing the arrangements of the company's lots as then contemplated, as far as No. 100 Everett street, and the lots now between Everett and Maverick streets not being shown thereon, although Maverick street itself was shown.
" The street now called Jeffries street was then placed be- tween lots No. 17 and No. 69, and subsequently changed so as to be located between lots 61 and 63, and lots 66 and 67.
" There were but few marsh lots shown; those that were shown mostly consisting of upland, and the streets being re- spectively forty, fifty, and sixty feet wide. Belmont square was laid out 250 feet long and 200 feet wide. But one water lot was shown, that of Edwin Adams, situated at the south end of Cottage street, and 210 feet wide. The line of high-water mark on the south of the section very nearly coincided with the north line of Marginal street as first laid out, as far as Sum- ner street on the west. The division line between sections one and two was about seventy-five feet west of the west lines of lots 70 and 82. The lots averaged in width respectively forty- five, ninety, and one hundred feet, and in length 125, 200, and 220 feet.
" The block between Everett and Maverick streets was sub- sequently arranged into lots in the year 1836, and the block between the division line of the section and Bremen street, on the west, was left blank.
" The second plan of the section on registry was made by R. H. Eddy, dated June 2, 1836, and represents the new position of Jeffries street and of Orleans street; also of Everett street, and of the new lots between Everett and Maverick streets, from 101 to 220, being mostly marsh lots 90 by 100 feet.
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HISTORY.
[1833.
" The third plan was dated September 29, 1842, showing the extension of Marginal street westerly towards Lewis or Ferry street (to be referred to hereafter), and discontinuing the shore lot, upon which Marginal street was angularly laid out.
" Section 2. - The first plan of the second section was made by S. P. Fuller, dated October 1, 1833, showing the arrange- ments of the lots from No. 1 to 145, including the lands prin- cipally now between Bremen, Border, Sumner, and Meridian streets, and Central square ; the upland lots being generally 80 feet by 45, the marsh lots 160 by 100 feet, and the streets re- spectively fifty, sixty, and seventy feet wide.
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