USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston; with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix > Part 56
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > East Boston > History of East Boston : with biographical sketches of its early proprietors, and an appendix. > Part 56
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1 It has not been thought necessary to go into the minute details of the different conveyances of land, etc., such a particularity not being necessary to the narrative, nor interesting to the reader. Those who wish to examine criti- cally can find some details in Suffolk Deeds, lib. 446, p. 217; 448, p. 14; 521, p. 289; 511, p. 102; 525, p. 93 ; 534, p. 62; 581, p. 66 ; 581, p. 68, etc.
53
1
e d he ay ed go 5 us- ods ited
626
HISTORY.
[1858.
From these facts it is evident that this line of vessels is under an admirable management, and a regular, systematic, and ener- getic control, which of necessity secures success. The ships are of the first class, most thoroughly sea-worthy, and fitted with every accommodation for the safety and comfort of the passen- gers; the commanders are men of experience and character, ambitious in their duties and responsibilities, and at the same time prudent ; the discipline on board ship is excellent, and ex- tends through every department of labor; the energy of the master is manifest in the crew; and the combination of all these qualities, as fully demonstrated in every voyage, has obtained for this line of ships a reputation for safety, regularity, and comfort, which is as extensive as it is well deserved.
There are various circumstances connected with steam com- munication between Boston and the old world, which have not had sufficient weight with the mercantile community. Boston has advantages for foreign and coasting trade over other sea- ports, which have not been improved to the extent that smaller facilities have been used in other places. The single point of distance is an important one.
The distance from Boston to Liverpool is shorter than from
Philadelphia to Liverpool, by 370 miles. New York to Southampton, " 260
New York to Liverpool, 160
The distance from Boston to Galway is shorter than from
Philadelphia to Liverpool, by 570 miles.
New York to Southampton, 460 66
New York to Liverpool, 360 66
New York to Glasgow, 280 66 Boston to Liverpool, " 200 66
Boston to Belfast, 6 100 66 1
By looking at these tables it will be seen that the ocean can be crossed, from Boston to Ireland, in from one to two days less time than by any other route; a fact which, in these days of time-saving and distance-saving, is of great importance to ship-
1 These tables are from Lieutenant Maury, of the National Observatory, and consequently may be relied upon as correct.
627
1858.]
THE COMMERCE OF BOSTON.
pers. But with this fact in full view, it is apparent that in the traffic by ocean steamers we have not kept pace with the times. It is with steam traffic as with other branches of industry : no mat- ter how small the trade may be at first, if of practical utility it will in time grow to great magnitude. The Cunard line is an instance. This line commenced alone in 1840, and in seventeen years we find fifteen lines of steam-ships trading between Eu- rope and the United States, and all except three run into New York. Philadelphia has one line; and Boston, with its single Cunard line, stands now as it did seventeen years ago, while at the same time it possesses advantages as a seaport, and in its railroads radiating to all parts of the country, superior to those of any other city.
This is not the place to discuss the commercial advantages of Boston, or the necessity of increased steam vessels to com- pete with the enterprise of New York and other cities. The valuable pamphlet of Pliny Miles, Esq., on Ocean Steam Navi- gation, treats this subject in an able manner and at length. Says Mr. Miles at the conclusion of one of his chapters : -
" It requires no intricate statistical calculations to show, that, without ocean steamers, our trade is going into other hands, and departing to other shores. With a line of steamers to the West Indies to connect with lines running to South America, we should have a share of the traffic. The race is to the swift, and the battle to the strong. We must meet our competitors with their own weapons. Entering sailing vessels with modern steam-ships, and expecting to carry off the prizes won by active commerce, is like sending a Dutch lugger of the seventeenth century, armed with six-pounders, into battle with a British screw seventy-four, bristling with long Paixhans. The com- merce of twenty years ago is not the commerce of to-day, and the sooner we carry our knowledge of that fact into practical effect, the better it will be for us."
The business transacted by the means of the Cunard line of steamers running to Boston is immense, and continually increas- ing. For the last fourteen years these ships have been bringing cargoes to the enormous amount of $15,000,000 annually, a suc- cess without parallel in the history of navigation, and making their trips with a regularity almost reaching a certainty. Long
1.
1
628
HISTORY.
[1858.
may they continue their peaceful mission, shuttle-like, moving to and fro, and weaving a web of national intercourse and friendship, which should never be severed. The English are now our neighbors. We hear the news from London quicker and oftener than from some parts of our own country. Steam vessels have revolutionized the intercourse and trade of the world ; annihilating time and space, they bind together the ex- tremes of the earth, and promote the brotherhood of man. Commerce makes man acquainted with man, nation with nation ; it renders one country in a measure dependent upon another, and thus promotes " peace, good-will to men." White sails, and the foam of the paddle-wheels, glisten on every sea ; the enterprise of trade penetrates every river, and enters every port ; education, religion, science, and the arts are carried from sea to sea and shore to shore, and thus is the world made wiser and better. Our own city of Boston comes in for her full share of the labor and the honor, and while she extends every year her commerce and varied forms of enterprise, and has a still greater sphere of action and influence in prospect, she will ever ac- knowledge her indebtedness to the foresight and well-directed efforts of the founders of the Cunard line of steam-ships.
A change in the proprietorship of the Steam-ship wharf, and in the agency of the company, has lately become necessary. The one third of the wharf owned by Mr. Lewis has passed into the possession of Messrs. D. & C. McIvor, of Liverpool, and the agency has been transferred from Mr. Lewis to Messrs. E. C. & I. G. Bates, of Boston. These changes have caused no interruption in the regular running and business of the steam-ships.1
1 To some of our readers the following table of the number of trips made, and the amount of duties paid, by the steamers, during the first twelve years, will be interesting and valuable : -
Year.
Trips made.
Duties paid.
1840
8
$2,928.99
1841
21
73,809.23
1842
18
120,974.67
1843
20
640,572.05
1844
20
916,198.30
1845
20
1,022,992.75
629
GRAND JUNCTION RAILROAD.
1846.]
GRAND JUNCTION RAILROAD AND DEPOT COMPANY.
On November 5, 1846, a letter was addressed to the East Bos- ton Company by S. S. Lewis, Esq., representing that he was en- deavoring to establish a great freight depot at East Boston. He had obtained control of the necessary wharf privileges, and of a branch railroad connecting the Boston and Maine with the Eastern Railroad, and thence with the proposed depot; the length of this branch was three and a half miles, and a length of three miles more, over a perfectly level surface, would unite it with the Lowell, Fitchburg, Worcester, and Western Rail- roads, and also with the proposed " Air-line" to New York; forming a grand junction of all these roads with the freight depot at East Boston, by means of which the valuable products of the Canadas, of northern New York, and of the great West, might come to Boston for sale and shipment; and by which
Year.
Trips made.
Duties paid.
1846
20
1,047,731.75
1847
20
1,199,971.78
1848
22
649,178.50
1849
22
961,708.51
1850
21
1,322,383.30
1851
23
1,805,059.30
A few additional statistics of one department of Boston commerce may be appropriately inserted in this connection.
The Canada imports via Boston from 1848 to the 1st of January, 1858, have been as follows : -
1848
$28,420
1849
24,729
1850
108,967
1851
532,700
1852
1,709,953
1853
4,947,484
1854
5,178,911 1
1855
4,970,408
1856
4,787,336
1857
3,589,343 2
1 The propellers came to Boston this year.
2 Portland competes for the business.
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630
HISTORY.
[1846.
the importations of cotton, coals, plaster, etc., British manufac- tures, and emigrants for the Canadas and the West, could be readily transported to the manufacturing districts and the upper and distant countries.
The first outlay for this improvement would amount to nearly a million dollars. In consideration of this expenditure, and of the prospective advantages to the East Boston Company in the increase of business and the consequent advance in their prop- erty, he asked, in behalf of the Chelsea Branch Railroad, that the East Boston Company should grant sufficient land to build a double track along the south-east side of the Eastern Rail- road, from Marginal street to the channel in Chelsea creek near the free bridge; and also grant the lot of land, with the flats and appurtenances thereto, near said bridge, marked "D" on the plan of East Boston, and valued in the catalogue at $3,600; these donations of land to be on the condition that the branch railroad be constructed connecting the Eastern with the Boston and Maine routes within the time specified by the charter to be applied for. He thought that the East Boston Company could well afford to do this, if the proposed improvements should be made. The subject was referred to Messrs. Sumner, Ward, and Whitmore.
On November 20 this committee reported, that, in their opinion, the project of Mr. Lewis would be of great public utility, and particularly advantageous to East Boston; much more so than either the Eastern Railroad or the British steam- ship wharf, to both of which the East Boston Company had made large contributions ; and, although a large part of the East Boston Company's land had been divided since those contribu- tions were made, the committee thought that the direct and in- cidental benefits to its remaining property fully authorized the grant prayed for.
The committee, having viewed the ground, were of the opinion that the public convenience, as well as the objects of Mr. Lewis, would be better promoted by crossing Chelsea creek below or to the westward of the free bridge, than above it, and with less cost to the East Boston Company ; in the first case, he would have to build two thousand feet less of road, and would not be obliged to purchase of individuals their separate lots, ex-
631
LOCATION OF THE RAILROAD.
1847.]
cept to a very trifling extent ; at the same time the curve would be less, and the car depot 1,800 feet nearer to the depot com- menced on the harbor. Among the direct advantages to the company would be, that the facility which it would give for fill- ing up the residue of the company's low lands east of the railroad would raise the remaining lots to more than double their former value ; and that the lands to be given for a car depot on the flats in the broad part of Chelsea creek, instead of on lot " D" (bounded by Byron, Bremen, Addison, and Chelsea streets), would make a difference in favor of the company of $9,640.
This route, however, was not adopted, and on March 15, 1847, an agreement was made between the East Boston Company and Mr. Lewis to the following effect : The company granted to him, for the use of the Chelsea Branch Railroad Company, the right of way of forty feet wide over their lands at East Boston on either of the following routes : -
1. Commencing at the lot of land near Chelsea creek marked "D;" thence running to and across the Eastern Railroad ; thence along the southerly side of said railroad to Marginal street, or as far westerly as the company's lands may extend.
2. On a line commencing at the above lot " D," thence run- ning to a point at or near the north-west corner of the cemetery, and between it and lot No. 8 on the south-east corner in sec- tion 4; thence on the line extended so as to strike the southerly side of Cottage street at a point on the north-east side of Island street ; thence along the side of Cottage street to a point at or near lot No. 125 on that street ; thence under Cottage street to and across Marginal street to the proposed depot on the south- erly side of the Eastern Railroad depot.
The company also granted to him, for the use of the branch railroad, the lot "D," with the flats before it extending from the free bridge to the railroad dam ; to be taken possession of when- ever the building of the road should be commenced, provided this be within three years; and on the completion of the road the company agreed to convey, by fee-simple deeds, the lot " D," with the flats and the right of way ; the last subject to the pro- visions mentioned in the grant of the first right of way, with the additional one that the road across the basin in East Bos-
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632
HISTORY.
[1846-51.
ton should be made solid within three years from the time of building the road. In consideration of these agreements, Mr. Lewis released the East Boston Company from the grant of lands and right of way voted to him, November 20, 1846.
The railroad company selected the first-named route, locating the road on the south-eastern side of the adjoining Eastern Railroad.
The wharf lands and water lots extended from the premises of the Eastern Railroad south-easterly on Marginal street 1,650 feet, running out to the harbor commissioner's line. In July, 1847, these were conveyed to the Grand Junction Railroad and Depot Company, which was incorporated by the Massachusetts legislature in the same year. Since then they have filled up a tract of land of about thirty-three acres, or 1;465,920 feet, by removing earth from Chelsea by railroad; have constructed a permanent sea-wall some six hundred feet from Marginal street, and have built eight pile wharves extending from it about three hundred feet to the harbor commissioner's line. The wharves are about seventy-five feet wide, with a dock between each (of the same width). Between Marginal street and the sea-wall most of the flats have been filled up ; making 1,058,251 feet of land, 183,195 feet of oak piers or wharves, and 244,474 feet of docks. This property has been valued by competent judges at about a million and a half of dollars, and is continually increas- ing in value.
In 1850, Mr. Lewis purchased for the Grand Junction Rail- road Company the two wharf lots numbered 1 and 2 in sec- tion four, between the Chelsea free bridge and north-east line of water lot No. 3, for forty-five dollars the running foot, for ten per cent. down, and the remainder in six months with interest. In case a railroad track should be laid across the bridge or Chelsea street to the land or wharves south-westerly from the bridge, it was not to be used with steam power, and was to be provided with gates and kept free from obstructions, with the usual restrictions as to a ferry.
In 1851, the deed of block " D" was given to the railroad company, including all the flats in front of it lying north and east of Addison street to low-water mark, or as far as the law
633
BUSINESS FACILITIES.
1858.]
allowed, between the Chelsea free bridge and the Eastern Rail- road. The time for building the road was also extended, not to exceed four years from March, 1851.
The expectations of Mr. Lewis twelve years ago seem to be in progress of realization. The advantages of receiving and trans- porting merchandise at these wharves are superior to those of any other locality. The largest sized vessels can discharge their cargoes directly into cars for immediate transportation to any part of the country, or into the ample warehouses for storage; and the cars, coming in with the various produce of the land and sea, can be unloaded directly into the vessels ; this saves the whole expense of truckage, a very important item. This advantage, in connection with its excellent wharves, must secure to the road a large and ever-increasing business.
In addition to the bonded warehouse, used chiefly for the storage of goods received by the Cunard steamers, there are upon the wharves two large warehouses, each 300 feet long and 52 feet wide, filled with the various articles of northern and southern produce. About sixty loaded cars arrive daily ; a short time since, according to the East Boston Ledger, there arrived in one day from Chicago 900 barrels of beef and twelve barrels of eggs, which were immediately shipped to New York. What greater proof could be desired of the advantages of this road than this fact, that Chicago finds it cheaper and more expeditious to send its New York freights by way of the Grand Junction Railroad, than to take the more direct route with its many unloadings and its expenses of truckage? The largest East India cargoes ever received in Boston have been dis- charged at these wharves; six or eight large ships at a time may be loading or discharging their cargoes here. Means for enlarging and facilitating the business of the road are constantly increasing, and a new storehouse has recently been erected, 220 by 30 feet, capable of storing 40,000 bushels of salt and grain.
The connection of all the principal roads with East Boston seems to make our city the natural port for the shipment of the goods and produce of New England and Canada. If the Grand Trunk Railway from Portland to the Canadas comes into the hands of the Grand Junction Railroad Company as has been contemplated, the trade from the great North-west
634
HISTORY.
[1858.
must be secured to the metropolis of New England. In any event, East Boston cannot fail to be the centre of an immense shipping and forwarding business, from the establishment of the Grand Junction Railroad within its limits.
The " Depot No. 1," so called, on Marginal street, is now valued at over a million and a half of dollars. It embraces about 33 acres, containing large and substantial storehouses, which are always well filled. The income derived from the bonded warehouses, transportation, and wharfage, and the rent of their piers to the Eastern, Worcester, and other railroads, was, in 1854, over $50,000, and now is considerably more than this, and sufficient to pay all expenses and the interest on their debt. The " Union Road," so called, was united by the legis- lature of 1854-55 to the Grand Junction road. The " Depot No. 2" is near the bridge, on the shore of Chelsea creek, on block "D," and, with the flats adjoining, is estimated at over $300,000. This accommodates the increasing busi- ness of that portion of East Boston and Chelsea, especially that in ship timber, without encumbering the grounds at the principal depot. The road is nine miles in length, and nearly encircles the city, terminating at its intersection with the Boston and Worcester Railroad in Brookline; and it is in no part more than three miles distant from State street.
As to the prospects of this company, it may be said that the principal depot is worth more than the whole cost of the invest- ment. With the unrivalled advantages enjoyed by East Bos- ton for commercial, manufacturing, and mechanical operations, and the rapid development of its resources, it is beyond a doubt that the property will constantly increase in value, and soon be among the most desirable in the city.
Such are the designs and purposes of the Grand Junction Railroad and Depot Company, one of the most extensive and apparently lucrative plans in all respects which were ever under- taken in this country. But the project has been greatly retarded and put back in its development by the unfortunate position in which all the interior railroads are pecuniarily involved, it hav- ing been part of the original plan to unite all these roads in Boston upon these deep water premises, and to lease perma- nently to each, portions of the same premises, for doing their
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635
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
1835.]
business thereon, and making their own improvements in depot buildings and warehouses, and thus save the Grand Junction Company the cost of the outlay. This being understood at the beginning of the enterprise, no capital was provided for the pur- pose of covering the premises with buildings, and to this fact may be attributed the present want of success. With the re- quisite warehouses and buildings upon the premises to accom- modate both the commercial and railroad requirements, there could be no better or more productive property in Boston ; it is, therefore, only a question of time, and sooner or later we shall be sure to see it clearly the great railroad shipping depot and com- mercial entrepot of the city. Especially is the importance of this great work seen, when we take into view how vastly the interior or agricultural portion of the country exceeds the seaboard. The one with its millions of fertile acres constantly augmenting the amount of its productions ; while, on the other hand, our shipping and harbor accommodations are already developed, and their extent and capacity not only measured, but absolutely limited, and mostly improved.
These apparent elements in the future commercial progress of the country, we have reason to believe, have been heretofore generally overlooked and disregarded. But the time is coming, and in our view may be seen in its advancement, when Boston and New York, with all their harbor capacity, all their enter- prise, and all their energies, will afford no facility for the busi- ness of the interior that will not be called into requisition. Boston must, then, possess herself of those advantages, with- out which she will ultimately fail in her ambition to become a great commercial emporium.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
As early as the commencement of 1835, the citizens of East Boston thought that the safety of the place demanded that a fire engine should be placed there. Mr. Guy C. Haynes there- fore prepared the following petition, obtained the requisite sig- natures, and presented it in January of that year "to the Hon- orable the Mayor and Aldermen of the city of Boston."
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ed
636
HISTORY.
[1835.
" The subscribers, residing at East Boston, respectfully repre- sent, that during the past year there have been erected at East Boston, and are now in progress of finishing, about fifty dwell- ing-houses and other buildings, including a large and commodi- ous hotel, an extensive and costly sugar refinery, a foundery, and an iron ware manufactory, a neat and convenient school-house, ship-yards, and smitheries. That there are now about twenty- five families, and extensive contracts have been made for erect- ing, as soon as the season opens, dwelling-houses, workshops, and other accommodations for a rapidly increasing population.
" Your petitioners are now ready to form themselves into a company to take charge of an engine, and most respectfully request that the mayor and aldermen would place under their charge an engine for the purpose of rendering the assistance that may be required, should they unfortunately be subjected to the calamity of fire ; and as in duty bound will ever pray.
" GUY C. HAYNES, " JOHN PIERCE, " SETH E. BENSON, " JONAS BESSOM, and others."
In aid of this petition, General Sumner offered a lot of land for the purpose of building a house, as a donation ; providing, however, that there should be erected thereon a brick building, to be used for no other purpose than for the appropriate uses of the fire department of the city of Boston, the dimensions of the building being specified in the deed.
The petition met with a favorable reception, and on the 15th of January a meeting was held at the house of George O. Hagar (innholder) for the purpose of organizing an engine company. Of this meeting Guy C. Haynes was chosen chair- man, and Benson Clock, clerk ; and it was the first meeting of the citizens of East Boston ever called for any public purpose. It was fully attended not only by the members of the company, but by the citizens generally, who felt a great interest in having an engine placed upon the Island.
The officers elected were, Theodore C. Allen, foreman; F. A. Bailey, second foreman ; Daniel French, third foreman ; Al- bert Benson, clerk ; B. F. Spooner, foreman of the hose; John
637
FIRES AT EAST BOSTON.
1835-7.]
Pierce, treasurer ; Guy C. Haynes, Benson Clock, and George O. Hagar, committee. The company consisted of fifty-one members with their officers; and on the 26th of January the company marched to Boston and received from the city an old engine, called " Gov. Brooks," No. 11, and returned with it in the steamboat " Tom Thumb." A carpenter's shop belonging to the sugar refinery, and situated on a wharf south of the refinery, was used for an engine-house during the winter.
In 1836, the city erected in Paris street a handsome brick and granite engine-house, two stories high, and of the same style as the double engine-houses in the city proper. The lot on which this house was built contained 2,500 square feet, and was part of the four acres ceded to the city for public purposes by the East Boston Company, according to a provision to that effect in their charter. Some difficulty arising as to the choice of a foreman of the company, for a time the engine was manned by citizens; but, in the fall of 1837, an organization was ef- fected by the choice of Hiram Bird for foreman, R. P. Morrill, assistant, and S. Keen, clerk. The first fire after the incorpora- tion of the East Boston Company was in a small building used for heating water, and situated at the south-westerly end of Maverick square. This was burned in the autumn of 1833. The second fire was that of a dwelling-house belonging to the Malleable Iron Company, situated on the corner of Meridian and Eutaw streets, on the 1st of May, 1836; the building was repaired for a trifling sum. The third fire was on the 23d of November, 1837, in a small building on Webster street, used by Mr. John Flower for making varnish. The fourth was in an un- finished house on White street, on Sabbath noon, 19th of May, 1838. The fire was probably the work of an incendiary, and a strong southerly wind prevailing, it burned very quickly. As the distance from the engine-house was about a mile, and the hill steep, the engine did not arrive at the scene of conflagration until the building had nearly burned down. A new house, nearly finished, on the same spot, was blown down; it was rebuilt and nearly finished outside, when it was blown down a second time; after this, it was not rebuilt. Thus it appears, that, during the first five years of East Boston, only five fires
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