USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > South Boston > History of South Boston (its past and present) and prospects for the future, with sketches of prominent men > Part 20
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The unfortunate affair, however, came to an end on the night of March 15. A meeting was held in St. Michael's hall, to decide what should be done. The regular presiding officer and several leaders were absent, and when it came to a vote to declare the strike off, amidst the greatest confusion, the chairman declared the motion carried,
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
although there are many, to this day, who say that the majority vote was in the negative.
Of the men who went out about 150 had secured work elsewhere, and only about one-half of the remainder were taken back in the employ of the road.
December 24, 1896, another strike was instituted, this time the West End Street Railway Co. in the entire city being tied up. In the South Boston division about 400 men refused to work. The affair was poorly managed. Railroad employees in other parts of the city went out early in the forenoon and it was not until 12.30 P. M. that the South Boston men received word to quit. The same afternoon a few returned to work, cars were run, furniture sleighs and coaches were put on by the strikers, and there was considerable excitement. Instigators of the tie-up thought the officials would give in at once to the demands for shorter hours, owing to the Christmas holidays and consequent shopping. But this was not the case. At midnight, the night before Christmas, the strike was declared off, by the strikers themselves, and all but thirty men on the South Boston division were taken back.
REMINISCENCES.
Intended for an aristocratic residential section, with the streets and avenues laid out for such and where many handsome residences had been erected, the district gradually changed, and by 1870 South Boston could claim among its residents representatives of nearly every country and climate.
People flocked over from all sections of the city, as soon as work was secured at any of the numerous manufactories or foundries that abounded, and hundreds of the residents of Fort Hill made their homes in the peninsula district. Increasing so rapidly in numbers, the wealthy and aristocratic families did not look upon the section so kindly, yet it flourished, and there was happiness and contentment.
Mr. William Cains glowingly pictures the district of forty years ago.
"The South Boston Association," says Mr. Cains, " with which Mr. Alger and other wealthy men were identified, did their work well, and they laid out a district that could not be excelled in the entire country. My father, who travelled through many of the large countries of the world, used to say he never saw a more beautiful spot than South Boston. The residences were as handsome as could be, and were laid out with magnificent gardens on all sides, with elegant shade trees and numerous fruit trees. The families of Sears, Hunnewells, Perkins, Appletons, and many others of equal importance, intended to make their homes here.
" Thirty . or forty years ago City Point was an ideal place for natural scenery and beauty. Its grandeur was beyond compare and one could not wish for better.
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
" Above Dorchester Street there were not many houses until 1860, and between West Broadway and the water there were but few. The people were all neighborly, they were devoted to their district, loyal to each other, and endeavored to better it in every way possible."
James Hayes, just seventy-five years of age, and a resident of South Boston since 1835, remembers South Boston of fifty years ago with wonderful distinctness. He was for many years employed in Alger's Foundry, and recalls with pleasure the district and its people.
"South Boston, at one time," says Mr. Hayes, " would be hard to surpass as a residential section. The broad, green fields, the straight streets, as we have them now, the magnificent scenery in and around
OLD HOUSES ON EMERSON STREET. STILL STANDING.
South Boston, the activity and the general contentment of the people, were all that one could wish for. It was a very busy place, and every one could find work who wished it. The foundries, manufactories and other business establishments were doing a rushing business and em- ploying men all the time.
" Alger's proving ground was on the south side, between O and P Streets, and the guns were fired directly across the bay. Two gun holders were built on the beach. The United States owned the land, and they tried the Io-inch and II-inch guns there. At one time a gun swerved round, knocked a chimney off the old Blake house and did some other damage. Such accidents were not infrequent and finally the proving ground was changed to Castle Island, and later to some other
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island in the harbor. Previous to the time of which I speak there was a proving ground out Washington Village way, side of the railroad, and near Mercer Street.
" The 'rolling mill ' is remembered by all old inhabitants, and it is only a few years ago that it ceased operations. Hundreds of men were there employed. It was started by Crooker and Reed who came from some place near the Mill-dam.
"The Fort Hill people `began to come just before 1860 and they built in the vicinity of D and E and Third Streets."
OLD HOUSES, STILL STANDING,
G and Third Streets.
McSolla House. 687 Second Street, great activity in Built by Leeds, 1834,
Portion of Old Blake House, P Street and Broadway.
William S.Locke, for many years. engaged in the plumbing business, now seventy-five years of age, has always been a resi- dent of South Bos- ton. He spent a few years in Cali- fornia, but during that time South Boston was his home. He has an excellent memory and recalls early days distinctly.
"There was
South Boston im- mediately before,
during and after the Civil War. Thousands of men were at work and those were indeed prosperous times.
" We had many good men in South Boston then. The Wrights, Harris's, Southers, Dunhams, Algers and a score of others did much to advance and benefit the district.
" Josiah Dunham built a house side of the South Boston hotel, on. Fourth Street, and the same block of houses is there now. Emsley kept a store corner of Broadway and the Turnpike. 'Harris's Folly' was at the corner of E Street and Broadway, near the Bigelow School,. and was so named because Mr. Harris built it one room over the other, no two being on the same floor.
" The little house corner of K and Fourth Streets, where the Hawes' Society first met, was afterwards removed to Broadway, side of the Hawes' School, where St. John's Church is now. William Bar-
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
tholomew occupied it as a blacksmith shop for many years. It was removed to make way for the church.
" There was a school corner of D Street and Broadway, in the build- ing afterward purchased by Mr. Brennan. Right at that place the water covered Broadway at times. . This was soon filled in. The same building is there now, and on the D Street side, close down to the ground, can be seen the tops of the windows that were on the first floor. "Wright's house, corner of Broadway and Wright's Court, is still standing, although much changed in appearance. It was one of the first houses built in South Boston.
"There were many fine men, good public-spirited citizens, in South Boston then, and there were resi- dences that could compete with those of any other suburb of Boston.
ANTHONY W. BOWDEN RESIDENCE, 324 W Third Street, Where he has lived since 1834.
" Col. Albert J. Wright lived on Broadway, not far from G Street, and John P. Monks lived in the other part of the double house occu- pied by Col. Wright. Mr. Briggs, the shipbuilder, lived in the James block, on Broadway, near Dorchester Street. The Dillaways lived on G Street, and Henry Arnold, now prominently identified with Thomas WV. Lawson's business, lived corner of K and Fourth Streets.
"Capt. Greer, founder of the South Boston yacht club, lived on Fourth Street, third house west of station 12, and the Whitney house, corner of Broadway and Dorchester Street, was one of the finest on Broadway. In front were large elms.
" The financial panic of 1872 created quite a disturbance every- where, and here, in South Boston, many men suffered. Many causes were given for the panic. A large number of our wealthy men found themselves almost penniless, while others managed to rally and save themselves."
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
South Boston boys eager to enlist - Blowing up of the battleship Maine - Ninth Massa- chusetts Volunteer Infantry quick to respond to the call for troops - Roster of the Ninth on its departure- Camp Dewey at South Framingham - Ordered to Camp Alger - Assigned to Provisional Brigade - Arrival at Siboney - March to the front - Lieut .- Col. Logan in command - In the trenches - Trouble on the transport Harvard - Major Michael J. O'Connor - Deaths of officers and privates - Ordered home at close of war - Roster of the Ninth when mustered out - Frank P. Collins - Names of twenty-one South Boston soldiers who died in the service.
S HORT, yet effectual, was the war with Spain in 1898. Fully six hundred of South Boston's citizens participated in that memorable conflict, and many gave up their lives, through disease contracted on Cuban soil, while scores of others were shattered in health.
No other regiment was more gallant or willing in this struggle, than the Ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and among the officers and privates were many South Boston men. It is recorded that this organization, longer in service than any other volunteer regiment, lost a larger percentage of men than any other of Massachusetts, thir- teen per cent. The Second lost ten per cent. and the Sixth two per cent.
Twenty-one South Boston soldiers succumbed to disease, and one other, a brave, loyal, newspaper correspondent, a native of South Boston, and beloved by all who knew him, equally courageous and true as any soldier in the service of his country, died, that others might live.
War against Spain was declared by the United States, closely following the blowing up of the battleship Maine, in Havana Harbor. The country had been in a state of excitement for many months. It was evident that the sympathy for persecuted Cuba was growing stronger and stronger, and the sentiment was, by a large majority, in favor of compelling Spain to take off the tyrannical yoke. Spain, as a consequence, did not look kindly upon this country.
February 15, 1898, the battleship Maine, anchored in Havana Harbor, was blown up in some mysterious manner, and scores of the officers and crew were lost. It has never been learned who the real perpetrators were, but the blame was laid at the door of Spaniards, and when war was declared the battlecry was " Remember the Maine."
When President Mckinley called for volunteers, Massachusetts troops were quick to respond, and the men of the Ninth were among the earliest to enlist. Of the twelve companies, two, B and I, were almost
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
entirely South Boston youths, while the remaining companies, especially those of Boston, had many residents of the district in their ranks.
On May 4, IS98, the regiment was encamped at South Framing- ham, in command of Colonel Fred B. Bogan of Charlestown.
South Boston men who were officers in the regiment at this time were as follows :
Field and Staff .- Lieutenant-Colonel Lawrence J. Logan, Major Michael J. O'Connor, Adjutant Joseph J. Kelly, Assistant Surgeon William H. Devine.
Non-Commissioned Staff .- Sergeant-Major Edward L. Logan, Hospital Steward J. Frank Riley.
Line officers .- Company B, Captain George F. H. Murray, First Lieutenant James F. Walsh, and Second Lieutenant Michael J. Desmond.
Company C .- Captain Thomas F. Quinlan, Second Lieutenant Joseph J. Foley.
Company I .- Captain John H. Dunn, First Lieutenant William J. Casey, Second Lieutenant James A. Cully.
In honor of Admiral George S. Dewey, who but a few days before had won such a splendid victory at Manila, and whose name was upon every one's lips, the Framingham rendezvous was named Camp Dewey.
Nearly four weeks the soldiers remained at this camp, restless and anxious to go to the front, and several times there were rumors that they would start on the morrow. Finally, the order was received, May 30, and the following day three trains, with the 943 men, started for Camp Alger, near Falls Church, Virginia, and as they were leaving they were cheered by thousands of friends who had gathered to bid them Godspeed.
Within an hour of their departure the first accident overtook them, in the death of Charles J. Doherty of Company I, formerly a resident of South Boston, but whose home, at the time of enlistment, was at the South End. With his head out of a car window, gazing at the friends he was leaving behind, he was struck by a pole and instantly killed.
On arriving at Camp Alger on the afternoon of June 1, the Ninth Massachusetts, bearing the national emblem, the state flag and the Irish banner, was received by the Irish Seventh of Illinois, who at once extended every possible hospitality.
The Ninth Regiment was assigned to the Provisional Brigade of the Second Army Corps, with Brigadier-General Duffield in command. On the morning of June 25 Newport News was reached and almost immediately the men were transferred to the transport Harvard, with Cuba for its destination. Accompanying the Ninth were two battalions of the Thirty-Fourth Michigan. Recruits, increasing the number of Ninth's men to 1,325, arrived at Camp Alger, but they did not have to go to Cuba.
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
On the morning of the sixth day out the Cuban shore was sighted, and by evening of July I the troops were encamped on the beach at Siboney, and orders were received from Gen. Shafter to move toward the front at once, as there was heavy fighting and every available soldier was needed.
Supper was hastily partaken of and at ten o'clock the start was made, forty men bcing left behind to care for the stores and unload the same from the transport.
Lieut .- Col. Logan was in command, as Col. Bogan had to remain behind owing to serious illness and was relieved of the command.
The night march of sixteen miles was one that will pass down in history as one of the most terrible in which American soldiers ever participated. Through a strange country, the men, used to the northern and cooler climate, proceeded, forded streams, climbed high hills, crossed disease-breeding swamps, yet there was not a word of complaint, and all were eager to participate in that which had brought them there.
On the way to the front, wagons, bearing wounded soldiers, were soon met and then it was learned for the first time of the fierce charge, that day, at El Caney.
It was not until five o'clock the following morning that the first halt was made and then there was an opportunity for short naps, which many of the tired soldiers quickly embraced, but at seven o'clock they were awake and on the march again. Another halt was made just before reaching San Juan Hill, and there could be seen the American troops, partially concealed in trenches, firing at the Spaniards, the wounded quickly cared for and taken to the rear, and everywhere there was excitement.
The Massachusetts regiment was at once ordered into line, and, taking a position in a trench dug out of the road, they remained all day, cramped and uncomfortable, yet shielded from the bullets.
At about dusk that day, July 2, Companies C and I, Captains Quinlan and Dunn, were sent to re-inforce the Tenth regiment, but, losing the way, the detachment brought up with the Second, also in need of re-inforcements, and there they were allowed to remain. Com- panies G and K were then sent to help out the Tenth.
July 17 Santiago surrendered and the Ninth Massachusetts par- ticipated in the ceremony.
For several days thereafter the Ninth remained in the vicinity of Santiago, changing location, however, as necessity demanded, and about August I established a camp on a hill near the Santiago road.
During all this time the forty men who had been left on the Harvard to care for the stores, were not idle, in fact, they too had an exciting time of it. About 670 prisoners taken from the Spanish ves- sels Infanta Maria Teresa and Almirante Oquendo, were placed aboard the transport Harvard. On the night of July 4, these prisoners, chafing under the restraint and confined to a small area on the vessel, attempted.
WM.R.MILLS, SERGT. MAJ
HOWARD E. HANLON OFFICER OF THE WATCH
JOSEPH S. BENTON QUARTERMASTER
JOSEPH J. O'CONNOR OFFICER OF THE DAY
MICHAEL J. MCDONOUGH QUARTERMASTER SERGT.
JOHN J. CLARK S.V.C.
THOMAS F. SULLIVAN COMMANDER
-
MICHAEL L. KING J.V.C.
J.F. MCINNIS PAYMASTER
THOS. F. MC GARRY OFFICER OF THE GUARD
DR.WM H. DEVINE SURGEON
DR.J.F. RILEY CHAPLAIN
VETERANS OF THE SPANISH WAR -OFFICERS OF MAJ. M. J. O'CONNOR CAMP, 4, L. S. W. V., 1903.
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
to escape, hoping to reach shore if they jumped overboard. The guards, however, were too quick for them, and the forty soldiers of the Ninth cowered into submission more than six hundred Spanish soldiers and sailors. Six of the Spaniards were killed and about twenty-five wounded.
Wagon-Master Thomas F. Sullivan of Company I, and Sergt. Joseph S. Benton, South Boston boys, were among the guards, and a busy time they had of it for half an hour. The Massachusetts boys at first simply used the butt end of their muskets, or the point of the bayonet, to drive the prison- ers back to their place, but some few shots were fired, which were unavoidable.
The terrible climate, lack of substantial food, exposure to the tropical sun, malarial air from the swamps, all this tended to weaken the men, and the strongest of them, even, gradually succumbed to disease.
Col. Bogan, one of the first to be stricken down, was sent home, 9 and arrived in Boston August 5. He died a few days later. From the arrival of the regiment at Siboney, Col. Bogan was ailing, and Lieut .- Col. Logan was in command, until he, too, was taken sick during the latter part of July. Capt. Dunn of Company I was also sick and he, MAJ M. J O CONNOR Nirtr Massachusetts Vo urteer Infantry. with Lieut .- Col. Logan, returned to Boston August 15. With the ten- der and loving care of their families they gradually gained strength, although it was many weeks afterward before they could leave their homes.
Maj. Grady of East Boston, died July 30, just as Col. Bogan was leaving for home, and Maj. Michael J. O'Connor of South Boston, esteemed and admired by all who knew him, died August 6.
Maj. O'Connor's death was an incalculable loss to the regiment, and a terrible blow to his relatives and friends. In the prime of life, possessed of many of the traits that denote manhood, he endeared him- self to all who knew him. His popularity among the soldiers was attested by the act of one of them, when the major was laid in a tem- porary grave at Santiago.
A District of Columbia private, T. J. Mahoney, with the point
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
of his bayonet, cut out on a tile taken from the roof of a blockhouse on San Juan hill, this inscription :-
MAJ. M. J. O'CONNOR, 3D BATT., 9TH MASS. VOL. DIED AUG. 6, 1898. AGE 37 YEARS. R. I. P.
This tile was afterward im- bedded in the marble monument placed over Maj. O'Connor's grave in Calvary cemetery.
By special permission the bodies of Maj. O'Connor, Maj. Grady, Corporal Lane and Private Carey were removed to Boston, and on September 12 the funerals of the last three were held. September 13 Maj. O'Connor was buried in Calvary cemetery. Services were held in the Cathedral, thousands thronging the
FRANK P. COLLINS, War Correspondent,
HAKIR MICHAEL.L.O CONNO
STONE MARKING GRAVE OF MAJ. M. J, O'CONNOR IN CALVARY CEMETERY.
streets and filling the church. Such an out-pouring of people had seldom before been equalled.
After weeks of suffering the remaining soldiers, August 23, heard the welcome news that they were to immediately leave for home. In three trans- ports the soldiers were taken to Montauk, Long Island, where they were taken to the detention camp, to prevent the possibility of any spread of disease they might have contracted.
September 8 orders were received for the men to start for home, and on their arrival in Boston they were accorded an ovation. The sick were immediately taken to the hos- pitals, and the Carney Hospital in South Boston, alone, cared for 175 soldiers.
Among the many who died in Cuba, or on the return home, from disease contracted there, not one
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
was braver or more loyal than Frank P. Collins, newspaper corre- spondent, representing the Boston Journal at the front. Born in South Boston, where nearly his entire life was spent, he was held in high esteem by his friends. Not obliged to go to the war, he was ready to accept the call, and left home and friends that they and the entire community might read of the whereabouts and doings of the soldiers from Massachusetts. In addition to his duties as corre- spondent, he was ever ready to oblige the soldiers in any way open to him, and many were the young men who shared his supply of food, and for others he took letters to be sent to their loved ones when he should reach a place where they could be mailed.
He, too, died, perhaps not a soldier in the service of his country, as some might look at it, but one, serving his country just as faith- fully, and at the same time caring for those who were fighting for the good of the cause.
James B. Connolly, a South Boston boy, a member of Company I, also filled a position as correspondent for the Boston Globe. His fre- quent letters were remarkable for their fearlessness and detailed account of the happenings in Cuba. Bright, crisp and glowing in their narra- tion of important events, they were widely read.
November 26 the Ninth Massachusetts was mustered out, having been in the United States service little more than six months. During this time many changes had occurred in the roster, through death and promotions. South Boston officers were in the following positions :
Field and Staff .- Colonel Lawrence J. Logan, Major George F. H. Murray, Adjutant Joseph J. Kelly.
Non-Commissioned Staff .- Sergeant-Major Edward L. Logan, Hospital Steward J. Frank Riley.
Line Officers .- Company B, Captain James F. Walsh, First Lieutenant Michael J. Desmond and Second Lieutenant William J. White.
Company C .- Captain Thomas F. Quinlan, Second Lieutenant Joseph J. Foley.
Company I .- Captain John H. Dunn, First Lieutenant William J. Casey, and Second Lieutenant James A. Cully.
Assistant Surgeon William H. Devine was promoted to brigade surgeon and assigned to the First Brigade, First Division of the Second Army Corps, and at the close of his service was acting chief surgeon of the Second Division, Second Army Corps.
On the reorganization of the Ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, George F. H. Murray and Joseph J. Kelly were chosen majors, and William J. Casey adjutant, and, as a consequence, there were several changes in the line officers.
South Boston was also represented in other branches of the service. Prominent among these was George H. Nee, the only man in the ranks to win both a medal of honor and a certificate of merit. He went to
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
the front with Company H, 2Ist Infantry. He won his medal of honor at San Juan Hill, Cuba, by rescuing a wounded comrade from in front of the firing line. He was later promoted to corporal and went as such to the Philippines. It was at the battle of Calamba that he received a certificate of merit for leading his company, when his lieutenant was shot down. Shortly afterward he was appointed a sergeant.
Thomas J. Kelly and Boatswain Edward J. Norcutt, South Boston boys, were with Dewey on the flagship Olympia at Manila Bay, and Boatswain Dominiek J. Glynn, who was on the U. S. S. Trenton in the Samoan disaster in 1888, was on the U. S. S. Charleston, one of Admiral Dewey's fleet at the battle of Manila Bay. He saw active serviee during the entire war and was with the U. S. S. Charleston when she was wreeked in the fall of 1899.
The activity of the mosquito fleet at the breaking out of the war, and the excellent work it performed is familiar to all. The U. S. S. Prairie was one of the most active boats at the time, and among her crew was Seaman Edwin A. Stowe.
Even in the sinking of the " Merrimac " at the entrance to San- tiago harbor, by Lieutenant Hobson and a handful of men, South Boston was represented in the person of Timothy J. Kelly. He was badly sealded about the lower part of the body and will earry his wounds the rest of his life.
South Boston soldiers who gave up their lives while in the service of their country in this war, were as follows :
NINTH MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Field and Staff .- Major Michael J. O'Connor.
Non-commissioned Offieers. - Sergeant Stephen D. Murphy, Co. I; Corporal Thomas D. MeLeod, Co. B; Corporal Thomas W. Gallagher, Co. B; Corporal Samuel P. Wiley, Co. C; and Corporal Thomas A. Costello, Co. H.
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