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 4
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Returning to the house all joined in the reading of the Scriptures, after which they had breakfast, which in winter was by candle light, and in summer by dawn.
The father asked divine blessing and then all ate heartily of the pea porridge dealt out in small wooden bowls, and from a small central dish some salted shad and smoked ale-wives or perhaps some fresh eels caught from the bay the evening before.
Brown bread and beer were served and sometimes the children were regaled with samp and milk and the father with boiled salt pork. After breakfast the father returned thanks.
28
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
Father and sons then returned to the fields for work, the hour being 6 o'clock. With their tools they took the family gun, more to be ready for game than for protection.
By 8.30 the laborers were ready for lunch which consisted of smoked shad, bread and cheese eaten from the basket in which they brought it, and cider.
During the forenoon they did much work and were glad of a respite when they heard the dinner horn about 11.45. Just at noon they sat down to the dinner table, a blessing was craved and they began with the Indian pudding which they relished with a little molasses. Next a piece of broiled salt pork or black broth, fried eggs, brown bread, cabbage and cider. The dinner was styled " boiled victuals," and the plates "wooden trenchers."
Until one o'clock the laborers were allowed to "noon " and were free to sleep or play. Then they returned to the field and perhaps found that a fox had killed a sheep. The father took the gun and started in pursuit, leaving instructions if the boys saw the fox to whistle as loud as they could.
At 3 o'clock there was a drink of good beer for all, the only pause in the afternoon's work which ended at five. Then the youngest drove home the cows and the milking finished at six. The hogs and sheep were put in their enclosures and the faithful dog left to watch them for the night.
Everything well housed up, supper was ready. The father took a slice of cold broiled pork, the usual brown bread and beer, while the boys had milk porridge or hasty pudding. In season they had musk melons and on occasions cherry wine. Sometimes they had boiled Indian corn mixed with kidney beans. Into bean and pea porridge they put a slice of salted venison. They also delighted in succotash. The meat of the shagbark was dried and pounded and put into the porridge to thicken it. They parched corn and pounded it and made it into nokake. Baked pumpkins were common. The extra dish for company was a cake made of strawberries and parched corn.
Supper, like the other meals, was preceded by asking a blessing and followed by offering thanks. At 7 o'clock a neighbor called, a mug of cider was drunk by way of entertainment, and at 7.30 the neighbor had gone and the family was ready for evening prayers. In the morning the Old Testament was read and in the evening the New. Eight o'clock and all had retired excepting the youngest boy who had been given permission to stay up an hour later.
Mother and daughters, likewise, had their daily routine. The house consisted of two covered rooms below and a kitchen and two lofts used as attics for sleeping rooms. These rooms were but little care and the beds could be made in a short time.
29
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
After the breakfast was cooked and set with wooden plates, pewter spoons, two knives and forks, and the good things eaten, the women washed the dishes and one of the daughters prepared the men's lunch. Then the cheese was made with great care.
Saturday was baking day and the three females were kept partic- ularly busy. The oven had its opening on the outside of the house, behind the chimney, and was double the size of modern ones. One daughter brought wood to heat the ovens, another got Indian meal and rye and a third brought in a pail of water. There were beans to be picked over, pork to be cut and dough to be kneaded. The baking for seven days required three hours steady work.
At II o'clock preparations for dinner began, and at the proper time the daughter blew the horn.
There was no washing of dishes until the batch was set in the oven. First went in the bread because that required the strongest heat, then the huge stone pot of beans and beside it the Indian pudding in a broad, deep earthen bowl. The oven's mouth was stopped with a piece of plank and the crevices stopped with clay.
In the afternoon, the house being nice and tidy, the mother did some weaving, the elder daughter a little mending and the child stole away to play with her pet lamb. A female neighbor called to invite her friends to a "quilting " and the anticipation of the event made the young folks happy. When the brothers returned for supper the " quilting " was announced.
With the setting of the sun the Sabbath was begun. All gathered about the domestic altar and the pious father read the Scriptures and offered prayer. After weekly ablutions all retired to rest, although the father first counted up his weekly gains and the mother planned for the good of her children.
In the morning all awoke much refreshed and they prepared for the day which was to be free from manual labor except what was absolutely necessary.
The hour of rising was late and nothing like hurry was known. After the milking and the chores there was breakfast, at which there was usually a surprise with a fresh baked apple pie. Each of the young folks took a slice in hand and immediately proceeded to business.
After breakfast there was morning worship. The father took down the Bible and read. With all standing the father offered a prayer, thanking the Giver of every Good for His bounties, confessed his sins with penitence and humility and asked for pardon through a Divine Redeemer. He took care to thank God for the religious freedom enjoyed in America.
30
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
During the hour that then elapsed before the start for meeting the children committed to memory a few verses of the Bible or a hymn or a page of the catechism, and the mother taught the daughter some Christian history. The father finally acted as superintendent of this, the first and best of all Sunday schools.
The hour having arrived, the start was made for the meeting-house, and no matter what the distance to that place may have been, there was no excuse for non-attendance. God's command and the penalties of the statute law decided this without equivocation. If the weather was fair the children walked, each dressed in full Sunday attire and feeling it of paramount importance not to tear or soil their clothes.
The father mounted a horse and took his wife upon a pillion behind him. If it rained the oxen were hitched to the cart and, seated therein, they made their way to meeting.
Services began at II and was a glass and a half long, ending at 12.30. A half hour intermission was spent about the meeting-house where friends met and talked of what had occurred since the last Sabbath. The young folks, doubtless, did not always talk religion.
The afternoon services were from I to 2.30 and an hour later the family reached home.
All partook of the meal, then, which was really dinner and supper, and from the oven was taken the pot of beans, Indian pudding, all perfectly done, having been in prison twenty-four hours. After grace the pudding was first served. That was so nice that two slices was necessary to satisfy. Then there was a piece of pie.
After Sunday clothes were removed the mother assembled her children about her, each seated on his block, and heard them recite the catechism and then endeavored to impress their minds with the sermon of the day. The religious exercises of the Sabbath were concluded with the reading of Scriptures and family prayer.
Father and son then went to the barn and the milking was soon finished. With the setting of the sun the Sabbath was over. The wood for the next day's washing was carried in, the great kettle filled with water, kindling put in the corner and everything ready for an early start.
In the evening the eldest son slipped out, clad in his evening dress, and at 7 o'clock "dropped in " accidentally at neighbor A's house whose blooming daughter of seventeen he enjoyed watching. The visit was short and he then returned home.
At home the children had been led in singing of the good old psalm tunes, and at 8.30 the candle was out and the day of worship and rest had ended to the farmer's family.
In those days the " singing school" was the favorite social function
3I
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
and all delighted to participate. Fashion, the labor of little minds and not the repose of great ones, had not become the fickle tyrant we now see it. They aimed at health, and the children who were born weak and feeble could not be kept alive as they now are by modern skill, hence the robustness of those who did survive.
Our fathers had strong common sense, and while they were devoted to a Puritan faith and an exclusive church, they did not lose their humanity, but the very necessities of their condition brought them to the most practical results, and to the soundest philosophy of life.
CHAPTER V.
THE CHURCH AND SCHOOL IN EARLY DAYS.
First church of Dorchester organized before the departure from England - Location of the first meeting-house - New meeting-houses in later years - First free school sup- ported by taxation - Location of the first school-house - First teacher - First school committee- Name of the first school - Rules for the government of the school - Thompson's Island - Other schools.
A LTHOUGH Rev. John White was the founder and prime mover in the organization of the church, the members of which settled Dorchester, yet he was never the pastor of the congregation. To him New England owes a great debt.
There was for many years, and until quite recently, a controversy as to whether the first town meeting and the first free school in Massa- chusetts were established in Dorchester, and this question is somewhat mixed up with the church question. But now it is generally accepted that the first church was that in Dorchester, organized before the departure from England.
In August, 1630, when the Court of Assistants decreed that one- half of the support of the ministers was to be taken from the public treasury, Salem and Mattapan were excepted, because they had been established before their arrival in this country.
The Dorchester church was established with Rev. John Maverick and John Warham as ministers.
The first meeting-house was erected shortly after the settlement was completed. It was built on Allen's Plain, near the corner of Pleasant and Cottage Streets, in 1631, and the first settlers of Rox- bury united themselves with the Dorchester church and worshipped with them during its first year.
On the fourth day of each week, according to an understanding with the other plantations or settlements, Rev. Mr. Warham gave a lec- ture which was generally largely attended.
The first meeting-house was of fairly good size, one story in height, with palisadoes and guarded against Indian attack, and was also used as a depot for military supplics.
Rev. Mr. Maverick was a man of very humble spirit, faithful in furthering the work of the Lord, zealous in every duty, both in church and state. He was pastor until 1636, when he died.
33
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
Rev. Richard Mather, with about 100 men and women, anxious to participate in the settlement of New England, arrived in Boston, August 16, 1635, and immediately on arrival he received numerous calls to settle at various places. After considerable thought and on the urgent advice of friends, he accepted the call to Dorchester, and with many of the people who had arrived with him, he moved there during the latter part of 1635 or the early part of 1636. He was chosen to fill the vacancy occasioned by the departure of Rev. Mr. Warham, to Windsor, Conn.
On the death of Rev. Mr. Maverick in 1636, Rev. Richard Mather assumed sole charge.
The separation of many of the first inhabitants from the town and their removal to the borders of the Connecticut River, necessitated a reorganization of the church, and the following covenant was agreed to :
" Dorchester Church Covenant made the 23rd day of the 6th month, 1636.
"We, whose names are subscribed, being called of God to join our- selves together in Church Communion, from our hearts acknowledging our own unworthiness of such a privilege, or of the least of God's mercies ; and likewise acknowledging our disabilities to keep Covenant with God, or to perform spiritual duty which He calleth us unto, unless the Lord Jesus do enable us thereunto by His spirit dwelling in us, do, in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, and in trust and confidence of His free grace assist- ing us, freely covenant and bind ourselves, solemnly in the presence of God Himself. His holy angels, and all His servants here present, that we will, by His grace assisting, endeavor constantly to walk as a Right Ordered con- gregation of Christ, according to all the holy rules of a church body, rightly established, so far as we do already know it to be our duty, or shall further understand out of God's Holy Word, promising first and above all to cleave unto Him as our chief and only good, and to our Lord Jesus Christ, our only spiritual husband and Lord, and our only high priest and prophet and king. And for the furthering of us to keep this blessed Com- munion with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, by His grace assisting us, to endeavor the establishing among ourselves, all His holy ordinances which He hath appointed for His church here on earth, and to observe all and every one of them in such sort as shall be most agreeable to His will, opposing to the utmost of our power what is contrary thereto, and bewail- ing from our hearts our own neglect hereof in former times, and our pollut- ing ourselves with any sinful invention of man.
" And, lastly, we do hereby covenant and promise to further to our utmost power, the best spiritual good of each other, and of all and every one that may become members of this congregation, by mutual instruction, consolation and spiritual watchfulness over one another for good. And to be subject in and for the Lord to all the administrations and censures of the congregation to the rules of God's most holy word. Of the integrity of our hearts herein, we call God, the searcher of all hearts, to witness, beseeching Him so to bless us in this and all our enterprises, as we shall sincerely endeavor by the assistance of His grace to observe His holy covenant in all the branches of it inviolable forever, and where we shall
34
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
fail there to wait upon the Lord Jesus for pardon and acceptance and heal- ing for His Name's sake.
Richard Mather George Minot Thomas Jones
Nathaniel Duncan
Henry Withington
John Pope "
John Kinsley
The first meeting-house stood for fourteen years, and in 1645 it was agreed for peace and love's sake "to erect a new meeting-house." Messrs. Glover, Nathaniel Duncan, Atherton Jones, Deacon Wiswell, Deacon Clap and Mr. Howard were the committee. About £250 was appropriated for this purpose. The church was not finished until 1676, and in 1670, in its unfinished condition, was removed to Meeting- House Hill.
Early in 1640 Rev. Jonathan Burr was made assistant to Rev. Mr. Mather and remained until his death a year and a half later. Rev. John Wilson, Jr., was ordained as assistant to Rev. Mr. Mather in 1649, and after serving two years he removed to Medfield where he was pastor for 40 years.
Rev. Mr. Mather died April 6, 1669, aged seventy-three. He was beloved by all who knew him and during his connection with the Dor- chester Church he was one of the most prominent men of the town.
The important petition made by the town to the General Court in 1664, signed by the principal inhabitants of the town, praying that the privileges and liberties granted them by the charter might still be con- tinued, is in the handwriting of Rev. Mr. Mather. His farewell exhor- tation to the church and people of Dorchester was printed and a copy distributed to each family, so precious was it to the people.
Work of rebuilding the meeting-house was begun in 1676 and com- pleted in 1678. The fourth meeting-house was built in 1743 and the fifth in 1816, all on Meeting-House Hill.
The old meeting-house was destroyed by fire, February 3, 1896, and on Thursday, May 6, 1897, the sixth meeting-house was dedicated on the same spot.
The old bell, originally cast in England in 1751, so badly cracked by the fire in 1896, was recast and now hangs in the church on Meeting- House Hill. All the old inscriptions were reproduced in the new casting.
THE FIRST SCHOOL.
One of the most important and historical entries in the record-book of Dorchester of the early days, is the order providing for a free school, the first free public school in America.
Thompson's Island was granted to Dorchester in 1634, by the General Court. May 30, 1639, the town voted to lay a tax upon the proprietors of the island, "for the maintenance of a school in Dorchester."
35
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
1136951
FOURTH CHURCH, ERECTED IN DORCHESTER, 1743,
36
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
Other free schools there may have been, for instance in Charles City, Va., in Dutch Manhattan, and even the Boston Latin school, but the Dorchester free public school was the first to receive support from taxation and was the first to be directly in charge of a school com- mittee.
The tax imposed on Thompson's Island was £20, and it was pro- vided that "it shall be paid to such a school-master as shall teach English, Latin and other tongues, and also writing." It was left to the discretion of the freeholders and seven men, for the time being, whether or not the girls should be taught with the boys.
The first school-house was erected in the vicinity of Meeting-House Hill and was a small one-story structure. Rev. Thomas Waterhouse was the first teacher.
The appointment of the first school committee was authorized at the town meeting in March 1645, and at the same time rules and orders for the school were adopted. The school committee were then styled " wardens," or "overseers," and the first appointees were Mr. Robert Howard, Deacon John Wiswell and Mr. Humphrey Atherton.
This first school was named after the minister of that name, Rev. Mr. Mather, and from that time to this there has been a Mather school in the district.
As the Mather school was the first supported by taxation, the Boston Latin school was the first public school established for secon- dary education.
Various rules for the governing of the first Dorchester school were adopted in 1641. A few of them follow :
" The school-master shall not be chosen except by the major por- tion of the inhabitants.
" For seven months of the year the school hours are to be from 7 to II A.M. and I to 5 P.M., and for the other five months, November, December, January, February and March, from 8 to II A.M. and from I to 4 P.M.
" Every Monday from 12 to I o'clock scholars shall be called together and questioned upon what they learned on the Sabbath day preceding, and on Saturday at 2 o'clock they shall be catechised on the principles of the Christian religion.
"The school-master shall equally and impartially receive and instruct such as shall be sent and committed to him for that end, whether their parents be poor or rich, not refusing any one who has right and interest in the school."
In 1648, John Thompson, son of David Thompson, who had settled at Thompson's Island before the coming of the Dorchester settlers, claimed the island named after his father and the claim was granted by the court. In place thereof a thousand acres of land was assigned to Dorchester, by the General Court, for the school.
Although the town of Dorchester thus lost Thompson's Island it
37
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
continued within its territory and under its jurisdiction until 1834, when it was set off to Boston, to be used as a "Farm school," and when- ever it shall cease to be used for that purpose, it is again to be included within the limits of Dorchester, although a part of Boston.
Frequently, in years that followed, generous bequests were made for the benefit of the free school, which displayed the deep interest the people took in the institution.
In 1655 land at City Point, bequeathed for this purpose by John Clap, brought $13,590.62 ; in 1674 several thousand dollars was bequeathed by Christopher Gibson, and later Lieut. Gov. Stoughton gave, toward the advancement of the salary of the school-master, $4, 140, so that the best could be secured at a good annual salary.
The income of the Gibson fund and that of the Stoughton fund to this day are used by the city of Boston for school purposes, and the South Boston schools are beneficaries with the Dorchester schools.
September 9, 1681, Mr. John Foster, who had been a school-master in Dorchester, and who was a son of Capt. Hopestill Foster, died at the age of thirty-three, mourned by the entire community. It was he that designed the seal or arms of the colony, the Indian with a bow and arrow, the same yet in use by the Commonwealth. At the time of his death he lived with his father at Dorchester Neck, in the first house erected in what is now South Boston.
In 1694 the town built another school-house on the Meeting-House Hill at the cost of £22. John Trescott was the builder.
In 1699 John Bird, Daniel Preston, Jr. and Charles Davenport were appointed a committee to lay out a school line and this they accomplished before the following year. It was close to the Plymouth colony, by the Bridgewater road, half way between Boston and Taunton.
Following Rev. Thomas Waterhouse, as masters of the school, were Henry Butler, Ichabod Wiswall, William Pole, Hope Atherton, John Foster of Dorchester Neck, who, by the way, established the first print- ing house in Boston, James Minot, William Denison, John Williams and Jonathan Pierpont.
CHAPTER VI.
DORCHESTER AND THE NECK FROM 1650 TO 1700.
Increase in number of inhabitants - Numerous houses in vicinity of Rock Hill - Indians granted reservation at Punkapog - First justices - Dorchester Neck owners obliged to pay taxes after 1667-Owners of land at Dorchester Neck in 1667 and amount of tax each paid - The first dwelling house at Dorchester Neck that of James Foster - Blake House - Withington estate -Powow Point -Compensation for Legislators -- Value of land at Dorchester Neck - Association started that con- tinued 150 years.
O THER vessels with liberty seekers arrived in large numbers. From experience the settlers learned to be economical, they were industrious and prepared well for dark days that might be in store. At first the houses were built only in the vicinity of Rock Hill, but, as the people increased in numbers, the village spread and there were some who set their eyes toward the Neck, investigating the possi- bilities of building there.
All was contentment and happiness. The Indians troubled them but little, they were enabled to worship in their own way, and the entire community was generally progressive.
Harvard College in Cambridge, founded in 1636 and erected in 1639, was presented with a handsome sum by Dorchester people in 1652.
In 1657 the Indians were granted 6,000 acres at Punkapog, this being at the request of Rev. John Elliott, and at the same time there was a grant of 1,000 acres for a free school.
In 1663 Capt. Clap, Lieut. Foster and William Sumner were chosen as the first commissioners of Dorchester, with power to try small causes, such as municipal court judges of the present day. Capt. Clap was also empowered to join people in wedlock.
During the summer of 1665 Capt. Davenport of the Castle was killed by lightning and Capt. Roger Clap was chosen as his successor.
Deacon John Capen, in 1666 was chosen as first recorder.
So important a place did Dorchester Neck become and so valuable the territory that in 1667 it was provided that all persons owning land at the Neck should pay a tax at the rate of half a penny per acre.
The owners of Dorchester Neck lands at that time are shown by the following list of those who were rated Nov. 3, 1667:
Capt. Clap,
Joseph Farnsworth, 24
Anniel Weeks, 4
14 acres, 7d
IS od 2d
39
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
Obadiah Swift.
4
..
2d
Widow Smith,
6
3d
Mr. Patten,
4
2d
Richard Baker,
24
IS od
William Sumner.
7d
John Blackman.
2
Id
Nicholas Clap,
22
IId
Augustin Clement,
8
4d
Widow Clap,
IS
9d
Timothy Mather,
28
IS 2d
Capt. Foster,
36
66
IS 6d
Richard Withington,
26
IS Id
William Clarke,
12
6d
John Blake.
2
Id
Samuel Clap,
S
4d
Widow Baker.
30
IS 3d
Obadiah Hawes,
2
Id
Widow Mannings,
6
3d
Widow Batten,
8
4d
Mr. Jones,
20
Iod
Enoch Wiswell.
I2
6d
James Blake,
22
66
IId
Ezra Clap,
I2
66
6d
John Capen. Jr.,
1
66
2d
Deacon Wiswell,
I6
8d
George Dyer,
I2
66
6d
Deacon Capen,
6
3d
Mr. Howard,
14
66
7d
John Mosely,
1
2d
Mrs. Stoughton,
18
2s od
Isaac Jones,
I 2
6d
James White,
4
2d
Ebenezer Williams,
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