USA > Massachusetts > History of the Military company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and honorable artillery company of Massachusetts. 1637-1888, Vol. I > Part 27
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1655-6. The officers elected were : Francis Norton (1643), captain ; Roger Clap (1646), lieutenant ; William Phillips (1644), ensign. Daniel Fisher (1640) was first sergeant; Richard Woodde (1642), second sergeant ; John Gore (1638), clerk, and John Audlin (1638), armorer.
Capt. Robert Keayne (1637), the founder of the Artillery Company, died at Boston on the 23d of March, 1656, and was doubtless buried with such martial pomp as was customary in those days; for, he said in his will, "to declare my affections to that [military] exercise & the society of souldiers, I shall desire to be buryed as a souldier in a Military way ... if the time and place may suit thereunto," which was left to his executors and friends to determine.
His voluminous will reveals prominent traits. He was thoughtful, wise, generous, and forgiving. He remembered public interests and private friendships. The church, the college, the free school, the town and its needs, the Artillery Company, and public library were thoughtfully remembered ; yet neither the town nor city - while recogniz- ing others of less beneficence and worth - raises an effigy or slab to express its gratitude to its first princely benefactor. The place of his interment is not known, but his memory should be cherished by every member of the Artillery Company.
The new members recruited in 1655-6 were : Thomas Bell, Jr., and John Webb.
Elias Maverick (1654). AUTHORITIES: Sav- age's Gen. Dict .; Sumner's Hist. of East Boston.
Rev. Thomas Thacher. AUTHORITIES :
Mather's Magnalia; Sprague's Annals of American Pulpit; Hill's Hist. of the Old South Church; Eliot's Biog. Dict.
NORTH BATTERY.
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HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
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Thomas Bell, Jr. (1655.) He was not the son of Thomas Bell (1643). That Thomas, Jr., was born in Boston, Aug. 3, 1642. Thomas Bell, Jr. (1655), was probably the Thomas Bell who testified in 1681 in regard to the Lynn iron-works, and said he was fifty years of age ; but no more is known about him.
John Webb (1655) was a brazier, who, according to Boston Records, " was Admitted to Inhabitt in the Towne six Months, and if he behave himself well, for Lounger Tyme," on the 24th of November, 1651. He is subsequently referred to in the records of Boston as Ensign John Webb. He was a constable in Boston in 1655, was clerk of the Military Company of the Massachusetts in 1656, and ensign in 1660. He was ensign in the militia in 1657.
Rev. Peter Hobart, of Hingham, was the preacher of the Artillery sermon in 1655. He was born at Hingham, Norfolk County, England, Oct. 13, 1604. He attended the free school at Lynn, and was admitted into Magdalen College, Cambridge, England, where he received the degrees of A. B. in 1625 and A. M. in 1629. He entered the ministry, and came to New England, arriving at Charlestown, Mass., June 8, 1635. In September following, he settled in Hingham among old friends. He continued as the pastor of the church there for forty-four years, and died Jan. 20, 1679.
1656-7. The officers elected were : James Oliver (1640), captain ; William Hudson (1640), lieutenant ; John Barrell (1643), ensign. Alexander Adams (1652) was first sergeant ; Richard Fairbanks (1654), second sergeant ; John Webb (1655), clerk.
Aug. 28, 1656, the selectmen ordered " that the North battery bee forthwith repaired," and the disbursements therefor were made by Capt. James Oliver (1640), Peter Oliver (1643), William Davis (1643), and William Paddy (1652), members of the board of selectmen.
This battery, Drake says, stood " at the lower part of the north end of the town, and it was not demolished until after the War of Independence. The site was then converted into a wharf for the accommodation of ships and merchandise, and it still bears the name of Battery Wharf. This was a very important point, as it commanded a great extent of the harbor, and much expense was laid out, early [in] this year, to put it in a condition to be of service in case an enemy should appear."
The new members recruited in 1656-7 were : William Beamsley and Nicholas Clarke.
William Beamsley (1656), of Boston in 1632, joined the First Church April 5, 1635, and was admitted to be a freeman May 25, 1636. The church records call him " Labourer." He bought of William Phillips (1644) a shore lot, near Merry's Point, and "wharfed out " in 1650. He was granted sixteen acres of land, 1637, near Muddy River, and in 1641 " bro. Beamsley [1656]" was paid by the town for ten rods of
Rev. Peter Hobart. AUTHORITIES : Mather's Magnalia; Sprague's Annals of American Pulpit; Lincoln's Hist. of Hingham.
William Beamsley (1656). AUTHORITIES : New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., 1855 (will); Boston Records; Savage's Gen. Dict.
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HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1657-8
causeway built by him at Rumney Marsh. He was a constable of the town in 1647, and in 1649 was ordered " to remove away his oyster shells from the Towne's hye way before his dore." He was appointed on important committees by the selectmen, but was fined ten shillings for harboring a person without leave.
He died Sept. 29, 1658. His will, made Sept. 14, was proved Oct. 28, 1658.
Nicholas Clarke (1656). He was first sergeant of the Military Company of the Massachusetts in 1657, beyond which nothing has been discovered, unless he is the Nicholas Clarke who arrived in Boston Sept. 16, 1632, settled in Cambridge, and before 1639 sold his property there and removed to Hartford, Conn. He died July 2, 1680.
Rev. Richard Mather, of Dorchester, delivered the Artillery sermon in 1656. He was born in Lowton, Lancaster County, England, in 1596. He attended school at Winwick ; at fifteen years of age was a school-master, and when twenty-two began preach- ing at Toxteth. May 23, 1635, he set sail from Bristol for New England, and after a stormy passage arrived at Boston Aug. 17, 1635. He soon proceeded to Dorchester, gathered another church, and Aug. 23, 1636, Mr. Mather was settled over it as pastor and teacher. There he remained during nearly thirty-four years. He died at Dor- chester, April 22, 1669, at the age of seventy-three years.
He was a person of great authority in the early churches of New England, the father of Increase Mather, and grandfather of Cotton Mather, the head of a family which for nearly a century filled no second place in the church of New England.
1657-8. The officers elected were : Edward Hutchinson (1638), captain ; William Phillips (1644), lieutenant ; Joshua Scottow (1645), ensign. Nicholas Clarke (1656) was first sergeant; Hezekiah Usher (1638), second sergeant ; William Cotton (1650), clerk.
An inventory of the estate of Miles Standish, Plymouth's great captain, returned to the court in 1657, shows that he had been the possessor of "One fowling piece, three muskets, four carbines, two small guns, one old barrell, one sword, one cutles, three belts, cesers comenteryes and Bariffs Artillery." Nearly every early colonial home was from necessity an arsenal.
It does not appear that any members were enlisted this year, and but few were during the years immediately before and after. "It will be recollected," says Mr. Whitman (1810), " that this was during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. The Commonwealth in England furnished better employment for men of military talents than the wilderness of New England. Possessed, as the Dissenters were, of church and state, few inducements were offered for emigration, and more returned to England than came to New England."
The will of Capt. Robert Keayne (1637) was probated May 2, 1656. His son, Major Benjamin Keayne (1638), was appointed in the will sole executor. Capt. Keayne (1637) also appointed his "honored and loving friends," Mr. Simon Bradstreet, Major- Gen. Denison (1660), Mr. William Hibbins, Mr. Edward Winslow, Rev. John Wilson,
Rev. Richard Mather. AUTHORITIES : Math- Annals of American Pulpit; Histories of Dor- er's Magnalia; Savage's Gen. Dict .; Sprague's chester.
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IIONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
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Rev. Mr. Norton, Mr. Edward Rawson, and Lieut. Johnson (1638), overseers of his will. Major Benjamin Keayne (1638) went to England in 1644, entered the service of Crom- well, and probably did not return to America.
From 1656 to 1671, when the conduit was removed, the overseers in charge of the estate were probably Simon Bradstreet, Daniel Denison (1660), Edward Rawson, and James Johnson (1638).
Dec. 29, 1656, the selectmen voted, " It is agreed that the next day of our [town] meeting some time bee spent to consider of Capt Keayne's [1637] will in respect of the legacyes to the towne."
At the next general town meeting, held March 9, 1656-7, Capt. Thomas Savage (1637), Anthony Stoddard (1639), Jeremiah Howchin (1641), and Edward Hutchinson (1638), were "chosen a committee to consider of the modell of the towne house, to bee built, as concerning the charge thereof, and the most convenient place, as also to take the subscriptions of the inhabitants to propagate such a building and seasonably to make report to a publick townes meeting." All the members of this committee were members of the Military Company of the Massachusetts.
The above committee probably reported to the town, because, Aug. 31, 1657, Thomas Marshall (1640), Samuel Cole (1637), William Paddy (1652), Joshua Scottow (1645), and Jeremiah Howchin (1641), having had "full power given " them "by the town of Boston," made choice of Edward Hutchinson (1638) and John Hull (1660) as commissioners to superintend the erection of the town-house. It will be noticed that all the members of the second committee, and the building commissioners also, were members of the Military Company of the Massachusetts.
The commissioners entered into an agreement with Thomas Joy, who joined the Artillery Company in 1658, and Bartholomew Bernad, for the erection of the desired building for the sum of four hundred pounds. The total cost of the town-house and conduit was six hundred and eighty pounds.
The building was sixty-six feet long, thirty-six feet wide, set upon twenty-one pillars, ten feet high, projecting three feet over the pillars on each side. There was a walk on the top, fifteen feet wide, with two turrets and balusters, and rails around the walk. The agreement gives a minute description of the building.
Capt. Keayne's (1637) legacy was three hundred pounds ; three hundred and ninety- three pounds and six shillings were pledged by the citizens of Boston. This latter sum was subscribed by one hundred and twenty-four persons, of whom the following were, at that time or later, members of the Military Company of the Massachusetts : -
Edward Tyng (1642), £10 (1643), IO William Hudson (1640), IO
Joshua Scottow (1645), £5
John Evered (Webb) .
Peter Oliver (1643), IO
Hezekiah Usher (1638), 20
John Barrell . (1643), 3
John Coggan (1638), 5 James Oliver (1640), 12
John Hull
(1660), 5 Richard Parker (1638), IO
Nathaniel Williams
(1644), 3
Thomas Clarke (1638), Robert Turner (1640),
4 5
Theodore Atkinson (1644), 5
William Davis (1643), 15
(1648), 12
Richard Cooke
Thomas Hawkins (1649), 2 Jacob Sheafe Thomas Lake
(1643), 3 IOS.
(1653), 9 Samuel Hutchinson (1652), 5
Isaac Walker
(1676), 3
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HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1657-8
Thomas Edsall .
(1652),
IOS. Henry Messinger (1658),
IOS.
Richard Gridley
(1658), £2
Thomas Bumstead . (1647), £1
John Button
(1643), 5
Samuel Cole . (1637),
2
John Coney
(1662),
15S. Henry Bridgham
(1644), 10
Richard Waite
(1638),
2
Nathaniel Reynolds
(1658),
I
Richard Woodde
(1642),
I
James Davis . (1651),
16s.
William Paddy (1652), 12
Daniel Turell
(1660), I
Thomas Makepeace
(1638), I
Edmund Jackson
(1646), I
Joshua Hewes (1637),
IOS. James Johnson
(1638),
2
Henry Phillips
(1640),
5
Henry Powning
(1677), 2
Thomas Brattle .
(1675),
5
Humphrey Bradshaw (1642),
IOS.
John Biggs
(1641), 2
Nathaniel Duncan . (1638),
2
Henry Allen .
(1658),
I
Peter Duncan
(1654),
I IOS.
Hugh Drury
(1659), I
Forty-nine of the one hundred and twenty-four persons who subscribed were members of the Military Company of the Massachusetts. Those forty-nine persons subscribed two hundred and thirty pounds and eleven shillings, or nearly two thirds of the entire amount.
The town-house was probably completed and occupied in 1658. March 28, 1659, the selectmen voted that no one should smoke, or bring a fire or match, under or about the town-house, except in case of military exercise.
In 1666, Robert Gibbs, father of Robert (1692), obtained a lease of the cellar under the town-house, and in 1664, Thomas Lake (1653) and Hezekiah Usher (1665) occupied the east end of the cellar. In 1678, Samuel Shrimpton (1670) bought Capt. Lake's (1653) interest of the latter's widow, and obtained an extension of the lease for thirty-nine years.
Oct. 9, 1667, the Legislature ordered " the necessary full and suitable repair of the Town and Court House in Boston, founded by the late Captain Robert Keayne," the expense to be paid, one half by the colony, one quarter by the county of Suffolk, and one quarter by the town of Boston.
In the " Re-dedication of the Old State House," July 11, 1882, Mr. William H. Whitmore, in his address, gives a minute history of the buildings which have stood at the head of State Street, called " Old Town House " and " Old State House."
"About 7 or 8 o'clock, of the night between the 2d and 3d of October, 1711," a fire broke out in Cornhill (now Washington Street), near the meeting-house of the First Church. It consumed all the houses from School Street to Dock Square ; all the upper part of (now) State Street, together with the old town-house and the old meeting-house. Thus ended the first town-house in Boston, to which Capt. Robert Keayne (1637), and members of the military company which he founded, so largely contributed.
Up to this time, there is no record of any by-laws, agreeable to the provisions of the charter, adopted by the Artillery Company. As Mr. Whitman (1810) well observes, “ It is presumed that Keayne [1637], the founder and patron of the Company, was, during his life, their lawgiver and oracle, but he died, March 23, 1656, and they saw the necessity soon after, of establishing rules for their government." This was done in September, 1657. These do not appear to have been sanctioned by the Governor and council, or
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HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
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General Court, until September, 1677, of which the following is a copy from the colony records : -
" It is ordered by the Artillery Company in Boston, September 7th, 1657 -
"Ist. That whereas there is an agreement to order, that every member of this Company is to pay four shillings per year for their quarterages, into the hand of the Clerk ; - that whatsoever is due from any of the Company, shall be paid within one month into his hands who is the present Clerk.
"2d. It is further ordered by the Company, that for the time to come, every one who is a member of the Company, shall pay into the hands of the Clerk, upon the election days, or before, his quarterages for the year past.
" 3d. It is further ordered by the Company, that the training days for this Com- pany be five yearly, and they to be on the first Mondays of April, May, June, September, and October, yearly ; and that every officer and soldier is to appear at their colours by eight of the clock in the morning : and if the Monday prove foul, the Friday after is appointed.
" 4th. It is further ordered by the Company, that if any shall neglect to appear in arms four training days together, and not give an account of it to the satisfaction of the Company, he shall then pay to the Company what is due, both for fines and quarterages, and have his name put out of the rolls, and no more to be accounted a member of the Company.
" 5th. It is further ordered by the Company, that if any be chosen to any office in the Company, and hath not borne an higher office in the Company before, and shall refuse to hold the office he is chosen to, he shall pay what arrears he is behind to the Company, and have his name put out of the Company's roll, and no longer be acknowl- edged a member of the Company.
"6th. It is further ordered by the Company, that the Clerk, without any further order, shall have full power to distrain for any fine, or quarterages, due to the Company, which shall be unpaid one month after they are due.
"7th. It is further ordered by the Company, that the Clerk shall, every training day, bring the book of the Company's Orders into the field, that it may be there, not only to call over the Company, but to enter any who is admitted, and enter any orders which shall be made.
"8th. It is further ordered by the Company, that the Clerk's accounts, yearly, shall, after the day of election, and before the next training day in September, be audited by those who were commissioned officers the year past, with the Captain and Clerk new chosen, that accounts may be delivered into the new Clerks hands.
" 9th. It is further ordered by the Company, that whereas no town training is to be upon Artillery days, yet the Commander of the Artillery may have liberty to request so much favor of any Captain, and he not be a transgressor of the order, to grant it to meet with his Company upon such days with the Artillery, for the better helping forward of discipline in the Company.
" Ioth. It is further ordered by the Company, that a perfect, list shall be taken of members of the Company, and being perfected, shall be called over every training day. It is also desired by the Company, that these several orders may be presented by Major Atherton to the Council for their approbation of them, that so they may carry more authority with them."
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HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1658-9
"April 5th, 1675. It was then voted by the Artillery Company, that the orders of the Company be presented by Thomas Clark, Esq., to the General Court or Council, for their confirmation.
"JOHN MORSE, Clerk.
" The Court, having perused the above written orders of the Artillery Company, do allow and approve thereof. " Attest : " EDWARD RAWSON, Secretary."
Rev. Henry Flint, of Braintree, who delivered the Artillery sermon of 1657, came from Matlock, in Derbyshire, England, to Boston, in 1635. He became a freeman May 25, 1636 ; was ordained March 17, 1640; married Margery, a sister of Rev. Leonard Hoar, president of Harvard College, and was settled in Braintree, where he died April 27, 1668.
1658-9. The officers elected were: Humfrey Atherton (1638), captain ; James Johnson (1638), lieutenant, and Peter Oliver (1643), ensign. Elias Maverick (1654) was first sergeant ; John Richards (1644), second sergeant ; William Cotton (1650), clerk ; Thomas Dwaite, drummer, and John Audlin (1638), armorer.
The new members recruited in 1658-9 were : Henry Allen, Richard Baker, Joseph Belknap, William Dinsdale, Richard Gridley, Thomas Joy, Hudson Leverett, Simon Lynde, Samuel Maverick, Henry Messinger, Richard Price, Nathaniel Reynolds, Joseph Rock, John Sunderland, Richard Woodcock.
Henry Allen (1658), of Boston, was a carpenter. He joined the church in May, 1644, and became a freeman in 1648. He was a constable of Boston in 1656. Nov. 29, 1661, at a meeting of the selectmen (six members of the board present, and all members of the Military Company of the Massachusetts), liberty was granted Richard Gridley (1658) and Henry Allen (1658) " to erect a wind-mill at the point before Abel Porters house and to enjoy the land upon the sea side, . . . they paying yearly every first of March to the Town Treasurer, two bushels of wheat." In 1672, he is called "deacon" in the records of Boston. He served as selectman eleven years, 1677-87, and was often on important town committees. On the board of selectmen, he took the place of Capt. Thomas Lake (1653), who was killed by the Indians Aug. 14, 1676. He represented Rowley in the General Court in 1674. In-1685, he, with other promi- nent citizens of Boston, paid the Indians in cancellation of their claim to Deer Island, Boston Neck, etc., and a deed of the same was given by the Indian chiefs to the town.
Mr. Allen (1658) died Jan. 6, 1696, leaving a large estate, but no will.
Rev. Henry Flint. AUTHORITIES: Matber's Magnalia; Savage's Gen. Dict .; Hist. of Braintree. Henry Allen (1658). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; Savage's Gen. Dict .; Drake's Hist. of Boston.
Mr. Whitman (1810), in his History of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, Edition of 1842, calls this person "Capt. John Allen of
Charlestown." Capt. John Allen united with the Company in 1639. The above name in the roll is "Sergt - Allen," and his surety is Edward Hutchinson. This would indicate that Mr. Allen was a citizen of Boston, and from the relations of Mr. Henry Allen and Mr. Hutchinson, in town affairs, the name " Henry" has been substituted for " John.
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HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
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Richard Baker (1658), of Dorchester, arrived in America from England, Nov. 28, 1635. He joined the Dorchester church Nov. 4, 1639, and was admitted a freeman May 18, 1642. He was early granted land ; was one of the raters in 1647, 1650, and 1660; selectman in 1653 ; constable in 1663 ; was once chosen a ruling elder, but it does not appear that he accepted the office. He died Oct. 25, 1689.
The History of Dorchester, from which the above facts are learned, says, " He lived in the part of the town now known as Savin Hill, and was owner of a large real estate in Dorchester, a piece of which is now [1859] in possession of his descendants, near his homestead, at the place mentioned."
He married Faith, daughter of Henry Withington, the ruling elder of the Dor- chester church.1
Joseph Belknap (1658), of Boston, was a son of Abraham Belknap, who settled in Lynn in 1637, and removed to Salem. Joseph (1658) was born in England, came to America with his parents, and settled in Boston. He was admitted a freeman in 1665, and was one of the founders of the Old South Church in 1669, from which he took a letter of dismission to the Hatfield church. He lived in Hatfield from 1682 to 1696, then came back to Boston.
June 29, 1657, the selectmen let to Joseph Belknap (1658) a small piece of ground for eight shillings per year. His lease of it was renewed in 1662 for twenty-one years, and in 1696 was renewed again for a term not exceeding ninety-nine years.
In 1689, he was chosen clerk of the market; in 1690, a tithing-man ; in 1691, a constable, and was continued in minor town offices for several years. He held the office of fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1679. His son, Joseph, joined the Artil- lery Company in 1692.
Sergt. Belknap (1658) died Nov. 14, 1712, aged eighty-two years.
William Dinsdale (1658), of Boston, was admitted a freeman in 1657. His house and garden were on Milk Street, nearly opposite the present post-office. The Boston Town Records first mention him, March 14, 1652-3, as follows : " William Dinsdall and Isack Collimore, is chosen to look to Cariages and Wheels of the great artilliry, and to .be payd by the seleckt men." He was chosen by the selectmen packer of " fish and meat," in 1653, and was annually selected until 1679-80.
In 1663, he was aged forty-seven years, at which time he hired an island in Boston Harbor of John Leverett (1639), for seven years. He died at Barbadoes in 1681, aged sixty-five years.
Richard Gridley (1658), of Boston as early as 1631, was admitted a freeman April 1, 1634. His residence was on the southeast corner of Summer Street and Cow Lane, or High Street, and his pasture extended east to Fort Hill It was on this estate first mentioned that Capt. Samuel Adams, the father of Samuel Adams, lived, and here, in
Joseph Belknap (1658). AUTHORITIES : New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., 1852, 1859; Boston Records; Hill's Hist. of Old South Church.
" [1712. Nov.] 18. Tuesday. Mr Belknap buried. Joseph was invited by Gloves, and had a scarf given him there, which is the first." - Sewall Papers, Vol. II., pp. 367, 368.
William Dinsdale (1658). AUTHORITIES :
New Eng. Ilist. and Gen. Reg., 1847; Savage's Gen. Dict .; Boston Records.
Richard Gridley (1658). AUTHORITIES : Sav- age's Gen. Dict .; Boston Records.
1 See New Eng. Ilist. and Gen. Reg., 1889, p. 279 et seq , Art., Genealogy of Richard Baker, by Edward J. Baker.
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HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
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1722, the latter was born. Richard Gridley (1658) was a captain in the militia, and a subscriber toward the free school established in Boston, Aug. 12, 1636. He was disarmed in November, 1637, being a supporter of Mr. Wheelwright. His three children, born after the last-mentioned event, were named Return, Believe, and Tremble. He furnished bricks for the fortification at Fort Hill. He held town offices, and for several years was water-bailiff with Alexander Adams (1652). His sons, Believe and Joseph, joined the Artillery Company in 1662.
In the Boston Town Records, Richard Gridley (1658) calls himself a " Bricke- maker." His will of Oct. 19, 1674, was proved the next month.
Thomas Joy (1658), of Boston in 1638, was a house carpenter. In the year 1642, he was permitted " to set up an howse over his sellar by the water side, in the common way by his dwelling howse in the milfield." This was on the southeasterly side of Copp's Hill. Thomas Joy (1658) and partner built the first town-house, -- which resulted from a legacy by Capt. Keayne (1637), - and were voted by the selectmen, Jan. 28, 1661, six hundred and eighty pounds in full. For a short time, he resided in Hingham, and built the Hingham Mills.
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