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 65
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May 2, 1739, he made a written proposal to the town, viz. : For the sum of twenty pounds he would plough the ground, and raise the Common, turning the water down the Common toward the powder-house, and prevent it from running down Winter Street. He also proposed, for the above sum, to keep the gutter in repair for seven years from date. The subject was referred to a committee, whose report is not given. He was active in the militia of Boston, became captain of a Boston company in 1745, and was fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1735.
The Boston Post-Boy notices his decease, thus : "Capt. William Salter [1733], kept the powder-house, died Dec. 7, 1753."
Administration was granted on his estate in 1754.
Richard Saltonstall (1733), lawyer, of Haverhill, son of Richard and Mehitable (Wainwright) Saltonstall, was born in Haverhill, June 24, 1703, and graduated at Har- vard College in 1722. Though a lawyer by profession, he was a " scientific and practical farmer." He was early interested in the military, and when twenty-six years old was commissioned as colone !. At the age of thirty-three years he was appointed judge of
William Salter (1733). AUTHORITY : Boston Records.
Richard Saltonstall (1733). AUTHORITIES : Haverhill Records; Bond's Ilist. of Watertown. I Massachusetts Gazette.
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the Superior Court. He held that office from Dec. 29, 1736, to Sept. 14, 1756, when he resigned. He was one of his Majesty's councillors in 1743, 1744, and 1745. He was chosen commander of the Artillery Company in 1737, and presided at the first centennial celebration.
" Judge Saltonstall [1733] was chairman of the committee for settling the boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which had always been in contention, in 1737." One hundred and fifty years later (1887), it was still unsettled. "He was a man of talents and learning ; was distinguished for generous and elegant hospitality, and for his bounteous liberality to the poor. His address was polished, affable, and winning ; his temper was gentle and benevolent, and he enjoyed the love and esteem of all."
He married, (1) Jan. 6, 1726, Abigail, daughter of Richard Waldron, of Dover ; (2) March 4, 1740, Mary, daughter of John Jekyll, of Boston; (3) Mary, daughter of Hon. Elisha Cooke (1699).
Col. Saltonstall (1733) died Oct. 20, 1756, after a long illness, and in the fifty-fourth year of his age.
Habijah Savage (1733), of Boston, son of Lieut -Col. Habijah (1699) and Hannah (Phillips) (Anderson) Savage, was born Feb. 17, 1704. Thomas (1749) and Arthur (1738) were brothers of Capt. Habijah (1733). The latter graduated at Harvard College in 1723. Habijah Savage (1733) was elected constable in 1733, but was excused. It seems to be the only town office to which he was elected.
He was fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1738.
Ebenezer Swan (1733), school-master, of Boston, son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth Swan, of Cambridge, was born in Cambridge, March 23, 1704. This family resided at Menotomy. Mr. Paige, in the History of Cambridge, gives the family of Ebenezer (1733). By wife, Bathsheba, he had eight children. He died April 23, 1752, and his wife died Aug. 31, 1793, aged eighty-four years.
Ebenezer Swan (1733) removed to Boston, and Aug. 16, 1738, appearing before the selectmen, he petitioned " that Liberty may be Granted him to Open a School in this Town, for Teaching Writing, Arithmetick and Merchants Accounts," which being considered by them, " Voted That Liberty be Granted Accordingly."
John Symmes (1733), tailor, of Boston, son of Rev. Thomas and Elizabeth (Blowers) Symmes, of Bradford, was born in Bradford, Feb. 4, 1705-6. Andrew, brother of Lieut .- Col. John Symmes (1733), joined the Artillery Company in 1734. His father, Rev. Thomas Symmes, delivered the Artillery election sermon in 1720, and his uncle, Rev. Thomas Blowers, in 1717. Col. John (1733) became a member of the Old South Church, Nov. 3, 1723.
He was third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1739, ensign in 1749, lieutenant . in 1752, and captain in 1755 and 1761. March 16, 1747, he was elected constable but was excused. Lieut .- Col. Symmes (1733) was prominent in military matters in Boston, passing through the various grades to that of major ; and, on the decease of Lieut .- Col. Carnes (1733) of the Boston regiment, he was promoted to the vacancy, holding that office until his decease, Feb. 23, 1764. He was buried with military honors, one com- pany and the officers of the regiment preceding the corpse.
Habijah Savage (1733). AUTHORITY : Boston Records.
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Daniel Tucker (1733), of Boston, son of Richard and Bethiah Tucker, was born Oct. 10, 1707, and married, March 5, 1729, Hannah Carey, daughter of James (1723), and sister of Capt. Jonathan Carey (1740). He does not appear to have ever held any office in the town nor in the Artillery Company. He died July 17, 1739, aged thirty-two years, and was buried in Copp's Hill Burial-Ground.
Edward Vail (1733), baker, of Boston, son of Christopher, was born April 7, 1695. He married Lydia Woods, March 3, 1714-5. Edward Vail (1733) was elected " hogg- reeve " of Boston in 1725 and constable for 1731. He was second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1739. He died in July, 1749.
William Warner (1733) was a distiller in Boston. He married, May 16, 1723, Mary Mountfort, daughter of John (1697), and granddaughter of Benjamin Mountfort (1679). He was a constable of Boston in 1728, and May 25, 1735, gave ten pounds towards the erection of the new workhouse. The only reference to him on the town books is under date of Sept. 24, 1740, when " Mr. Sutton Byles informs that Mr. Warner [1733], the distiller, by building a house 'at the South End, has obstructed a water- course." He was second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1738. A William Warner was captain of the ninth company in the First Massachusetts Regiment, at Louisburg, in 1745.
Samuel Watts (1733), yeoman, of Chelsea, married (1) Elizabeth -, who died March 16, 1730, aged thirty-two years (gravestone at North Chelsea) ; and (2) Hannah Hough, published Oct. 19, 1731. He was elected a fence-viewer for that part of Boston called Rumney Marsh, now Chelsea, in 1718 and 1721, and was a surveyor of highways in 1722. From 1719 to 1740, he was selected about once in two years to run the lines between Boston and Lynn, or Malden, to see, probably, if the bounds had been disturbed.
July 3, 1728, he petitioned the selectmen for a "Tavernars or Innholders " license at Winnisimmet, which petition was approved and the license was granted. He kept the Winnisimmet Tavern for a year and a half, when, Feb. 18, 1729, he added to his duties that of ferryman, by leasing for seven years the Winnisimmet Ferry, at a rent of twenty pounds per annum. It is to be hoped that he made shorter voyages than his fellow- ferryman of fifty years afterward, who was one hour ferrying Marquis Chastellux from Winnisimmet to Mylne Point, making seven tacks from shore to shore. In 1737, Sept. 7, the ferry lease was exchanged with the selectmen "for its counterpart." The charges were so small that no one seemed desirous of leasing the ferry, and Aug. 26, 1741, the ferry being still in Mr. Watts's (1733) care, the selectmen called him before them, and he said " he did not expect to pay any rent to the town for the ferry, since his lease expired." The ferry does not seem to have been re-leased, and Mr. Watts (1733) paid no rent. Jan. 31, 1757, the selectmen made a "Memo." in their minutes, viz. : to deter- mine whether Capt. Watts (1733) shall be prosecuted for the rent of Winnisimmet Ferry. It does not seem to have been determined.
He prospered abundantly. In 1736 and later, he was surety in the sum of five
Daniel Tucker (1733). AUTHORITY : Boston Records. Edward Vail (1733). AUTHORITY : Boston Records.
William Warner (1733). AUTHORITY: Bos- ton Records.
Samuel Watts (1733). AUTHORITIES: Bos- ton Records; Mem. Ilist. of Boston.
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hundred pounds for the collector of taxes at Rumney Marsh. Sept. 21, 1737, he was one of a committee to address " the Great and General Court for relief in the pay of members of the Honorable House of Representatives." 1
The French, to the number of about one thousand persons, were forced from their homes in Nova Scotia and assigned to settle in Massachusetts. The General Court appointed a committee to superintend their dispersion among the people of the colony. Samuel Watts (1733) was chairman of this committee.
The inhabitants of Rumney Marsh (Chelsea) assembled, by virtue of an act passed Jan. 8, 1739, to organize a new town on the first Monday of March, 1739. Samuel Watts (1733) was chosen moderator, and for thirty years was the most prominent man of the town. He was elected to the Legislature several terms, and in 1741 was elected speaker of the House of Representatives, but he was negatived by the Governor. He was elected a member of the council for twenty-two successive years, from 1742 to 1763. April 6, 1748, he was appointed justice of the inferior Court of Common Pleas, in place of Anthony Stoddard, deceased, and held that position until his death. He was appointed justice of the peace June 28, 1734. He was identified with the military, and became an officer in the Suffolk Regiment. The Artillery Company, not unmindful of that ability, judgment, and energy by which he passed from the scow ferry-boat to the council chamber, honored him and itself by electing Capt. Samuel Watts (1733) ensign in 1735 and captain in 1742.
Hon. Samuel Watts (1733) died March 5, 1770, and was buried from the house of Hon. Benjamin Kent, in Boston.
Jacob Wendell (1733), merchant, of Boston, the ninth child of John and Elizabeth Wendell, was born in Albany, N. Y., Aug. 5, 1691. Jacob Wendell (1733) was placed, while in his minority, under the care of Mr. John Mico (1702), an eminent merchant in Boston, and was trained up to mercantile business. He afterwards became settled in Boston as a merchant, and was very prosperous. He was highly respected in the town and province, and, in addition to many other offices, he was repeatedly employed by the government in the negotiating of treaties and in exchange of prisoners with the Indians. He married, Aug. 12, 1714, Sarah Oliver, a daughter of Dr. James Oliver, of Cam- bridge. The sons of Col. Jacob (1733) and Sarah (Oliver) Wendell were Jacob, John Mico, and Oliver.
Judge Oliver Wendell, the youngest son, married Mary Jackson, and had Sarah, who married Rev. Abiel Holmes, and they were the parents of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Margaret, the twelfth child, married William Phillips (1762), whose son, Hon. John Phillips, was the first mayor of the city of Boston.
Jacob Wendell (1733). AUTHORITIES: Bos- ton Records; MS. of Judge Charles Levi Woodbury; Boston Gazette, Sept. 14, 1761; New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., 1854.
"[Oct. 1, 1750.] Haveing an Invitation from the Gentlemen to Dine at Mr Sheppard's, went Accord- ingly, where was a company of abt 40 gentlemen, after haveing Dined in a very Elegant manner upon Turtle, &c. Drank about the Toasts, and Sang a Number of Songs, and where Exceeding Merry untill 3 a clock in the Morning, from whence Went upon the Rake, Going Past the Commons in Our way Home, Surprised a Compy Country Young Men
and Women with a Violin at A Tavern Dancing and makeing Merry. upon Our Entg the house the Young Women Fled, we took Possession of the Room, havg the Fidler and the Young Men with us with the Keg of Sugard Dram, we where very Merry, from thence went to Mr Jacob Wendells [1733] where we where Obliged to Drink Punch and Wine, and abt 5 in the morng made our Excit and to Bed." - Journal of Capt. Francis Goelet, 1746-50, in New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., January, 1870.
' Report of Boston Rec. Com., Vol. XII., pp. 177, 178.
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Col. Wendell (1733) possessed a handsome estate in Oliver Street, where, after the destructive fire of 1760, he built a brick house. Since the incorporation of the city, a street leading from Oliver Street, and passing by his place, was named Wendell Street. His residence, however, was on School Street, opposite King's Chapel, where he died Sept. 7, 1761, aged seventy years.
The capability of Col. Wendell (1733), and the respect in which he was held by his townsmen, appear from the various duties with which he was intrusted. He was elected one of the following committees, viz. : to project a scheme for regulating a market, 1732 ; to compute the cost of the proposed market, 1733; to oppose the erection of a new county, out of Suffolk and Middlesex counties, before the General Court, 1733; to assign places in the town for building markets, 1733 ; to select the best places for fortifi- cations, 1733 ; to prepare gun-carriages and necessary utensils, 1733 ; to erect market houses, 1734 ; to prepare laws for the regulation of porters on the town docks, 1734; to erect a workhouse, 1737 ; to visit public schools, 1738, 1741, 1745, 1747, 1749, 1750, 1751, 1753, 1757, 1758; to prevent shooting of pigeons from the tops of houses, and soldiers from firing guns in the streets, 1740; to consider what repairs on the almshouse are necessary, 1741 ; to wait on his Excellency and urge necessary measures to protect coasting seamen, bringing wood to Boston, from impressnient by his Majesty's ships-of- war in the harbor, 1741 ; to return thanks to Peter Faneuil, Esq., for his gift to the town ; to consider necessary fortifications, purchase of timber, and the sinking of vessels in the channel, 1745 and 1746; to wait on the captain-general in regard to better defences, 1745 and 1746 ; to obtain twelve gun-carriages, 1746 ; to regulate Faneuil Hall Market, 1747 ; to consider the petition of King's Chapel for additional ground eastward, 1747 ; to consider the petition of Middlecott Cooke, 1749 ; to consider and report on additional assistance in the South Writing-School, and on an allowance for supplying the scholars with ink, 1753.
He was elected a constable of Boston in 1717, and auditor of the treasurer's accounts in 1728 and 1732. He served as an overseer of the poor in 1729-30, and from 1733 to 1756 inclusive, making a service of twenty-six years. March 10, 1757, the town voted that " the thanks of the town be and hereby is given to the Hon. Jacob Wendell Esq, for" his faithful service as overseer of the poor. March 20, 1734, the town voted him thanks for his donation of fifty pounds towards erecting markets, and in 1735 he gave the town one hundred pounds toward the erection of a workhouse. It was on his proposition, in 1735, that the town of Boston was first divided into twelve wards, the boundaries of which are given, as reported by him, in the Boston town records as printed by the record commissioners, 1729-42.
May 7, 1733, Col. Wendell (1733) made a motion in town meeting concerning the waste lands in the province. A petition was prepared, signed by the selectmen, and presented to the General Court, whereupon the latter granted to the town of Boston three tracts of land, each six miles square, of the unappropriated land of the province, for townships. Sept. 21, 1737, these townships were sold by the selectmen at public auction, one of which was bought by Col. Wendell (1733) for thirteen hundred and twenty pounds.
He was one of the council from 1734 to 1760 inclusive ; was appointed special justice of the Court of Common Pleas, Dec. 29, 1736, and a justice of the peace, Ang. 28, 1729, and Dec. 29, 1731.
" At the great fire in Boston," in 1760, says Mr. Whitman ( 1810), "he was a great
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sufferer. Large collections were made in other provinces to aid the sufferers. He refused any part of the contributions. Upon a final dividend among the sufferers, it was found that there was about sixty pounds left, which could not easily be divided. It was appropriated to purchase for his daughter, Margaret, an eight-day clock, etc."
Col. Wendell (1733) was lieutenant-colonel of the Boston regiment in 1733-5, colonel in 1736, and was continued in the latter office until 1743. He was captain of the Artillery Company in 1735 and 1745, and remained a prominent member until his decease. He died Sept. 7, 1761, and was buried in his family tomb in the King's Chapel ground. The officers of the regiment walked in procession before the corpse, though he was not in commission when he died. The inventory of his real estate amounted to nearly twelve thousand pounds.
The following obituary appeared in the Boston Gazette of Sept. 14, 1761 : -
"Died here, the Hon. Jacob Wendell, Esq. [1733], who for many years was Overseer of the Poor, Colonel of the Regiment, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and Council. As a merchant he was early distinguished, not only by the largeness of his dealings, but also by his probity and honor, which soon created him an extensive repu- tation in the commercial world ; and, as he had many opportunities of employing the poor, encouraging the industrious tradesman, and advancing those who were entering upon the world, so no man could improve such opportunities with greater pleasure. The indigent and distressed were often and largely relieved by his alms. With great cheer- fulness he aided every project for the common good.
" His family remember, with the tenderest feelings, how much he endeared himself in every domestic relation. His friends cannot forget his openness of heart, his readi- ness to oblige, the freedom and cheerfulness which appeared at his hospitable board. Through a long course of years, he gave a constant and exemplary attendance upon all the offices of Christian piety, expressing upon all occasions a regard for everything relating to it."
John Wendell (1733), merchant, of Boston, son of Abraham and Katrina (DeKey) Wendell, and nephew of Col. Jacob Wendell (1733), was born in Albany, N. Y., in 1703, and was baptized in the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, May 2 of that year. He was educated in Albany, but when young removed with his parents to Boston, where his father died in 1734. He soon engaged in mercantile affairs, and in due time formed a partnership with his uncle, Jacob (1733), under the title, Jacob Wendell & Co., and did an extensive business with foreign ports. The large wholesale warehouse of the firm was located on Merchants Row, which at that time was the commercial centre of the East India trade. The firm suffered greatly by the fire, March 20, 1760, which was so destructive to Boston, sustaining losses from which it was difficult to recover.
Col. Wendell (1733) held few public positions. When elected constable in Boston, in 1729, he paid the usual fine rather than accept the office. In 1746, he was one of the committee selected to visit the public schools, and was appointed a justice of the peace Feb. 7, 1752. He donated, May 25, 1735, thirty pounds towards the erection of a workhouse, " wherein to employ the idle and indigent belonging to the town." He was colonel of the Boston regiment, ensign of the Artillery Company in 1734, and its captain in 1740.
John Wendell (1733). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; MS. of Judge Charles Levi Woodbury; New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., 1858.
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Col. Wendell (1733) "was a citizen of high standing and respectability, and was much interested in the advancement of colonial affairs. He was repeatedly commis- sioned in the military, and was a field-officer at the time of his decease." His mansion stood, in 1760, upon the corner of Queen, now Court, and Treamont -Tremont-streets, facing upon the latter.
He married, Nov .. 10, 1724, Elizabeth Quincy, second daughter of Hon. Edmund Quincy, of Braintree. Edmund Quincy, Jr., married, in 1725, Eliza Wendell, sister of Col. John (1733). Upon the death of his first wife, Col. Wendell (1733) married, in 1751, Mercy Skinner, of Marblehead. He died Dec. 15, 1762.
The late Jacob Wendell, of Portsmouth, wrote in regard to Col. John Wendell's (1733) residence : " My grandfather's house in Boston was at the head of Prison Lane, next to old Deacon Henchman's, at the corner, going to the Common, by Capt. Emery's estate on Tremont Street. Deacon Henchman's house was later occupied by Rev. S. K. Lathrop. The prison, as is well remembered by many of the present generation, stood upon the present site of the Court House, and the part of Court Street extending by the front of the prison, from Washington Street to Tremont, was called Prison Lane."
Isaac White (1733) was a distiller in Boston. He was third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1733. Capt. Isaac White (1733) for over thirty years was very prominent in the town of Boston. In 1728, he was elected a constable, but paid the usual fine, declining to serve. He was a measurer of lumber in 1732; overseer of the poor from 1740 to 1742 inclusive ; fireward in 1732, and 1746-50 ; tithing-man in 1747; viewer of lumber from 1753 to 1759 inclusive, and assessor from 1755 to 1759 inclusive. He lived on Charter Street, where he had a licensed retail shop in 1738 and in 1749. Selectmen's records, Nov. 15, 1749 : "Capt Steel informs the persons who have lately purchased Mr. Isaac Whites [1733] distill house at the North End, they have made an encroachment on the town's land there." In 1738, he is called "Mr."; in 1740, "Lieut."; but afterward, for nearly twenty years, "Capt." April 18, 1740, the select- men ordered Capt. William Salter (1733), keeper of the powder-house, to deliver one barrel of gunpowder to Capt. Edward Tyng, and another to Lieut. Isaac White (1733), " to scale the guns," etc.
March 15, 1733, when the committee on fortifications, of which Col. Thomas Fitch (1700) was chairman, was requested to draw and present a plan of the proposed forti- fications (plan given in Boston town records, City Document No. 66, pp. 64, 65), a committee, consisting of Jacob Wendell (1733), James Bowdoin, Col. Estes Hatch (1711), Isaac White (1733), and John Checkley, was chosen to prepare gun-carriages and everything necessary for mounting the cannon belonging to the town.
In March, 1734-5; as it was desired to plant guns on the end of Long Wharf, a committee, of which Isaac White (1733) was one, reported that the wharf was much decayed, worm-eaten, etc., and "the end of the wharf was encumbered by a Crane house thereon," etc .; whereupon Thomas Fitch (1700), on account of himself and associates, proprietors of Long Wharf, promised that the end of Long Wharf should be speedily put in proper condition to plant guns there.
Mr. White (1733) was a member of the committee which erected the fortifications of the town as proposed. Five of the seven members of that committee were members of the Artillery Company. In March, 1734, he was one of a committee-Capt. Timothy
Isaac White (1733). AUTHORITY: Boston Records,
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Clarke (1702), chairman-to view, consider, and report what streets stand most in need of paving. In 1741, Capt. White (1733) was chairman of a committee for supply- ing the town with wood, and of another to view the almshouse and report on the repairs necessary. His reports, involving large expenditures by the town, were adopted.
The fall of Louisburg in 1745- a cause of great rejoicing in Boston - was a serious blow to France. The town of Boston was in constant alarm, fearing an attack by way of retaliation, and the French men-of-war were a constant menace along the coast. March 10, 1745-6, Mr. Isaac White (1733) moved in town meeting that "the select- men be desired to wait on his Excellency the captain-general, desiring of him that three vessels may be purchased, in order to be sunk in such places in the channel as shall be thought best in case the town should be attacked by an enemy." The various projects for the town's additional defences, viz., repairing South Battery, erection of . another powder-house, purchase of timber, and sinking of three or more vessels, were referred to John Fayerweather, Isaac White (1733), Col. John Hill, Col. Wendell (1733), and Samuel Welles. The above, with Col. William Downe (1716), were appointed "to wait upon his Excellency the captain-general, to ask his liberty to view the batteries, and see what stores and repairs are needed, etc." The committee was authorized to get twelve additional gun-carriages, to obtain the consent of the captain-general " to do the several things mentioned," and the sum of six thousand pounds was voted to defray the expenses. During these months of alarm and of extraordinary expense, Capt. Isaac White (1733) stands a prominent figure.
William Williams (1733) married Miriam Tyler, Sept. 27, 1733. He was chosen constable of Boston in 1733, but paid the fine rather than serve, and was scavenger in 1735. William Williams (1733) was one of the original members of the West Church, organized Jan. 3, 1736-7, "coming from the First Church in Cambridge."
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