USA > Massachusetts > History of the Military company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and honorable artillery company of Massachusetts. 1637-1888, Vol. II > Part 16
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Martin Gay (1761) was admitted to be a member of the North Fire Engine Company, No. 2, Jan. 17, 1749-50, and was one of the one hundred firemen exempted from military duty by the governor, April 7, 1758. He was elected assay-master from 1758 to 1774 inclusive, warden in 1771, fireward in 1767, 1768, 1772-4, and visited the public schools, July 1, 1772. He was identified with the Boston militia for many years, and in 1767 became captain of a company in the Boston regiment. He was an addresser of Gov. Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gen. Gage in 1775. He went to Halifax in 1776, when the British evacuated Boston, and- was proscribed and banished by the State in 1778. He returned to Boston in November, 1792, having, during his absence, resided in Nova Scotia and England. Of his nine children, Samuel was the most dis- tinguished, having been chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, in New Brunswick.
Martin Gay (1761). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; New Eng. Ilist. and Gen. Reg., 1879; Whit- man's Hist. A. and II. A. Company, Ed. 1842.
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Martin Gay's (1761) brass foundry was in Union Street. He was a member of the West Church, and for some years a deacon. He died Jan. 30, 1809, aged eighty-two years, and was buried in his tomb, No. 6, Granary Burial-Ground.
Thomas Marshall (1761), tailor, of Boston, son of Capt. Christopher (1724) and Elizabeth Marshall, was born in Boston, July 21, 1719, and was published to Margaret Maccarty, Jan. 7, 1746. He was a brother of Capt. Christopher Marshall, who joined the Artillery Company in 1765. He married, (2) Dec. 6, 1794, widow of Rev. Samuel Woodward, of Weston. She died June 4, 1805.
Capt. Marshall (1761) lived in 1764 in Cow Lane, now High Street, and in 1763 owned land in Mackerel Lane, now Devonshire Street, between State and Water, the lines of which he disputed with Mrs. Amory.1 He served the town as a fireward from 1762 until 1776 inclusive ; was a warden in 1771, and selectman for five years, 1772-6. He made a visitation of the town, June 29, 1768, and visited the public schools, July 6, 1768, and July 5, 1769.
On the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, a Mr. John Green, hearing the cry of fire, ran up Leveret's Lane, now Congress Street, and just as he turned Amory's Corner the soldiers fired, and he was dangerously wounded. Having applied to the town for relief, the case was referred to a committee, of which Col. Marshall (1761) was chairman. For the next few years Col. Marshall (1761) is constantly prominent in town and colony matters. Several times his name was affixed to petitions, letters, and remonstrances to Gov. Hutchinson, with those of other patriots. He was one on each of the committees delegated by the town to thank Benjamin Church, in 1773, and Joseph Warren, in 1775, for their " elegant and spirited " orations on the 5th of March.
Nov. 18, 1773, he was one of the committee selected by the town to again visit the consignees of the tea, and request an immediate and direct answer to this question : " Whether they would resign their appointments as Tea Consignees?" The committee proceeded to the Province House, waited upon the tea consignees, asked the question, and left an attested copy of the town vote. A formal answer was returned in town meet- ing that day, at 3 P. M., but the town voted the answer was not satisfactory.
In the fall of 1774, the people were apprehensive of more trouble on account of the soldiers being quartered in town. Col. Marshall (1761) was authorized, with others, to wait on the governor in the interest of peace and good order, and likewise to report to the town the best ways and means of securing the best interests of the town.
Dec. 7, 1774, a committee composed of the principal citizens of Boston was chosen " to carry the resolutions of the Continental Congress into execution." Col. Marshall's (1761) name is the fifth on the list, being preceded by the names of Cushing, Hancock, Samuel Adams, and William Phillips, but yet he was first on that committee of those who executed Continental resolutions by service in the Revolutionary Army. Col. Marshall (1761) joined the Old South Church, July 19, 1741. He is mentioned in the records of that church, Oct. 31, 1768, when he and Capt. Thomas Dawes, father of Col. Thomas, Jr. (1754), were appointed a committee to notify Hon. Thomas Hubbard (1751) of his election as treasurer of the church.
Col. Marshall (1761) was captain of the Artillery Company in 1763 and 1767.
Thomas Marshall (1761). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A.
Company, Ed. 1842; Hurd's Hist. of Middlesex County, Art., Everett.
1 See Records of Boston, 1763, 1764.
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Col. Marshall (1761) was early identified with the militia Having served for years in minor military offices, he was promoted to be major of the Boston regiment in 1765, and held the position of lieutenant-colonel from 1767 to 1771. He was commissioned colonel of the Tenth Massachusetts Regiment, in the Revolutionary War, Nov. 19, 1776, having been commissioned colonel of the Boston regiment on the 10th of April next preceding.
March 8, 1776, General Howe having assured the selectmen that he did not intend to destroy the town, Thomas Marshall (1761) addressed a letter to Gen. Washington, asking him to assure them that the town would be spared. A few months later the select- men, of whom Thomas Marshall (1761) was one, addressed a congratulatory letter to Gen. Washington, to which he replied.1
Col. Marshall (1761) died at Weston, Mass., Nov. 18, 1800. Upon the twenty-sixth of that month the following obituary concerning him appeared in the public press : -
" His unblemished morals, even from early youth, have done honor to the Christian religion, which he firmly believed and publicly professed. The first and principal part of his life was spent in Boston, where he was a worthy and useful citizen, fair in his deal- ings ; to the needy, helpful ; to his friends, generous; to strangers, hospitable ; to all, courteous ; in his municipal offices, faithful; in his military character, distinguished. In the Revolution, Col. Marshall [1761] commanded a regiment, displaying his love to his country by his zeal in her cause, and personal bravery. He settled in Weston, where, retired from the bustle of the world, he has uniformly practised the social and relative duties ; and his numerous friends and relatives, particularly his very respectable widow, can testify with great sensibility, that his path of life has resembled 'the rising light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.'"
Jeremiah Stimpson (1761). In 1758, he was a member of Engine Company No. 8, of which James Cunningham (1758) was master. Capt. Stimpson ( 1761) was elected a warden of Boston in 1766; March 29, 1776, was appointed one of the committee to look after the cleansing of the town, and Aug. 26, of the same year, was one of a com- mittee of thirty-six persons to take a census of Boston. In the Town Records, Aug. 26, 1776, Jeremiah Stimpson is called " Captain."
Nathaniel Thwing (1761), baker, of Boston, son of John and Mary (Drew) Thwing, was born in Boston, Aug. 17, 1703, and married, in 1727, Joanna, daughter of Thomas and Lydia Davis, of Boston. Col. Thwing (1761) became a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1736,2 and rejoined it in 1761. His second wife, Martha Clap, died in Boston, Sept. 5, 1794, and was buried "from her late home near Oliver's Dock."
John Webb, Jr. (1761), merchant, of Boston, son of John and Elizabeth Webb, of Boston, was born Jan. 30, 1731. He never held any town office, and does not appear to be mentioned in the town records, nor is his name found in the lists of the militia.
Jeremiah Stimpson (1761). AUTHORITY : in Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston, PP. 303, 304, and 316, 317.
Boston Records.
1 This letter, and Washington's reply, are given 2 See Vol. I., p. 475, of this History.
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Joseph Webb, Jr. (1761), ship-chandler, son of Joseph and Abigail Webb, was born in Boston Oct. 28, 1734. He married (published, Oct. 11, 1759), in Nov., 1759, Penelope Phillips, of Marshfield, Mass. He became one of the leaders, with Warren, Revere, Otis, and others, in asserting the rights of the colonists, and in early life began the military exercise. He was a member of the Boston regiment, and passing through the various grades, was commissioned ensign, April 17, 1767, and captain of the tenth company in this regiment, Nov. 26, 1776. At that time Henry Bromfield was colonel, and Jabez Hatch was lieutenant-colonel. Capt. Webb (1761) was commissioned major, April 25, 1778, and lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment in May, 1780. In August, 1784, he is recorded as its colonel In 1781 1 the Boston regiment was called out for active duty, and under the command of Lieut .- Col. Webb (1761), it marched to New York State, and did important service at Peekskill as a reinforcement of the American army. It was thus engaged for about six months. He was second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1765, and its ensign in 1773.
In 1760, his place of business was at the lower end of Water Street. He is recorded in the list of sufferers by the great conflagration in Boston, of that year. He recovered, however, from his loss and recommenced business in Long Lane, now Federal Street, where he also had his residence, which he erected in 1767. He acquired considerable property by his foresight and energy, and took rank among the first citizens of the town of Boston.
He served the town as scavenger in 1760, clerk of the market in 1766 and 1767, and warden in 1775 and 1776. Sept. 9, 1776, when a plan was adopted by the town that all the inhabitants might be provided with fire-arms, according to law, Joseph Webb, Jr. (1761), was chosen one of the committee to carry the plan into effect. Mr. Webb (1761) was a fireward from 1777 to 1783 inclusive. He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety, in 1779, and an overseer of the poor from 1781 to 1784 ; besides he served on several important committees in regard to the filling of the quota of Boston during the Revolutionary War. His last place of business was at the head of Oliver's Dock.
Joseph Webb, Jr. (1761), received the Masonic degrees in the Lodge of St. Andrew, A. F. and A. M., about 1756, and was master of that lodge in 1765-6. Joseph Warren, grand master of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, nominated Joseph Webb, Jr. (1761), grand marshal, Dec. 27, 1769. He was unanimously elected. May 1, 1771, he was appointed by Grand Master Joseph Warren senior grand warden, and, Dec. 6, 1771, deputy grand master. R. W. Joseph Webb, Jr. (1761), held this last-named office at the time of Gen. Warren's death. The Massachusetts Grand Lodge met, being presided over by the deputy grand master until March 8, 1777, when R. W. Joseph Webb, Jr. (1761), was elected most worshipful grand master. He presided in that office from March 8, 1777, to June 24, 1783, and from June 24, 1784, to his decease, April 26, 1787. He died on Thursday, April 26, 1787, aged fifty-three years. "The burial occurred on Mon- day, the 30, from his late dwelling in Long Lane."
"The funeral of Joseph Webb, Esq. [1761], late Colonel of the Boston Regiment
Joseph Webb, Jr. (1761). AUTHORITIES : Boston Records; Massachusetts Archives; IIist. of Joseph Webb Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of Boston; Early Masonic Records.
1 " At a meeting of the Grand Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Paul Revere, Esq., presiding as G. M., held
Dec. 7, 1781, the regular election of officers was deferred by reason of the M. W. Grand Master, Joseph Webb [1761 ], being absent at present in the service of the United States." -Grand Lodge Rec- ords.
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and Grand Master of Ancient Masons, was on the 30th ult. The corpse followed by a large and respectable number of the Brethren from the different Lodges in town, orna- mented with their Jewels and arrayed in all the insignia of Masonry, attended with military musick, and several officers of the Grand Lodge bearing lighted tapers. Colonel Webb [1761], besides the offices above mentioned had sustained several important town offices ; and all which he discharged with credit to himself and to the approbation of his fellow citizens. He died in the fifty-third year of his age, sincerely regretted by all who were acquainted with his worth and abilities." 1
Sanderson West (1761). The only town office he seems to have held was that of constable, to which he was elected March 23, 1753, and, Feb. 13 following, he accom- panied the justices and others in their general walk or visitation of Ward II. His will was proved in 1770.
The record of the Artillery Company for 1761 is as follows : -
"April 6th. 1761. The above Committee 2 met and agreed on the following pro- posals and reported accordingly, Viz :- The evening being spent at Sergt Barretts [1755]. Voted Ist. That when any person offers himself for admittance, he shall be publickly proposed and stand Candidate one term; that so, none may be admitted but persons of good repute, who are able and willing to attend on training days and bear their part of the expense.
"Voted. 2'd. That the members of the Company duly attend their duty on training days, study for peace, unity and good order among themselves, that so, they may encourage the Officers of the Militia & other suitable persons to join them, & support the credit & usefulness of the Company ; always keeping to those good and wholesome Rules, by which the Company has subsisted for one hundred and twenty-three years. Signed by the committee. -
"Voted, That the Rev. Mr. Joseph Jackson of Brookline be desired to preach on the next anniversary Artillery Election of officers in June next; and that the present Commission Officers, with the Treasurer be a Committee to wait on him and desire the same.
Attest : JOHN EDWARDS. Clerk.
"May 8th. 1761. Monday being unsuitable weather, the Company being under arms this day, viz : Friday, Voted, That the Rev. Mr. Jason Haven of Dedham be desired to preach on the next anniversary Election of officers in June next ; in the room of the Rev. Mr. Joseph Jackson who refused. And that the present Commission Officers, with the Treasurer, John Phillips, Esqr. [1725] be a Committee to wait on him to desire the same. Who accordingly waited upon him, & reported that he had accepted. The Evening being spent at Sergt Browns [1756], Voted, That twenty-four pounds be paid by the Treasurer to the Commission Officers towards defraying the charges of the Elec- tion dinner, and the Company to dine with them.
"Voted, That whoever may be Captain of this Company, a Captain in the militia shall not be obliged to serve otherwise than Lieutenant, and a Lieutenant in the militia otherwise than as Ensign, and an Ensign in the militia shall not serve as a Sergeant unless a Field Officer leads the Company.
Sanderson West (1761). AUTHORITY : Bos- ton Records.
1 Massachusetts Centinel, May 9, 1787.
2 See p. 104.
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"June Ist. 1761. The Company being under arms, it was then Voted, That the present Commission Officers, with the Treasurer, be a committee to wait on the Rev. Mr. Jason Haven and return him the thanks of this Company for his sermon preached this day. The evening being spent at Maj. Symmes [1733], Voted. That Col. Brattle [1729], Col Phillips [1725], & Col. Jackson [1738] be a committee to settle the affairs of the moneys due from Col. Blanchard's [1737] heirs to this Company for lands sold them, to said Blanchard [1737], according to their best skill and judgment.
Rev. Joseph Jackson, of Brookline, was invited, at the meeting of the Artillery Company on the first Monday in April, 1761, to deliver the Artillery election sermon of that year. He "refused" to accept. He was a son of Joseph (1738) and Susanna Jack- son, and was born in Boston, Dec. 22, 1734.
Rev. Mr. Jackson, who had previously been a tutor at Cambridge, was ordained fourth minister of the church in Brookline, April 9, 1760. He married Hannah, sister of John Avery, Jr., of Boston. In 1790, Mr. Jackson lost his only son, an affliction from which he never fully recovered. His health failing, he prayed that his life and his use- fulness might terminate together. His prayer was answered. He preached on the last Sabbath of his earth life, and died, July 22, 1796, aged sixty-two years, having been pastor of the Brookline church thirty-six years. His remains were deposited in the family tomb in Boston.
Rev. Jason Haven, of Dedham, delivered the Artillery election sermon of 1761. He was the youngest son of Moses Haven, of Framingham, Mass., and was born March 2, 1733. He graduated at Harvard College in 1754, and was ordained as pastor of the First Church in Dedham, Feb. 5, 1756. He continued in this relation until his decease, May 17, 1803. He married Catherine Dexter, daughter of his immediate predecessor, Rev. Samuel Dexter, and had five children.
In 1769, he delivered the General Election Sermon ; in 1789, the Dudleian Lecture, and, in 1791, the Convention Sermon. He was a delegate to the convention which framed and adopted the constitution of this State. In 1783, he delivered a sermon at the funeral of Rev. Samuel Dunbar, who preached before the Artillery Company in 1748. " He was not only the shepherd of his own flock, but he trained up the youthful shep- herds of other flocks. His house was a divinity school, in which several students were educated for the pastoral office."
1702. The officers of the Artillery Company elected in 1762 were : Onesiphorus Tilestone (1747), captain ; Jonathan Cary (1740), lieutenant ; Thomas Edes (1739), ensign. Jonas Clark (1756) was first sergeant ; William Bell (1756), second sergeant ; John Deming (1756), third sergeant ; Daniel Boyer (1756), fourth sergeant, and John Edwards (1747), clerk.
Feb. 11, 1762, an Act was passed by the General Assembly of the Province, entitled, " An Act to incorporate certain persons by the name of the Society for propa- gating Christian Knowledge among the Indians of North America." The Act was
Rev. Jason Haven. AUTHORITIES : Sprague's Annals, Vol. I., p. 557; Dr. Prentiss's Discourse, on the Sunday succeeding Mr. Haven's interment;
Lamson's Hist. of First Church and Parish in Ded- ham.
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disallowed by the Privy Council, May 20, 1763, but the preamble portrays the grateful spirit of our fathers. It declares, "The signal success, with which it has pleased Almighty God to crown his majesty's arms, calls upon us to express our grateful acknowl- edgements to the author of it and to demonstrate our gratitude, by endeavoring to spread a Knowledge of his religion ; a favorable opportunity of doing this among the Indians of America seems now to present itself, as the French of Canada, being subject to his majesty's dominion have it less in their power to obstruct so good a work," etc. There were eighty persons, besides several clergymen, named in the act of incorporation, and among them the following-named members of the Artillery Company, to wit : -
William Brattle (1729), Benjamin Church (1742), Benjamin Clark (1733), Christo- pher Clark (1759), Benjamin Dolbeare (1756), Alexander Hill (1746), William Homes (1747), Thomas Hubbard (1751), William Hyslop (1755), Joseph Jackson (1738), Thomas Marshall (1761), Moses Peck (1758), John Phillips (1725), William Phillips (1762), Isaac Royall (1750), Joseph Sherburne (1745), Ebenezer Storer (1732), John Symmes (1733), Onesiphorus Tilestone (1747), and Jonathan Williams (1729).
" Boston, June 7, 1762. Friday last being the 4th instant, his present Majesty King George the 3ยช, our most gracious and lawful sovereign, entered the 25th year of his age ; on which occasion his Excellency's troop of Life-Guards, commanded by the Hon. Brigadier General Royall [1750] were mustered on the Common, and performed their exercise in the morning ; from whence, at noon, they proceeded into King Street, went through their exercise, and also performed their firings : at which time the guns of his Majesty's Castle-William, and the batteries of this town and Charlestown were dis- charged.
" In the afternoon his Excellency's Company of Cadets, commanded by Col. Jarvis, were mustered ; which towards evening conducted his Excellency, the Governor, the gentlemen of his Majesty's Council, and the honorable House of Representatives, together with a number of gentlemen, civil and military, from the Court House to the Assembly, where his Majesty's and other loyal healths were drank : and the evening was concluded with illuminations " 1 &c.
The members of the Artillery Company' recruited in 1762 were : Caleb Champney, Adino Paddock, William Phillips, Thomas Stevenson.
Caleb Champney (1762), of Dorchester and Boston, son of John and Sarah Champ- ney, was born in Dorchester, Nov. 23, 1740. He was active in the militia, and served as captain therein. Dec. 18, 1776, Capt. Caleb Champney (1762) was drafted in Boston for service in the Continental Army. He did not pay the fine, but performed the ser- vice. In 1777, he was one of the searchers after blankets. He died in Dorchester, June 6, 1803, aged sixty-three years. His wife Sarah died Oct. 13, 1800.
Adino Paddock (1762), chair-maker, of Boston, was born in 1728, and married (published June 22), 1749, Lydia (born Oct. 20, 1729), daughter of Robert and Lydia Snelling of Boston.
He is called "chair-maker " by Mr. Whitman (1810) in his history of the Company. Mr. Paddock (1762) was a builder of " chairs," as the light one-horse vehicles, which are
Adino Paddock (1762). AUTHORITIES : Bos- ton Records; Shurtleff's Des. of Boston; Drake's Landmarks; Sabine's Loyalists; Mem. Hist. of 1 Boston Newspaper.
Boston; Drake's Biog. Sketches of the Cincinnati; Early Masonic Records.
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now called chaises, were then called. He was also a coach-builder, for he "set up " the " Burling Coach," so called, in Boston, in 1762. Mr. Drake calls Mr. Paddock (1762) " a coach-maker by trade." Between Winter and School streets, on Tremont Street, but much nearer to Winter than to School, about opposite the Park Street Church, the town granted a lot of land to Daniel Maud, the school-master, in 1637. He sold it in 1643 to Edmund Jacklin. The shop of Major Adino Paddock (1762), coach-maker, was upon this lot. The street in London, on which were the principal coach manufactories, was " Long Acre," which name Major Paddock (1762) gave to that portion of (what is now) Tremont Street between School and Winter. The name continued for years after its author had left the town. His residence was on the same street.
Mr. Paddock (1762) is gratefully remembered on account of the English elms he set out opposite the Granary Burial-Ground. In 1734, or shortly after that date,1 English elms were brought from Brompton Park, England, by Mr. James Smith, and were planted on his estate in Milton. About 1762, some of these trees were transplanted. It seems to be settled that the most prominent person in this work was Major Adino Paddock (1762), and that he was assisted by John Crane, afterward an artilleryman, a member of the Tea-party in 1773, and the first colonel of Massachusetts Artillery in 1777, under Gen. Knox. The trees, transplanted in 1762, extended from the present Park Street Meeting-house, northerly, probably skirting the whole front of the Granary Burial- Ground. The row contained about sixteen trees, eleven of which were standing in 1869. In 1873 these were removed to the great regret of many citizens.
Major Paddock (1762) was much interested in military matters. He became a member of the artillery company, organized in April, 1763, by Col. David Mason (1754). This company was attached to the Boston regiment. It was commonly known as "The Train." In 1768, Lieut. Paddock (1762) succeeded Capt. Mason (1754) as its captain. The former was an excellent drill-master, strict disciplinarian, and received instruction himself from the artillery officers at the Castle. The company became distinguished for its drill, efficiency, and material. Col. John Crane and Gen. Ebenezer Stevens, artillery officers of the Revolution and early members of this company, gained well-deserved praise for their skill and patriotism. Many members of the company were Federal military officers in the Revolutionary War.
Col. Paddock (1762) received two light brass field-pieces, and uniformed a number of German emigrants with white frocks, hair caps, and broad-swords, to drag the cannon. These pieces were first used June 4, 1768, when the King's birthday was celebrated. At the outbreak of the war, these guns were kept in a gun-house on the corner of West Street. As Col. Paddock (1762) adhered to the royal cause, and might surrender these guns to Gen. Gage, they were stealthily removed by certain young patriots, as related in the sketch of Samuel Gore (1786), who was one of the patriotic party.
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