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 28
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192
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1785
"Voted, That as soon as the Committee are ready to report, they give Notice to the Company by advertizing in the public Papers, or otherwise as to them may seem best.
"Voted, That the Books and Papers of the Company, together with the Report of the Committee made this evening be delivered to the Committee appointed to take up the Affairs of the Company at large, for their use and aid in the Prosecution of their appointment.
BENJ. EDES, Clerk, pro-tem.
" Boston June 21st 1782. To Capt Samuel Barrett [1755], chairman of the Com- mittee of the Anc. & Hon. Artillery Company.
"N. B. No copy is taken of this : therefore be pleased to be very careful of it, till recorded.1
B. EDES, Clerk.
" The Charter & Treasurer's Accounts accompanies this.
"B-E-Clerk, pro-tem."
The committee, according to the last vote passed May 30, 1782, inserted the fol- lowing " Notice " in the public prints, June 10 and 17, to wit : -
" Monday, June 3, 1782. The Surviving Members of the ancient and honorable Artillery Company are hereby notified that their Meeting stands adjourned to Monday the 17th of June, at 5 o'clock P. M., then to meet at the American Coffee House - at which Time and Place, the members are requested to give their punctual attendance, to receive the Report of their Committee on Matters of Importance to the Company."
1785. In 1785, Col. Andrew Symmes (1760) and Major John Boyle (1769) were on the staff of Gov. Hancock. Robert Davis (1786) was captain- lieutenant, with rank of captain, of the train of artillery in Boston ; Edward Curtis (1786) was second lieutenant, and William Bird (1787) was adjutant. Joseph Webb, Jr. (1761), was colonel of the Boston regiment, and John May (1786), lieu- tenant-colonel; John Wise (1774) was promoted to be captain.
In 1785, the military spirit in and around Boston began to show itself, and that emulation for perfection in military exercise which existed before the Revolution dis- played itself throughout the State.
June 15, 1785, " His Excellency, the minister of war," at New York, was pleased to direct that the uniform of the troops raised, and to be raised, for the frontier service " be blue, faced and lined with white, for the infantry ; and blue, faced and lined with red, for the artillery ; the cockade to be black." Discarding the union cockade did not seem to meet with general approbation.
It was announced, Aug 3, 1785, that " a company of Independent Cadets, composed principally of young gentlemen in the mercantile line," had been lately formed in Boston, and several other companies and troops of horse were being formed in various parts of the country.
Aug. 25, 1785, a company of grenadiers and a troop of light dragoons were formed at the American Coffee House, Boston.
1 The original minutes of these meetings, as written by Benjamin Edes (1760), are in the archives of the Artillery Company; but the copy of the charter and the treasurer's accounts are presumably lost.
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OLD FLAG OF THE ARTILLERY COMPANY
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HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1786]
1786. Oct. 10, 1786, the Independent Light Infantry met, and began their drill with great spirit. This company became known as the "Independent Boston Fusileers," which was incorporated May 11, 1787; its first regular parade taking place July 4, 1787, when the adoption of the new Federal Constitution was cele- brated. It paraded in the escort and reception of Gen. Washington in Boston in 1789 ; was the body-guard of Gen. Hancock during the greater part of his administration ; sole escort to the governor at the laying of the corner-stone of the State House in 1795, and has been prominent in the military displays of Boston for a century. Motto, "Aut vincere, aut mori."
In 1786, the people were suffering from the results of an eight years' war. The country had been drained by taxation ; public credit was nearly extinct ; trade depressed ; manufactures ceased ; paper money was well-nigh worthless; debts, great and many, rested on the country, the commonwealth, the town, and the people. There was wide- spread disaffection. The complaints of the people were stated as " grievances " in a convention which met at Hatfield, Aug. 22, 1786.
In consequence of this state of affairs, in the fall of 1786 bodies of armed men interfered with the sitting of the county courts. This was the origin of the rebellion against the constituted government in Massachusetts, called "Shays' Rebellion." His fol- lowers claimed that the salary of the governor was too high, the State senate was aristo- cratic, the lawyers extortionate, taxes burdensome, and money scarce. They demanded paper money a legal tender, and that the General Court should be moved from Boston. In December, 1786, Daniel Shays appeared at Worcester with an armed force, also at Springfield, and prevented the holding of the courts at those places. The State forces, under Capt. Shepard and Gen Lincoln (1786), made short work of the rebellion, and scattered the rebels.
It was in this "emergency of publick affairs " that the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company volunteered its service for the maintenance of law and order. They were ready for field service. The necessary arrangements were made. Col. Waters (1769) was appointed adjutant, and John Warren, M. D., a celebrated surgeon, was appointed surgeon to the Company. No detailed account of their service exists, but they did all that the State asked of them. The rebellion was crushed before it had gathered sufficient unity or strength to seriously endanger the public welfare.
The following newspaper items throw some light on the part taken by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in the stirring events of that time : -
" Boston, Saturday October 28, 1786. The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany, under Major Bell [1760], the Independent Light Infantry under Capt Otis, have offered their services as volunteers. To them and to the Independent Cadets much credit is due for the alacrity with which, at their own expense, they have furnished themselves with the necessary equipage, and the zeal they discover for endeavoring to secure to the good people of this Commonwealth the quiet enjoyment of their constitutional rights."
" Boston, Wednesday Nov. 1, 1786. We are told, that his Excellency, the Captain General, has acquainted Major Gen Brooks [1786] that he will this day at twelve oclock, at Cambridge, review the troops under his command, now assembled at that place, which we are told amount to about 1300, composing two regiments of Infantry, three companies of artillery and a troop of horse. We are likewise told that the Independent Cadets, Light Infantry, &c, from this town, will attend the review."
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[1786
" Boston, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 1786. Of Tuesday, -of Cambridge - and the Supreme Court - and the Insurgents-and the military of every description - the Cadets - the Artillery -the Light Infantry - and the camp equipage &c. &c. &c, - which have engrossed the attention of all orders, degrees and conditions, from Thursday morning until Monday night -what must we say ?- That Tuesday came - that the Court sat - that the military, to the amount of 1300, like Cæsar, veni, vidi, vici, - came, saw (nothing) and overcame all opposition - that everything wore the appearance of a brilliant parade - and that the Insurgents were not to be found."
" Boston, Saturday, November 4, 1786. This being the week for the Supreme Court to sit at Cambridge, his Excellency the Governor thought fit to order a military force of three regiments of Middlesex militia, and several companies of artillery to march to that place to protect them. On Wednesday morning, the General having given the proper orders, sent an invitation to the Supreme Court, requesting their company at the review of the troops, there assembled for their defence. By noon the line was formed, extend- ing from the church in Cambridge, across the Common, near a mile, and composed, besides the several corps already mentioned, of the following from the first division, who were ordered by the Captain General to march to Cambridge, in order for a review with the troops there assembled, viz : The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, under Major Bell [1756]; Lieut Col Bradfords Independent Cadets; Captain Otis's Light Infantry ; and Major Gibb's Light Horse ; Major Spooners Company of Artillery from Roxbury and Colonel Bedlams Artillery from Dorchester.
" About half past twelve o'clock General Jackson, who, we are told, is appointed Adjutant General of the State, arrived at Cambridge to acquaint the General of the approach of his Excellency, who arrived about one o'clock at the University, accom- panied by the Hon. Council, the French and Dutch Consuls, Major North, and several other gentlemen in the civil and military line. The Captain General being informed by Col Hull [1788], who cheerfully undertook, and with great skill, executed the office of Adjutant-General, that the troops were in readiness, proceeded to the review.
"On his Excellency's arrival on the right of the line, he received a federal salute from Major Spooner's artillery : after which he reviewed the troops in the following order : -
"Major Gibb's horse ; on the right of which were the Major General, his aids, &c : Lieutenant Colonel Bradfords Independent Cadets and Volunteers ; Captain Otis's Light Infantry ; Artillery ; Capt Kents new raised corps; Ancient and Honorable ; Major Spooners ; Major Badlams ; Charlestown company under Major Calder ; Major Browns Infantry ; Colonel Grants regiment (the 1st) ; Colonel Lamson's (the 3ª) and Colonel Bryants (the 2nd) which formed the left of the line.
" After this review, his Excellency and suite went to the Court House, and again reviewed the troops on their march into town, from whence they immediately returned to the parade."
" Boston, Wednesday, November 29. 1786. The following division orders, we are told, were issued by Major General Lincoln [1786] on Monday last : -
"'The Major General directs that at the moment, authentic information shall be received (which will be announced by the discharge of three cannon on Fort Hill) that the insurgents are embodying themselves at Cambridge, the Independent Cadets, Inde- pendent Light Infantry, and the Republican volunteers are to take post at the south end
195
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1786]
of Charles River Bridge : These corps are to be relieved as soon as possible by the regiment in this town. The Company of Artillery will take post with them at the Bridge ; the corps relieved will advance to Charlestown neck. The Horse are to be in advance, one division of them is to take post on the road leading from Cambridge to Medford. The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company will take post at the fortification."
On Saturday, Dec. 2, 1786, it was announced in the Boston press that the corps of Volunteer horse, under the command of Col. Hitchborn, had safely returned, after having achieved the object of their expedition by the capture of Shattuck, Parker, and Page, " who have been indefatigable fomenters of sedition in the county of Middlesex."
The members of the Artillery Company recruited in 1786 were : John Avery, Jr., Jonathan Balch, Ebenezer Battelle, William Bordman, Jr., Joseph Coffin Boyd, John Brazer, John Brooks, William Brown, Thomas Clark, John Coolidge, Andrew Cunning- ham, William Cunningham, Edward Curtis, Isaac Davenport, Amasa Davis, Caleb Davis, Robert Davis, Samuel Emery, Joshua Farrington, Joseph Ford, Richard Gardner, Samuel Gore, Francis Green, Samuel Greenough, Samuel Hastings, Zechariah Hicks, Alexander Hodgdon, John Johnston, James Lanman, Benjamin Lincoln, John Lucas, John May, Jonas Clark Minot, Thomas Newell, Jr., Andrew Oliver, Turner Phillips, Henry Prentiss, Russell Sturgis, Samuel Todd, Pepperell Tyler, Thomas Wells, John Winslow.
John Avery, Jr. (1786), of Boston, son of John and Mary Avery, was born Sept. 2, 1739. His father was a justice in Boston. John, Jr. (1786), graduated at Harvard College in 1759. He was published to marry (1) Miss Mary Cushing, March 23, 1769, and (2) Harriet Williams, March 21, 1799. He was a member of the West Church, and held the office of deacon. Oct. 25, 1774, he was one of the ten persons added to the committee " to consider of Ways & Means for employing the poor Sufferers by the operation of the Boston Port Bill, so called." In 1780, he succeeded Samuel Adams as secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and held that office until his decease. He was also secretary of the Massachusetts Humane Society, and was buried on the day of its semi-annual meeting. Their orator, in the midst of his discourse, alluded to the funeral knell which called them to pay their respects to their worthy officer, " an early, active, and important member of the society." Sept. 21, 1793, he was recording secre- tary of the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture. He resided on " Newbury Street, corner Sheaf's lane," now corner Washington and Avery streets. He died at Boston, June 7, 1806, aged sixty-seven years.
"Died on Saturday last, John Avery Esq. [1786] Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts aged 67 years.
" The two Houses of the Legislature, after an expression of their grief for the loss which the public has sustained in the recent demise of the late Secretary of the Com- monwealth, Voted unanimously to attend his funeral and to invite Gov. Strong, Lieut Gov. Robbins and the Honorable Council to attend the same."
The formation of the funeral procession is then given in detail, and the article con- cludes as follows : -
"In all the political changes which have taken place in Massachusetts since the adoption of the present constitution in 1780, such has been the sense of all parties of the rectitude and ability with which Mr. Avery [1786] has discharged all the duties of Secre-
John Avery, Jr. (1786). AUTHORITY : Boston Records.
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HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1786
tary of State that, if our memory serves us, in all that period he has been annually unani- mously elected to that office. In all the social and domestic duties, he was a man of superior excellence." 1
Jonathan Balch (1786) was a pump and block maker in Boston. He " was the proprietor of a large establishment, as pump and block maker, at the head of Balch's Wharf, at the north part of the town. For a long time he stood at the head of all that fol- lowed the same business. He was a man of considerable wealth, and (what was rare for a mechanic of those days) owned and occasionally occupied a mansion-house and garden in the country. [This estate was in Dorchester, and was afterward owned by Mr. Marshall P. Wilder (1828).] He was one of the most substantial of citizens and main- tained through life a character for honesty and integrity. He lived liberally, and con- tributed much to the elevation and standing of the mechanics by his promptness in business and gentlemanly deportment."
His place of business was on Balch's Wharf, and he lived in Hawkins Street. A Jonathan Balch joined the Old South Church April 7, 1765; Jonathan (1786) was second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1792.
Ebenezer Battelle (1786), -the name is spelled Battle in the early Dedham records, -of Dedham, son of Col. Ebenezer and Prudence (Draper) Battelle, was born in that town, Feb. 4, 1754, and was baptized "in private, the child being sick," in the First Church, by Rev. Samuel Dexter, Feb. 15 next following. Dec. 25, 1774, it is recorded in the admissions to that church, " Ebenezer Battle, Jr., student of Harvard College." He graduated from that institution in 1775, and married Anna Durant, of Boston. " Ebenezer, son of Ebenezer Battle, Esq. [1786], and Anna his wife," was born in Dedham, Aug. 9, 1778, nearly two years after the death of Col. Ebenezer Battelle. At that time, though but twenty-four years of age, Ebenezer Battelle (1786) must have been a man of prom- inence and ability to have been called " Esquire " in the town records. The father and son served in the Revolutionary War. Ebenezer, Sr., was captain of a Dedham company which marched in answer to the alarm of April 19, 1775, and Ebenezer, Jr. (1786), was a volunteer at the battle of Lexington. Subsequent to the death of the father, Nov. 6, 1776, Ebenezer, Jr. (1786), served nineteen days at Castle Island, Dec. 11 to Dec. 30, 1776 ; went on the expedition to Providence, R. I., May 8 to July 8, 1777 ; re-enlisted, and served from March 23 to April 5, 1778, and was commissioned captain of the Eighth Company in the Suffolk Regiment, July 2, 1778. He was promoted to be major, April 1, 1780, and became colonel of the Boston regiment in 1784.
The time of his removal to Boston is unknown. Feb. 1, 1785, it is announced in the Columbian Centinel that " Ebenezer Battelle [1786] has removed his book-store from State Street to No. 10 Marlborough Street," and March 9, 1785, that newspaper adver- tises, " Now selling at the Boston book-store, opposite the southeast corner of the State House, from where E. Battelle, Esq. [1786], has lately removed, an assortment of books," etc. He probably removed to Boston soon after the birth of his son Thomas, March 18, 1781, as the birth-dates of his children born afterward are not recorded in Dedham.
Jonathan Balch (1786). AUTHORITIES : Bos- ton Records; Annals of Mass. Char. Mech. Asso- ciation.
Ebenezer Battelle (1786). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; Mass. Rev. Archives; Battelle Gen. Record, 1889. 1 Columbian Centinel, June 11, 1806.
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HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1786]
The following receipt, on file in Boston, is printed in the Record Commissioner's Report, No. 25 :-- " BOSTON Sept. 18. 1781.
" Received of the 'Selectmen of Boston four hundred & forty Shirts, 440 pr Hose, 440 pr. Shoes - 220 Blankets on behalf of said Town, agreable to a Resolve of the General Court passed June 221, 1781. EBENEZER BATTELLE,1 Agent."
Jan. 10, 1786, Gens. Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper issued a public notice in the Boston press, for the formation of "The Ohio Company," and in that year Gen. Putnam made the first survey of lands northwest of the Ohio River. In November, 1787, he was appointed superintendent of the affairs of the Ohio Company, and active measures were taken for the settlement of these distant lands. In April, 1788, the westward movement began, when, under the direction of the Ohio Company, a party of forty emigrants, with their families, chiefly from Massachusetts, established the first per- manent white settlement in Ohio. Col. Ebenezer Battelle (1786), a member of the Ohio Company, and family, were of this pioneer party, and were among the founders of Marietta in May, 1788. He died at Newport, Ohio, in 1815, at the home of his son Ebenezer. His remains were buried in the village churchyard, at Newport, where lie the remains of many of his descendants of three generations. Anna (Durant) Battelle was buried at sea.
William Bordman, Jr. (1786), merchant, of Boston, son of Capt. William Bord- man (1758) and Susanna, his wife, was born May 1, 1760. He married, June 2, 1785, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Caleb Davis (1786). She died Dec. 14, 1790. In 1789, his store was on the north side of the market, and he lived on Sudbury Street ; in 1796, he was in business on Merchants Row, and he lived on Hanover Street. He also was identified with the militia, and rose to the grade of captain in the Boston regiment in 1784. His brother, Thomas Stoddard Bordman, joined the Artillery Company in 1774. Capt. Bordman (1786) became a member of the Massachusetts Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of Boston, Feb. 8, 1790.
Joseph Coffin Boyd (1786), merchant, of Boston, was captain of a company in the Boston regiment in 1791. He removed to Portland, where he became captain of a company of volunteers, and died in May, 1823, aged sixty-three years, while holding the office of treasurer of the State of Maine.
Mr. Boyd (1786) was admitted a member of Portland Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of Portland, Feb. 10, 1795, at the time of its reorganization. He was then elected secretary, and served until Jan. 20, 1802, when a memorandum on the records states " the secretary will be absent for awhile." He was present, however, March 17, 1802, and very soon after sailed for France.
John Brazer (1786), shopkeeper, of Boston, son of Benjamin and Alice (Phillips) Brazer, was born in Charlestown, April 8, 1753. He married (published Sept. 20, 1774) Mary Grubb. In early life he learned the trade of ship carpentry, but after the Revolu-
William Bordman, Jr. (1786). AUTHORITY : Boston Records.
John Brazer (1786). AUTHORITIES: Wy- man's Charlestown Genealogies and Estates; Whit- man's Hist. A. and H. A. Company; Early Masonic Records.
1 Mr. Whitman (1810), in his history of the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, gives this name as Ebenezer Brattle. It has occasioned great inconvenience and misunderstanding. In the original record book of the Artillery Company for 1786 may be seen the autographs of those persons who joined the Company that year, and among them is plainly written, " Ebenr Battelle."
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HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1786
tion he kept store. From 1775 until the close of the war he resided in Cambridge ; after- ward in Boston. His place of business was, in 1789 at No. 3, and in 1796 at No. 1, Dock Square. He lived over the last-named store. He was third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1789, ensign in 1794, the third captain of the Independent Fusileers, serving in 1797-9, also in 1802-3, and was captain of the sublegion of light infantry in 1800, 1804, and 1805. " He was an eccentric character, a violent partisan, wealthy, and a great patron of the drama." He was the principal originator of the Second Universa- list Church in Boston, which was incorporated Dec. 13, 1816, and held its first public meeting Jan. 25, 1817. In the latter year, a meeting house was erected by it in School Street, where the School Street Block now stands, nearly opposite City Hall Capt.
Brazer (1786) was identified with the church until his decease, which occurred May 7, 1828, aged seventy-five years. He was a member of the Masonic Fraternity. Jan. 8, 1784, he attended the constitution of King Solomon's Lodge, A. F. and A. M., at Charles- town, and June 2, 1791, he is given, in the return of officers of Rising States Lodge, as treasurer of that Lodge. His son-in-law, Lieut. Ezra Davis, joined the Artillery Company in 1801, and his grandson, John Brazer Davis, in 1821.
John Brooks (1786), physician, of Medford, son of Caleb and Ruth (Albree) Brooks, was born in Medford in May, 1752. He married, in 1774, Lucy Smith, of Read- ing, who died Sept. 26, 1791, aged thirty-eight years. He died March 1, 1825. They had three children, two of whom were boys, viz., Alexander S, born Oct. 19, 1781, who was killed by the explosion of a steamboat in 1836, and John, born May 20, 1783, who fell at the battle of Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813.
John Brooks (1786), son of a farmer, attended the town school, and such was his proficiency that Dr. Simon Tufts, a practitioner in Medford, took him, at the age of fourteen years, into his family, to educate him for the medical profession. He continued until he was twenty-one years old under the tuition of Dr. Tufts, showing meantime a a taste for military exercises, with a disposition remarkably gentle and attractive.
In 1772-3, he settled in the town of Reading, and began the practice of medicine. He was married soon after, and set out in life surrounded by flattering circumstances. Nevertheless he was quick to hear the mutterings of the approaching storm. A company of minute-men was raised in Reading, and he was chosen to command it. On the morn- ing of the 19th of April, 1775, Rev. Mr. Foster asked Capt. Brooks (1786), "at sun- rise," if he were going to Concord, and when. " Immediately," was the answer. He ordered out his company, proceeded to Concord, and, arriving there, met the British on their retreat. He hung on their rear and flanks, and followed them until their arrival at Charlestown. Col. Phinney says, the British, "a little to the eastward of the village, received a heavy fire from the Reading minute-men, under Capt. John Brooks [1786]." June 16, 1775, he was active during the night in throwing up entrenchments, and on the morrow he was absent from the battle, having been sent, on foot, - as a horse could not be had, - by Col. Prescott, to inform Gen. Ward of the expected movement, and the need of reinforcements. "The corps he commanded were distinguished during the whole war for the superiority of their discipline, evinced by their gallant conduct in
John Brooks (1786). AUTHORITIES : Colum- bian Centinel, March 5, 1825; Quarterly Review, Vol. XIV., 1842; New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., 1865; Hists. of Medford, by Mr. Charles Brooks
and Mr. Usher; Memorials of the Mass. Society of the Cincinnati; Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A. Com- pany, Ed. 1842.
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