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 37
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
On the first Monday in June, 1790, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company paraded at ten o'clock, in the Old South Meeting-house ; at twelve o'clock, it marched to the council chamber, from whence it escorted his Honor the lieutenant-governor (his Excellency the governor being indisposed), the honorable council, and several military officers, to the Old Brick Meeting-house, where a serinon was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Homer, of Newton. After the religious ceremonies of the day were over, a procession was formed, viz. : -
Lieut -Gov. Adams, Hon. Mr. Bowdoin, honorable council and senators, speaker and members of the House, president of the university, clergy, - among whom were Abbé Rousselet and Mr. Thayer ; consuls of France, Holland, and Sweden ; selectmen of Boston, gentlemen, and strangers of distinction ; adjutant-general, officers of Cadets, Castle William, Artillery, and Fusileers, in uniform ; honorary members, etc., who were escorted by the Company to Faneuil Hall, where a sumptuous dinner was provided. After which the following toasts were drank : -
I. "The President of the United States" (three cheers). 2. "The Vice-President and Congress of America." 3. " The Governor and Commonwealth of Massachusetts " 4. "The Powers of Europe, in Alliance with the United States." 5. "Agriculture, Manufactures, Fisheries, and Commerce." (His Honor the lieutenant-governor then gave the following toast : " Prosperity to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany.") 6. "The King of France" (clapping of hands). 7. "The Marquis de Lafay-
257
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1790]
ette." 8. "The National Assembly of France : may they rightly distinguish between the evils of licentiousness and the blessings of good government." 9. "Chief-Justice Jay." 10. "Gen. Knox." II. "Mr. Hamilton." 12. "Mr. Jefferson." 13. " May the inhabitants of America exercise the same wisdom in preserving as they have in erecting the Federal Dome."
The Hall was beautifully decorated. The entrance formed an arch, supporting the orchestra where the band performed during the dinner. At the head of the Hall was a grand arch, from the key-stones of which hung a golden fleur-de-lis. In the rear of this, in the front window, was placed an obelisk, finely executed by Mr. Johnston (1786). The base was formed by a bust of the President of the United States, encircled with a glory, and the inscription, "The lustre of his actions shines with triumphant brightness, and spreads a glory around him." Over this, at the top of the obelisk, was the All-Seeing Eye, with an inscription, "Fideles Protego" (I protect the faithful) over it. In the centre, a winged cherub was represented as crowning the President with a chaplet of laurel. Thousands of people visited the Hall to see the elaborate decorations.
After dinner, the Company proceeded to the choice of their officers, and unani- mously elected Robert Jenkins (1756), captain ; John Johnston (1786), lieutenant, and Israel Loring (1768), ensign, for the ensuing year. The heavy rain preventing the Company from parading as usual on the Common, the old officers and the officers-elect went in carriages to the house of his Excellency the governor, where the former resigned the insignias of their offices, and the latter were invested therewith.
At sundown, his Honor the lieutenant-governor and council, on invitation of Capt. Jenkins (1756), went down to the Hall and partook, with many other guests, of the second entertainnient usually given on that anniversary, which concluded with thirteen sentimental, political, and philanthropic toasts, with which the anniversary exercises were closed.
Rev. Jonathan Homer, D. D., of Newton, delivered the Artillery election sermon of 1790. He was a son of Michael Homer, Jr. (1789), a grandson of Michael Homer (1768), and was born in Boston, April 15, 1759. He married Anna, a daughter of Obadiah Curtis, of Boston, by whom he had an only child, Jonathan, who died Sept. 4, 1804, aged twenty-one years. Mr. Homer graduated at Harvard College in 1777, at the age of eighteen years. He received the honorary degree of D. D. from Brown Univer- sity in 1826. He was ordained pastor of the church in Newton, Feb. 13, 1782, and in that relation he spent his life. His ministry covered a period of sixty-one years. He was sole pastor forty-five years, till November, 1827, and then had a colleague.
Mr. Homer was very scrupulous in the performance of his official duties. At the funeral service of Gen. Hull (1788), having accidentally omitted to mention in his prayer one of the relatives of the family, he prayed a second time, lest he should be deemed guilty of a failure, or give occasion for grief or offence. Dr. Homer died Aug. 11, 1843, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, and the sixty-second of his ministry. He published a history of Newton, "The Columbian Bible," " Reports of the Middlesex County Bible Society," and six sermons delivered on various occasions.
Jonathan Homer. AUTHORITY : Smith's Hist. of Newton.
258
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1791
The officers of the Artillery Company elected in 1791 were : Josiah 1791. Waters (1769), captain; Zechariah Hicks (1786), lieutenant; Nathaniel
Call (1774), ensign. Joseph Eaton (1773) was first sergeant ; Joseph Loring (1788), second sergeant ; John Coolidge (1786), third sergeant; Samuel Hast- ings (1786), fourth sergeant, and Thomas Clark (1786), clerk.
At the services held by the Legislature in May, 1791, the officers of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company had the post of honor, among the military guests, in the procession which was escorted by the Independent Fusileers. The governor and Legis- lature were conducted from the State House to the Old South Meeting-House, where a sermon was delivered by Rev. Chandler Robbins, and thence to Faneuil Hall, where a sumptuous entertainment was provided by the State.
In October, 1791, Lieut. Samuel Bradlee (1765) was chosen captain, and Lieut. Wild (1773) captain-lieutenant, of the Boston artillery, vice Capt. Johnston (1786) and Capt .- Lieut. Sturgis (1786) resigned.
The members of the Artillery Company recruited in 1791 were : Robert Ball, Shubael Bell, John Gardiner, John Peck, Samuel Perkins, William Walter.
Robert Ball (1791) was probably a grandson of Robert Ball, of Charlestown in 1728, and of Concord in 1746. His father, Robert, was a sea-captain, and married, (2) or (3) Aug. 6, 1767, Melicent Harris.
Robert Ball (1791) was born Sept. 17, 1769. He was first lieutenant of the Ward 4 company in the Boston regiment from 1794 to 1796, and fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1794. He became a member of The Massachusetts Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Feb. 12, 1795.
Shubael Bell (1791), housewright, of Boston, was born in 1766. He was twice married : (1) July 26, 1789, to Joanna Smith Masters, and, (2) Oct. 6, 1808, to Anne Hewes, but died without issue.
For some years he worked at his trade in Boston, but as other fields of toil and usefulness opened to him, he entered them. April 19, 1797, the Columbian Centinel announces that "Capt. Shubael Bell [1791] is appointed deputy sheriff of the county of Suffolk," and adds : "A gentleman, whose suavity of manners, humanity of disposition, and integrity of heart, will render him a valuable acquisition to the executive depart- partment." He was afterwards appointed sheriff, and, in 1810, jailer of Suffolk County. " Here," says Mr. Knapp, "he had full exercise for all his patience, forbearance, and good feelings. I have seen him when he visited the cells of crime and wretchedness, and at his approach, profaneness was dumb, and despair grew calm. I have seen him with the broken-hearted debtor, who was weeping at the recollection of his disheartened wife and helpless, suffering children, and as he came nigh the prisoner he seemed a sort of electrical conductor, to convey away the agonies of the wounded soul."
He was a very zealous Episcopalian, and was senior warden of Christ Church from 1812 to 1819. He was a pillar of that church during its state of feebleness after the death of Dr. Walter. Mr. Bell (1791) was the principal agent in the establishment of St. Matthew's Chapel, South Boston. His subscriptions for the assistance of the Epis- copal church were liberal in the extreme.
Robert Ball (1791). AUTHORITIES : Wyman's Charlestown Genealogies and Estates; By-Laws of The Massachusetts Lodge.
Shubael Bell (1791). AUTHORITIES : Whit- man's Hist. A. and H. A. Company, Ed. 1842; Hist. of St. Andrew's R. A. Chapter.
259
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1791]
He was very prominent in the Masonic Fraternity, and held various offices in Lodge, Chapter, and Commandery. A eulogy was delivered in Christ Church, June 8, 1819, by Samuel L. Knapp, before St. John's Lodge, A. F. and A. M., " on the character of their brother and past master, Shubael Bell, Esq. [1791]." He died May 30, 1819, "at the age of fifty-three," says Mr. Samuel L. Knapp, "in the midst of business, unbroken and untired, and at the moment of his death had the strongest hold on the confidence of men, and a deep interest in their affections. The silver cord of life was loosed before it was chafed, the golden bowl was broken before it was tarnished, and the pitcher at the fountain while it held the water to the brim." He was an officer of a Boston militia company from 1790 to 1798, but never held any office in the Artillery Company.
" His mind was cultivated by study, his heart enlarged by practical benevolence, his whole life a scene of active usefulness, and his death was universally lamented." 1
John Gardiner (1791), lawyer, of Boston, son of Dr. Sylvester and Ann Gardiner, was born in Boston, Dec. 4, 1737. In early life he went to England and studied law at the Inner Temple. He was admitted to practice in the courts of Westminster Hall, receiving the patronage of Lord Mansfield. He lost this, however, by appearing as counsel in the famous case of John Wilkes, the reformer. He also practised for a time in South Wales, Haverford West, where he married, in 1764, Margaret Harris. In 1766, Mr. Gardiner (1791) was appointed chief-justice of the province of New York, which he declined. Having been appointed attorney-general in the island of St. Christopher, he removed his family to the West Indies, where he remained until the close of the American Revolution.
He returned to Boston in 1783, became eminent as a lawyer, and, July 4, 1785, delivered the oration for the town authorities. In 1786, he settled in Pownalboro, Me., where he was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature. He was prominent and active in its proceedings. While a resident of Boston, he attended King's Chapel. In 1785 he took an active part in the alteration of the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer with Perez Morton and others, of King's Chapel, striking out the doctrine of the Trinity. He held the position of captain in the militia. In October, 1793, when on his passage to the General Court at Boston, in the packet "Londoner," which was wrecked off Cape Ann in a storm, he was drowned. His chest of clothing floated ashore. His son, Rev. John Sylvester John Gardiner, D. D., delivered the sermon before the Artillery Company in June, 1823.
John Peck (1791), merchant, of Boston, son of Thomas Handside Peck, was born in Boston, Aug. 24, 1743. He was adjutant of the First Regiment, First Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1791 to 1794.
" He devised the plan of filling up the Mill-Pond [where the Boston & Maine Rail- road Station, Haymarket Square, now stands], and owned largely therein ; but not realizing his sanguine expectations in a ready sale, he became involved, and removed to Kentucky."
John Gardiner (1791). AUTHORITY: Lor-
Records; Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A. Company, ing's One Hundred Boston Orators. Ed. 1842.
John Peck (1791). AUTHORITIES: Boston
1 Columbian Centinel, June 2, 1819.
X
260
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
Samuel Perkins (1791), painter, of Roxbury, son of Lient .- Col. William (1765) and Abigail (Cox) Perkins, was born in Boston, Sept. 2, 1770. He married, Feb. 8, 1795, Barbary C. Higginson, of Boston.
When about thirteen years old, Mr. Perkins (1791) went as an apprentice to Capt. John Johnston (1786), a portrait-painter, who kept in Court Street, near the head of Gore's Alley. At the age of nineteen he began the general painting business, chiefly on houses and ships, and continued it until about 1815, when he undertook the painting of carpets. This business he continued until it so increased that he built a large factory in Roxbury. His carpets were in great demand till rival factories created a strong com- petition, which, together with his age, induced him to retire from active business. He was representative from Boston to the State Legislature, was third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1796, and first lieutenant of a cavalry company in Boston in 1799.
" He was universally esteemed." He died in Roxbury, Aug. 2, 1846.
William Walter (1791), merchant, of Boston, son of Rev. William Walter, D. D., rector of Trinity, and afterward of Christ Church, Boston, was born Feb. 14, 1771. His mother was Lydia, daughter of Hon Benjamin Lynde, Jr, chief-justice, of Salem. William Walter (1791) was in business on Codman's Wharf with his brother, Thomas, and he lived on Salem Street. He was first sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1797, and clerk in 1798-9.
He married, April 23, 1794, Sarah, daughter of Martin Bicker (1771), of Madeira, by whom he had six children. She died June 11, 1811, and was buried under Christ Church. He was a representative in the General Court. He died April 23, 1814, and was buried in a tomb under Christ Church.
The record of the Artillery Company for 1791 is as follows : -
"Monday, April 4 1791. The Company paraded at three o'clock commanded by Capt Jenkins [1756]. The Rev. Doct. Samuel Parker was chosen to preach the Election Sermon in June next. Voted, That the Commissioned Officers with the Treasurer be a Committee to wait on and inform him of their choice. Voted, That Capt. Joseph Coffin Boyd [1786] be furnished with a certificate of his being a member of this Company signed by the Captain and attested by the Clerk. Attest T. CLARK, Clerk.
" Monday, May 2d, 1791. The Company being under Arms commanded by Capt Jenkins [1756] the Committee appointed to wait on the Rev. Doct. Parker reported that he accepted the invitation of the Company, and would preach the Election Sermon in June next. Voted, That the further business of the meeting be referred to next Mon- day Evening.
" Monday evening, May 9th 1791. Voted, That the Commissioned Officers, Col. Winslow [1786], Maj. Cunningham [1786], Col Waters [1769], Capt William Bordman [1758], with the Clerk, be a committee to make arrangements for the Election in June next, and report on Thursday evening next.
" Thursday Evening, May 12th 1791. The Committee reported that there be assessed nine shillings on each member of the Company - that twenty-two pounds, four shillings interest now due, & a Sum not exceeding thirty pounds of the Principal due
Samuel Perkin's (1791). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A. Com- pany, Ed. 1842.
261
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1791]
from the town of Charlestown be appropriated to defray the Expences of Election day ; and to enable our attorney to prosecute the suit commenced against the Estate of the late Col. Blanchard [1737]. Voted, That the above report be accepted.
" Attest. T. CLARK, Clerk.
" Monday, June 6th 1791. This being the Anniversary of the Election of Officers, the Company attended Divine Service at the Old Brick Meeting House, dined at Faneuil Hall, marched into the Common, and went through the usual Exercises under Capt Jenkins [1756], after which they made choice of the following gentlemen to serve as Officers the ensuing year : - Col. Josiah Waters [1769], Captain ; Mr. Zechariah Hicks [1786], Lieutenant ; Capt Nathaniel Call [1774], Ensign ; Col. John Winslow [1786] Treasurer ; Mr. Thomas Clark [1786], Clerk ; Capt Joseph Eaton [1773], Capt Joseph Loring [1788], Mr. John Coolidge [1786], Mr. Samuel Hastings [1786], sergeants.
" Voted, That the late Commissioned Officers, with the Treasurer, be a Committee to wait on the Rev. Doctor Parker, giving him the Thanks of the Company for his Sermon this day delivered and request a copy thereof for the press. Doctor Parker declined publishing his sermon. Attest T. CLARK Clerk.
" Friday Evening, Sept 9th 1791. Monday last being disagreeable weather, the Company paraded this day at Faneuil Hall, - marched into the Common commanded by Col. Waters [[769].
" Friday, October 7th 1791. The Company paraded on the floor of the State House, marched into the Common, commanded by Lieut. Hicks [1786]."
The Artillery election on June 6, 1791, was conducted in the usual manner. The Company paraded at ro o'clock A. M., proceeded to the council chamber at 12 M., and thence escorted his Honor the lieutenant-governor (his Excellency the governor having proceeded in his carriage), the honorable council and military gentlemen, to the Old Brick Meeting-House. The sermon was delivered by Rev. Dr. Parker.
After service, the Company escorted its guests to Faneuil Hall, where his Excel- lency had previously repaired. Besides those above mentioned, there were present : Hon. Mr. Ames, State officers, president of Harvard College, foreign consuls, the Right Rev. Bishop Carroll, etc., who, with the Company, sat down to a sumptuous repast. The blessing was craved by Rev. Dr. Parker, an Episcopalian, and thanks returned by Right Rev. Bishop Carroll, a Roman Catholic.
Fourteen toasts were offered, which were of the usual form. After the invited guests had retired, the Company marched into the square laid out on the Common, where a detachment of the Castle troops did duty, and officers for the ensuing year were elected, viz. : Col. Josiah Waters (1769), captain ; Mr. Zechariah Hicks (1786), lieutenant ; Capt. Nathaniel Call (1774), ensign ; Col. John Winslow (1786), treasurer, and Mr. Thomas Clark (1786), clerk.
The Company then, on invitation of his Excellency the governor, proceeded to his house, and in company with a great number of officers and gentlemen, partook of a delicate and liberal repast. Having refreshed, the Company escorted his Excellency and Honor, and others, into the square, the governor taking the chair of State. After the formalities of election and investiture of the officers, his Excellency was given a stand- ing salute, and all returned to the Hall. A collation was provided, and after it additional sentiments were offered ; the last being : "May we never oblique from the centre of
262
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1792
prosperity ; but, by advancing in right steps, be promoted in the day of universal review."
The Hall was elaborately and beautifully decorated for the occasion. Notwithstand- ing the ill-health of the governor, he paid every possible attention to the Company. The day was exceedingly fine, and everything seemed to combine to make it universally agreeable.
Rev. Samuel Parker, D. D., delivered the Artillery election sermon of 1791. He was a son of Hon. William Parker, and was born in Portsmouth, N. H., in August, 1744. He received his education at Harvard College, where he graduated in 1764. Imme- diately after graduation he taught school in Roxbury, and subsequently pursued the study of theology. After the death of William Hooper, rector of Trinity Church, in Boston, Dr. Walter, the assistant minister of Trinity parish, became the rector. Mr. Parker, then residing in Portsmouth, N. H , was elected in October, 1773, to fill the place vacated by the promotion of Dr. Walter. Mr. Parker accepted the position, and proceeded to England for ordination. Feb. 24, 1774, the Lord Bishop of London admitted him to deacon's orders, and three days after ordained him a priest. Mr. Parker returned to Boston, and Nov. 2, 1774, subscribed to the rules governing an assistant minister at Trinity Church. He remained at his post throughout the Revolution. After the Decla- ration of Independence was proclaimed, July 18, 1776, he caused that part of the liturgy that had reference to the king and royal family to be omitted.
In 1779 he was elected rector of the parish. In 1789 the degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by the University of Pennsylvania. In 1792 he was partially relieved of parochial duties by the election of Reverend afterward Dr. J. S. J. Gardiner, to the office of assistant minister, who also succeeded to the rectorship. Upon the death of Bishop Bass, in 1803, Dr. Parker was unanimously elected bishop of the eastern diocese. He accepted, and was consecrated in New York, Sept. 16, 1804. He returned to his family in Boston, but was immediately prostrated by the illness of which he died, Dec. 6, 1804, aged fifty-nine years.
The officers of the Artillery Company elected in 1792 were : John Wins- 1702. low (1786), captain ; Thomas Clark (1786), lieutenant ; Lemuel Gardner (1787), ensign. Samuel Greenough (1786) was first sergeant ; Jonathan Balch (1786), second sergeant ; Joseph Lovering, Jr. (1788), third sergeant ; Joseph Clark (1789), fourth sergeant, and John G. Doubleday (1790), clerk.
The members of the Artillery Company recruited in 1792 were : Richard Austin, William Bass, Humphrey Clark, William Coolidge, Oliver Gridley, Robert Homes, John Howe, Jr., Jonathan Loring, Jr., John S. Lowell, George Makepeace, Jr., Daniel Messin- ger, George Singleton, Jr., Thomas Waldron Sumner, Joshua Thomas.
Richard Austin (1792), pewterer, No. 16 Marlborough Street, Boston, son of Thomas and Sarah (Parker) Austin, of Charlestown, was born (baptized) Dec. 23, 1764. He married, but had no children.
Rev. Samuel Parker. AUTHORITY : Sprague's Annals of American Pulpit.
Richard Austin (1792). AUTHORITIES : Wy-
man's Charlestown Genealogies and Estates; Annals of Mass. Char. Mech. Association; Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A. Company, Ed. 1842.
263
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1792]
Mr. Whitman (1810), in his history of the Company, says : "The trade of pewterer had been a lucrative branch of manufactures, but about this time began to go out of fashion. The better sort of people used pewter platters, spoons, plates, porringers, etc., and it was a mark of poverty not to see a dresser abundantly furnished with pewter ware. New England housewives considered it a display of luxury. Capt. Austin [1792] was a man of strict honesty and honor as well as liberality. When his trade declined, he entered into copartnership with George Blanchard [1794] and followed the business of a broker. Disaster followed, and Mr. Austin [1792], deeply in debt, suffered much depression during the latter part of his life. . . . Although the lack of offspring, the mis- fortunes of business, the treachery of his partner, and the severity of bodily pain, cast a secret gloom over his warm heart, yet he always wore the same cheerful countenance, and died with great fortitude and resignation."
He was fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1795, and its ensign in 1800. In the militia, he rose to the grade of captain, and was brigade quartermaster in the Legionary Brigade from 1801 to 1806. He died, after an ineffectual surgical operation, in 1817, and was privately buried, according to his request.
Mr. Whitman (1810) adds, and it should be preserved as a testimonial of his own forgiving spirit : " If this [the above quotation] be a tribute of respect, it is impartial, since in his failure the compiler [Mr. Whitman ( 1810) ] lost all his property."
William Bass (1792), of Boston, son of Philip and Mary Bass, was born in Boston, May 31, 1734. In the Revolution, he was a private in Lieut .- Col. Jabez Hatch's regi- ment, and served, with a detachment commanded by Major Andrew Symmes (1760), in guarding stores at and about Boston under Major-Gen. Heath (1765), by order of council, May 12, 1777. Subsequently, he rose to the grade of captain in the militia.
Humphrey Clark (1792), tailor, of Boston, son of Elijah and Ann (Rhodes) Clark, was born in Topsfield, Mass., Nov. 10, 1761. He married Mary -, " an aristocratic foreigner." When quite young, he was apprenticed to J. Lefavour, of Salem, to learn the tailor's trade. He afterward went South, and spent several years, but returned and settled in Boston. For many years he carried on the business of merchant tailor, near the head of State Street, north of the State House. " He acquired a handsome property by honest industry, but lost it by the fluctuation of business, and with it his energy. One of his sons, an accomplished merchant, received a present from the insurance com- panies for his intrepidity in saving a ship and cargo from England, at sea." Mr. Clark (1792) could not seem to rise above his misfortunes, and for a few years was messenger to the Board of Health. In 1796 his place of business was on Court Street, and he resided at No. 30 Marlborough Street. The last years of his life were spent in retire- ment at Danvers, where he died May 7, 1829, aged sixty-seven years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.