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 54
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The Artillery Company met, pursuant to orders, for drill, March 20 and 27, 1815. On Friday, April 7, the Company paraded, in full uniform, for inspection, -" the first field-day since the glorious return of peace." The Company unanimously made choice of the Rev. Francis Parkman, of Boston, to deliver the next anniversary sermon.
April 17 and 24 the Company met for drill, and May I the Company paraded at Faneuil Hall, at three o'clock P. M., in uniform complete, under the command of Lieut. George Welles (1807), the commander being indisposed and absent. They marched to the Common and through various parts of the town, performed a variety of exercises, etc., and, on their return to the Hall, were provided with a collation.
At a meeting held May 15, 1815, it was voted " that the Company adopt, as their system of manœuvres and exercise, after the Ist of June next ensuing, the system con- tained in 'Maltby's Elements of War,' and conform thereto, as near as practicable, in their drill and exercise."
May 22 and 29 the Company met for drill. At the latter meeting, a committee was chosen and designated as the committee of finance. It consisted of Brig .- Gen. Arnold Welles (1811), Major Benjamin Russell (1788), Andrew Sigourney, Esq. (1806), Zach- ariah G. Whitman (1810), and Capt. William Howe (1806).
Monday, June 5, 1815, being anniversary day, the Artillery Company paraded at Faneuil Hall at nine o'clock A. M., in uniform complete, under command of Lieut. George Welles (1807). At the State House, Capt. William Howe (1806) took command of the Company, and escorted his Excellency and other guests to the First Church, in Chauncy Place, where the anniversary sermon was delivered by Rev. Francis Parkman, of Boston. After service, the procession returned to the Hall, where an elegant entertainment was provided. At four o'clock, the Company proceeded, under command of Lieut. Welles (1807), to the Common, election was held, and the governor took the chair of state. When the time arrived to invest the officers-elect, Capt. Howe ( 1806), who had remained n a carriage in the vicinity, alighted and took command. The newly elected officers were then installed into their respective offices by his Excellency. Most of the duties of the day were performed under the command of Lieut. George Welles (1807), with honor to himself and the Company ; though it was a disappointment that the health of Capt. Howe (1806) was such as to prevent him from performing many of the duties, depriving the Company of the presence and command of that excellent officer and disciplinarian.
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After the duties on the Common were completed, the governor was escorted to his resi- dence, and the Company returned to Faneuil Hall.
Meetings for drill were frequently held on account of a change in the tactics. Sept. 4 the Company, under the command of Capt. John Roulstone (1812), paraded, marched to the Common, and, for the first time in public, were exercised in accordance with the system of Gen. Maltby. Oct. 2 a public parade was made by the Company under com- mand of Capt. Roulstone (1812).
On the 23d of October, 1815, the American Antiquarian Society having invited the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company - as being the oldest chartered society in New England - to attend the celebration of their anniversary, the Company paraded, without uniform or arms, and were conducted by the commander into the hall where the Antiquarian Society were at dinner, and "reciprocated their mutual esteem" by two appropriate toasts. Whereupon the Company escorted the government and members of the Antiquarian Society to King's Chapel, in Boston, where a discourse was delivered by their vice-president, William Paine, M. D.
Rev. Francis Parkman, D. D., of Boston, delivered the Artillery election sermon of 1815. He was a son of Samuel and Sarah (Rogers) Parkman, and was born in Boston, June 4, 1788. His father was an eminent merchant. Francis was fitted for college in his native town. He entered the sophomore class at Cambridge in 1804, and graduated in 1807. Shortly after leaving college, he began the study of theology under the direc- tion of Rev. William E. Channing. He continued this study until May, 1810, when he embarked for Europe. He travelled extensively, and returned to America in the spring of 1812. A few months after Dr. Eliot's death, which occurred in February, 1813, Mr. Parkman was requested to preach as a candidate at the New North Church, of which Dr. Eliot had been pastor. Mr. Parkman consented, and, Dec. 8, 1813, he was ordained to the Christian ministry, and was installed over that church. In 1834 he received the honorary degree of D. D. from Harvard College. Dec. 7, 1842, Mr. Amos Smith was associated with Dr. Parkman as a colleague. Mr. Smith resigned in June, 1848, when Dr. Parkman relinquished the charge of the pulpit. This was done that the society might have perfect liberty in inviting candidates. Mr. Joshua Young was ordained in February, 1849, as Mr. Smith's successor, at which time Dr. Parkman's connection with the church ceased.
In 1844-5 he visited Europe, and remained there six months. In the autumn of 1852 Dr. Parkman went to Baltimore, Md., to attend a general convention of delegates from the Unitarian churches. He was elected president of that body. At its conclusion, he returned home, but very soon after his arrival the community was astounded by the tidings of his sudden death, Nov. 12, 1852.
The officers of the Artillery Company elected in 1816 were : Henry IOIO. A. S. Dearborn (1816), captain ; Benjamin Loring (1810), lieutenant ; Philip Curtis (1812), ensign. Zachariah G. Whitman (1810) was first sergeant ; John Park (1812), second sergeant; John L. Phillips (1813), third sergeant ; John M. Marston (1814), fourth sergeant ; Andrew Sigourney (1806), treasurer ; Zachariah G. Whitman (1810), clerk, and Levi Melcher (1802), armorer.
Rev, Francis Parkman, D. D. AUTHORITY ; Sprague's Annals of American Pulpit.
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On the 25th and 26th of September, 1816, the most brilliant military exhibition was given that had ever been seen in Boston. On Thursday, it is said, the line "occupied nearly three sides of the Common." It was composed of cavalry, artillery, and the three regiments of infantry, commanded by Cols. Messinger (1792), Whitney (1797), and Hudson. The Boston Light Infantry, Washington Infantry, Fusileers, Winslow Blues, Rangers, and New England Guards, were attached to the regiments as flank companies. The whole was commanded by Brig .- Gen. Welles (1811). The line was reviewed by the governor, accompanied by Col. Sumner (1819), Major-Gen. Crane (1819), Gen. Dearborn (1816), Gen. Mattoon (1817) ; Commodore Bainbridge, Admiral Coffin, and Capt. Jackson, of the British Navy ; Gen. Boyd, United States Army, and other officers, under a salute of seventeen guns.
The members of the Artillery Company recruited in 1816 were : David Andrews, Micah B. Bacon, Ira Brown, Edward Bugbee, Henry A. S. Dearborn, Silas Dodd, Nathan Eaton, Thomas Hunting, Ezekiel Jones, Nathaniel Richards, Jr., Pliny Smith, Francis Southack, James N. Staples, Ephraim Whitney, Josiah Wilkins.
David Andrews (1816), merchant, of Boston, was born in 1791. He removed to Providence, R. I., and was discharged from the Company at his own request, April 10, 1818. He became a member of The Massachusetts Lodge, of Boston, Aug. 30, 1816. He died at Boston in May, 1831, aged forty years.
Micah B. Bacon (1816), housewright, of Boston, was in the militia for several years, and held the grade of captain. He removed West prior to 1820, and never held any office in the Artillery Company.
Ira Brown (1816), of Boston, was a clerk in the New England Bank, Spring Street, Boston. He was ensign of a company in the Second Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1812 to 1816 inclusive ; captain in the same in 1817 and 1818, and was second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1820. He soon after removed to New York.
Edward Bugbee (1816), hairdresser, carried on business at No. 33 Orange, now Washington, Street, Boston. He was a son of Edward and Ruth ( Blackman) Bugbee, of Roxbury. His father was a member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. He was a lieutenant in the Third Regiment, Third Brigade, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1815 to 1820 inclusive; was promoted to be captain in 1821, and was fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1819. He became a member of St. John's Lodge, Boston, in 1820, and withdrew in 1830.
Henry Alexander Scammel Dearborn (1816), lawyer, of Roxbury, son of Gen. Henry and Dorcas (Osgood) Dearborn, was born in Exeter, N. H., March 3, 1783. His father was in the battle of Bunker Hill, a captain in Stark's regiment, and subse- quently secretary of war, minister to Portugal, representative in Congress, and collector of the port of Boston. Henry A. S. Dearborn (1816) attended Williamstown Academy, now Williams College, but went to William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Va.,
Henry A. S. Dearborn (1816). AUTHORI- TIES : Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A. Company, Ed. 1842; Men of the Revolution and their Fami-
lies, by A. B. Muzzey; Loring's One Hundred Boston Orators; New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., 1851; Drake's Memorials of the Cincinnati.
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entering in advance, where he graduated in 1803. He studied with William Wirt and Judge Story, was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law at Portland, Me., in 1806. He married, May 3, 1807, Hannah Swett, daughter of Col. William R. Lee, of Salem, Mass. He was deputy-collector, under his father, of the port of Boston in 1811, and was appointed collector by President Madison in 1813, as the successor of his father. He held this office until 1830. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1820; State representative for Roxbury in 1830; State senator in 1831 ; representative in Congress from 1831 to 1833 ; adjutant-general of Massachusetts from 1833 to 1843, and mayor of the new-born city of Roxbury in 1847, a position which he held until his decease. He delivered an oration before the Bunker Hill Association, July 4, 1811. He became a member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati in 1832, and was president of the General Society from 1848 to 1851. He was brigadier- general of the First Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, in 1814, captain of the Artillery Company in 1816, and commanded the troops in Boston Harbor in 1812.
The origin of Rural Cemetery, at Mount Auburn, may be traced to the Massachu- setts Horticultural Society, whose anniversary address Gen. Dearborn (1816) delivered in 1828, and of which he was president in 1831, and chairman of the committee having the project in charge. The cemetery was consecrated Sept. 24, 1831. He was also the originator of Forest Hills Cemetery, which was consecrated June 28, 1848. He was active in originating and establishing the Bunker Hill Monument Association, and in completing the Hoosac Tunnel. He wrote several books : "Commerce and Navigation of the Black Sea," in 1819; " Letters on the Internal Improvement and Commerce of the West," in 1839, and the " Life of Rev. John Eliot." He left unpublished a " History of the Battle on Bunker Hill," a diary in forty-five volumes, "Grecian Architecture," and other works. He was a marvellous worker, the author of many valuable vol- umes, a member of various historical and scientific societies, - a useful, sagacious, and generous man.
He died in Portland, Me., July 29, 1851, and was buried at Forest Hills, amid " the flowers of his own planting."
Silas Dodd (1816), merchant, of Boston, brother of John, Jr. (1810), and Benjamin (1817), was a son of John and Hannah Dodd, and was born at Holden, April 4, 1792. He was ensign of a company in the Second Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, in 1816 and 1817, and lieutenant of the same in 1818 and 1819. He never held office in the Artillery Company. He died at New Orleans, La., May 28, 1821.
Nathan Eaton (1816), cordwainer, of Boston, was born in Reading in 1782. He was in partnership in 1820 with Shepard Simonds, and kept a shoe store at No. 15 Ann Street. He was a lieutenant in the First Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1813 to 1815, and was captain in the same in 1818. He died Aug. 31, 1828, aged forty-six years.
Thomas Hunting (1816), merchant, of Boston, son of Jonathan and Mary Hunting, of Belchertown, was born in that town Sept. 25, 1789. He kept a West India goods store at No. 135 Orange, now Washington, Street. He was lieutenant in the Third
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Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1816 to 1818; captain in the same from 1819 to 1821; major in 1822, and colonel from 1823 to 1825. He was also second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1819, adjutant in 1823, captain in 1827, and was treasurer of the Company from 1841 to 1845. For many years he was a member of the finance committee, to whose hands were intrusted the financial interests of the Company. He was a member of the common council of the city of Boston three years, 1833-5 ; an alderman six years, 1836-41, and a representa- tive to the General Court from 1834 to 1841. "He was of modest manners, amiable temper, industrious habits, and was rarely known to make a mistake in military affairs."
Ezekiel Jones (1816), watch-maker, of Boston, carried on business at the corner of Cornhill (Washington Street) and Court Street. He was lieutenant in the Second Regi- ment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1815 to 1817, and served in the same as captain from 1818 to 1821. He never held office in the Artillery Company. He died in Boston, July 14, 1826, aged thirty-eight years.
Nathaniel Richards, Jr. (1816), innkeeper, of Boston, was a son of Nathaniel, who kept a coffee-house at No. 17 Federal Street. The tavern kept by Nathaniel, Jr. (1816), was No. 8 on the south side of the market. He was ensign in the First Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1813 to 1815 ; captain in the same in 1816 and 1817 ; first sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1818, and lieu- tenant in 1822.
He moved to Hingham, with his wife Mary, prior to 1830, where she died, Aug. 4, 1865, aged seventy-eight years. He was for several years president of the Hingham Bank, and resided on Main Street, near the old meeting-house. He died Nov. 9, 1864, aged eighty years.
Pliny Smith (1816), butcher, of Boston, resided at No. 41 Myrtle Street. He was ensign of the First Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, in 1815, and lieutenant in the same in 1816.
Francis Southack (1816), baker, of Boston, was a son of Francis and Sarah Southack, of Boston, and resided on Temple Street. He was ensign in the Second Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1815 to 1817 inclusive ; captain in the same from 1818 to 1821 inclusive, and lieutenant-colonel in 1822 and 1823 ; also was third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1818. He died in Boston about 1835.
James N. Staples (1816), wine merchant, of Boston, resided, in 1820, in Gridley's Lane, now Gridley Street. He was ensign in the Second Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1812 to 1814; lieutenant in the same in 1815 and 1816, and captain from 1818 to 1820. He was also clerk of the Artillery Company in 1818 and 1819, first sergeant in 1820, and lieutenant in 1823. He was for several years a very useful member of the finance committee.
Nathaniel Richards, Jr. (1816). AUTHOR- ITY : Lincoln's Hist. of Hingham.
Francis Southack (1816). AUTHORITIES : Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A. Company, Ed. 1842; Mass. Military Rolls.
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Ephraim Whitney (1816), truckman, of Boston, brother of Silas, Jr. (1810), and John (1810), and son of Silas, was born in 1787. He was ensign in the Second Regi- ment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, in 1815, lieutenant in 1816, and captain from 1817 to 1820 inclusive. He was also fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1820. He died April 23, 1821, aged thirty-four years.
Josiah Wilkins (1816), trader, of Boston, lived on Nassau Street. He was lieu- tenant of a company in the Third Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1816 to 1818, and captain in the same from 1819 to 1821. He was also fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1818. He became a member of The Massachusetts Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of Boston, Nov. 29, 1816. He removed to Mobile, Ala., and held the office of alderman in that city.
The Artillery Company met for business Jan. 23, 1816. A committee duly appointed made the following report : "That, considering the large sum of money which was taken a few years since from the productive funds of the Company and vested in unproductive property, viz., a stand of arms, accoutrements, camp utensils, and articles preparatory to active duty; and considering that the remaining funds of the Company greatly depreciated in value in consequence of the late war and the variety of circumstances in which the affairs of the Company have become embarrassed ; and, also, from other sections of the country petitions to the honorable Legislature in their present session are constantly presented for remuneration of expenses incurred in the general defence of our country, or losses and depreciation sustained by the citizens ; most of which your committee conceive are not more meritorious than volun- tarily appropriating between two and three thousand dollars of our productive stock in the purchase of the contents of our arms for the general defence. Your committee think it practicable to petition the honorable Legislature for that patronage, assistance or remuneration which they have frequently and freely bestowed on us before, and that the present is a favorable moment to ask of them some aid whereby our funds may again be placed in an eligible situation," etc. The report was accepted, a petition was prepared and presented to the Legislature, and the matter given in charge of the finance committee. The petition was not granted by the Legislature. The Company imme- diately raised by subscription six hundred dollars, which, with the one hundred dollars donated to the Company by Lieut .- Gov. Phillips, freed it from all embarrassment. Since that time a committee of finance, annually elected by ballot, has had direction of the general finances of the Company.
Friday, April 5, 1816, the Company paraded, in complete uniform, at Faneuil Hall, and performed the usual exercises of the April field-day. Rev. Paul Dean, of Boston, was chosen to deliver the anniversary sermon in June next following. Monday evenings in April the Company met for drill.
Monday, May 6, 1816, the Company paraded under their commander, Capt. John Roulstone (1812), marched to the Common, and thence, after drill, through several principal streets to Charlestown Square, where a variety of manœuvres were performed. On their return to Boston, they proceeded to the home of Lieut. Robert Fennelly (1806), where they were entertained. A collation at the Hall completed the duty of the day.
Monday, June 3, 1816, being the anniversary for the election of officers, the Com-
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pany assembled, under command of Capt. John Roulstone (1812), proceeded to the State House and received his Excellency John Brooks (1786), the governor and com- mander-in-chief, with other guests, and escorted them to the First Church, in Chauncy Place, where the anniversary sermon was delivered by Rev. Paul Dean. Dinner was served in Faneuil Hall ; election was held on the Common, and the newly elected officers commissioned. " During the whole duties of the day the Company felt a peculiar degree of pride and pleasure in having one of its oldest members, and one who had twice commanded the Company, presiding in the ceremonies of the day as chief magistrate of the Commonwealth."
At the dinner, the fifth toast was : " Our beloved chief magistrate. For a long life of public services, he has our gratitude ; for a yet longer life of private enjoyment, he has our prayers." (Nine cheers and the Massachusetts March.) His Excellency the governor gave this toast : "The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company : a venerable monument of the customs and manners of the year 1638."
The Company held several meetings for business during the summer of 1816.
Monday, Sept. 2, the Company paraded under the command of Major Benjamin Loring (1810), their lieutenant, Brig .- Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn (1816), their captain, being absent on a journey. Also, the Company paraded Oct. 7, under command of Gen. Dearborn (1816). The total number in uniform was fifty-three. The Company having finished the tour of duty for the year, was dismissed.
Rev. Paul Dean, of Boston, delivered the Artillery election sermon of 1816. He was born in Barnard, Windsor County, Vt., March 28, 1783. He spent his youth on a farm, meantime attending school, and afterward teaching. In 1806 he began preaching in Montpelier, Vt., and in 1810 removed to New Hartford, N. Y. In October, 1813, he came to Boston, and settled as pastor of the First Universalist Church, on Hanover Street, founded by Rev. John Murray. He held this relation until April 6, 1823.
Meantime the Second Society of Universalists was founded, and a meeting-house erected in School Street, nearly opposite the City Hall. Rev. Hosea Ballou was invited to be its pastor. He accepted, and was installed Dec. 25, 1817, Rev. Paul Dean preaching the sermon and extending the right hand of fellowship. In a few years the opposition of Mr. Dean to the views of Mr. Ballou became open, avowed, and strong ; but the First Church sympathized with Mr. Ballou, whereupon the former resigned his relation with that church, and, being followed by some of his old parishioners, founded the Third Universalist Church, located in Bulfinch Street, May 7, 1823.
Mr. Dean very soon after was dismissed from fellowship with the Universalist body, at his own request. He continued, however, for seventeen years, to preach at the Bulfinch Street Church, when Rev. Frederick T. Gray became its pastor, and the church ceased to be Universalist. Not long after, he moved to Framingham, Mass., where he died, Oct. 18, 1860.
He was very prominent in the Masonic fraternity, and held many positions of honor and influence in that order. He was the first minister of the Universalist denomination to preach before the Artillery Company on anniversary day.
Rev. Paul Dean. AUTHORITY : Proceedings of Grand Lodge of Mass., A. F. and A. M., 1873.
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1817. The officers of the Artillery Company elected in 1817 were : Ebenezer Mattoon (1817), captain ; John Dodd, Jr. (1810), lieutenant ; Daniel Dunton (1812), ensign. Christopher Gore (1814) was first sergeant ; James Russell (1812), second sergeant; Levi Bartlett (1814), third sergeant ; Benjamin Huntington (1814), fourth sergeant; Andrew Sigourney (1806), treasurer; Zachariah G. Whit- man (1810), clerk, and Levi Melcher (1802), armorer.
The officers of the Third Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, gave a dinner to Gen. Arnold Welles (18r1) on Thursday, Oct. 23, 1817, at the Exchange Coffee-House, on his retirement from military service. The governor, lieutenant-gov- ernor, adjutant-general, and other guests, were present. Previous to sitting down to dinner, the officers of the brigade being drawn up on both sides of the hall agreeably to rank, Gen. Welles (1811), accompanied by Major Sargent, was announced by Acting Brigade-Major Fairbanks. He was received by Col. Messinger (1792), senior officer of the brigade, who informed the general that an address had been prepared expressive of their feelings on his retirement from office. The address was then presented by the committee, after having been read aloud by the chairman. On receiving the address Gen. Welles (1811) made an appropriate reply. An elaborate dinner was then served, after which patriotic toasts were offered and speeches were made, interspersed with songs. At the conclusion, Gen. Welles (1811) took a formal and affectionate leave of every officer present.
The address 1 was signed by Cols. Daniel Messinger (1792) and Jonathan Whitney (1797), Capt. Daniel L. Gibbens (1810), Capt. Winslow Lewis (1821), Ensign Martin Brimmer (1820), and six other officers of the brigade, who constituted the committee.
" A little after eleven o'clock yesterday morning two casks of powder exploded in the after part of the fine ship ' Canton Packet,' Capt. Proctor, which was lying at a little distance from the end of Long Wharf at anchor, nearly ready to sail on a voyage to the Isle of France and Canton. A number of men immediately went to assist in saving the property and extinguishing the flames, from the United States ship 'Independence ' and from the wharf. They cut her cable and towed her on the flats north of Long Wharf, where she grounded, the fire in the meantime having been extinguished. Con- siderable damage was done to the hull, but we are happy to learn that one person only was killed.
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