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 9
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The journal of Capt. Francis Goelet1 contains an account of his travels and voyages from 1746 to 1758. During his second voyage from New York to London in 1750, in the ship " Tartar Galley," he encountered a severe storm, which so disabled the ship that he was compelled to put into the port of Boston for repairs. Here he remained from Sept. 29 to Nov. 7, 1750, in the meanwhile visiting Salem and Marblehead. In the extract printed in the " New England Historical and Genealogical Register " for January, 1870, there are, as given by him, minute accounts of his business and pleasure. He reveals a phase of Boston life not generally associated with our Puritan fathers. The society in which he became intimate seems to have been principally composed of mem- bers of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. He repeatedly mentions Jacob Wendell (1733), Abraham and John (1733) Wendell, and "Nat." Cunningham (1720). The following is one military allusion : -
" Boston, October 11, 1750. After breakfast, went with Mr. Nat. Cunningham [1720] to the Commons to see the training, which consisted of twelve companies of foot, and three companies of horse; from thence they marched into King Street, exercised their Horse and Foot, firing several vollies. We went in the Towne House facing the
1 "The Voyages and Travels of Francis Goelet, of the City of New York, Merch't."
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street and in the Council Chamber where was the President, Governor and Council, from thence to Capt Wendell's [1733] entertainment, where dynd," etc.
This part of his journal is concluded with a short description of Boston, "the metropolis of North America," in which Mr. Goelet describes Faneuil Hall and the Old State House as follows : -
"They have but One Markett [Faneuil Hall] which is all Built of Brick about Eighty Foot Long and Arch'd on Both Sides being Two Stories heigh the upper part Sashd which Comprehends Several [of] The Publick Offices [of] the Towne, at the Southermost End is the Naval Office, the Middle the Surveyars the Marketts offices. They have Also a Town House [Old State House] Built of Brick, Situated in Kings Street, Its a very Grand Brick Building Arch'd all Round and Two Storie Heigh, Sash'd above, its Lower Part is always Open Designd as a Change, tho the Merchants in Fair Weather make their Change in the Open Street at the Eastermost End, in the upper Story are the Councill and Assembly Chambers, &c, it has a Neat Cupulo, Sashd all round and which on rejoicing days is Elluminated."
The members of the Artillery Company recruited in 1750 were : John Leverett, Thomas Newman, and Isaac Royall.
John Leverett (1750), merchant, of Boston, son of Knight Leverett (1729) and grandson of Thomas Leverett (1703), was born Jan. 28, 1726-7. His grandfather was a brother of Hon. John Leverett (1704), president of Harvard College. Thomas (1703) and John (1704) were sons of Hudson Leverett (1658) and grandsons of Gov. John Leverett (1639). The last-named was an only son of Thomas Leverett, the emigrant, and ruling elder of the First Church, Boston.
John Leverett (1750) was chosen clerk of the market of Boston in 1752, 1753, and 1757 ; scavenger from 1761 to 1763 inclusive; warden in 1766; purchaser of grain in 1764 and from 1771 to 1776 inclusive, and overseer of the poor from 1767 to 1776 inclusive. Nov. 8, 1776, it was unanimously voted by the town, " that the thanks of the town be and hereby are given to John Leverett, Esq. [1750], for his faithful services as overseer of the poor, a number of years past." In the town records he is called "Cap- tain " in 1761, "Esquire" in 1762, and "Colonel" in 1768. The last public service he rendered was during the days of suffering in the town, in 1776, when he was chosen, Nov. 8, one of a committee of seven, " to purchase necessary articles and dispose of the same for the relief of the poor inhabitants."
John Leverett (1750) became a member of the First Lodge, A. F. and A. M., in Boston, Oct. 11, 1749, and in 1758 was master of that lodge. He received the master's degree in the Masters' Lodge, Boston, in 1750. He appeared in St. John's Grand Lodge as junior warden of the First Lodge, July 13, 1750; as senior warden in 1751, and the same year as junior warden of the Masters' Lodge. In 1752 he was grand secretary of St. John's Grand Lodge, and held that office for nine years.
He was lieutenant-colonel of the Boston regiment in 1772, afterwards colonel, and resigned in 1773. He served as second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1752, clerk from 1752 to 1754 inclusive, and first sergeant in 1753.
Col. John Leverett (1750) married Mary Greenleaf. He died, June 10, 1777, at Middletown, Conn., "where there is a stone inscribed to his memory."
John Leverett (1750). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., 1850; Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A. Company, Ed. 1842.
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[1750
Thomas Newman (1750), of Boston, son of Thomas and Hannah Newman, was born in Boston, Sept. 30, 1724. He held town office in 1745 and 1746 ; also was a clerk of the market in 1747, 1749, and 1750. His name does not appear afterward on the town records.
There was a Thomas Newman in Boston who in 1732 married Mary, daughter of Peter Thomas, of Boston. Whether Thomas, senior, was twice married, is uncertain. Thomas and Hannah Newman, so far as appears by the Boston Records, had but one child, as above. Thomas Newman, the husband of Mary Thomas, was lost at sea about 1754. They were the parents of Thomas C. Newman, who went to England in 1747 to finish his education ; of John, who became the organist of Christ Church, Boston, and of Robert, who became the sexton of the same church, and to whom is attributed the exploit of giving the signal of the lanterns from the church steeple to Paul Revere, April 18, 1775.
Thomas Newman (1750)-without doubt the same person who joined the Artillery Company in 1750-appears prominent in Masonic affairs from 1750 to 1752. He was junior warden of the Third Lodge in Boston in 1751, and senior warden in 1752. He held the office of grand steward in December, 1750; was one of the petitioners in 1751 for the extension of Grand Master Oxnard's authority over all North America, and was a member of the Master's Lodge. His name does not occur in the records after 1752.
Isaac Royall (1750), merchant, of Medford, son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Eliot) Royall, was born in Antiqua in 1719. His father returned to Medford in 1737, having purchased of the widow of Lieut .- Gov. John Usher (1673) a tract of more than five hundred acres of land in that town, and he died June 7, 1739. The son inherited the father's title, and also fixed his residence in the house now standing in Medford, and which is yet called the " Royall House." It was originally the mansion of John Usher (1673), but was enlarged and altered into its present form by Gen. Royall (1750), who married, March 27, 1738, Elizabeth McIntosh, and had four children, the first of whom was born in 1741. The third child, Elizabeth, married William Pepperell Sparhawk, whose mother was the only daughter of Sir William Pepperell, and who took his grand- father's name on succeeding to his title and estate. The residence of Gen. Royall (1750) was at first within the limits of Charlestown, and he was chosen representative of that town in the General Court from 1743 to 1752. In the latter year, he became a member of the Council, and held that office for twenty-two years.
" Hon. Isaac Royall [1750], of Medford, was remarked by every one for his timidity. He halted between two opinions respecting the Revolution until the cannonading at Lexington drove him to Newburyport, and thence to Halifax, and, after living some time in retirement, he embarked for Europe. He was a proscribed refugee, and his estate, since that of Jacob Tidd, Esq., was confiscated. He died of small-pox, in England, October, 1781. His bounty laid the first professorship of law at Cambridge, and a legacy of plate to the first church in Medford shows that his regard for his country was not weakened by distance nor seared by proscription. He bequeathed more than two thousand acres of land in Granby and Royalston, in Worcester County, for the establish-
Thomas Newman (1750). AUTHORITIES : Boston Records; Porter's Rambles in Old Boston, New England; Records of St. John's Grand Lodge.
Isaac Royall (1750). AUTHORITIES: Cur- wen's Journal and Letters; Histories of Medford, by Mr. Brooks and Mr. Usher; Sabine's American Loyalists.
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ment of the aforesaid professorship. He was for twenty-two years a member of the Council. His virtues and popularity at first saved his estate, and his name was not included with those of his sons-in-law -Sir William Pepperell and George Erving - in the Conspirators Act ; but, on the representation of the selectmen of Medford 'that he went voluntarily to our enemies,' his property was forfeited and taken under the Con- fiscation Act. In 1805-6, the Legislature released the estates to the heirs for sixteen thousand pounds sterling. He made bequests to Medford and Worcester, and legacies to the clergymen. While a member of the House of Representatives he presented the chandelier which adorns its hall."
In 1743, he gave Charlestown one hundred pounds, which was used to build a parsonage. While representative, he returned to the town treasury his salary, and in 1745 gave eighty pounds to the school on Charlestown Neck. He gave to Medford one hundred acres of land in Granby, "for the use and better support" of the common schools of that town.
The Royall Professorship of Law was established at Harvard College in 1815, the Royall Fund having been accumulating for that purpose for thirty-five years. Jan. 24, 1764, when Harvard Hall and the college library were destroyed by fire, he contributed liberally for the restoration of both. The history of Medford contains a full and admi- rable sketch of Gen. Royall (1750) :-
"Generosity was native with him, and shone the salient feature of his character. He loved to give, and loved to speak of it, and loved the reputation of it. Hospitality, too, was almost a passion with him. No house in the colony was more open to friends ; no gentleman gave better dinners, or drank costlier wines. As a master, he was kind to his slaves, charitable to the poor, and friendly to everybody. He kept a daily journal, minutely descriptive of every visitor, topic, and incident, and even descending to record- ing what slippers he wore, how much tar-water he drank, and when he went to bed. He was a strict observer of religious forms, and a generous supporter of Christian institutions. He was a Tory against his will. It was the frailty of his blood more than the fault of his judgment : not that he loved the colonies less, but that he feared England more. He wanted that unbending hickory toughness which the times required."
He was appointed a brigadier-general in 1761, " being the first of that title among Americans." He never held any office in the Artillery Company. His wife, Elizabeth, died at Medford, July 14, 1770, and was buried in Dorchester, Mass.
The record of the Artillery Company for 1750 is as follows : -
" April 2d, 1750. The Company, being under Arms, made choice of the Rev. Mr. Andrew Eliot of Boston to preach the next Artillery Election Sermon, and it was then voted, that the present Commission officers of this Company, together with the Field officers of the Regiment of the town of Boston, be a Committee to wait on him and request the same. It was there voted, that all fines for the future arising in the Com- pany be in lawful money. Also voted, that the Clerk of this Company be paid the sum of four pounds lawful money for transcribing this Book,1 and for his preferring a Petition to the Great and General Court of this Province for the removing or abating certain taxes heretofore imposed on this Company, and that they should be exempted from all taxes for the future ; the prayer of which Petition was granted.
"N. B. At Lt. Joseph Jackson's [1738]. Attest SAMUEL SWIFT, Clerk.
! " This book " can mean none but the original book of 1680.
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[175I
" May 7th, 1750. It was Voted that the sum of nine pounds, six shillings and eight pence, lawful money, be allowed to the Captain and other officers towards defraying the charges of the dinner &c, upon the ensuing Artillery Election day. Capt Ebenezer Storer [1732], being one of the committee to wait on the Rev. Mr. Andrew Eliot, to desire him to preach the next Artillery Election Sermon reported to the Company that he had accepted the same.
" June. For which he had the usual thanks.
"Attest SAMUEL SWIFT, Clerk."
Rev. Andrew Eliot, of Boston, delivered the Artillery election sermon of 1750. He was a son of Andrew and Ruth (Symonds) Eliot, of Boston, and was born Dec. 25, 1719. He attended the Boston Latin School, and graduated at Harvard College in 1737. He studied for the ministry, and, in August, 1741, began preaching at the New North Church as a candidate for settlement with Rev. Mr. Webb. The church, in January, 1742, gave him a call to settle as colleague, which he accepted, and was ordained the 14th of April following. He held this position until the decease of Mr. Webb, April, 1750, when Mr. Eliot had the sole pastoral charge. In 1765, he was chosen a member of the Corporation of Harvard College; in 1769, he was solicited to be a candidate for the presidency of that institution, but he declined. In 1773, he was chosen to that office, but also declined. Though a devoted friend of the colonial cause, he remained in Boston during the siege, and cared for that portion of his congregation which remained in the city. He died Sept. 13, 1778, aged fifty-nine years.
The officers of the Artillery Company elected in 1751 were : Jonathan 175 I. Williams (Jr.) (1729), captain ; John Salter (1727), lieutenant ; John Welch (1736), ensign. Thomas March (1747) was first sergeant ; John Edwards (1747), second sergeant; Josiah Waters (1747), third sergeant; Edward Cowell, Jr. (1748), fourth sergeant, and Samuel Swift (1746), clerk.
By an act of the province, a lottery was authorized "for supplying the Treasury with 26,700 milled dollars." The Hon. Samuel Watts (1733) was the chief manager of it. He had his office in Faneuil Hall, where the lottery was drawn.
Fourteenth Foot .- The uniform of this regiment at this period was black, three- cornered cocked hats, bound with white lace; scarlet coats, faced with yellow, yellow cuffs, and white lace ; scarlet waistcoats and breeches ; white gaiters and white cravats ; buff belts and buff pouches. The drummers wore buff-coats, faced with scarlet. The grenadiers wore cloth caps with a king's cipher and crown in front, the "white horse" with the motto, "Nec aspera terrent" on the flap, and the number of the regiment behind.
The members of the Artillery Company recruited in 1751 were : Nathaniel Baker, John Bridge, John Coburn, Daniel Gookin, Thomas Hubbard.
Rev. Andrew Eliot. AUTHORITIES : Sprague's Annals; Hist. Notices of the New North Church; Eliot's and Allen's Biog. Dicts .; Thacher's Funeral Sermon; Mem. Ilist. of Boston.
" Last Thursday evening [Oct. 17, 1751] Major John Wendell [1735] was married to Mrs. Mary Skinner, a widow gentlewoman of great merit with a very large fortune." - Boston Evening Post, Oct. 21, 1751.
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Nathaniel Baker (1751), of Boston, son of John and Mary Baker, was born Feb. 7, 1722, and was published, June 12, 1745, to marry Susanna Dorr.
He was chosen scavenger from Ward 1, March 14, 1768, which seems to be the only town office he ever held, and was first sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1756.
John Bridge (1751), blacksmith, of Boston, son of Ebenezer (1717) and Mary (Roberts) Bridge, and nephew of Benjamin Bridge (1711), was born in Boston, July 21, 1723. He was a brother of Rev. Ebenezer Bridge, who delivered the anniversary sermon before the Company in 1752.
John Bridge (1751) was fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1752. He was ensign of the Ninth Company of the First Massachusetts Regiment in the Cape Breton expedition under Sir William Pepperell. He served as constable of Boston in 1752 ; was re-elected March 12, 1753, but excused, and was elected again March 23, 1753, and sworn.
John Coburn (1751), goldsmith, of Boston, was born in 1725. He was elected a constable of Boston, March 12, 1753, but refused to serve, and paid the fine. March 9, 1772, he was chosen a warden, and, Aug. 26, 1776, he was one of the thirty-six persons selected to take a census of the town.
John Coburn (1751) advertised in the Boston Gasette of August, 1776, " that he had removed into Boston again and carries on the goldsmith's business at his shop on King Street opposite to the American Coffee House." Mr. Coburn (1751) was third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1752. He died Jan. 21, 1803, aged seventy-eight years, and was buried from his home, No. 29 Federal Street. .
Daniel Gookin (1751) was a bookseller in Boston. His place of business was "over against the Old South." He was a descendant of Gen. Daniel Gookin (1645), one of the first appointed licensers of the press, viz., in the year 1662. Mr. Gookin (1751) was not largely engaged in trade. His shop was " the next door north of the house built for the residence of the royal governors, and now belonging to the state."1 He died Jan. 3, 1752, after an illness of only two days.
Thomas Hubbard (1751), of Boston, was probably the same Thomas Hubbard who joined the Artillery Company in 1732.2
The record of the Artillery Company for 1751 is as follows : -
" April Ist, 1751. The Company being under Arms, made choice of the Rev. Samuel Cooper of Boston, by a unanimous vote, to preach the next Artillery Election Sermon, and it was then voted, that the present Commission Officers of the Artillery Company, and the Field officers of the Regiment of the town of Boston, together with John Phillips, Esq. [1725] Treasurer of said Company, be a committee to wait on him and request the same.
Attest SAMUEL SWIFT, Clerk.
" May 6th, 1751. Capt Hugh McDaniel [1729], being one of the committee to wait on the Rev. Mr. Samuel Cooper to desire him to preach the next Artillery Election Sermon, reported to the Company that he had accepted the same. And in the evening
Nathaniel Baker (1751). AUTHORITY: Bos- ton Records.
John Bridge (1751). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., I870.
1 Thomas's Hist. of Printing.
2 See obituary of Hon. Thomas Hubbard ( 1751) in New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., 1893, p. 480, taken from the Massachusetts Gacette, July 26, 1773.
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[1752
of the same day, it was voted, that the sum of nine pounds six shillings and eight pence, lawful money be allowed the Captain and other the Commission Officers, towards defray- ing the charges of the dinner, &c, upon the ensuing Artillery Election day, and the further sum of four pounds, like money, was then voted toward defraying the charges of the Company's dinner, &c .: the said evening being spent at the house of Sergt Ray- mond [1747]. Attest SAMUEL SWIFT, Clerk.
"June 4th. Voted, that the committee, who waited upon the Rev. Mr. Samuel Cooper to desire him to preach on this Anniversary, return the thanks of this Company to him for his Sermon this day preached : this being done under Arms.
" Attest SAMUEL SWIFT, Clerk."
Rev. Samuel Cooper, of Boston, delivered the Artillery election sermon of 1751.1 He was the second son of Rev. William Cooper, of Boston, who delivered the Artillery election sermon in 1722. Rev. Samuel Cooper was born March 25, 1725. He attended the Boston Latin School, and graduated at Harvard College in 1743. He pursued the study of theology, and was invited, Dec. 31, 1744, to settle over Brattle Street Church (where his father had preached) as colleague with Rev. Dr. Colman, who delivered the Artillery election sermons in 1702 and 1738. Mr. Cooper accepted the invitation, but was not ordained until May 21, 1746. The University of Edinburgh presented him with a diploma of doctor of divinity in 1767. "He was wellnigh unrivalled in the pulpit during the period in which he lived."
In 1774, he was elected president of Harvard College, but declined. He was a devoted patriot, and contributed many effective articles to the Boston Gazette. The celebrated letters of Hutchinson, which caused so much excitement when printed, were first transmitted to him that he might read them himself. He left Boston before the battle of Lexington, and his meeting-house, from April, 1775, to March, 1776, was used as barracks by the British. He was active in the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians ; was vice-president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and, " in everything that promised to bless his country or his race, he was ready to enlist with others in a cordial co-operation." He died Dec. 23, 1783.
The officers of the Artillery Company elected in 1752 were : Joseph 1752. 2. Jackson (1738), captain ; John Symmes (1733), lieutenant ; Thomas Sav- age (1739), ensign. William Homes (1747) was first sergeant ; John Lev- erett (1750), second sergeant; John Coburn (1751), third sergeant; John Bridge (1751), fourth sergeant, and John Leverett (1750), clerk.
Rev. Samuel Cooper. AUTHORITIES : Pal- frey's Hist. of Brattle Street Church; Sprague's Annals, Vol. I., p. 440; Clarke's Funeral Sermon; Mem. Hist. of Boston, Vols. II. and III.
1 Extract from the sermon of Rev. Samuel Cooper, " preached to the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company in Boston, New-England, June 3, 1751" :-
"I must . . . draw to a Close, Yet not without addressing myself to you Gentlemen of the Artillery, at whose Invitation we are now assembled in the Ilouse of Worship.
" Your ancient Company justly bears the Title of Honorable, inasmuch as you profess to devote
yourselves to the Service of your Country, and to be industrious in acquiring those military Accomplish- ments, by which, without any View of raising your private Fortunes in this Way, you may he qualified to act, as Guardians of the Community to which you helong.
"Such an Institution is truly noble, and a standing Proof of the Heroic Ardor, and public Spirit, which warmed the Breasts of our Ancestors, the first Settlers of this Country. You will there- fore think yourselves obliged to observe the original Design of your Institution; and cultivate that gen- erous Fortitude you profess."
Joseph Jackson
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The anticipated outbreaks of the Indians were quieted by pacific measures. Com- missioners to treat with the Indians were appointed in 1752 and 1753. The first board was composed of Jacob Wendell (1733), Samuel Watts (1733), Thomas Hubbard (1732), and Chambers Russell. The commissioners in 1753 were, Sir William Pepperell, Jacob Wendell (1733), Thomas Hubbard (1732), John Winslow (1764), and James Bowdoin. These commissioners met the chiefs of the Eastern Indians at Fort St. George, Me.
In 1752 there was but one addition to the ranks of the Artillery Company. The Company felt the depressed condition of affairs as they are represented by the town to the governor, May 22, 1752. They said, "There is at present a prevailing, contagious and mortal sickness"; "expense of sickness, one hundred thousand pounds old tenor"; " one thousand people moved out of town "; "ship-building at a stand-still "; "six still- houses wholly unoccupied, and not any steadily employed "; " European trade gone to Marblehead and elsewhere," and other circumstances, had a harmful effect upon the foreign and domestic business of Boston. The Atrillery Company shared the depression.
The calendar was changed this year from the Julian to the Gregorian system of computation by act of parliament, which ordained that, after the last day of December, 1751, the year should cease to be counted as beginning on the 21st of March, but the first day of January should be taken to be the first day of the year of our Lord 1752, and so on, " and that all acts, deeds, writings, notes, and other instruments of what nature or kind soever, which should be made, executed, or signed upon or after the said Ist of January, 1752, should bear date according to the new method of computation." This change did away with the double style of designation employed in. the dates of events happening in January, February, and March of preceding years. The rectification was made in the calendar by taking eleven days from it, calling the 3d of September the 14th, so that month, in 1752, had only nineteen days in it. The king's birthday was, therefore, placed forward from Oct. 30 to Nov. 9. The dates in this work, previous to the year 1752, have been intended to be in accordance with the old style.
The member of the Artillery Company recruited in 1752 was Samuel Torrey, Jr.
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