USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Old landmarks and historic fields of Middlesex > Part 30
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After General Hull's return to Newton at the close of the Revolutionary War, he resided first at Angier's Corner in a wooden house still standing on the west side of the road from Watertown. Here he lived ten or twelve years, until, after his return from Europe in 1799, he built the large brick house on the opposite side of the street, in which he resided until he went, in 1805, to Detroit, when he sold it to John Richardson. This is the house, subsequently enlarged into a hotel, and known as the Nonantum House.
At the peace, in 1783, General Hull had embarked in large land speculations, being one of the owners of the " Connecticut Reserve," on which the city of Cleveland now stands, besides having interests in Georgia and elsewhere of a similar charac-
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ter. But his public life had always interfered with these spec- ulations. When he went to Detroit as governor, he invested most of his funds in real estate in the then frontier village, and was obliged to build a house for a residence. After he left Detroit all his property there was sacrificed. He had advanced large sums for the defence of the Territory, which, together with his salary as governor, mostly remained unpaid until his death, and were only obtained by his family after repeated petitions to Congress for relief.
The farm in Newton of nearly three hundred acres, owned and occupied by General Hull up to the time of his death, was first occupied by Joseph Fuller, born in 1652. He was the son of John Fuller, who came over in 1635 with John Win- throp, Jr., and settled in Cambridge Village (New Town) in 1644. In 1658 he bought a tract of one thousand acres in the northwest part of the town, long known as the Fuller Farm. His son Joseph, when he married Lydia, daughter of Edward Jackson, in 1680, received twenty acres of land from his father- in-law. This was part of a tract of five hundred acres which had belonged to Governor Bradstreet in 1646, and which the governor had bought of Thomas Mayhew of Watertown in 1638 for six cows. Here Joseph Fuller built his house in 1680, and together with about two hundred acres inherited from his father, it formed the farm which descended to his son Joseph, his grandson Abraham who added to it, and his grand- daughter Sarah Fuller, who married Colonel William Hull in 1781. After the death of Mrs. Hull the place was sold and divided, a part coming into the possession of William Claflin, who has improved and embellished it with much taste. It might be called the "Governors' Farm," having been owned by Simon Bradstreet, William Hull, and William Claflin.
About 1767 Abraham Fuller removed a part of the old house built in 1680, and replaced it with one more modern. The portion of the original structure retained by him remained until 1814, when General Hull removed it, putting in its place the one he occupied till the time of his decease. The mansion, composed of the two structures built by Judge Fuller and his
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son-in-law, may still be seen at Newtonville, near the railway station, whither it was removed by John H. Roberts, who now occupies it.
While this house was building the General resided in Bos- ton, leaving to his son-in-law, Dr. Samuel Clarke, the care of its construction. Dr. Clarke was the father of James Freeman Clarke, who wrote an able vindication of the General, and of Samuel C. Clarke. Upon taking possession of the farm in 1814 the General devoted himself to agriculture, and was one of the first in New England to practice what is known as " high farming." He had little society except the members of his own family circle and a few friends and neighbors. Among these latter were Lucius M. Sargent, William Sullivan, William Little, George A. Otis, David Henshaw, and Nathaniel Greene, of Boston ; Madam Swan, of Dorchester ; Barney Smith, of Milton ; Gorham Parsons and S. W. Pomeroy, of Brighton ; Dr. Morse and Marshall Spring, of Watertown. He had nu- merous correspondents among his old comrades in arms. Gov- ernor Eustis and General Dearborn were of the number of his enemies.
General Hull was about five feet eight, of florid complexion, and had blue eyes. He sat to Stuart, in 1821, who obtained an excellent likeness. At this time he was of portly figure, weighing perhaps one hundred and eighty pounds. Of active habits, he might be seen early and late walking or riding about his farm. At seventy he still crossed his saddle with military grace. His manners were courtly and pleasing. At a dinner given him in 1825 by citizens of Boston, those guests belong- ing to a newer generation were surprised to remark in him the fine old manner now quite gone out of fashion. The General received a visit from Lafayette in 1825.
A pilgrimage to Nonantum Hill might revive shadowy glimpses of a scene worthy the pencil of Angelo, Guido, or Raphael, - the Apostle Eliot preaching to the Indians in 1646. The reverend man of God, offering the Evangel with one hand, friendship and peace with the other, would be the central figure. The grave, attentive savages should be grouped in
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picturesque attitudes about him. Eliot's was an example we can always contemplate with satisfaction as compensating largely for the malevolent persecution so often meted out to the red-man in the name of the Master.
Having traversed the utmost limits of the Continental lines in Middlesex, from the Mystic to the Charles, and so far as in us lies set the camps in order, rebuilt and garrisoned the works anew, sought out the captains, and fitted together the parts of the rude machinery of government, we now entreat the reader to bear us company in our résumé of the first and last attempt of an enemy to penetrate into the interior of Massachusetts.
W
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CHAPTER XVI.
LECHMERE'S POINT TO LEXINGTON.
" A single drop of blood may be considered as the signal of civil war." EDWARD GIBBON.
TF the British grenadier had not gone into a shop with his accoutrements on, or if the Province House groom had not been indiscreet, perhaps Gage would have succeeded in his plan of surprising the Americans, destroying the stores at Concord, and returning his troops with the prestige of a successful expe- dition. This would have made a capital despatch for the Min- istry, had the event not fallen out otherwise. North would have chuckled and Barré sulked, while Gage would have re- mained master of the situation.
John Ballard was the hostler at the stables on the corner of Milk and old Marlborough Streets, to whom the groom imparted the intelligence that " there would be hell to pay to-morrow "; but even he little thought how prophetic his language would become. Ballard was a liberty boy, but his informant did not suspect it. His hand trembled so much with excitement that he could hardly hold his curry-comb. Begging his friend to finish the horse he was cleaning, and feigning some forgotten errand, Ballard left the stable in haste. Not daring to go di- rectly to Revere's house, he went to that of a well-known friend of liberty in Ann Street, who carried the news to Revere.
Revere had concerted his signals; Robert Newman hung them in Christ Church steeple. The former crossed the river in his boat, mounted his horse, and the first part of Gage's plan dissolved with the morning mists.
" And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night, And the spark struck out by that steed in his flight Kindled the land into flame with its heat."
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It is time the idea should be buried out of sight that the ex- pedition to Lexington was a mere marauding foray upon a col- lection of unarmed, inoffensive peasants. It was not the fault of the British general that he was not met and resisted at every step from Lechmere's Point to Lexington Green, if, indeed, his troops had ever succeeded in reaching that place. It was not the fault of the Americans that they did not oppose his march with the greater part of the twelve thousand minute- men they were engaged in equipping for the field. They knew they were levying war, they knew the regulars were preparing to strike ; they were surprised, - that is all.
Before the battle of Lexington, the Americans had twelve light field-pieces, with proper ammunition, for which they were organizing six companies of artillery, and had accumulated as many as eleven hundred tents, fifteen thousand canteens, with other camp equipage in proportion. We say nothing of the magazines of small-arms, brimstone, saltpetre, bullets, pro- visions, and medicines, which they were collecting in vast quantities. They had resolved five months before that the precise moment to begin hostilities was when the British marched into the country with their baggage, artillery, and ammunition. If General Gage had quietly permitted these preparations to go on, he would have deserved the appointment of generalissimo of the provincial forces.
The provincials had undoubtedly received information that their stores were in danger, for, on the very day the troops left Boston, orders were given for the dispersion of their magazines among several towns. It is evident that a movement on Con- cord was apprehended. The leaders knew they were not quite ready for battle, and they labored under the disadvantage of ex- pecting the blow without knowing precisely where it was to fall. The secret had been well guarded ; so well that it is said Haldimand, Gage's second in command, did not know the troops had marched until the next morning. But this the reader may or may not believe ; for our own part we do not believe it. Nevertheless, General Gage had always the advan- tage of a movable force, ready to launch at any moment.
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In the latter part of February, 1775, by order of General Gage, Captain Brown of the 52d, and Ensign Bernicre of the 10th, went on a reconnoissance through Suffolk and Worcester Counties as far as the town of Worcester. Their mission was purely military, and seems to point to an intention entertained by the General to march into the interior in force. The officers were to observe the country as adapted to military operations, and were to take sketches of the streams, defiles, and any ob- stacles to be encountered by an army in a hostile country. They were disguised, and attempted to pass themselves off as surveyors, but were everywhere recognized, watched, and har- assed. In March the same officers were despatched on a similar errand to Concord. The British general was as well informed of the hostile preparations as, on their side, the provincials were that he was meditating a blow. Such was the situation of the parties on the 18th of April, 1775.
Massachusettensis says Gage swore when he came to Boston, " I came to put the acts of the British Parliament in force, and by G-d I will do it." This declaration seems so clearly to ignore the other side of the question that we cannot help re- peating the remark of Dr. Franklin to the Britons, who com- plained to him of the scurvy treatment the king's troops had met with at Lexington, from the Yankees getting behind stone- walls and firing at them. The Doctor replied by asking them whether there were not two sides to the walls ! This anecdote was repeated with a good deal of unction on the battle-ground by Washington, when on his tour in 1789. The retort would have won for the philosopher in our time the now celebrated sobriquet of " Stonewall."
It must have been after eleven o'clock when Colonel Francis Smith, of the 10th, with his eight hundred, landed at Lech- mere's Point from the boats of the men-of-war. It was a fine moonlight night. The men were in light marching order, and took no rations. Smith called his officers around him and told them they were in no event to fire unless fired upon. The roads were all picketed by Gage's order the previous evening, and it is probable that if Revere - who was by this time on
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his errand - had not fallen in with one of these patrols he would have ridden plump into the main body. The troops moved by old Charlestown Lane, now Milk Street, so that Revere's route intersected their line of march. Samuel Murray, a tory, and the son of a pestilent tory, was their guide.
The morning was chilly, the way unfrequented, and not a sound came out of the gloom in which the cohort was en- shrouded, save, perhaps, the rattling of scabbards in unison with the measured tramp, or where some amphibious batrachian sent up a dismal croak from the stagnant pools. The gallant Welsh, the gay marines, and the gracious, well-bred officers of the light companies must have felt their spirits not a little in- fected by their inglorious undertaking. Smith unconsciously held in his hand the wedge which was to split the British Empire in twain.
The column moves on in silence past the old Davenport tavern, still standing at the corner of North Avenue and Beech Streets. Afar off the note of alarm had begun to sound with the awakening day. Revere had roused the Medford bands. Bells were beginning to ring out, and gunshots to explode on the morning air, as we have heard them many a time since in some country village at the return of this day. Smith halts ; the surprise has ended, and certes, we should say the soldiers' faces might brighten at the prospect. Pitcairn moves off with his six companies. An express goes back to the General for help. Then the word is " Forward !" and the column presses on. It passes the last rendezvous of the Revolutionary Com- mittee at the Black Horse in Menotomy, now Arlington, and Elbridge Gerry, Orne, and Lee, escaping half dressed into the fields, throw themselves flat on their faces among the stubble. The watch-dogs bark, but the shutters of the houses in the vil- lage are kept close drawn, while eager eyes peer forth into the darkness. " Close your ranks !" " Press on !" are the oft-repeated commands. Beside the old Tufts' tavern the soldiers halt to slake their thirst at a well now filled up, but which was for- merly in the space between the tavern and the store. Men roused from sleep at the tread of the British phalanx warily
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look out into the morning's obscurity. They see the moonlit points of eight hundred bayonets glittering coldly above a mov- ing mass, which seems like the illusive images of a phantasma- goria. They count the platoons, then, seizing their muskets, take to the fields, where they meet their neighbors, all striving, with a common impulse, to get ahead of the regulars' column.
It is a tradition in Arlington that the first person to give the aların here was Cuff Cartwright, a negro slave, who lived at his master's on the road, not far from the pond. An officer gave the black a dollar to silence him, but as soon as the detach- ment had passed Cuffee struck across the fields and roused the neighborhood.
In Smith's ranks were a number of young officers belonging to the fleet, who embraced the opportunity for a run ashore with all the enthusiasm and careless disregard of danger which characterizes the blue jacket the world over. Among them was Philip d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, who was then a lieutenant on board the Asia, under Captain, afterwards Admiral, Vande- put, then lying in Boston harbor. On this day D'Auvergne nar- rowly escaped being made prisoner. He afterwards attended in the boats at Bunker Hill, and was in the expedition to Fal- mouth. It is worthy of remark that D'Auvergne and Nelson were the only two officers under age who were permitted to join the expedition to the Arctic in 1773 in the Carcass and Racehorse.
The British officers were fond of riding out into the country, and under the pretext of parties of pleasure had picked up a good deal of knowledge of the roads and of the inhabitants. Pitcairn himself had been out on this business, as had also Samuel Graves, afterwards a British admiral. The Britons were fond of chaffing the countrymen, but were often unhorsed in a tilt of wits. It is related that one day a little knot of these officers were approaching Waltham, when they observed a countryman sowing what appeared to be grain. "Ho, fellow !" says one of the officers, "you may sow, but we shall reap." " Waal," replied the native, "p'r'aps you will ; I'm sowing hemp." The Britons pushed on a short distance, laughing at
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their own discomfiture, but soon returned and insisted that the Yankee should accompany them to the next tavern, where he drank as coolly as he had retorted at their expense, and re- turned to his labor. This anecdote has done duty in other connections. Owing to the celerity of the march and the success of his precautions, Smith's brigade arrived within a mile and a quarter of the Lexington parade-ground before the militia had any notice of their approach.
It is daybreak. The "Foot of the Rocks," a mile above the centre of the village of Arlington, is reached and passed. Smith and Pitcairn debouch on the fatal plain of Lexington. They hear the rebel drum, and the word is passed to halt, prime, and load. The ground is littered where they stand with the cartridge-ends, while eight hundred nervous arms are for- cing the lead down into as many musket-barrels. Forward ! The leading companies wheel out of the road and into the Common, where they see Parker's minute-men drawn up at the north end of the Green, near the Bedford road. The armed forces of authority and of rebellion here meet for the first time face to face. A British volley pealed out the knell of British ascendency in the New World.
Poor Pitcairn's memory has suffered all the obloquy of hav- ing given the order to fire. A thousand orators and writers have attacked his memory in manner and form from that day to this. It is only just to observe that British authorities are united in saying that the Americans gave the first fire. Lieutenant- Colonel Smith, who was not with the vanguard when the fatal firing took place, asserts it in his official report to General Gage, which was based upon that of Major Pitcairn, and of other officers who were present, to himself. Nothing more conclusively shows the unreliability of some of the depositions taken by direction of the Massachusetts Congress than the statement that Colonel Smith was with the advance.
Mrs. Hannah Winthrop, the wife of Dr. Winthrop of Cam- bridge, has left her impressions of the scenes of horror and dis- may that took place when the news passed from house to house that the regulars were out. She could never forget, nor could
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time erase from her mind, the terrors created by the midnight alarm, when the peaceful inhabitants were roused from their beds by beat of drum and clang of bells, with all the clamor, confusion, and dread which such an event could inspire, - the men hurriedly arming and hastening to the fray ; women la- menting and wringing their hands in despair ; children weep- ing and clinging to their parents ; while the very house-dogs howled with fright at the untoward sounds from the steeples.
But all were not bereft of reason by the sudden summons to arms. We have glimpses of the fond wife, pale but resolute, girding up the loins of her warrior ere he sets out for the field of blood ; of the mother buckling on the son's sword with a linger- ing caress and benediction ; and of the aged sire taking down from its lodgement over the fireplace the old queen's arm he bore at Louisburg, which he now places in more youthful hands, and commends to eyes yet able to sight along the clouded barrel.
" Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, And cheeks all pale which but an hour ago Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness."
To comprehend the affair of the 19th of April, 1775, the situation of the buildings about the Common on that day must be understood. Approaching with the troops from the direc- tion of Cambridge, the roads separated as they now do, - that leading to Concord passing to the left, that to Bedford and Billerica diverging to the right. Within the triangular area formed by these roads was the Common, or Green, then unen-
closed. Upon a little elevation near the apex or southerly extremity of the Green stood the old church, built in 1714, -a barn-like structure of three stories, with a pitched roof. The building had no proper belfry, but on a little structure placed a short distance north of the meeting-house was a bell-tower, from which pealed forth the alarm on the memorable morning. The church presented its side to the Concord road and its end to the Bedford road. It was taken down in 1794, and a new edifice with a tower erected near the spot. This building was destroyed by fire, and was then rebuilt where it now stands, at
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the northwesterly corner of the Common. The flagstaff is now placed not far from the site of the old meeting-house, but since the day when it stood here the southerly point of the Common has been somewhat elongated. An oak-tree or two stood about the meeting-house, and the Common itself was covered here and there with low brush. The little belfry stood on the site of the monument. It was removed to the old Parker farm, on the Waltham road, better known as the birthplace of Theodore Parker, whose ancestor, John Parker, commanded the company of minute-men fired upon by the regulars.
On the right of the Bedford road and nearly opposite the old church was John Buckman's tavern, in which many of Parker's men assembled before the arrival of the troops, and which served as a refuge for some of the Americans afterwards. The fugitives fired upon the Britons from this house, and the shot- holes still seen in the clapboards attest that they drew the regulars' fire. Some of the British wounded were left here on the retreat. The old inn, now owned by the Meriam family, remains nearly as it was in 1775, and is the most conspicuous landmark of the battle-ground. The first post-office in the town was here located. Some Lombardy poplars that formerly stood about the building have now disappeared. The tavern, with its barn and outbuildings, and the meeting-house and belfry, are shown in old views of the Common.
On the southwest side of the Concord road, and looking upon the Common, were two houses, at least one of which is still standing. On the north side of the Green were two dwellings, with a blacksmith's shop between. The one nearest the Bed- ford road was that of Jonathan Harrington, one of the vic- tims of the regulars' fire, whose wife witnessed his fall and the convulsive efforts made by him to reach her side. The other house, then that of Daniel Harrington, and still remaining in the Harrington family, is now there, looking, we should imagine, much as it did a hundred years ago. In front of it are some of the most magnificent specimens of our grand American elm to be seen far or near. Doolittle's picture of the battle-ground was drawn from this house. On the east of it was the well at
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which the king's men quenched their thirst, and behind the house now occupied by the families of Harrington and Swan is still to be seen the quaint little blacksmith's shop with one of those ugly orifices in the door made by a leaden ball. This completes our view of Lexington Green in 1775. Except that the avenue on the north side was a mere lane, and that the space has been enlarged at the southern extremity, the place is topographically the same as on the day of the fight.
The British main body marched up the Concord road and remained there while the attack took place. A body of grena- diers moved into the Common by the Bedford road, deploying in front of the Americans, who were paraded some four or five rods east of the monument and near the Bedford road. At the first alarm the minute-men assembled between the tavern and the meeting-house.
Lexington Common, as we see it to-day, bears little resem- blance to the green where the first death-volley rattled in 1775. There is a triangular enclosure, bordered by a double row of elms, some of large growth, oth- ers of more recent planting. A fence, composed of stone posts with wooden rails, separates the ground from the highways which pass on either side.
The battle-monument stands near the west corner of the enclo- sure, not far from the ground where the first victims were stretched in their blood, and at a LEXINGTON MONUMENT. dozen paces from the south side. It is placed on a little knoll, is surrounded by an iron fence, and has the front with the inscription facing south. It is enough to say of this monument, that its insignificant appearance, when compared with the object it is intended to perpetuate, can arouse no other than a feeling of disappointment in the mind of the
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