USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston.. > Part 11
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
When the news of the Embargo of 1812 reached the town it caused the greatest consternation. All the vessels that could get away before the port closed did so. Sunday, April 5, was as busy a day as any of the remaining six. Long Wharf, and every other, was crowded with trucks, sailors, and longshore- men. About fifty sail went to sea before the flag of Embargo was raised on Fort Hill.
The embarkation of the troops which were to force the American works at Breed's Hill, from this wharf and from the North Battery (Battery Wharf ), was a scene to be remembered. The ships of war furnished the boats, which were in charge of Collingwood, - afterwards so famous as Nelson's lieutenant, - then a midshipman. Frothingham graphically describes the display : -
" When a blue flag was displayed as a signal, the fleet, with field-
117
FROM THE OLD STATE HOUSE TO BOSTON PIER. £
pieces in the leading barges, moved towards Charlestown. The sun was shining in meridian splendor ; and the scarlet uniforms, the glistening armor, the brazen artillery, the regular movement of the boats, the flashes of fire, and the belchings of smoke formed a spec- tacle brilliant and imposing."
" Hark, from the town a trumpet ! The barges at the wharf Are crowded with the living freight, and now they 're pushing off. With clash and glitter, trump and drum, in all its bright array, Behold the splendid sacrifice move slowly o'er the bay !"
118
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
CHAPTER IV.
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
Old Cornhill. - Paul Revere. - Amos and Abbott Lawrence. - Boylston's Al- ley. - Barracks of the 29th. - Blue Anchor. - Brattle Street Church. - General Gage. - Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne. - John Adams. - Head- quarters of Stage-Coaches. - Dock Square. - The Conduit. - Town Dock Described. - Quincy Market. - Origin of Markets in Boston. - The Tri- angular Warehouse. - Roebuck Passage. - Clinton Street. - The Old . Market Museum. - Old Cocked Hat. - Faneuil Hall. - D'Estaing. - Lafayette. - Jackson. - Prince de Joinville. - Jerome Bonaparte. - Lord Ashburton. - The Portraits. - Corn Court. - Hancock House. - Talley- rand. - State Custom House. - The Conscription Riot.
0 UR way lies through that part of Old Cornhill from State Street to Dock Square. The Town Pump, which has been referred to, stood in the middle of Cornhill, on a line with the north side of Court Street, giving room for vehicles to pass on either side. A drinking-fountain at the sidewalk would not inappropriately mark the place.
At No. 50 Cornhill, coinciding with Crocker and Brewster's bookstore, we find Paul Revere, a man whose name occurs fre- quently in connection with the history of Boston. Descended from the sturdy old Huguenots, whose ancient family name was Rivoire, Paul Revere began business as a goldsmith, but, ere- long, took up the art of engraving on copper, in which he was self-taught ; a fact evident enough in his early attempts.
Of his engravings of Dr. Mayhew, and the Rescinders, he might have said with Beau Brummel, " These are my failures." "The Massacre," " Cromwell's Head," etc., show a somewhat truer hand. But
" Copperplate, with almanacks Engraved upon 't, and other knacks,"
did not fill the measure of Revere's ingenuity. He put in oper- ation the first powder-mill in the province, visiting Philadelphia - where was the only mill in the Colonies - for this purpose.
8
*
7
6
1
5.
3
P. REVERE
REVERE'S PICTURE OF BOSTON IN 1768.
119
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
120
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
The proprietor would only permit the Boston mechanic to go through his mill ; but this was enough, and the Provincial Con- gress soon had powder. Revere was of the Tea Party ; was lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of militia raised after the evacu- ation ; and was in the ill-starred Penobscot expedition of 1779. After the peace of 1783 he established a cannon and bell foundry at the North End, and, later, works at Canton for the manufac- ture of malleable copper bolts, spikes, etc. A company at the latter place still bears his name. Paul Revere was also the first President of the Mechanic Charitable Association.
When the engraver was at work upon the caricature of the seventeen members of the Legislature who voted, in 1768, to rescind the resolution to issue a circular to the Colonies calling a convention to oppose taxation without representation, entitled " A warm place, Hell," Dr. Church, who afterwards betrayed the patriot cause, dropped in, and, seeing what Revere was do- ing, seized a pen and wrote :-
" O brave Rescinders ! to yon yawning cell, Seventeen such miscreants will startle hell. There puny villains damned for petty sin, On such distinguished scoundrels, gaze and grin ; The outdone devil will resign his sway, - He never curst his millions in a day."
When Amos Lawrence first came to Boston, in 1807, from his native town of Groton, he began business in Cornhill, on the corner which makes the turn into Dock Square. We are assured that the rental of $ 700 per annum seemed, at that time, to presage ruin to the future millionnaire. Mr. Lawrence, whom we find set down as a shopkeeper, removed afterwards to the situation on the opposite side of Cornhill, now occupied by a well-known carpet firm. At this time he boarded with Mrs. Dexter, in Portland Street, as did also his brother Abbott, an apprentice in his store. The munificent public and private charities of Amos Lawrence will long perpetuate his memory. To Williams College he gave upwards of $ 40,000, and to Bunker Hill Monument large sums and personal effort.
Abbott Lawrence, the apprentice, became an eminent Boston merchant, besides holding many offices of public trust. He
121
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
was the founder of the city of Lawrence ; was in the City Council in 1831, a member of Congress two terms, and minister to England from 1849 to 1852. He also founded the Lawrence Scientific School at Cambridge, endowing it munificently.
We have mentioned among the peculiar features of the town the arches, which in various places tunnel the buildings, and furnish a short cut from street to street. A covered passage is now before us, the oldest, it is believed, in Boston. Altera- tions have taken place in the buildings, but a similar way was here long prior to the Revolution. At the time of the Boston Massacre, and for two years previous, Brattle Square was a sort of place d'armes for British troops, and in the alley began a col- lision between some grenadiers of the 29th and a few citizens on the evening of the memorable 5th of March.
As early as 1734 John Draper, who published the Boston News-Letter in 1732, and was printer to the Governor and Council, lived on the east corner, and from him it took the name of Draper's Alley. In 1776 Benjamin Edes, the printer, took the house next to Draper, part of which formed the alley, so that its present occupation by a large printing firm is entirely legitimate. The passage was known both as Draper's and Boylston's Alley.
Opposite the opening into Brattle Street was Murray's Bar- racks, in which the 29th were quartered. This regiment was thoroughly hated by the Bostonians before the Massacre, and after this tragedy, in which it was the chief actor, there is little question that it would have been exterminated in detail but for its removal to the Castle. It is a singular fact that a major of the 29th, Pierce Butler, became a citizen of the United States and a Senator from South Carolina, becoming, in 1812, an ad- vocate for war against his native country. The officers of the 29th lodged at Madame Apthorp's. Her house stood in the angle now covered by the Central House.
Where the City Tavern now is was once the locality of the Blue Anchor Tavern, but this was not the original "Blew Anchor," which was in Cornhill, very near the site of the Globe newspaper building. The old tavern was kept in 1691
6
122
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
by George Monck, and as early as 1664 by Robert Turner. Savage says : " At the sign of the Blue Anchor, Turner fur- nished lodgings and refreshments to members of the govern- ment, to juries, and to the clergy, when summoned into synod by our General Court." The rooms in the Blue Anchor were designated as the " Cross Keyes," "Green Dragon," the "Anchor and Castle Chamber," and the " Rose and Sun Low Room." * What should we think in these days of such a bill as the fol- lowing abstract of an election dinner to the General Court in 1769 presents ?- 204 dinners, 72 bottles of Madeira, 28 of Lis- bon, 10 of claret, 17 of port, 18 of porter, 50 " double bowls " of punch, besides cider. A double bowl of punch held two quarts, enough to satisfy thirsty Jack Falstaff himself.
At about the same time Joseph Ingersoll, of the " Bunch of Grapes," furnished the Council with two dozen Madeira, three dozen Lisbon, four and a half gallons Vidania ("to mix with the water "), and six double bowls of punch. Only fifty cents in our currency was charged for anything eatable. Verily, Hutchinson and his associates were no ascetics.
At our left hand rises the wreck of Old Brattle Street Church. " The tower that long had stood the crash of thunder and the warring winds " is now, as we write, all that is left of the historic edifice which dated back to 1772, just one hundred years before its demolition.
The first building was erected in 1699, of wood, and was for a time known as the " Manifesto Church," in consequence of a declaration of principles by it, in answer to a protest from the older churches against its more liberal form of worship. The old church was never painted, and the tower and bell were on the west side, while the entrance was at the south side. Its ruinous condition caused it to be rebuilt of brick, as it lately stood. John S. Copley, the painter, made a plan for the new building, but it was rejected on account of the expense, and that of Major Thomas Dawes accepted. Governor Hancock gave a thousand pounds, and a bell, on which was inscribed, -
" I to the Church the living call, And to the grave I summon all."
* Whitmore's Notes to John Dunton's Letters
;
123
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
This was the church of Colman, the Coopers, Thacher, Buck- minster, Edward Everett, Palfrey, and Lothrop, an array of clerical talent unsurpassed in the Boston pulpit. General Gage quartered the 29th in the church and vicinity, taking up his
BRATTLE STREET CHURCH.
own quarters in the house opposite. Gage told Mr. Turell that he had no fears for his men while quartered within such walls. Nevertheless, the night before the evacuation a twenty-four pound shot from Cambridge struck the tower, and falling to the ground was picked up by Mr. Turell, and in 1824 was imbedded in the masonry, where it remained until the work of demolition began.
When the society sold the church, they reserved the ancient quoins, pulpit, bell, and cannon-ball. The bell given by Gov- ernor Hancock became cracked, and was sold ; the present one having been purchased in London in 1809. The society voted
124
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
to make Mr. Wakefield the custodian of the cannon-ball, to be placed by him in the front of his new building on the old site, and occupy the same position as in the church. The rustic quoins, of Connecticut stone, have been placed inside the tower of the new church on Commonwealth Avenue. One of these, which had the name of John Hancock inscribed upon it, was mu- tilated by the King's soldiers, who owed a special spite to King Han- cock, as they styled him. Dr. John Greenleaf's name was on another of the quoins.
WINDOW OF BRATTLE STREET CHURCH, WITH BALL. During the occupation by troops, services appear to have been held occasionally in the church, as the Boston Gazette, of Septem- ber 21, 1775, states that "the Rev. Dr. Morrison received a call to preach in the elegant new church in Brattle Street, vacated by the flight of Dr. Cooper, and on Sunday he deliv- ered an excellent discourse to a genteel audience." The tenor of this discourse was upon the fatal consequences of sedition, and was adapted to the "genteel " audience. Of the pastors, besides Cooper, noted as a zealous coworker with the patriots, there was Buckminster, who had taught Daniel Webster at Ex- eter Academy, and was one of the originators of the Anthology Club ; Everett, whom Lafayette styled the young American Cicero, who left the pulpit for a distinguished career in public life ; and others who have been prominent in our annals.
Besides Governors Hancock and Bowdoin and their families, Joseph Warren, Harrison Gray Otis, Madame Scott, Daniel Webster, John Coffin Jones, and many other distinguished Bostonians, have sat under the ministration of the pastors of Old Brattle Street.
General Thomas Gage, whom some wit proposed to create Lord Lexington, Baron of Bunker Hill, on account of his dis- asters here, was well acquainted with Washington, having
125
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
fought under Braddock at Fort du Quesne, where he (Gage) led the advance. Washington, in July, 1775, became his adversary. Another of these intimacies existed between Gen- eral Charles Lee and Burgoyne, who had served together in Portugal.
Gage succeeded Hutchinson as governor, in 1774, when it was determined by the Ministry to crush the rising spirit of rebellion in the Colonies. He was at first well received, but the course of events soon led to a wide separation between him and the people. After Lexington, Gage proclaimed martial law, offering pardon to all offenders except Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Bunker Hill followed, and the British general soon found himself shut up in the town. In October he resigned and returned to England, being succeeded by Howe. Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, all arrived in Boston in the Cer- berus, May 25, 1775. As they came up the harbor they met a packet outward bound, and Burgoyne hailed the master and inquired the news. Learning that Boston was closely besieged by the provincials, he demanded, "How many regulars are there in the town ?" Being answered about five thousand men, he exclaimed, " What ! ten thousand peasants keep five thou- sand King's troops shut up ; well, let us get in and we'll soon find elbow-room." This name stuck to Burgoyne, and on a second visit to Boston, when the fortune of war had made him a prisoner, he landed at Charlestown Ferry, - where the bridge now is, - but was extremely annoyed by an old woman, who, perched on a neighboring shed, kept crying out, "Make way there, - elbow-room, - elbow-room."
In 1768 John Adams, the future president, but then a young barrister, took up his residence with Mr. Bollan in Brattle Square. The house was known as the White House. His son, John Quincy Adams, was then only a year old. In his diary Mr. Adams remarks that "the town was full of troops, and through the whole succeeding fall and winter a regiment was exercised by Major Small directly in front of my house." On the night of the Massacre Mr. Adams was passing the evening at the house of Mr. Henderson Inches at the South End, where
126
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
a club, of which Adams was a member, used to assemble. Thinking the alarm was for a fire, he snatched his hat and cloak, and went out to assist in putting it out. He did not reach the Town House until the affair was ended, and passed on, through the little alley we have taken in our route, to Brattle Street. The 29th were drawn up in front of their barracks, and Adams had to pass along their ranks to reach his lodgings, but not a word was spoken on either side. At this time he lodged in Cole Lane, now Portland Street.
Mr. Adams was elected to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1770, though laboring under some obloquy on account of his defence of Captain Preston. He has been called the father of our navy, as the act passed under Washington's administra- tion authorizing the construction of six frigates, was vitalized by him, while at a still earlier day, in the Continental Congress of 1775, he drew up a code of regulations for a navy, that has formed the basis for the government of that branch of the service. Ambassador to England and Holland, and finally Chief Magistrate, John Adams, by a coincidence, died on the same day as Thomas Jefferson, July 4, 1826. Mr. Adams was termed by Jefferson the "Colossus " of Congress.
Before leaving Brattle Square and its vicinity, it must not be forgotten that this street, with Elm and Union, formed the great headquarters of the stages before the day of railways. Wilde's and Doolittle's were chief among the taverns for stage travel, and on a clear morning the air resounded with the crack of the whips and halloo of the drivers. The starting of the stages was always witnessed by a gaping crowd, and their diurnal passage over the country roads was an event to the dwellers along the route, scarcely equalled by the later advent of the iron horse. The Tony Wellers of the box were great men in the eyes of the stable-boys and country lasses. One at least among them has reached the eminence of M. C., while another presides over the traffic of a great railway.
In exploring Dock Square, we find that the old Town Dock, from which its name is derived, flowed up to a point opposite the entrance of Elm Street, formerly Wing's Lane. On the
127
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
brink of the Dock was a watch-house, and in the space formed by the junction of North (Anne), Union, and Elm Streets was the Flat Conduit. This conduit was merely a reservoir of water, about twelve feet square, raised in the centre and sloping at the sides. It was covered with planks, and the platform served on Saturdays as a meal market. It is mentioned as early as 1657, and was constructed perhaps not long after the fire of 1653. Anne Street was originally Con- duit Street as far as Cross, and Union Street is described in 1732 as leading from the Conduit to the Mill Pond.
Before Faneuil Hall was built - as early as 1708 -the space it covers and which surrounds it was occupied as a market-place, and at the foot of Merchants' Row the Dock was crossed by a swing-bridge, in two equal parts. That part of the Dock lying west of Merchants' Row was filled up about 1780 ; it was known as the Market Dock. The lower section of the Dock was narrower, and is now covered by North Market Street. At the time of the improvement of this region by Josiah Quincy, in 1826, the Town Dock came up as far as the head of Faneuil Hall Market, or, as this name is now applied to the market in Faneuil Hall, we will say Quincy Market, which the popular will has christened it. On the old plans of 1738 the Town Dock was flanked by Woodmansie's wharf on the south, and by Borland's, Bridgham's, Hill's, and Pitt's wharves on the north. The Mill Creek, connecting the Mill Cove with the Town Cove, emptied into the latter on a line with, and a little south of Blackstone Street.
In the primitive order of things, it is apparent that the tide covered all the level ground in Dock Square, as far as the bot- tom of Brattle Street, and all east of Union Street from Creek Lane on the west. Between the Mill Creek and the Town Dock was a triangular tongue of land, or rather marsh. All of the north side of the Dock seems to have been known at one time as the Fish Market. Shaw says, "The chief part of the town was built on the cove or bay which has since been called the Town Dock." The first paragraph in the town rec- ords establishes the fact that in 1634 this was the chief landing- place.
128
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
The improvement by Mr. Quincy was the greatest enterprise of the kind that had been undertaken in Boston. By reference to Quincy's History, we learn that " a granite market-house, two stories high, 535 feet long, covering 27,000 feet of land, was erected at a cost of $ 150,000. Six new streets were opened, and a seventh greatly enlarged, including 167,000 feet of land, and flats, docks, and wharf rights obtained to the extent of 142,000 square feet. All this was accomplished in the centre of a populous city, not only without any tax, debt, or burden upon its pecuniary resources, but with large perma- nent additions to its real and productive property." This im- provement also facilitated the opening of Fulton and of Com- mercial Streets, the latter making direct communication north and south instead of a long détour through North Street. S. S. Lewis was the projector of Commercial Street.
Quincy Market, though not at once pecuniarily successful, soon became so. It is a monument to Mr. Quincy's genius and perseverance. Any other man would have succumbed to the obstacles he had to encounter, but he pressed on to the accom- plishment of his purpose. He invested the sluggish town with new life, and brought into practical use a new watchword, - Progress. At a very early hour Mr. Quincy was in the habit of mounting his horse, and riding through every quarter of the town, remedying evils or projecting new enterprises.
The interior of the market has always been a scene of attrac- tion to visitors, and a model of its kind. Admirable system and order prevails. Here are haunches that would have caused the royal sword to leap from its scabbard, as when
"Our second Charles of fame facete, On loin of beef did dine ; He held his sword pleased o'er the meat, ' Rise up, our famed Sir-loin !'"
Here are sausages in festoons ; roasting pig that would have made Charles Lamb's mouth water ; vegetables in parterres, and fruits from every clime. Here one may have fish, flesh, fowl, or good red herring. The. countenances of those who seek their daily food before the stalls is a study. The poor
129
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
woman lingering over the coveted joint far beyond her slender purse is jostled by the dame who gives carte blanche to her purveyor. What quantities we eat ! Sydney Smith thought he had eaten wagon-loads more than was good for him. The open mouths of the gazers upon this scene of plenty have been likened to so many graves yawning for the slaughtered herds.
Yet plenty has not always prevailed in the town. Putnam came with his drove of sheep to succor the inhabitants in 1774. In 1775 the Town Bull, aged twenty years, was killed and sold for the use of the generals and officers, at eighteen pence sterling per pound. Perhaps Gage, in Brattle Square, with his subordi- nates, Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, sat in gloomy conclave over a tough morsel of the patriarch, hoping vainly that "good digestion might wait on appetite."
Faneuil Hall Market was begun in 1824, the corner-stone laid in 1825, and was finished in November, 1826. It occupied a little more than two years in building. North and South Market Streets were built at the same time, and are respectively sixty-five and one hundred and two feet wide. The difference in the width of these streets, and in fact the position of the market itself, is due to the refusal of the heirs of Nathan Spear to part with their estate on any terms. By the increased width of South Market Street, the difficulty was overcome, as the city then took the estate for the street with a clear legal conscience. Codman's, Spear's, Bray's, and the wharves extending between North Market and State Streets towards the present line of Commercial Street, were reclaimed in this great improvement, and converted into solid ground, and Chatham Street was laid out.
Benjamin Faneuil, Jr., was in business in Butler's Row in 1767, which, before the improvements, entered Merchants' Row between Chatham and State Streets. This Benjamin was the nephew of Peter, of noble memory, and was one of the consignees of the tea ships whose cargoes were emptied into the dock in 1773.
As a merchant, John Hancock had a store at the head of
6 *
I
130
LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
what is now South Market Street, or, as it was then described,
" Store No. 4, at the east end of Faneuil Hall Market. A general assortment of English and India Goods, also choice Newcastle Coals, and Irish Butter, cheap for Cash. Said Han- cock desires those persons who are still indebted to the estate of the late Hon. Thomas Hancock, Esq., deceased, to be speedy in paying their respective balances to prevent trouble." *
In Winthrop's Journal, a market is mentioned as set up by order of the court in March, 1634. Its locality is not men- tioned, but it is believed to have been on the site of the Old State House. In 1734 the town located three markets, and appropriated £ 300 towards their erection. They were situ- ated in North Square, Dock Square, and on the present ground of Boylston Market. A bell was rung daily at sunrise to give notice of the opening, and one o'clock P. M. was the hour of closing. On the 4th of June the three markets were opened for the first time, and the people and dealers flocked in great numbers to them.
The market in Dock Square was always the most fre- quented. Faneuil Hall, of which we shall presently relate the history, did not long provide sufficient accommodations. At the time of Mr. Quincy's improvements there was a row of sheds, for the sale of vegetables, on the north side of Faneuil Hall, in what is now the street. The neighboring streets were often obstructed with market-wagons, while farmers were com- pelled to occupy Union Street with their stands, nearly to Han- over, and Washington, almost to Court Street. In 1819 a number of citizens erected what was known as the City Mar- ket, in the large building at the foot of Brattle Street, now used as a furniture warehouse by Blake and Alden ; the upper part was occupied as a Gallery of Fine Arts. The General Court refused to incorporate the proprietors, and the city subsequently rejected the offer of the market as a donation.
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.