USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston.. > Part 12
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Retracing our steps along North Market Street, the first object of interest is the Triangular Warehouse, which stood on the border of the town dock, opposite the swing-bridge, until
* Boston Evening Post, December 25, 1764.
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BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
taken down in 1824 to make room for the sweeping changes then inaugurated. Its site is now covered by the buildings at the head of North Market Street, with a moiety in Merchants' Row and Clinton Street.
This singular old building was built of brick, of two stories, on a stone foundation, with a tower at each angle ; a tower also rose from the centre of the roof. Each of these towers termi- nated in a pointed roof of slate, and were capped with a stone ball set in lead, except the middle tower, which had a wooden one. The strength with which it was constructed, with the quaint architecture, led for a time to the supposition that it was intended for a Custom House, or some other similar purpose, but no proof being 31 found to support the belief, the opinion became # general that it was erected by London mer- chants for a warehouse, about 1700.
One side of the Triangular
TRIANGULAR WAREHOUSE.
Warehouse fronted Roebuck Passage, which has become, by transition, the extension of Merchants' Row. The passage, named from a tavern called the Roebuck, within its limits, was a tortuous defile a hundred feet in length, varying in width from thirteen to twenty feet, but was still the main thorough- fare from the market north and south. The tavern itself was a building with a projecting upper story, and was a notorious resort of doubtful repute. It was the scene of at least one deadly affray. Richard Whittington, a descendant of the Lord Mayor of London, is said to have been the builder.
Clinton Street was one of the new avenues which arose out of the chaos of this region. The Old Mill Creek crossed it at
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LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
the point where now stands the New England House, the last of the Boston coffee-houses. The hotel is built on made land. The course of the creek was altered at this point, so as to flow through the lower part of Clinton Street into the harbor, instead of following its old channel into the dock. To effect this plan, the city bought Governor Eustis's wharf, through which the creek found an artificial outlet. Blackstone Street has taken the place of the creek.
Opposite the north side of Faneuil Hall is a little alley, and on the alley, with a front on North Street, is an old landmark. ; This lofty wooden building of five cramped stories was the Old Boston Museum, established in 1804, by Philip Woods. After a removal to another location in Dock Square for a short time, the Museum returned to its old stand. In 1822 the New England Museum fell heir to the greater part of the collection. The building fronted originally on Market Square, and was sometimes designated the Market Museum. The timbers are a foot square; the chambers scarcely allow a tall man to stand erect, whilst the staircase in its almost perpendicular ascent is extremely suggestive of broken bones.
At the corner formed by North Street and Market Square was another of those ancient structures now extinct among us. It was known as the "Old Cocked Hat," from its fancied resemblance to an article of wear now as obsolete as itself. Under the western gable, fronting Dock Square, was the date of 1680. The building was of wood, covered with plaster on the outside, with which were mixed fragments of glass bottles. Various ornamental figures were traced upon this rough surface. On two sides, south and southwest, the water once flowed, and in digging not far from here some years ago to settle a disputed boundary question, the capstan and ring-bolt of the old wharf were uncovered within the present sidewalk.
The " Old Cocked Hat " was of two stories, the upper pro- jecting, and is supposed to have been built the year following the destructive fire of August 3, 1679, which began about. midnight and raged till midday of the 4th. A hundred and fifty dwellings and warehouses, with several ships and their
BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
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1680
C .WIT
CHAP.LES W. LOLAI
WILL JAK
ANCIENT HOUSE IN DOCK SQUARE.
cargoes, were consumed. This old house was at first a dwell- ing, and for a time, according to Snow, the principal apothe- cary's shop of the town was kept there. It was taken down in July, 1860.
The fame of Faneuil Hall is as wide as the country itself. It has been called the " Cradle of Liberty," because dedicated by that early apostle of freedom, James Otis, to the cause of liberty, in a speech delivered in the hall in March, 1763. Somewhat of its early history has appeared in the account of the town government. Its walls have echoed to the voices of the great departed in times gone by, and in every great public exigency the people, with one accord, assemble together to take counsel within its hallowed precincts. Though much too small for popular gatherings of the present day, its long use for this purpose, with the many glorious associations that cluster around it, still mark it as the centre from which the will of the people of Boston should proceed.
The Old Market-house, mentioned as existing in Dock Square in 1734, was demolished by a mob in 1736-37. There was
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contention among the people as to whether they would be served at their houses in the old way, or resort to fixed locali- ties, and one set of disputants took this summary method of settling the question. Pemberton says, this mob were " dis- guised like clergymen."
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In 1740, the question of the Market-house being revived, Peter Faneuil proposed to build one at his own cost on the town's land in Dock Square, upon condition that the town should legally authorize it, enact proper regulations, and
FANEUIL HALL BEFORE ITS ENLARGEMENT.
maintain it for the purpose named. Mr. Faneuil's noble offer was courteously received, but such was the division of opinion on the subject, that it was accepted by a majority of only seven votes, out of seven hundred and twenty-seven persons voting. The building was completed in September, 1742, and three days after, at a meeting of citizens, the hall was formally accepted and a vote of thanks passed to the donor. Hon. Thomas Cushing, the moderator of the meeting, the selectmen, and representatives of the town, were appointed a committee, "to wait upon Peter Faneuil, Esq., and in the name of the
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town, to render him their most hearty thanks for so bountiful a gift." Besides this, the town voted that the hall should be called Faneuil Hall forever ; to procure Mr. Faneuil's portrait to be placed therein ; and later, to purchase the Faneuil arms, carved and gilt by Moses Deshon, to be fixed in the hall. .
The first architect of Faneuil Hall was John Smibert the painter ; Samuel Ruggles was the builder. It was not at first intended by Faneuil to build more than one story for the market, but with noble generosity he went beyond his original proposal, and built another story for a town hall. The original size of the building was forty by one hundred feet, just half the present width ; the hall would contain one thousand per- sons. At the fire of January 13, 1763, the whole interior was destroyed, but the town voted to rebuild in March, and the State authorized a lottery in aid of the design. The first meet- ing after the rebuilding was held on the 14th March, 1763, when James Otis delivered the dedicatory address. In 1806 the Hall was enlarged in width to eighty feet, and by the addition of a third story.
But little is left of the original building, but a rule has been laid down for such as may be curious to trace the old outline : " Take a northeast view of the Hall, - there are seven win- dows before you in each story, - run a perpendicular line, from the ground, through the centre of the middle window to the top of the belt, at the bottom of the third story, carry a straight line from that point nearly to the top of the second window, on the right, in the third story. That point is the apex of the old pediment. From that point draw the corre- sponding roof-line down to the belt, at the corner; and you have a profile of the ancient structure."
A grasshopper, which still decorates the vane, made by that cunning artificer Deacon Shem Drowne, was long thought to be the crest of the Faneuils ; especially as a similar insect adorned the vane of the summer-house in Tremont Street. But the arms were extant not many years ago on some of Peter Faneuil's plate, in the possession of his descendants, and disproved this theory. No better reason has been assigned for the adoption
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LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
NEW FANEUIL HALL, WITH QUINCY MARKET.
of the grasshopper than that it was an imitation of the vane of the Royal Exchange, London.
Curiously enough, the first public oration delivered in Faneuil Hall was a funeral eulogy, pronounced on the death of Peter Faneuil, March 14, 1743, by Master Lovell of the Latin School. In the course of his address the orator said, " May Liberty always spread its joyful wings over this place. May Loyalty to a king under whom we enjoy that Liberty ever remain our character." Master Lovell, himself a tory fugitive when Boston was freed from the British occupation, did not dream of the ful- filment of his wish - divested of its dependence on a king - when he uttered it.
Faneuil Hall was illuminated, by a vote of the town, on the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act, and the selectmen were requested to make provision for drinking the king's health. During the winter of 1775 -76 the British officers, under the patronage of General Howe, fitted the hall into a very neat
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BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
theatre, devoted chiefly to performances ridiculing the patriots. The Sunday after the battle of Lexington there was a meeting held in the hall by the citizens to agree with General Gage on regulations under which the people might leave the town. The strictness with which the Sabbath was then observed testifies to the importance the subject had assumed. Gage communi- cated with the meeting through Captain Sheriff, his aide-de- camp, the proposal that the inhabitants might be allowed to depart after surrendering their arms. Many of the old provin- cial officers, men who had served at Louisburg, were present, and viewed with deep chagrin the proposition to give up the arms they had worn in many honorable campaigns. Gage had the bad faith afterwards to render his promise nugatory by ap- pointing a Town Major, to whom applications were made. This officer discriminated against those whose attachment to the patriot cause was known.
In Faneuil Hall is the rendezvous of the " Ancient and Hon- orable Artillery Company." Its original designation was the " Military Company of the Massachusetts "; it was also styled, at different periods, "The Artillery Company " and " The Great Artillery." The name " Ancient and Honorable " was not ap- plied until 1720 ; no military organization can dispute its title to be the oldest band of citizen-soldiery in America. The com- pany was formed in 1637, and at once applied for an act of in- corporation, which was not granted, the rigid Puritans fearing to establish a privileged military body which might, on occasion, subvert the government. The Prætorian Band of the Romans and the Templars of Europe were cited to enforce this wise determination. The company was, nevertheless, permitted to choose a captain and make use of the common arms in their exercise. A charter was granted in 1638.
Captain Keayne, the first commander, has been noticed. The charter prohibited any other military company from parading on the days appointed by law for the " Artillery "; and this ex- clusive privilege was maintained against the "Winslow Blues," in 1808, when that company assembled in Faneuil Hall on one of the field-days of the " Ancients."
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LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
It does not appear what the uniform of the company - if any was adopted - was at the beginning. Blue and buff was supposed to be the dress in 1738. By 1770 the corps stood arrayed in gold-laced hats, blue coats, buff under-clothes, and silk stockings, with white linen spatterdashes. In 1772 an order was issued that wigs and hair should be clubbed. Some few changes were made in 1787, when shoulder-straps, to secure the cross-belts, and a black garter, worn below the knee, were adopted ; the hair to be worn en queue. Chapeau-bras and cockade, with black plume, eighteen inches long, took the place of the old cocked-hat in 1810, with red facings for the coat instead of buff.
The company was assembled by beat of drum, which re- mained the practice for many years. On days of parade the drummer passed through the principal streets beating the rappel vigorously. The colors were displayed on these occasions from Colonel Daniel Henchman's bookstore, at the corner of King Street and Old Cornhill, - the vacant area which then existed under the Old State House serving the corps for a rendezvous until the town provided an armory in Faneuil Hall. In 1743 halberds were used by sergeants, and pikes and half-pikes by the captain and lieutenant.
The roll of the " Ancients " presents a host of names distin- guished in Colonial and Revolutionary history. To enumerate them would be impossible within our limits. The old custom of " Artillery Election," when the old officers retire and the new are commissioned by the governor, is still scrupulously observed. The " Election Sermon " is still preached as in the days of Colman and Sewall.
During the reception of Count D'Estaing in September, 1778, a superb entertainment was given him at Faneuil Hall, at which five hundred guests were present.
When Lafayette was in Boston, in 1784, the merchants gave him a dinner at Faneuil Hall. At every toast thirteen cannon were discharged in Market Square by Major Davis's train of Artillery. The picture of Washington had been concealed by drapery, and when in the course of the banquet it was un-
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BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
veiled, the Marquis rose to his feet, clapped his hands, and seemed deeply moved as he gazed on the features of his old commander. The audience was not less affected than the dis- tinguished guest. The Marquis was fond of identifying him- self with the Americans, and in this way won their love and. admiration. Being asked by a lady on one occasion if the black cockade was not the color worn by the Continental officers, he replied : " Yes, madame, but we added the white out of com- pliment to the French when they joined us."
The following anecdote is related by Mr. Dean, in his memoir of Daniel Messinger : -
" An amusing incident occurred once at a dinner given Prince Jerome Bonaparte in 1804. It is stated on the authority of Josiah Quincy, that after dinner Colonel Daniel Messinger sang the favorite old song of 'To-morrow.' As the audience joined in the chorus of 'To-morrow, To-morrow,' a cloud came over the countenance of the Prince, and taking his next neighbor by the arm he exclaimed, 'To Moreau ! To Moreau ! Is it a song in honor of General Moreau ?' He was quickly undeceived, and smiled when he found that no one but himself was thinking of the great rival of his brother."
President Jackson visited Boston in June, 1833, accompanied by Secretaries Cass and Woodbury, and Mr. Poinsett of South Carolina. The occasion was the opening of the new Dry Dock at Charlestown, and the docking of the frigate Constitution. The President held a public reception in Faneuil Hall. Com- modore Hull, Mr. Winthrop, and Mr. Van Buren were present. The Vice-president was described as a tight, snug, compact, vigorous-looking little body, with a bright, keen, twinkling little eye and winning smile. Both he and Mr. Woodbury were very bald. Mr. Cass was not present.
The visit of the Prince de Joinville to Boston in November, 1841, was rendered memorable by a grand ball given in his: honor at Faneuil Hall. The Prince had come over to New York in La Belle Poule frigate, the same that conveyed the ashes of the great Napoleon from St. Helena to France. The town was all agog for the expected visit of the Prince, and when he appeared at the ball simply attired in a blue naval uniform,
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LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
the enthusiasm was extreme. The Prince wore no decoration, except the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, and devoted himself assiduously to the ladies to whom he was introduced. The old hall was beautifully decorated with flags and devices specially designed for the occasion.
Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton, negotiator with Mr. Webster of the treaty which bears his name, was welcomed to Boston in Faneuil Hall, August 27, 1842, by Mayor Chap- man. From him Ashburton Place takes its name. As one of the great house of Baring Brothers, he resided some time in the United States. He and Webster were on terms of close intimacy.
The Earl of Elgin, while governor-general of Canada, visited Boston to attend the jubilee upon the opening of the Grand Trunk Railway. He was accompanied by a numerous staff, and received the honor of a grand ball at Faneuil Hall. Among the officers who accompanied him, none attracted more attention than those of a Highland regiment, - stalwart, bare- legged fellows in bonnet, kilt, and tartan.
Among the attractions to the old Cradle of Liberty, the por- traits which adorn the walls are not the least, and it is to be regretted that some which have hung there and would now be highly prized were either destroyed or spirited away by vandal hands. Shortly after the death of Mr. Faneuil, Governor Shir- ley informed the selectmen that he had received his Majesty's picture through the hands of the Duke of Grafton, and soon after the likeness of George II. was hung in the hall. The town had solicited the portraits of Colonel Barré and General Conway, their able defenders on the floor of Parliament. The request was complied with, and the pictures sent over in 1767, but they disappeared from the hall after the British evacuated the town.
The west end of the hall is covered with paintings. The large picture by Healey, representing Webster replying to Hayne in the Senate, first attracts the view. The portraits of John Hancock and Samuel Adams are by Copley, as is that of Joseph Warren. The Adams has been called Copley's mas-
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BRATTLE SQUARE AND THE TOWN DOCK.
ter-piece, and was painted for Governor Hancock, but on the sale of his effects became the property of S. A. Wells, and finally of Adam W. Thaxter, who presented it in 1842 to the city. The full length of Peter Faneuil is a copy of a smaller painting in the Historical Society's possession. It is by Colonel Henry Sar- gent, and was presented by Samuel Parkman, as was also the full length of Washington, by Stuart. The portraits of Rufus Choate and Abraham Lincoln are by Ames, that of Governor Andrew by Hunt. General Henry Knox is by Gilbert Stuart. Commo- dore Preble, one of the only two he ever sat for, is probably a Stuart. The superb clock was the gift of the school children.
Corn Court took its name from the corn market which was once held on the south side of the Town Dock. Entering its recesses, unknown to half the town, we find the oldest inn in Boston, now called the Hancock House. This may well have been the site of Samuel Cole's old inn. Altered in some re- spects, the building presents a front of brick, with wooden side- walls. A dilapidated sign, bearing the weather-stained features of Governor Hancock, retains a feeble hold of its fastenings.
This was the old Brasier Inn, at which Talleyrand sojourned when in Boston in 1795. He afterwards became the guest of Mr. William Lee, in Water Street. Mr. Lee's residence, a two-story wooden house, stood near the site of the new Post- Office, and was removed not many years ago. Talleyrand, the future prime minister and evil genius of Napoleon, was ban- ished from France, and made his way to the United States, accompanied by the Duc de la Rochefoucauld Liancourt and M. de Beaumetz. At the same time Robespierre proscribed him in France, Pitt also proscribed him in England. He went first to Philadelphia, where Congress was sitting, and entered freely into the political questions then being agitated. He was intimate with Jefferson, and intrigued with the opposition to prevent the accomplishment of a treaty between England and the United States. On his return to France, after an absence of little more than a year, he was accused of having worn the white cockade in America. He wrote from the United States to Madame de Genlis : "I think no more of my enemies ; I occupy myself in repairing my fortune."
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LANDMARKS OF BOSTON.
Talleyrand visited the studio of Gilbert Stuart. The latter, who was a great physiognomist, after an attentive examination of the features of his visitor, remarked to a friend, " If that man is not a villain, the Almighty does not write a legible hand." Talleyrand was no friend to the United States, as was soon manifest in the capture of our vessels by the French cruisers when he came into power, which resulted in a quasi state of war with the French Republic.
M. de Talleyrand returned to Europe in an American vessel, commanded by a man named Vidal, to whom he took a great liking. He signalized his arrival in Hamburg by an amour, which, in its deplorable results, made the language of Stuart prophetic. His adventure with the young and beautiful Baron- ess de S-, a pupil of Madame de Genlis, is a matter of history. The unfortunate lady, better known as " Cordelia," being deserted by Talleyrand, put an end to her life with a small American penknife, the gift of her lover, which she thrust into her heart. Upon her table was found an open note directed to M. de Talleyrand. The contents were as follows : -
" I have burnt all your letters. They did no honor to my memory nor to your heart. You are the author of my death ; may God for- give you, as I do !
" CORDELIA."
The brick building now occupied as a wine store, on the south side of Faneuil Hall, is one of the antiquities of the neighborhood, having stood for nearly a century unmoved amid the mutations that have swept over that locality.
Opposite the southeast corner of Faneuil Hall was located the Custom House under the State government, James Lord, Collector. Hon. James Lovell was Collector in 1789.
Dock Square was the scene of one of the incidents of the Conscription Riots of 1863. The mob, after a fruitless assault upon the gun-house in Cooper Street, proceeded in this direction with intent to supply themselves with arms from the stores of the dealers in weapons. They were so promptly met, however, by the police force, which behaved with signal bravery on this occasion, that no serious results followed, and, the military soon arriving on the ground, the riot fell still-born.
FROM BOSTON STONE TO THE NORTH BATTERY.
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CHAPTER V.
FROM BOSTON STONE TO THE NORTH BATTERY.
The North End. - Boston Stone. -- Painter's Arms. - Louis Philippe. - Union, Elm, and Portland Streets. - Benjamin Franklin's Residence. - The Blue Ball. - Lyman Beecher's Church. - Benjamin Hallowell. - Green Dragon. - Pope Day. - St. Andrew's Lodge. - Mill Pond. - Cause- way. - Mill Creek. - North Street. - Sir D. Ochterlony. - Eastern Stage - House. - Cross Street. - The Old Stone House. - New Brick Church. - The Red Lyon. - Nicholas Upshall. - Edward Randolph. - North Square. -- Sir H. Frankland. - Major Shaw. - Pitcairn. - Old North Church. -- Cotton, Samuel, and Increase Mather. - Governor Hutchinson. - General Boyd. - Fleet Street. - King's Head Tavern. - Bethel Church. - Father Taylor. - Hancock's Wharf. - Swinging Signs. - First Universalist Church. - First Methodist. - New North. - Ship Tavern. - Noah's Ark. - Salu- tation Tavern. - The Boston Caucus. - The North Battery. - Trucks and Truckmen.
W E now invite the reader to accompany us into the North End, a section of the town which became settled after the more central portion we have been traversing. It contains more of its original features than any other quarter ; many of its old thoroughfares are but little altered, and retain their ancient names. As for the buildings, as we plunge deeper into this region, we shall find some of those old structures that still link us to the olden time. Weather- stained, tottering, and decrepit as they are, not many years will elapse before the antiquary will seek in vain for their relics.
BOSTON STONE
Imbedded in the rear wall of a building which fronts on Hanover 1737 = Street, and presents its westerly side to Marshall Street, is the Boston Stone. Of the thou- sands who daily hurry through this narrow way, the greater
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part are unconscious of its existence. The stone bears the date 1737, and seems to have got its name from the famous London Stone, which served as a direction for the shops in its neighborhood, as did the Boston Stone for its vicinity. It was brought from England about 1700, and was used as a paint- mill by the painter who then occupied a little shop on these premises. The spherical stone which now surmounts its fellow was the grinder, and was for a time lost, but was discovered in digging the foundation for the present edifice. The larger stonc is only a fragment of the original, which was split into four ; pieces when placed in its present position. Its capacity is said to have been nearly two barrels.
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