USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston.. > Part 30
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" Head-quarters Oct. 15th, 1781. For to-morrow. M. G. M. La Fayette, B. G. Muhlenburg and Haynes' brigade.
Maj. gen. La Fayette's division will mount the trenches to-morrow."
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It was at Yorktown that the Marquis, with his American Light Division, stormed the enemy's river-battery, while Baron Vioménil, with the French grenadiers and chasseurs, assaulted another important work on the extreme left. The Americans, with the Marquis at their head, succeeded in capturing their redoubt first, when Lafayette sent his aid, Major Barbour, to the Baron with the message, "I am in my redoubt ; where are you ?" The Baron, who was waiting for his men to clear away the abattis, returned answer, "I am not in mine, but will be in five minutes." A touching incident of his visit connected with this exploit is related by Mr. Quincy :- .
" On the day of his arrival an old soldier would press through the crowd in the State House, and cried out, 'You don't remember me, General ; but I was close to you when we stormed our redoubt at Yorktown. I was just behind Captain Smith. You remember Cap- tain Smith ? He was shot through the head as he mounted the redoubt.' 'Ah yes, yes ! I remember,' returned Lafayette. 'Poor Captain Smith ! But we beat the French ! we beat the French !'"
Next below the residence of Mr. Ticknor on Park Street was that of Hon. Abbott Lawrence. Farther down is that of Josiah Quincy, Jr., the second mayor of that name. His ad. ministration will be remembered for the introduction of the Cochituate water, - a measure strenuously urged by his father twenty years before its accomplishment. The event was cele- brated with military and civic displays, and an immense multi- tude thronged the Common to see the water let on for the first time.
At the corner of Beacon and Mt. Vernon Streets was the residence of William Molineux, one of the early patriots and a prominent merchant. He built a splendid mansion for his day, but died in 1774. Mr. Molineux was one of the famous com- mittee that demanded of Governor Hutchinson the immediate removal of the troops after the Massacre. His colleagues were Adams (Samuel), Hancock, Warren, Phillips, Henshaw, and Pemberton. John Adams relates, as an amusing incident, that Molineux was obliged to march side by side with the com- mander of some of the troops, to protect them from the indig-
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nation of the people, in their progress to the wharf, from which they were to embark for the Castle.
As the agent of Charles Ward Apthorp, Mr. Molineux rented the stores belonging to the former, on Wheelwright's wharf, for barracks. The estate of Molineux seems to have passed to Mr. Apthorp, for we find it confiscated as such by the Common- wealth. In 1782 it became the residence of Daniel Denison Rogers.
Having completed our circuit of the Common, we may ven- ture the remark that its beauty, as a park, is surpassed by the value of its historical associations.
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We have seen that part of the forces which captured Louis- burg were assembled and organized here ; that the troops which conquered Quebec were recruited and probably brigaded here by Amherst ; that it was the mustering-place for the conflicts which ushered in the American Revolution ; and the fortified camp which held the beleaguered town in subjection.
It is associated with the deep horrors of Quaker executions ; with the eloquence of Whitefield, which paved the way for many eminent divines after him to address the people under the " Cathedral trees." It has in all times been a place for public rejoicings, for the celebration of our republican calendar days, or for martial displays.
The repeal of the Stamp Act was celebrated in Boston on the 19th May, 1766, as no event was ever observed before. Daybreak was ushered in with music, the beating of drums, and firing of
small-arms. The guns of the Castle proclaimed the joyful intelligence, which was taken up and echoed by the town batteries. In the evening an obelisk, which had been erected on the Common, was illuminated with two hundred and eighty lamps. REPEAL OBELISK. There was a general illumination. Hancock's mansion was brilliant with lights, and in front of the house a stage was built from which fireworks were exhib-
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ited. The Sons of Liberty had erected a similar stage in front of the Workhouse, from which they answered the display at the Hancock House. Under this hospitable roof were enter- tained " the genteel part of the Town," while the crowd outside were treated with a pipe of wine.
The obelisk was intended to be placed under Liberty Tree, but was con- sumed the night of the celebra- tion. Next above the pedestal were SEaPART, allegorical figures on each of the sides, symboliz- ing the condition of the colony from the enact- ment to the re- peal of the Stamp Act. We give a AMERICA IN DISTRESS. copy of an engraving, by Paul Revere, reproducing one of the sides.
Accident alone prevented the Common being the scene of a sanguinary struggle between the royal and American forces. When Washington occupied Dorchester Heights, he confidently expected an attack from Howe, and had prepared a counter- stroke. Two divisions, under Putnam, were to attack the town. Sullivan, with one, was to assault the works on Beacon Hill, Greene, with the other, was to carry the post at Barton's Point, and make his way to a junction with Sullivan. Greene was well qualified for the task assigned him, having been in Boston two years before, and seen the lines on the Common. Provi- dence arrested the purpose of Howe, and the town was entered without a shot being fired.
Hancock has the credit of first introducing music upon the Common for the benefit of the people. He caused a band to play in front of his dwelling, paid for by himself. In former
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times booths and stands for the sale of refreshments were erected along Paddock's and the Great Mall, ultimately em- bracing all four sides of the Common.
Lord Harris, who was captain of the grenadier company of the Fifth Foot, Percy's regiment, wrote home, in 1774, " Our camp is pitched in an exceedingly pleasant situation on the gentle descent of a large common, hitherto the property of the Bostonians, and used for the purpose of grazing their cows, which now, poor creatures, often attempt to force their way into their old pastures, where the richest herbage I ever saw abounds."
Lord Harris relates an instance of a cow impaling herself on a range of firelocks with the bayonets on, going off with one sticking in her side. Harris's company was at Lexington. At Bunker Hill he received a wound in the head, falling senseless into the arms of his lieutenant, Lord Rawdon.
Public executions occurred occasionally on the Common until 1812, when the park was rescued from these legalized exhibi- tions. It ceased to be a common grazing-field under the elder Quincy in 1830, dangerous accidents having occurred to prom- enaders. If a mere handful of settlers more than two centu- ries ago allotted fifty acres for the common benefit, a quarter of a million people can well afford to preserve it.
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CHAPTER XII.
VALLEY ACRE, THE BOWLING GREEN, AND WEST BOSTON.
Governor Bowdoin. - General Burgoyne. - Boston Society in 1782. - David Hinckley's Stone Houses. - James Lloyd. - Lafayette. - Daniel Davis. - Admiral Davis. - Historic Genealogical Society. - Valley Acre. -- Uriah Cotting. - Governor Eustis. - Anecdote of Governor Brooks. - Millerite Tabernacle. - Howard Athenæum. - Bowling Green. - Old Boston Physi- cians. - Charles Bulfinch. - New Fields. - Peter Chardon. - Mrs. Pel- ham. - Peter Pelham. - Thomas Melvill. - Dr. William Jenks. - Captain Gooch. - West Church. - Leverett Street Jail. - Poor Debtors. - Alms- house. - Massachusetts General Hospital. - Medical College. - National and Eagle Theatres.
G Y OVERNOR JAMES BOWDOIN lived on Beacon Street, near the corner of the street named for him, the house being situated at some distance back from the street, with a high flight of stone steps leading up to it. The family name of the governor was Baudoin. Frequent mention is made in these pages of prominent events or institutions with which the name of Governor Bowdoin is connected. He was chief magistrate of Massachusetts from 1785 - 87, and Shays's Rebellion occurred under his administration. It was vigorously suppressed by Bowdoin, to whose aid the officers of the old army quickly rallied. This was the dark period of our history. The old Articles of Confederation were entirely inadequate to carry on the government. No taxes could be levied without the consent of all the States, and the central government was likely to fall to pieces for want of the means to carry it on. Public and private credit shared the general wreck.
At this crisis the rebellion of Shays broke out. General Lincoln commanded the State forces, with Generals Brooks and Cobb to support him. The outbreak was crushed with little bloodshed, and the authority of the laws restored. Bowdoin's popularity was impaired by this affair, and he lost his election in
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1787. He was a sufferer from consumption, and finally suc- cumbed to its attacks.
General Burgoyne occupied the Bowdoin mansion in 1775 ; at the same time Clinton resided in that of Governor Hancock. These two chiefs overlooked the forces on the Common, and had particular charge of the defences of West Boston. The man- sion in after times became the boarding-house of Mrs. Delano.
Next, to the eastward, was the residence of William Phil- lips, Senior, - a fine old pre - Revolutionary mansion, ap- proached by several flights of stone steps. It stood on the hill, at a higher elevation than the Bowdoin or Sears houses on either side of it, the summit being considerably higher than the house-tops now in Ashburton Place. Some noble trees stand- ing on the estate formed a landmark for approaching vessels, - they were cut down for fuel by the British. This estate be- longed successively to Samuel Sewall and Edward Bromfield. Freeman Place Chapel was erected on the site.
What the society of Beacon Street and its vicinity was in the last century may be gathered from the testimony of a keen observer of that period.
Count Segur says that " Boston affords a proof that democ- racy and luxury are not incompatible, for in no part of the United States is so much comfort or a more agreeable society to be found. Europe does not offer, to our admiration, women adorned with greater beauty, elegance, education, or more bril- liant accomplishments than the ladies of Boston, such as Mes- dames Smith, Tudor, Jervis, and Morton." M. de Chastellux also pays suitable acknowledgments to the Boston ladies, like a gallant Frenchman ; while both unite in eulogy of Adams, Hancock, Dr. Cooper, and other leading spirits it was their fortune to meet.
The two stone houses at the easterly corner of Beacon and Somerset Streets, now, while we write, undergoing such strange manipulations, were erected soon after the war of 1812 by David Hinckley. They were, at that time, the handsomest private residences in Boston, and were occupied successively by citizens distinguished in financial or commercial pursuits, until
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they became the Somerset Club House. They have lately passed into the hands of the American Congregational Association.
Connected with one house is a domestic tragedy, which can now affect no one by repetition. An Italian, named Perodi, who was the French teacher of a daughter of Mr. Hinckley, availed himself of the opportunity to secure the young lady's affections. This, coming to the knowledge of her friends, resulted in an interview, at which Perodi advanced pretensions to rank and position in the old country by documents after- wards alleged to be forged. The dénouement occasioned the absence of Perodi for a time ; but he returned, and, ascertain- ing that the object of his pursuit was then living in Somerset Place (Allston Street), repaired thither, entered the house un- perceived, ascended the stairs to the lady's apartment, and, being discovered, stabbed himself with a poniard.
Mr. Hinckley took down an old stone house situated on his lot, considered the oldest, of stone, in Boston. It was built by Rev. James Allen of the First Church, and was occupied by his descendants until about 1806, one of whom, Jeremiah Allen, was high sheriff of Suffolk.
Proceeding onward through Somerset Street, modo pedestri, we pass the First Baptist Church, Ashburton Place, formerly Somerset Court, Pemberton Square, now a mere crater of the old hill, and pause before a double brick mansion, with arched doorway, now a hotel under the sign of the "Somerset House."
This house was built by Hon. James Lloyd after Somerset Street was laid out, and opened at the back upon the gardens of his father's estate, which extended up the hill beside that of Gardiner Greene. The elder Lloyd was a very distinguished physician ; Drs. Joseph Warren, John Jeffries, Isaac Rand, and John Clarke were students with him. He was for some time surgeon at the Castle, and had a fine old residence on Tremont Row.
His son was in the United States Senate in 1808- 13, during a most exciting period. A Bostonian by birth, he had been active in mercantile affairs before engaging in political life. Lafayette became his guest in this house in 1825. During this
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sojourn the Marquis paid visits to Daniel Webster, John Ad- ams, at Quincy, General Hull, at the residence of Mr. Mclellan in Winthrop Place, where he met his old companions in arms, Generals Cobb, Huntington, Colonel Putnam, and others. He also visited General Dearborn and Hon. T. L. Winthrop, Mrs. Ticknor, in Tremont Street, Madam Humphries, widow of his old comrade General Humphries, in Mt. Vernon Street, and attended a party given in his honor by Mayor Quincy.
A public dinner was given to Lafayette at the Marlborough Hotel, at which were present the Secretary of War, Governor, and Lieutenant-Governor, Hons. Messrs. Phillips, Lloyd, and Webster, the veteran Colonel McLane, and others. Odes were delivered on this occasion by Charles Sprague and Colonel Everett. The General went afterwards to the Boston Theatre, where he listened to a complimentary address from Miss Powell, and witnessed the play of Charles II., with Finn, Kilner, etc., in the cast.
The two buildings on the opposite side of the street, one of which is used by the Historic Genealogical Society, were built by Daniel Davis, a lawyer of some prominence in the District of Maine, who removed to Boston in 1804. As a barrister, his talents were not, perhaps, conspicuous at a bar where Otis, Mor- ton, and their peers practised, but he had the faculty of grasp- ing the points of a case in the court-room, and constructing his argument as the trial progressed. He was appointed Solicitor- General by Governor Strong, - an office created expressly for him, as, in 1767, it had been for Jonathan Sewall. Perez Mor- ton was at the same time Attorney-General.
Rear-Admiral Charles H. Davis is the son of Daniel Davis, and was born in the most southerly of the two houses. Admiral Davis is best known as victor in the engagement with the rebel fleet before Memphis, Tenn., in June, 1862. His scientific labors in connection with the naval service have been of great value. He was with Dupont in the expedition which captured Port Royal, with Farragut below Vicksburg, and in the expedi- tion up the Yazoo. While engaged in the coast survey he dis- covered several dangerous shoals off Nantucket, in the track of vessels bound into New York.
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The New England Historic Genealogical Society occupies the northerly house, -a handsome and well-arranged building. The local histories and family genealogies of New England are the objects upon which the society has been founded. For an antiquarian association it is eminently progressive, - a circum- stance that accounts for its rise and progress among older insti- tutions of its kind. Its collections, open to every student, are made available through the exertions and interest of its officers in every department of historical research. The collections and publications of the society have stimulated the writing of town histories, so that what was once a hopeless labor may be inves- tigated in a brief period and with system.
The society had its beginning in 1844, with five gentlemen well known in antiquarian circles, namely, Charles Ewer, Samuel G. Drake, W. H. Montague, J. Wingate Thornton, and Lemuel Shattuck. Mr. Ewer, an old Boston bookseller, was the first president. He deserves honorable mention as the pro- jector of the South Cove improvement and the opening of Avon Street. In 1845 the society was incorporated.
This elegant building, which was dedicated in 1871, cost about $ 40,000, and was entirely paid for by subscriptions among members and others, raised chiefly through the instru- mentality of its president, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder. It con- tains 9,000 volumes, 25,000 pamphlets, and a large collection of manuscripts and curiosities, which, being wholly germane to the field in which the society labors, form a unique and valua- ble library.
Valley Acre was a name anciently applied to the valley lying between Pemberton and Beacon Hills, now intersected by Som- erset and Bulfinch Streets, and reaching to the low ground below. The name was retained until about the present century, or until the disappearance of the hills upon either side deprived it of significance.
Farther down Somerset Street we pass the substantial, com- fortable-looking residences of Messrs. Webster and Cotting, and of Dr. Jackson, whose name is associated with the ether dis- -covery. The Sultan sent a decoration to Dr. Jackson, whose
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claims to be the discoverer of the great anæsthetic were disputed by Dr. Morton, the weight of public opinion favoring the latter. We have in the Public Garden a monument dedicated to the discovery, whereon one may seek in vain for the name of him who has conferred such incalculable benefit upon the human race.
It will scarcely be credited that a discovery fraught with such important consequences as was that of applying ether in sur- gical operations could not be announced in a Boston newspaper until the discoverer sent to the office of publication a paid advertisement. Yet this actually happened less than thirty years ago. Ether was first administered by Dr. W. T. G. Mor- ton, at his office, 19 Tremont Row, now Street, about opposite the northerly end of the Museum, September 30, 1846. The value of the discovery was at first more readily appreciated abroad than at home.
Mr. Cotting, notwithstanding the gigantic enterprises he con- ducted, in consequence of reverses during the war of 1812, died in straitened circumstances. To his genius Boston owes the inauguration of an era of improvement begun against the tradi- tional and conservative policy of the citizens generally. By dint of indomitable energy and perseverance he succeeded in realizing most of his designs, and, had he lived, would have worthily continued what he had so well begun. Besides the distinguished occupants of the Webster mansion mentioned was William Ropes, an eminent merchant connected with the Rus- sian trade.
Dr. William Eustis, who succeeded John Brooks as governor of Massachusetts in 1824, found his residence in Roxbury - he lived in the old Shirley mansion - too distant from the State House, during sessions of the General Court, and, in the winter of 1825, took lodgings with Mrs. Miles, the successor of Mrs. Carter, in Howard Street. The house stood where the Howard Athenæum is. Here he soon fell ill and died, being buried from this house on the 12th of February with military honors. The funeral services took place at the Old South, and the remains were placed in the Granary Burying Ground. Gov- ernor Eustis studied medicine under Joseph Warren; he served
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as surgeon in the Revolutionary army, and, at its conclusion, took a residence in Sudbury Street, and commenced a practice. He served two terms as member of Congress, and held other offices under the State.
General Sumner relates of him some interesting reminis- cences. He says : -
" I remember one occasion particularly, when I was invited to the governor's table to a dinner given in compliment to Lord Stanley, Lord Wortley, and M. Labouchière. The latter gentleman, in his visit to Boston, was so impressed with the beauty and execution of Allston's picture of Elijah in the Wilderness, that he purchased it of the painter at the price of a thousand dollars.
" Brooks and Eustis, two old cronies of the Revolution, about the time of Lafayette's reception, in 1824, were on unfriendly terms. The difference was caused by the election of Brooks as President of the Society of the Cincinnati, a vacancy having occurred while Eustis was vice-president and absent from the country. The friends of both exerted themselves to bring about a reconciliation, and, an interview being arranged, the old friends did not embrace each other merely as old friends, but they shook hands so heartily, and the intercourse was so familiar, - the one calling the other 'John,' and the other calling Eustis 'Doctor,' and sometimes ' Bill,' - that they parted with as friendly feelings as had existed between them at any period.'"
Upon the spot where stands the Howard Atheneum was built, during the excitement of 1843 - 44, a huge wooden struc- ture, dignified with the name of "Tabernacle." Here the dis- ciples of the prophet Miller awaited the day of ascension, amid scenes that beggar description. The interior was hung with pictures representing the monsters of the Book of Revelation, in which the artist had drawn freely upon imagination to de- pict the grotesque and horrible. Frenzy seemed to hold pos- session of the worshippers at this temple ; many disposed of all their worldly goods, the reason of others was affected, and the whole city was agitated almost beyond belief, until the day fixed for the end of all things human came and went like other days. An error of calculation had been made by the prophet, but his deluded congregation dissolved silently and ingloriously.
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It is related that in building the front wall on Howard Street due regard was not had to safety, and that it had a decided leaning outwards. The mayor's attention being called to the fact, he expostulated with the builders, who replied, "that it made but little difference as the world itself would last but a few days at the most." The mayor, Martin Brim- mer, compelled them to rebuild the wall in question, observing that they might incline it so as to fall inward, but not out- wardly. Miller, the apostle of the sect, had been a soldier of 1812, serving with distinction on the northern frontier with the rank of captain.
The Tabernacle was next leased for theatrical performances, and under the hands of carpenters and painters underwent a speedy transformation. A new front, painted in imitation of freestone was erected, and the house received the name of the Howard Athenaeum.
The first performance was on the night of October 13, 1845, when the " School for Scandal " was given. Messrs. Johnson, Ayling, Ford, and Brayley were the managers. Mr. James H. Hackett, since so famous for his impersonations of the "fat knight," made his first appearance in Boston at this house. In February, 1846, a few minutes after the closing of the theatre, fire was discovered issuing from it, and the theatre- tabernacle was speedily consumed.
The present theatre was built in 1846, and was opened in October of that year under the control of Mr. Hackett. Isaiah Rogers was the architect. At this theatre Mr. William Warren made his début before a Boston audience as Sir Lucius O'Trig- ger, in the "Rivals." The Viennoise Children also appeared at the Howard, creating an unexampled furor. The house is further celebrated for the first representations of Italian opera in Boston by a company from Havana, who opened in April, 1847, with "Ernani," when the golden notes of Fortunata Tedesco first enraptured Bostonians. Blangy, the Ravels, Ma- dame Anna Bishop, and other celebrities brought the theatre into high repute. Eliza Ostinelli made her first appearance on the stage at the Howard in " La Sonnambula."
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This estate is further noted as the old-time habitation of Hon. James Pitts, a counsellor and mover of the address to General Gage.
Valley Acre is not more obsolete than the old Bowling Green, upon which we have entered to find it changed to Bowdoin Square. Cambridge Street began in early times at Sudbury Street, extending along the green, and thence to the river. What is now the square fell away in a natural slope to the Mill Pond. The rest of the quarter known as West Boston was very sparsely peopled. On a small eminence in the present neighborhood of the West Church was a windmill ; rope- walks covered most of the neck known as Barton's Point, on one extremity of which were situated the copper-works, which gave their name to Copper, now Brighton Street. Across the point earthworks were thrown up in 1775. The greater part of the area west of Bowdoin Square was in its primitive con- dition of fields or pastures, and so remote was it considered from the centre of population, that the Province Hospital and Pest House was located near West Boston Bridge, on what is now Grove Street, from which the point was called "Pest House Point."
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